My Favorite Read - 2 - Hum If You Dont Know The Words by Bianca Marais

A novel that unravels details of South Africa from apartheid era.

A story telling by two different people coming from opposite backgrounds.

A book of emotions so closely knit with the characters that you really cannot resist getting emotionally involved yourself.

'Hum If You Don't Know The Words'

I am not sure how many of you are aware of apartheid era, and even if you know all about it, this book shows the experiences from both sides of the players; and that's completely different from what you learn from your history books or wikipedia.

For me, this book took me deep into the world of South African society during the 1970s; letting me experience the thoughts and feelings of both a white child and a black mother. Like the book says 'Divided by the colors of their skin, their paths should never have crossed'

Somewhere, I don't recall if it was a movie or a book, a person asks why people even bother to study history, why waste time on past instead of investing time on future. I don't remember what the conversation was about or what the other person answered, but this question got registered in my brain, because it made me think and it still does. I like history. I enjoy watching movies showing historical warfare as much as I enjoy Sci-Fi fantasies. I love documentaries around various evolution, revolutions, science, politics, warfare etc... But I still haven't found an answer to the question above.

As of this moment, the answer I have is, in order for us to know where we are going, I think it's important to understand where we came from. Still not a practical answer, maybe one of you have a better answer for this. So yeah, this novel reminds us how far the human society has traveled, where we came from to where we are today.

It takes you through the setup staged in the South Africa of 1970's, with carefully having a 9 year old innocent child Robin Conrad depicting the stronger side of society (skin color white) and a strong independent mother Beauty Mbali representing the revolting side of society (skin color black). It has all shades of emotions; a drama that you will enjoy every bit of as various incidents gets viewed by the reader in both perspectives. And author has done so much research that the detail brings out reality in every scene and gives life to all characters ; I believed at the end of the novel that there are hundreds of Robin and Beauty who have lived through the phase.

Although the book has series of deep, thought provoking and serious events, but Robin's way of thinking and talking, will keep the humor alive all the way till the end; she will make you smile while you flip the pages.

Since I read the book couple of months back, I don't recall every dialog; but my favorite part that I can recall was the job applications that Robin was putting out in local shops. It was hilarious but boy, it was spot on; the kid had nailed it. My next job application should be innovative like this :)

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When Silence Speaks...

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