Most Popular Books by Alan Paton

Sams local 11-4-2003 $14.95.

From the author of Cry, The Beloved Country comes a powerful novel of terror and remorse “written in exquisitely balanced prose” (Chicago Sun-Times) about a white policeman who has an affair with a native girl in South Africa. After violating his country’s ironclad law governing relationships between the races, a young white South African police lieutenant must struggle alone against the censure of an inflexible society, his family, and himself.

For millions of readers worldwide, Alan Paton''s books have vividly described life in contemporary South Africa. Ah, But Your Land Is Beautiful revolves around the everyday experiences of a group of men and women whose lives reflect the human costs of maintaining a racially divided society. Writing at the peak of his powers, Paton delivers a masterpiece.

Alan Paton''s novel tells the story of the South African people and their struggles in the wake of colonial rule.

An anthology of short stories, poems, essays and speeches; the writings run the range from Christian hope of overcoming injustice to deep feelings of paralysis and sterility. Chronologically arranged, they are divided into sections corresponding to Paton''s life interests: penal reform, literature and opposition to apartheid, first within, and then outside the Liberal Party. The speeches and articles often refer to martyrdom; the poems range from a humorous treatment of political self-censorship to the extraordinary 1946-47 ""The Prison House,"" a powerful statement of the so-called Bettelheim syndrome of identifying with the oppressor.

Based on the original edition; first published in 1946, actually 2 years before the South African government began to enact apartheid. Deals with the racial problems of South Africa in a very absorbing way through the life of a Zulu pastor, his son, and a land and a people riven by racial injustice. Passionately African, yet timeless and universal, it is a work of searing beauty. Arguably the most deeply moving story about apartheid and racism ever written. A true classic. "The greatest novel to emerge out of the tragedy of South Africa, and one of the best novels of our time."-- The New Republic

Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace. Thus begins the beloved prayer of the Italian friar Saint Francis of Assisi, which well expresses his sentiments as a preacher of peace, love, and unity. Author and anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton drew upon the Prayer of Saint Francis to write Instrument of Peace (originally titled Instrument of Thy Peace) while his wife Dorrie lay dying of emphysema. Among many others, Paton said he wrote this book for those: Who wish with all their hearts to be better, purer, less selfish, more useful Who do not wish to be cold in love, and who know that being cold in love is perhaps the worst sin of them all Who wish to keep their faith bright and burning in a dark and faithless world Who seek not so much to lean on God as to be the active instrument of His peace “Sometimes we cannot pray because we are fallen into a melancholy and therefore have for the time lost our hope and our faith and have no one to pray to,” Paton wrote. “I am in unrepayable debt to Francis of Assisi, for when I pray his prayer, or even remember it, my melancholy is dispelled, my self-pity comes to an end, my faith is restored, because of this majestic conception of what the work of a disciple should be.”

Ten stories dealing with social injustice in South Africa.

Consists chiefly of essays first published in the periodical Contact from 1958-1966. "Appendix B: Checklist of The long view [essasy from Contact] by Alan Paton": p. 279-282.

In a South African boys'' reformatory, an African boy and the white principal try to understand each other.

A book about Paton''s marriage and a celebration of his life.

Continues the first volume of the South African author''s autobiography beginning in 1948. Covers all of his writings and his political and personal life.

A distinguished collection of short pieces and essays written by Alan Paton that testify to the mounting and explosive violence that has rocked the modern history of South Africa.

Alan Paton, South Africa''s most highly respected author of "Cry, the Beloved Country", reviews the formative years of his life. The son of strict parents, Alan grew to despise his father''s use of violence to assert authority and developed a deep love for human freedom and dignity.

This world-renowned writer views the spiritual dilemmas of twentieth-century man and offers his affirmation of Christian faith