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Reader Reviews from Amazon

A book of hope, November 20, 2001

No more complaining..., August 23, 2001

Reviewer: A reader from Maine, USA

No more complaining...about my life, my educational opportunities, my social status. Miriam's Song should be required reading for all spoiled brats who think their lives are difficult. Shame on me for ever taking education for granted! Shame on me for ever complaining that my opportunities in the US are limited because of my gender! This book left an indelible mark on my social consciousness. Not just a touching and eye-opening memoir, but also a story of fierce determination and strength, Miriam's Song ranks among my must-reads. Her story is inspiring and her candid writing makes the reader feel as if she is sitting right there in the room, like an new friend telling you about her life. The text does not attempt to justify or rationalize or otherwise explain the social structure, and is remarkably pure in its telling of Miriam's story. Because this book is free from philisophy and pontification about wrong and right, fair and unfair, here-and-there comparisons, the reader is left to come to these realizations on his/her own and thus the story becomes most poignant. I find myself wondering how Miriam is doing now, and would welcome another book including the rest of her story and her observations of the US. Whole-heartedly recommended. Finished it yesterday and loaned it to a friend today.

Eye opening book, July 8, 2001

Reviewer: gowie from Littleton, CO United States

How nice it is to sit in our American homes and vaguely read of the troubles of South Africa. I am ashamed to have never paid more attention to this subject. This is a riveting book that takes you past the superficial headlines and into the lives of the blacks who suffered under apartheid.

The Mathabane family lives in a suburb of Johannesburg, in a one-square mile ghetto that is home to over 200,000 people (400,000 by the end of the book). Employment is hard to come by--for one to work, one must have a permit. But to get a permit, one must have a job.

Their home is a two room shack, where four of the children sleep on the kitchen floor. There is a communal tap outside. Raw sewage runs in the street outside their door. Black children are only allowed to be taught certain subjects in a certain manner, and Miriam and her classmates are routinely beaten for any infraction--mistakes in schoolwork, uncombed hair, nails that are dirty/too long, wearing dirty bloomers, or not wearing bloomers at all. (These people live in complete poverty, and it was not uncommon for children to not have underwear.) The young teenage girls are easy targets of sexual abuse. Many become pregnant, single mothers, unable to finish school.

While the story is unbelievably horrifying, their outlook is one of constant hope and faith. I am unable to get this family out of my mind, and I will be reading Mark Mathabane's autobiographical books as soon as I get my hands on them...This is an amazing story of how people in other parts of the world live. I strongly recommend this book.

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This site was last edited on 
June 22, 2008 04:10 AM

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Preface
Chapter One

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KB in A Page
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Chapter One

Love in B&W
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Reader Reviews
Preface
Mark's View
Gail's View

African Women
AW Home
Back Cover
Reader Reviews
Preface
Chapter One

Ubuntu (Novel)
Ubuntu Page
Dust Jacket
Chapter One

Miriam's Song
Miriam's Page
Dust Jacket
Dedication
Preface
First Chapter
Reader Reviews