This book will open your eyes to the fascinating world of publishing, as you are guided by one of publishings most storied veterans, Charles Scribner.

Scribner's collection of thoughts and essays is a must read for any aspiring novelist, publisher, or teacher.

I read this book in my sophomore year of high school, and wasn't very fond of it. My classmates agreed.
The book had an interesting plot, I can give it that at least. Kumalo, a South African priest, travels to Johanessburg, a huge city, to find that his entire family has basically forgotten him. His brother doesn't recognize him, his sister lives in the slums, and his son... well, I won't go there as I don't want to give away the plot.
My major complaint about the book is the writing style. It's confusing, lengthy, and one of my friends said they could have cut an entire page of what Paton said into about 3 words. Another complaint I have was that when reading it, it was hard for me to understand who was talking, because the dialogue same as Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. There aren't any quotation marks in the entire book.

All in all, the writing style is just plain tedious for those who don't enjoy it. Who knows, maybe my 15 year old mind can't quite fully appreciate the "genius" of Paton's writing. But that's just me. As you can tell from other reviews listed here, other people obviously love the writing style. Although I found it confusing and unnecessary.

To wrap things up, I would give this book a 2.5 if it were possible... I enjoyed the story, but I disliked the way it was written.

When first published in 1948 in apartheid South Africa, Cry, the Beloved Country raised more than eyebrows as a powerful book about the power of unity and an author's unflinching hope of a future where segregation no longer exists. The book summoned feelings of pride, optimism, and anticipation of a long-desired goal. But Paton's lyrical, poetic prose is not your typical run-of-the-mill anger evoking story about discrimination. The story is a humanizing experience that evokes feelings of sympathy and understanding, not hatred for a system so blatantly wrong.

In Cry, the Beloved Country, readers feel an uncanny connection to three things: the land, an old black rural priest searching in a corrupt city for his son, and an old white rural man confronting the loss of his son. All three aspects of the book are connected by a common thread. And a great thing about the book is that Paton doesn't feel the need to build up to the emotional climax by setting the readers against a well defined antagonist, or even an antagonist at all; on a micro-scale, the story is a moving tribute to man's inherent dignity; on a macro-scale, the themes and plethora of symbols are applied to man's all-too mortal nature.

This book is also a can't-miss for any fans of poetry who want to read a good work of prose. As the New Republic puts it, Cry, the Beloved Country is "the greatest novel to emerge out of the tragedy of South Africa, and one of the best novels of our time." I would be inclined to agree.

I first read the book when I was in high school for our novel section of AP English. As a writer now, it is strangely thrilling to see how Paton's ideas and poetry influenced my own prose. "The Grapes of Wrath" by Steinbeck was good, but I felt that it lacked the words of the heart that Paton writes with. Never have I read a more simple and profound book, so lovingly crafted, so authentic and natural, that some fifty years later after Paton wrote the novel, it still has not been superceded. Kumalo's plight is everyman's plight; his burden our burden; his son our son. Dear students, don't read this book because your teacher tells you to, you will learn nothing that way. Read it, because you earnestly desire it, because it is well worth it.

If you're interested in this sort of thing as I am this book could be of great value however the price is unreal. I have a CD that does much the same for the entire country at a third the price of one state however this book is MUCH more accurate and shows county boundaries that only occured for as little as three days. The CD is also easier to use. That said I'll likely ask for the book as one of those Christmas presents I wouldn't buy for myself.