The Power of One

This book was recommended to me by a friend as her "all time favorite novel". I started it and was pleased to become immediately hooked. The writing is beautiful and the characters are endearing. Little Peekay stole my heart for the first half of the book. It had me laughing one minute and crying the next. I've never cared much about boxing, but the fight scenes were riviting. About halfway through the book something changes - our little Peekay becomes so full of himself that I'm beginning to wish some more bad luck would come his way just to bring him back to the status of a mere mortal. He is constantly in awe of his own intelligence and prowess as a boxer and a scholar. While in total command of thousands of African prisoners, he muses to himself that he "has become a legend". Now enter his new buddie Morrie - the two of them CANNOT LOSE. Everything they touch turns to gold. They are admired by all and cannot imagine life not turning out exactly as they wish it. YES, Peekay did have some terrible times as a young boy, but after that he becomes the chosen one and I for one am sick to death of him. I've got a third of the book left to read and I'm not sure if I can stomach any more of the tadpole angle. Maybe I'm being a little harsh, beause I really did enjoy the first half of the book. Peekay does make quite a few attempts at false modesty, but a little true humility would have made me continue to care about him.

Bryce Courtenay makes THE POWER OF ONE seems so authentic that the reader is carried right into the story.The book begins when a five-year-old boy is being sent off to boarding school. He's small for his age, white and of English descent. His name is Peekay and he lives in South Africa. Up to this point in his life he's known only his family and his beloved black Nanny. Now, he's forced to take care of himself and survive under the most brutal of circumstances. The time is World War II and Peekay spends years in a boarding school where he's the only English student among Afrikaners who are sympathetic to the Nazi cause. He's beaten, tortured and treated as a "prisoner of war" by the older boys. The Afrikaners are the descendents of the Dutch and there has been a great deal of conflict between them and the English settlers who came to South Africa at a later period of time.When I first started reading this novel, I wasn't sure if I could handle the passages about the brutal treatment of the little boy. However, I quickly learned that Peekay is a spirited survivor and would make it through that horrible period of his life. On his vacations from school, he meets several people, both black and white who really influence him and teach him to work hard in order to fulfill his dreams. I found an uplifting joy in every success that Peekay experienced.This is a big book, but I looked forward to my reading sessions every day and I'm sure that part of this story will remain in my mind forever. The character of Peekay is very inspiring.Next, I plan to read the sequel, TANDIA.

This is the chronicle of Peekay, a disadvantaged South African white boy who, at the age of six, decides that he will be the welterweight champion of the world. The story begins in 1939 when Peekay is five, and he is the smallest lad at a boarding school where his bed-wetting affliction is getting him in trouble. He suffers constant abuse from a band of Nazi worshipping older boys, and even the teachers. Peekay copes using his �camouflage,� his chameleon like skill to disguise his true nature.After a year or so at the boarding school, Peekay is reunited with his mother, who had been hospitalized for conniptions, and his grandfather. He has no father, the author never reveals why not, and none, least of all Peekay, seem to miss him. His mother and grandfather are dear, but uninfluential. Peekay treats his mother with tender respect, fearing that she will have another nervous breakdown, but he shuns her distorted Jesus-freak perception of the world. Grandpa, who mostly tends roses and diddles with his pipe, isn�t much help either.Peekay is a prodigy, and he has the good fortune to choose good mentors, including a pugilistic railway conductor and an inveterate recidivist at the local penitentiary. The most important of his tutors, however, is Doc, a washed out concert pianist who teaches music and collects aloe and cacti. As Peekay and Doc explore the African veld, Doc tutors Peekay on many subjects, especially the value of thinking for himself.Through Peekay, Doc and a host of other well crafted characters, Courtenay scrutinizes the logic of born again Christians, the ordained superiority of white men, the relevance of Jewishness, the glory of the English Empire, the origin of Afrikanerdom, the philosophy of apartheid, the disposition of cacti versus roses, and the significance of all deaths, even that of a kaffir chicken. He entangles these concerns with strands of poignant romaticization. You might want to keep the Kleenex box handy, particularly when Doc recuperates his musical genius long enough to compose the Concerto of the Great Southland.This is a review of the paperback edition.

Imagine this fairy tale: A boy of English heritage is born in South Africa after the Boer war and during the rise of Nazi Germany. He suckles at the breast of a loving nanny the first 2 1/2 years of his life. Nanny provides physical and emotional nourishment. Grandpa is a male figure-head with some, but little, positive influence. Father unknown. Mother has a nervous breakdown and is sent away. At 5 yrs of age, the boy is sent to a boarding school where he is taunted, teased and physically abused. The "Judge," (an older boy with a swastika tattooed on his arm), pronounces sins committed by the boy and punishment to follow. The boy is called "Pisskop" because he wets the bed. Pisskop learns it is better to endure the torture,and never give his tormenters the satisfaction of seeing him cry. He is a determined, precocious child of genius level intelligence. But how will he survive the mistreatment by Boer children and Nazi sympathizers? He miraculously survives the torture for almost 2 years. Then, he is called to live with his grandpa and now cured mother. For this meeting, he must no longer go bare-foot. Tackies are bought from a Jewish man who renames him "Peekay." What kind of name is "Pisskop" for a nice little boy? On the train ride home, Peekay meets a professional boxer. Within 24 hours, Peekay learns about boxing, sees a boxing match, and makes a definitive decision to become the welterweight champion of the world. His mother has become a born-again Christian. His grandpa - still a figure head. Peekay walks the countryside, meets Professor Von Vollensteen - the "Doc." Doc is the fairy godfather who becomes Peekay's most devoted friend, mentor and teacher. Doc is a musician, photographer and botanist. He is later imprisoned because he is a German. Peekay is sent to a boarding school to be educated. He is far more intelligent than peers his age. He moves upward quickly in educational ranks. He wins a scholarship to the Prince of Wales School where he meets Morris, a Jewish boy of like intelligence. They become best friends. Peekay has, from 7 years of age, learned to fight as a boxer. He shows unusual talent and is given boxing lessons. His best coach is the multi-racial prisoner, Geel Piet. Peekay visits Doc in prison, takes piano lessons and boxing lessons. The Black prisoners call him "Tadpole Angel" - an angel sent to rescue them. They know that Peekay smuggled tobacco, sugar and rations to them. Peekay feels the "power of one" after winning a boxing match. But it is not only about winning - "the power of one is above all, the power to believe in yourself." Peekay and Morrie test for Rhodes scholarships. The scholarship committee believes that Peekay's boxing goals make him a lesser candidate despite his remarkable intelligence and test scores. Peekay refuses Morrie's offer to pay his tuition to Oxford. Peekay goes to work in a copper mine, earns enough to pay his own way. At the copper mine, Peekay is met by his childhood tormenter, the Judge. The Judge, in a drunken stupor, threatens to kill Peekay. Peekay is lighter and smaller, but with superior intelligence and boxing skills, he pummels the Judge in vengeance and fury. He has his revenge. He is on his way to Oxford and boxing glory. A fairy-tale? Once tormented child conquers hatred, fear and ignorance, and spreads tolerance, love and knowledge and lives happily ever after? Simple story? End of story? No, there is more. There is love and emotion intertwined within the bonding of Peekay and Professor "Doc" Von Vollensteen. Doc - a Darwinian character who grades the best by "an eleven of ten" - yes, "schmarty pants," "absoloodle"! You cannot help but love and laugh with them. And learn...Doc teaches Peekay to find botanical specimens. Doc's description of the cactus is priceless. Doc teaches Peekay to play the piano well, yet knows Peekay will never be a great pianist. There is despair. You feel racial injustice. Hatred. Whites against Blacks. Boers against rooineks (Brits). Nazis against Jews. You swell with pride when young Peekay defends and helps the Blacks who are imprisoned solely because of their color. There is humor. You laugh when fat "Big Hattie," over 6 ft. tall gets trapped between bunks in the train. There is sadness. You cry when Geel Piet is hacked to death and there is no punishment for the crime. You feel Peekay's pain when Doc goes to his death. You feel his sense of spirituality in the atmosphere surrounding Doc's body. There is much to learn - about the Boer war, the Crimean war, Nazis and Hitler, religion, education, boxing, botany, prison life in South Africa, Apartheid, South Africa. You'd like to learn more. Research. Courtenay's characterizations put you there. He makes you feel. He makes you feel that even though the character named Peekay may be a Cinderfella, and the story may be a fairy tale, too good to be true, they are what life should be...

this book is THE BEST BOOK EVER.i have given it as a gift maybe ten times and everyone agrees!!!!!i have read it three times.im not going to tell you any more. just buy it and read it. dont try to figure out if its a good read. just open it and start. you are welcome!

This timeless classic is one I couldn't put down. An hour would wiz by in no time.Such a well crafted masterpiece, it almost felt like reading a true story.Entertaining, insightful and educational...

I loved reading this year's ago and I loved it again. The racist aspects are ugly but I thoroughly enjoyed the rest.

I put off reading this book for several years, but wow! It is an amazing story of strength, resilience, and redemption.

Book is in excellent condition and was shipped promptly.

Although v the reader is going to embrace a lengthy novel, the following of the protagonist's tale is worth the page turning. An ally info passing tale of the the trials of his tribulations presents a wide scope of endurance and exposure to the complexity of South Africa.

It’s one of my favorite books. I ordered a new copy as my original one was in bad shape. An excellent read for young adults and anyone interested in a great story

Young boy in war torn South Africa realizes his dreams with the help of a series of mentors who act as family to replace the family who at best ignores him as he follows his dream.

While his wording is nothing to write home about, Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One is an epic coming of age story that tells the story of a boy named Peekay. I won’t reveal the majority of the plot, however, Courtenay tells a compelling story of a white British boy growing up amongst the South African natives. He lives a life of loss and a world of oppression and bigotry. His dream to become the welterweight champion of the world is constantly blocked by his seemingly fanatical Chrisitan mother, the loss of those closest to him, and the social constraints of the late 1930s. Bryce Courtenay’s work is not poetic, however, it is quite moving. For somebody looking for a great story, I would certainly recommend this moving story. But for somebody looking for poetic words and something that builds on suspense and excitement, there is much to be desired. This moving coming of age is one of strife and pain. But it also shows courage and perseverance. It is not the writing, but the story that drives the plot. Although it can also be slow at times, the story of Peekay is one I would recommend as a good read.

Overall, I would say The Power of One is a very solid book. The Power of One is about a young boy named Peekay who throughout his life has to fight adversity as well as persevere through hardships. There are both things that I enjoy as well as dislike about this novel. First, I enjoy this book because I can relate to his young character because I am a young person as well. Furthermore, there are certain events that occur to Peekay and actions that he does which I can relate to. Additionally, the genre of this book is realistic fiction. This genre is one of my favorite genres along with fantasy fiction and science fiction. However, there are some factors about this book that I dislike. The first being that it is hard to understand key parts of the book such as the war going on throughout the book. As a result, I had to do additional research to understand concepts such as the Boer war. Also, there are many words and phrases that I have to refer to in the back of the book which interrupts my reading flow. I know some people find this interesting but I don't prefer to have the slang in the book. Altogether, this book is great, especially for young adults, and although it does have minor issues, it is definitely worth the time to read.

This is a book about a super hero, who from day one triumphs against great odds. He is aided by a cast of odd ducks and one chicken. What's to like about The Power of One? The first-person narrative is engaging, the author has an excellent eye for detail, his liberal heart is in a place beloved by us liberal readers. And the book moves well, you will find in general that you are turn the pages wondering what will happen next. Finally, the finale does provide a rather heavy-fisted allegory for good vs. evil, which rather handedly ties it all up, much to the reader's pleasure. Mine, too, oh reader, lest you think that I turn my nose up at page turners. I like them, sometimes, just like I like sweets! But not in abundance.For you will not, as I did not, find any character development, any insurmountable difficulties, or any real humanity in either the lead character, or any of the supporting cast. This is one-dimensional writing. It dimly lights a lantern of sympathy to dispel the grotesque behaviors of mid 20-C South Africa, but it does not provide us with figures that are in any way believable. Peekay, the protagonist, is a grotesquerie: at eleven years old can quote Ovid, play through all of Chopin's etudes, box with the best of the Boers (for which training he gets up at 5:00 or so to run the three miles to a prison for boxing lessons, then returns home in time for school! Except he's too smart for his classes, hence his promotion at a tender age to tutorials under the winsome eye of the resident Jewess...beautiful but herself an outlier in small town SA society...) At any rate;Enjoy comic books? This is for you.Liked the Harry Potter series? Ditto.Caught in an airport, particularly with a long flight before you and looking for something completely escapist? Not a bad buy.Want someone else who hates apartheid and backs the under dog (except that this one turned out to be top dog pretty damn fast?) go for it.On the other hand, if you want to be provoked into thinking about yourself, or about the world around not just you, but others, then go elsewhere. You could, for example, buy an equally provocative tome by Wouk, or Michener, who wrote as well, or better than did the recently deceased Courtenay. Or you could pick up something even better. But I leave that up to you.

I read this book for our book club and at the beginning I was completely overwhelmed. It is a very long book (over 500 pages) and the print is very small. This is not a book I would normally read and I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to finish it in time.Let me tell you this is, by far, one of the best books I have ever read. I wasn't enirely interested in the beginning, but after about 80 pages I was hooked. It is so different than most other books of this genre. The relationships between Peekay and everyone he encounters are so interesting, inspirational and a teaching tool. A wonderful read. I can now see why they have a school version of this book as I wanted my 12 year old to read it but there are a few parts that are not appropriate for a 12 year old boy. Mostly due to growing up and the crazy feelings that boys go through during puberty.The narrator starts as a 5 year old boy with a mentally/depressed mother and is sent to boarding school.. This sets up his relationships with mentors of every kind for the rest of his adolescence. While you are reading you are completely convinced the story is going in one direction and then does not. I wasn't sure I liked the ending until I read it three times then decided it was perfect.A great book and learning tool to understand racism of every sort, to understand ignorance, and to read about love, redemption and acceptance. This book also helps us to understand the beauty of a culture that is so different than ours and beautiful if not tamed.This is an amazing book from a very gifted author. I literally read the last three chapters over and over because I didn't want it to end. For those of you who are stuck in the middle during the prison/fighting scenes, don't give up... that's just a small part of this masterpiece.Bravo Bryce Courtenay. If you ever write the sequal I will be ready....

The Power of One is the story of Peekay, a young boy growing up in South Africa during World War II. After being tormented by an older bully and his stooges during his initial year of boarding school (why would anyone send their small children to boarding school--if you've been exposed to any literature at all you know boarding school is clearly a horrible experience at best), six-year-old Peekay determines to become the welter-weight boxing champion of the world. With hard work and mentoring from some unique and genuine individuals, Peekay is driven by his ultimate goals. In the meantime, Peekay transcends local racial strife to become beloved by all races in South Africa. Peekay is a true "outlier" as described by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers. He is also likable and great fun to cheer on.The writing is splendid. In a single scene, Courtenay takes the reader through a multitude of emotions without feeling manipulated. The book is full of humor, love, sorrow, pain and joy and still doesn't feel contrived. The characters are unique and intriguing--Peekay is coached, taught and enlightened by the grizzled African criminal; the German ex-patriot professor of music and the beautiful Jewish intellectual. People are simply drawn to Peekay's sincerity, determination and potential. He is fiercely loyal to those he loves. There is something magical about this boy.The setting is exotic and teaming with stories of racism, adventures and chances. Courtenay is, quite simply, a natural and gifted story teller.

I enjoyed reading The Power of One and will look for other books by this author. It is a very powerful book -- not a book to pick up if you are wanting a short, casual read, but very worthwhile.Positives:A great way to learn more about the history of South Africa, apartheid, the Boer wars, etc.Wonderful characters, beautifully portrayed, I enjoyed "getting to know them."Good story lineThe extra information in the book -- a glossary and some historical information -- was very helpful. It would have been more helpful to have known while I was reading the book that the extra sections were included.The Reasons I did not give the book five stars:As mentioned by someone else, I felt the ending was rushed. Some descriptions could have been cut short earlier in the novel and more time and pace given to the ending.While reading the book I was constantly confused about the different sorts of people described: Afrikans, Afrikaans, Boers, Kaffirs, etc. It would have been helpful to know about the glossary that was in the back of the book.

This was an excellent novel. And it was good on many levels. First, the protagonist, known as "Peekay" was interesting and inspirational, granted to a level a bit beyond believable. But he was still very easy to connect with. He began the novel with problems that were very real and we saw how these small events early is his life really had an effect on just about ever aspect on the rest of his life. This perhaps was one of my favorite aspects of the novel, just how well this was captured in the novel.The effect of Peekay's various mentors in the novel were also interesting to witness. As each new mentor picks up on different aspects of his life and molds various aspects of his personality in different ways and for different reasons, he almost becomes a collage of the various people that helped him along the way.The novel also really had the coming of age aspect working well for it. We see the protagonist at few different age groups, and the effect of his own growth and the effect of his mentors is really apparent when time is shifted a bit. There are also some very interesting observations about the world due to his lack of information. Like when he aspires to become a Jewish person when he grows up because of a few people that he met along the way, not understanding the aspect of religion.Overall, this was an excellent novel. The only real negative in the novel, is that it is not realistic that a single person like Peekay would be lucky enough to meet the amount of amazing people and them all take such a passionate interest in helping him grow. But once you move on from that, it is a real pleasure to read.

An amazing novel written brilliantly by Bryce Courtenay, it is the story of Peekay a young boy growing up in South Africa WWII. To say that I could not put this book down is an understatement.Courtenay has produced rich characters that come to life on the page. You cheer, cry and cringe in horror as you follow the life of Peekay and the people he interacts with. In addition, the lush, inspiring, beautiful and harsh descriptions of South Africa make the reader feel as if they are there and is not only the background of the story but Africa is the story of Peekay. The novel begins with Peekay being shipped off to a boarding school at age five. He is haraassed, tortured, and abused by the "judge" and his posse but is a survivor who is determined to live. On a semster break he encounters a man who is a boxer and shows him kindness, dignity and begins to explain the power of one. This has such a profound influence on Peekay that his life obsession after this meeting is to be the welterweight champion of the world. The power of one is really the power of believeing in yourself. To follow your dreams and to be authentic. Through a series of moving freindships with the adults in Peekay's life he begins to understand this. Doc, a brilliant musician and botanist plays a central role in his life and urges him to be himself and to show others his extraordinary intellect. He teaches him and shares in his love of Africa. As Peekay emerges from merely surviving to fully inhabiting his person he begins to understand more fully the power of one. He meets Geel Piet a man in prison who is more tortured than Peekay was in boarding school simply because of the color of his skin. He teaches Peekay how to box and Peekay in return accepts him for who he is and loves him. As Peekay finds his place through his acceptance of others he gains a mythical status with the African people in the community. He becomes the "tadpole angel" who can unite the black and white races together. His friendship with Morrie, who is Jewish, and also feels like an outsider has a profound effect on Peekay. At prep school for the first time he has a friend of his own age. Morrie finds that Peekay's immediate acceptance of him although he is Jewish amazing and the two find that they have much in common including their equal brilliance. Not only does Peekay's life change because of these friendships, but what he finds is that he has a profound impact on these people's life as well. There are many other people in Peekays life who influence it and move it and the reader is held spellbound as they watch the fine web that Cortenay has woven and marvels in the intricacies of life that can be conveyed through writing. This is a life changing book and the reader will be the better for having read it.