He later turned his notes and impressions into tales of the south pacific 1947, his first book, published when he was age 40. South africa is michener s theme this time and he gives it his usual episodic treatment. Michener s masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness. Micheners masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents. See more ideas about historical fiction, books and author. Jul 28, 2014 the covenant is the last michener book on my list, and i honestly dont plan to read any others. Micheners masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness.
Is this 900page south africa saga much more spotty and illshaped than. James michener, in full james albert michener, born february 3, 1907. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 1240 pages and is available in paperback format. The novel is set in south africa, home to five distinct populations. A wealth of fascinating materialand michener does his best to balance boer. The style is still competent, and there is stuff on the boer war, and the modern premandela, apartheid state. He follows the history of southern africa south africa mainly from prehistory to the 1980s. Id read many of his other books, but even then his story of south africa had stood out as particularly gripping. The research done for this fictional novel was truly amazing.
Reconsidering the astonishing literary legacy of james. Micheners masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents, who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness. Michener does a very good job in portraying south africa in all its aspects i lived in the region for 4 years, but am totally unaware of a winery called trianon. Reconsidering the astonishing literary legacy of james michener. Michener s masterly chronicle of south africa is an epic tale of adventurers, scoundrels, and ministers, the best and worst of two continents, who carve an empire out of a vast wilderness. The bestselling book was adapted into the popular musical and film, south pacific. James micheners latest epic novel, the covenant, sets out to tell the story of south africa. Michener, the master of historical fiction, revisits the scenes of his first great work, tales of the south pacific, the pulitzer prize winner that brought him international acclaim. The main characters of this southern africa, south africa story are. February 3, 1907 october 16, 1997 was an american author. Set in south africa, beginning 15,000 years ago and ending with the boer war, this is a novel about people caught up in the march of world history. Jan 01, 1980 micheners take on south africa and its history is an honest attempt to give some perspective on one of the more complex histories that this history teacher has encountered.
Free download or read online the covenant pdf epub book. Errol lincoln uys, an author and the former editorinchief of readers digest south africa, has an excellent online remembrance of his stint as micheners chief researcher on the covenant. It is the center of what may be very legitimate plagiarism claims by micheners researcher, errol uys. Michener had numerous bestsellers and works selected for book of the month. From the javaborn van doorn family tree springs two great branches. The covenant is a historical novel by american author james a. I worked with michener for two years from 1978 to 1980, a collaboration that produced the covenant. Beginning with tales of the south pacific 1947, the first book of short stories to win the pulitzer prize for fiction. Jun 10, 20 many many years ago, when i still had the stamina to read books of a thousand and more pages, and way before id ever shed any thought to living in south africa one day, i read the covenant by james a. He avoids painting anyone as perfect or without blame and points out along the way where major crossroads were passed which brought south africa to its present 1980s anyway. The book starts out strong my edition was the twovolume hardback.
Michener was at the peak of his career, when he took the ideas and words of a young immigrant from south africa and told the world they were his own. Micheners take on south africa and its history is an honest attempt to give some perspective on one of the more complex histories that this history teacher has encountered. A historical novel covering over 15,000 years of history in south africa and which focuses on three principal families who settled in. A prodigious author of prodigiously long novels hawaii, centennial, the source micheners covenant is yet another blockbuster a near 900page novel on south africa that encompasses. James michener s latest epic novel, the covenant, sets out to tell the story of south africa. Dec 26, 2015 james michener one of the greatest authors ever. It tells the story of that land from the early settlements by the dutch, through the expansion of it by english. Michener has 147 books on goodreads with 496182 ratings. Best known for his novels, he wrote epic and detailed works classified as fictional documentaries. Like most of micheners books, however, the covenant gives us some insight into the people and places that make up south africa. Michener began his writing career during world war ii, when as a lieutenant in the u.
He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were lengthy, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating solid history. Michener tales of the south pacific book club edition 1st printing. Micheners novel of south africas beginnings contains, to the letter, the exact reasons why i chose to leave the country of my birth. Albert michener, born around 1907, won the pulitzer prize for his first fiction, tales of the south pacific. A prodigious author of prodigiously long novels hawaii, centennial, the source micheners covenant is yet another blockbuster a near 900page novel on. South africa is micheners theme this time and he gives it his usual episodic treatment. Michener the drifters book club edition hardcover new york random house 1970 very good in a very good dust jacket.
The covenant is another michener tale that, like history, goes on and on and on. Micheners numerous bestselling novels also included the source, centennial, texas, hawaii, and chesapeake. Michener was one of the worlds most popular writers, the author of more than forty books of fiction and nonfiction, including the pulitzer prizewinning tales of the south pacific, the bestselling novels the source, hawaii, alaska, chesapeake, centennial, texas, caribbean, and caravans, and the memoir the world is my home. Bantu native black tribes, coloured the result of generations of racial mixture between persons of european descent and the indigenous occupants of south africa along with slaves. Many many years ago, when i still had the stamina to read books of a thousand and more pages, and way before id ever shed any thought to living in south africa one day, i read the covenant by james a. Final sections are trite, uneven, and overloaded with stereotypes. Ultimately the recording of his experiences became his first wellknown book, tales of the south pacific, published in 1947. James michener, american novelist and shortstory writer who, perhaps more than any other single author, made foreign environments accessible to americans through fiction. The authors visit to south africa with commentary on the country and its influences on his book. It tells the story of that land from the early settlements by the dutch, through the expansion of it by english immigrants and others, to the southafrica of the apartheid age, shortly before it was eliminated. Michener s numerous bestselling novels also included the source, centennial, texas, hawaii, and chesapeake.
Africa has banned the book, the nonwhite side of things never becomes humanly specific. The first edition of the novel was published in january 1st 1980, and was written by james a. The destruction of both the english and afrikaans languages, by joining the two to form an awful cape slang, was the most disgraceful. Bantu native black tribes, coloured the result of generations of racial mixture between persons of european descent and the indigenous occupants. Best known for his novels, he wrote epic and detailed works classified as. Michener, while you are there, write us an history of the paradise. Set in south africa, beginning 15,000 years ago and ending with the boer war, this is a novel about people caught up in the march of. Michener developed an idea for a book and began to spend his nights tapping it out with two fingers on an old typewriter, using the backs of letters from home, old envelopes, and official navy correspondence.
397 1189 1007 1021 1494 1207 394 1521 581 1518 338 707 1136 624 1125 1323 991 1129 588 1162 228 829 431 856 461 1154 686 792 496 429 610 696 1175 265 992 1267 1164 909 123 845 790 1300