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Cry, the Beloved Country

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Cry, the Beloved Country

By: Alan Paton
Narrated by: Michael York
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About this listen

This is the most distinguished novel that has come out of South Africa in the 20th century, and it is one of the most important novels that has appeared anywhere in modern times. Cry, the Beloved Country is in some ways a sad book; it is an indictment of a social system that drives native races into resentment and crime; it is a story of Fate, as inevitable, as relentless, as anything of Thomas Hardy's. Beautifully wrought with high poetic compassion, Cry, the Beloved Country is more than just a story, it is a profound experience of the human spirit. And beyond the intense and insoluble personal tragedy, it is the story of the beautiful and tragic land of South Africa, its landscape, its people, and its bitter racial ferment and unrest.

©1948, 1976 Alan Paton (P)1993 Blackstone Audiobooks Christian Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Classics Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant  
Beautiful book. Cannot stop thinking about it. It felt as if I were there with the characters in South Africa.

Stunning!

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I loved this book. I felt like I was in South Africa as the descriptions were so clear. While heart breaking, it is a brilliant story.

The boy shame was the narration as it was in a British accent so a lot of the words were incorrectly pronounced.

Outstanding

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please get narrators that can read African languages. Michael York is an excellent English narrator but did a terrible job with the isiZulu parts. the book would be deeply enriched by voices like that of John Kani or Gcina Mhlophe etc...

get better narrators

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A snapshot of South Africa on the cusp of apartheid. Emotional, brilliant. Depth of character is compulsive. Michael York executes it wonderfully.

I dare you not to cry.

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A compelling read, setting the recent history of South Africa in context. Wonderfully developed characters throughout. Very well narrated.

A must-read book, very well narrated

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well read, well written, a job to listen to, and a book still valid today as the day it was written

still relevant

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Where does Cry, the Beloved Country rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best - great descriptive writing, dignified characters, a moving plot

What did you like best about this story?

Cry the Beloved Country really brings home the devastation wrought on local communities by industrialisation and urbanisation

What does Michael York bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Michael York's reading brings all the characters to life as dignified human beings

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The trial and of course the ending.

A beautiful sad book about a beautiful sad country

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Alan Paton is one of South Africa’s greatest writers and this is the best of his work. Superb. However, while the narration is well done, some of the local South African pronunciations are lamentable. Is it too much to ask that a reader take counsel on this topic or, even better, that a South African be used?

Superb writing but …

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It would be nice that the person reading was South African, or could pronounce names and places properly.

It would be nice with a South African reader

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The narrator was excellent and gave the real magic of the story. You could nearly smell the dust of Johannesburg.

Wonderful book.

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