I read this one 7 months ago. It's my favorite book I've read this year. Totally captivating from the beginning. Wonderful storytelling. I love when books are able to make you root so hard for the main character. It's a book that I can confidently recommend to anyone because it seems impossible that anyone wouldn't love this book. This is two years in a row where my favorite book of the year has been a South African novel, with Too Late the Phalarope from Alan Paton being my favorite last year. My Dad served his mission in South Africa and gave me both books. I'm not sure how long ago he read this one, but I liked that I found a little note card in his recognizable cursive handwriting where he had written a beautiful line from the novel: "The loneliness bird has entered to build a nest of stones in the hollow place inside of me." Just a beautiful, powerful book. Such a satisfying ending as well. If you happened to stumble on this blog post and haven't read this book, then go read it now. You will not be disappointed.
Some quotes:
"[T]he power of one...in each of us there burns a flame of independence that must never be allowed to go out. That as long as it exists within us we cannot be destroyed."
"The smallest sign that someone is worried for him is like a fire on the dark mountain. When a man knows somebody cares, he keeps some small place, a corner maybe of his soul, clean and lit."
"[A]s far as I knew, God was a man, and therefore He'd obviously like boxing a lot better than dancing."
"[I]n this world are very few things made from logic alone. It is illogical for a man to be too logical. Some things we must just let stand. The mystery is more important than any possible explanation.... The searcher after truth must search with humanity. Ruthless logic is the sign of a limited mind. The truth can only add to the sum of what you know, while a harmless mystery left unexplored often adds to the meaning of life. When a truth is not so important, it is better left as a mystery."
"The power of one is above all things the power to believe in yourself, often well beyond any latent ability you may have previously demonstrated."
