A Blade of Grass

by Lewis DeSoto

Book Overview

Marit Laurens, a young woman of British descent, recently orphaned and newly wed, comes to live with her husband Ben on their farm, situated in an Edenic setting on the border of South Africa and an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060554266
• ISBN13: 9780060554262
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 389 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

One of my all time favorite books.

There have been several reviews written about this book that tell you what you need to know about the subject. The only thing I'm going to tell you is that I loved it and have put it on my all time favorite list along with Moby Dick, Jane Eyre and To Kill A Mockingbird.. Enough said.

Even a blade of grass makes a difference

"A Blade of Grass" by Lewis DeSoto is one of my favorite books of all time. The main theme of the story is self-searching and looking for your place in the world. Who are you? Is it dependent on other people? Are you always the same person in different places, times and environments? What's love? What's frienship? Those and many other questions had the author in mind when wirting the novel. "A Blade of Grass" is a beautiful story of trying to survive, breaking the waves and fighting ourselves. There's no need to point out all the aspects of the book, because it's so multi-dimensional that everyone should find his own views on it. A must-read for sensitive readers, who are not afraid of asking questions and thinking on many levels.

A Complex Metaphoric Novel of Apartheid

From the first words of this novel, the reader is propelled into the world of the inhabitants of a farm in South Africa on the eve of the increasingly oppressive laws prohibiting blacks from living in certain areas. Superbly well-plotted, the novel describes the complexity of relationships between blacks and whites during this critical historical time, and charts the reality of the effects of apartheid in the everyday lives of the characters, most particularly, the repression and violence that such a system engenders. Still, in the person of Tembi, there is enormous humanity and hope for the future, though the novel does not flinch from describing loss, pain, and violence. To me, the novel raises the important issue of how safe any home can be if it is erected on an edifice of inequity -- an issue that transcends what happened in South Africa. Throughout, the desire of each character for a meaningful, dignified life is artfully explored. And the land is delinated in such a way that it too becomes a character. I couldn't put this novel down.

Beautiful African voice

DeSoto's writing brings Africa alive ... both in landscape and in the human relationships that defined apartheid. The loss in this book is tremendous and continues to break your heart right up until the end. DeSoto's strength is in his descriptions of the land and in his characters. In the framework of South African apartheid, he describes the impact of both nature and nurture on how we develop our personal relationships in the world and the price we pay when we go against all we believe is true. The back drop of the story is the landscape of a disappearing Africa; the contours of the land are loved and revered and hated, at times, by the characters. DeSoto does an excellent job of describing the different views of the land - depending on which side of the apartheid line that you live. A truly beautiful debut. I hope that DeSoto has many more books in him! I rarely give out five stars to any book but I think Mr. DeSoto's next one may deserve it.

Wonderful Debut

At times lyrical, this first novel of Lewis DeSoto begins with a great deal of potential. Here are two women who have lost--parents, husband. Here are two women in apartheid South Africa, one black and one white. DeSoto describes grief poignantly without being over the top, but he fails on two points: his dialogue is wooden and he often isn't as subtle as he could be, pointing out his lyricism to the reader too blatantly. DeSoto has a solid start though--he will learn to develop characters through dialogue and create believable conversations. He will draw in the scenery without making obvious metaphors. After all, if he can create sorrow in such a fashion, he can create life. A bit lengthy, this novel is still completely readable and worth the read. The chapters are short and despite my frustrations, I did have a hard time putting it down. There is an investment from the reader into these pages and I know DeSoto is a valuable author.