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André Brink (1935–2015)

Author of A Dry White Season

99+ Works 4,464 Members 107 Reviews 15 Favorited

About the Author

André Brink was born on May 29, 1935 in Vrede, South Africa. He studied English and Afrikaans at the University in Potchefstroom and comparative literature in Paris. He was a South African writer and educator. He became a part of a group of writers known as Die Sestigers upon returning to South show more Africa in the 1960s. The group aimed to broaden Afrikaner fiction by writing about sexual and moral matters and the failings of the traditional political system. His books included Rumors of Rain, Looking on Darkness, A Dry White Season, and States of Emergency. Some of his books were banned in South Africa. He became a professor of Afrikaans and Dutch literature at Rhodes University and professor of English at the University of Cape Town. He has received the 1980 Martin Luther King Prize, the 1980 French Prix Medicis Etranger, and the 1982 Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur. He was shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice and nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature on several occasions. He died on February 6, 2015 at the age of 79. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: André Brink at The International Forum on the Novel, Lyon, France. Photo by Seamus Kearney / Wikimedia Commons.

Series

Works by André Brink

A Dry White Season (1979) 781 copies
An Instant in the Wind (1976) 351 copies
A Chain of Voices (1982) 317 copies
Philida (2013) 282 copies
Rumours of Rain (1978) 242 copies
Imagenings of Sand (1996) 236 copies
The Other Side of Silence (2002) 209 copies
Devil's Valley (1998) 195 copies
Looking on Darkness (1974) 184 copies
The Rights of Desire (2000) 175 copies
The Wall of the Plague (1984) 168 copies
An Act of Terror (1991) 167 copies
Before I Forget (2007) 128 copies
The Ambassador (1963) 127 copies
Praying Mantis (2005) 120 copies
On the Contrary (1993) 117 copies
States of Emergency (1988) 88 copies
A Fork in the Road (2009) 80 copies
A Land Apart: A Contemporary South African Reader (1986) — Editor — 49 copies
The Blue Door (2006) 44 copies
Other Lives (2008) 38 copies
Groot Verseboek 2000 (2000) 19 copies
Lobola Vir Die Lewe (1975) 16 copies
Groot Verseboek (2008) 10 copies
Miskien Nooit (1967) 8 copies
Oom Kootjie Emmer (1981) 7 copies
Mal - en Ander Stories (1990) 7 copies
Spiegel : roman (2008) 7 copies
Appassionata roman (2008) 7 copies
Orgie (1965) 5 copies
Mirror | Appassionata (2009) 4 copies
Pot-Pourri 3 copies
Donkermaan 2 copies
Ol 2 copies
Midi 2 copies
Klassiek reeks (2004) 2 copies
Latynse Reise 2 copies
Inteendeel 2 copies
Met 'n Glimlag (2006) 2 copies
Fado 1 copy
Houd-den-bek 1 copy
Ambasador (1994) 1 copy
La valle del diavolo (2000) 1 copy
Kupidos Chronik: Roman (2011) 1 copy
Brink Andrè 1 copy
Les Droits du désir (2001) 1 copy
Begærets ret (2000) 1 copy
Pavane (1974) 1 copy
Herinneringe aan Parys (2012) 1 copy
Eindelose weë (1983) 1 copy
Fado 1 copy
Pavane 1 copy

Associated Works

Mortification: Writers' Stories of Their Public Shame (2003) — Contributor — 280 copies
Granta 40: The Womanizer (1992) — Contributor — 113 copies
African Literature: an anthology of criticism and theory (2007) — Contributor — 23 copies
A Dry White Season [1989 film] (1989) — Original novel — 12 copies
Windroos: Verhale deur 10 Sestigers — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Brink, André
Legal name
Brink, André Philippus
Birthdate
1935-05-29
Date of death
2015-02-06
Gender
male
Nationality
South Africa
Birthplace
Vrede, South Africa
Place of death
in flight (Amsterdam to Cape Town)
Places of residence
Vrede, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa
Jagersfontein, South Africa
Brits, South Africa
Douglas, South Africa
Sabie, South Africa (show all 7)
Lydenburg, South Africa
Education
Potchefstroom University
The Sorbonne, Paris, France
Lydenburg High School
Occupations
emeritus professor
novelist
Relationships
Brink, Elsabe (sister)
Organizations
University of Cape Town
Sestiger movement
Awards and honors
Monismanien Prize (1992)
Order of Ikhamanga
South African Literary Award Lifetime Achievement (2006)
Agent
Liepman Agency
Short biography
André Brink, a major South African writer whose work has shaken conscience and culture in Afrikanerdom, contributed significantly to the cause against apartheid. With democracy, he now sees no further need to be overtly political in his writing and feels a new freedom to write whatever he feels like.

Members

Discussions

Philida by André Brink in Booker Prize (August 2012)

Reviews

3.5 stars, rounded up. After a strong opening I found this faded a bit, especially the dialog, which was a touch stilted. The Tessa character always seemed a bit unreal and was a second weakness. The story of life in South Africa around 2000 is incredibly sad but interesting, and the relationship between Ruben, our narrator, and his house-keeper Magrieta solid and quite warm. The central theme is Ruben (in his mid-60's with a dodgy ticker) taking in an attractive lodger and the disruption to his life that falling in love with her precipitates. Tessa leads Ruben to reevaluate his life and look honestly at his less than rosy but largely suppressed past, something he has studiously avoided, plus of course, to lust after her 30 year old youthfulness. Brink was mid-sixties when this was published, just sayin'. The supernatural element was very much magical realism and didn't bug me as it sometimes does, and plays an important role in the tale.
This is my third Brink novel and I'll read more, but go to his top reviewed titles next- I selected this one as I was curious about the title.
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diveteamzissou | 5 other reviews | Nov 28, 2023 |
There was a disjointed style to this that took a while to settle in but then it became incredibly gripping. A failed expedition into the interior of later 1700s Cape colony in South Africa turns into a very complicated story of Elizabeth and Adam (Aob) figuring out how they can survive together or apart. It is brutally honest at times about their relationship and their own pasts and also just a terrifying story of survival in a very harsh world. The constantly shifting point of view was extremely effective, sometimes from one sentence to the next and made both the characters an equal part of the story. The ending was left somewhat enigmatic until I went back to read the front chapter again. Then just tragic.… (more)
 
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amyem58 | 6 other reviews | Jul 24, 2023 |
I found this quite boring to read and at times so confusingly narrated it was hard to tell who was speaking or what was happening.The writing style is very dense and uninspiring.

Who knew that the story about a slave woman accusing her masters son (whose lover she is and who has given her 4 children) of breaking his word and not giving her freedom could be so dull.

((This is set in South Africa btw so as far as I can tell slaves could lodge complaints against their owners.Its all explained a bit badly in the book.

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Litrvixen | 16 other reviews | Jun 23, 2022 |
‘There are only two types of madness we should guard against. One is the belief that we can do everything. The other is the belief that we can do nothing.’


A Dry White Season is a sad, depressing look at racial prejudices in apartheid South Africa through the story of a white man trying to bring justice to the memory of a black man. Ben du Toit is a schoolteacher whose life changes when he becomes involved with the family of the school caretaker Gordon Ngubene. Set around the Soweto Riots the book deals with the futile endeavours of an individual to overcome injustice by the state. This book was banned in South Africa. It was made into a film in 1989.

The story itself is incredibly gripping. I read it in only a few sittings, but had to stop reading it on the train, instead waiting until I was home, because I was scared of my own emotional reaction.
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KittyCatrinCat | 22 other reviews | Aug 29, 2021 |

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Statistics

Works
99
Also by
6
Members
4,464
Popularity
#5,610
Rating
3.8
Reviews
107
ISBNs
462
Languages
17
Favorited
15

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