Power
Of One
Bryce Courtenay
Ballentine Books, 1996 (reprint)
518 pages
ISBN: 034541005X
Overall Rating: 5 Stars 
Readability: 5 Stars
Content: 5 Stars
Buy
this book
“In teaching me independence of thought they had given
me the greatest gift an adult can give to a child, besides love,
and they gave me that also.” - Bryce Courtenay
One of the most difficult tasks that will ever confront a writer
is to explore the magical naïveté of a child. It is
rare to find a book that successfully captures the innocence of
childhood, to explore the world through the eyes of a child as
he sees it. A world where even the most ordinary of activities
still holds the promise of discovery. The Power Of One captures
the spirit, the very essence of childhood. Courtenay is able to
recognize the magic of the mundane, and that to a boy, often the
fantastic seems ordinary. But the exquisite beauty of the book
is the transformation of the child into a man. The Power of One
is set in South Africa during World War II. It chronicles the
life of a small boy as he struggles to overcome the institutionalized
racism of apartheid. The Power Of One is a truly inspirational
book, a book that invites you to view the world in ways you may
possibly never have considered. It is simply, unequivocally, one
of the best books I have ever read. It is an opinion shared, without
exception, by every single person I have ever met that has read
The Power Of One.
Note: The movie, Power Of One, is the worst bastardization of
a book I have ever encountered. If you have seen the move but
not read the book, read it! They are only remotely similar, the
movie ignoring many of the most integral sub-plots of the book.
The movie is atrocious, the book exquisite.
