Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy

"Jude the Obscure was undoubtedly the place to be on Wednesday evenings if you were in Oxford. Especially if, like Refilwe and the other inhabitants of J9, you knew that there was as much knowledge and relaxation to be found in pubs as there was in books" (107).

Jude the Obscure summary, sparknotes http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jude/summary.html:

"Jude Fawley dreams of studying at the university in Christminster, but his background as an orphan raised by his working-class aunt leads him instead into a career as a stonemason. He is inspired by the ambitions of the town schoolmaster, Ricahrd Phillotson, who left for Christminster when Jude was a child. However, Jude falls in love with a young woman named Arabella, is tricked into marrying her, and cannot leave his home village. When their marriage goes sour and Arabella moves to Australia, Jude resolves to go to Christminster at last. However, he finds that his attempts to enroll at the university are met with little enthusiasm."

J. M. Coetzee

"The two of you ended up quarrelling. And you spent the rest of the night trying to read yourself back to sleep with John Maxwell Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians; seeing Confessions and Aplogies filling every page you turned" (53).

"You would also remember the grisly details, draped in tears, from the testimonies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, of South African policemen enjoying their beer and braai while black dissenters roasted alongside their meat in the heat of a summer day- stuff that would be called surrealism or magic realism or some other strange realism were it simply told or written as a piece of fiction"

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/10/98/truth_and_reconciliation/204015.stm

Truth Report: Key Points

On PW Botha
The report names gross violations of human rights committed by agents of the South African state during the period that Mr Botha was president. These include:
"The deliberate and unlawful killing and attempted killing of persons opposed to the policies of the government within and outside South Africa"
"The widespread use of torture and other forms of severe ill treatment against such persons"
"The forcible abduction of such persons who were resident in neighbouring countries"

Hillbrow

"Tied into an embrace with Spar was Sweet Caroline; not Neil Diamond's piece of music, but a different kind of tune- a bottle store- which soothed the exhaustion and taste buds of Hillbrowans living in this part of the world. " (8).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_AVH96vS8g

Bone of My Heart

"She thought of her own vow that she would soon join her Refentse and the other Bone of her Heart in Heaven. But it would not be through suicide" Her mind was not ready to give up the fight" (pg. 117).

The Bone of My Heart
by Oryem Onguti Loguca
"Whatever is portrayed in this work, one can look into our daily mirror of life, which we shall, indeed share, because of our common origin and appreciation of life. In the midst of all our sufferings, life ought to be carried on. Those who sing the dirges of such traumatized nations are; orphans, widows, refugees, disabled, AIDS victims and the displaced. From the street corners, refugee camps, funeral homes, bus stations, market squares, and deserted villages, we shall sing our songs, on our own behalf and for our ancestors who are long gone before us. If we can fix ourselves in these few pages of The Bone Of My Heart, let us do it!"

Steal a Day

Steal a day

Out of your limited

Life Span

And let your sweetheart

Steal a day in lifetime

Then be infatuated

In the storms you provoked

In the encounters of your hearts

You shall know you are in flames,

Trembling,

In needs you have stirred,

That day,

Stolen

Out of your lives...hearts.

Nelson Mandela and the Rainbow Nation

"South Africans, black and white, were very fine people these days, thanks to the release of Rohihlahla Mandela from Robben Island in 1990 and his push for the 1994 democratic elections" (100).


"Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another…"
-Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Address, Pretoria 9 May 1994.

Nelson Mandela's idealist promise, a beautiful one in theory, has never been realized in practice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_MRYqhZ50Y

Castle Lager "the taste that stood the test of time"

"There, the taste that stood the test of time was a constant sight on their tables and in their hands as the laughed, talked or danced the evening away" (108).

Some Castle Lager Reviews from thebackpacker.net :

"You come across beers every so often that all you want to do is drink them and watch rugby all day. Castle is one of them. Unfortuntely rugby lasts only 80minutes but you CAN drink castle larger all day"

"Many other beers are better, but if you are stuck in South Africa this will do. Have a good look for something else before you settle for a poor quality beer like this."

Stimela

"With Stimela's See the World through the Eyes of a Child...providing the muscial background to your brooding, you sat alone on your twentieth-floor balcony, thinking your gloomy thoughts about love, friendship and the whole puprose of living..." (24)

Stimela-
See The World (Through the Eyes of a Child)



It don’t hurt no more
Cause I’m stealing into the night
This broken heart
Won’t you please write a letter to yourself?
Maybe we’ll touch base when I can see your thoughts
Won’t you please take this child far away?
There’s too much blood flowing around
Please be safe this child
Won’t you please take this child by the hand?
Put a smile on the child’s face so scared and knows no other
Always feeling so alone
Won’t you please take this time to right the wrong?
That wasn’t her intent to mess with you
Say it loud say it loud say it loud and clear
I made a call to the missing people’s bureau
I wrote a song I had never sung
Your voice on the other side
Such pained and old I said son
There’s no time for a second call
Try again tomorrow so I’m glued
I say take my son take my pain to my pay check and love
But please take the child
With a little help from our friends
From our friends in high places
From our friends in even higher places
We can save the child
Now won’t you please be responsible
Now take your time to take think about the needs of a child
It’s their world we’re living in
See the world through the eyes of a child imagine yourself in the same situation
You got nobody you know no other you’re so lonely say in the darkness
You were a child once
Love is a destination
Belonging and respiration in good time
See the world through the eyes of a child
Take this child away from me too much blood flowing

Bafana Bafana

"You would remember the last occasion in 1995, when Bafana Bafana won against Ivory Coast and, in their jubilation, people in Hillbrow hurled bottles of all sorts from their flat balconies" (1).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOwaEVYD0Iw

World Cup 2010, South Africa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1nn4nr5VgA