Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62616 in Books
• Published on: 1998-08-06
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Synopsis
No stranger to the injustice of racial hatred, five-year-old Peekay learns the hard way the first secret of survival and self-preservation - the power of one. An encounter with amateur boxer Hoppie Groenewald inspires in Peekay a fiery ambition - to be welterweight champion of the world.

Customer Reviews

The Spirit of Africa
I just loved the whole feel of the African Continent that is hovering barely below the surface of this book. I felt the superstitious beliefs of the people that led them to adopt a small boy as a tribal chief and follow his boxing prowess throughout the years.

We meet Peekay at the age of 5 when his mother is admitted to hospital after a breakdown and he is sent to boarding school. As the youngest by 2 years and the only Rooineck (British South African), he gets a really rough time, but it paves the way for the person he is to become. He becomes adept at blending into the background and begins his life search for 'the power of one' - the strength that keeps him one step ahead of his tormentors and results in a fierce determination to learn to box.
As we follow him through his school years he meets some very unusual and influential people, all of whom help to map his character and develop him into a rather unbelievable yet charismatic all-rounder.
I would have dropped a point for these super-man qualities, but the book was a gem in spite of this.

I would never have read this if it hadn't been chosen as a (rather long!) book group read and I am so pleased I did. At the end I felt there was need for a sequel and it seems that 18 years later, in 2007, one was written. Tandia is the story of an African woman who meets Peekay after he leaves us in the copper mines. At 920 pages it's a huge tome, but I'll certainly keep my eyes open for it.

My favourite book for the last 10 years
I was given this book to read by my Mum. I loved it she got me my own copy so she could read hers again.

This book doesn't tire it is just as good the 40th time.
It holds your breath it makes you cry it makes you clap and sigh.

I am on my 3rd copy now.

Its not a big book when the pages fly past when you cant put it down

Amongst my top 5 favorite novels
This book, together with The Count of Monte Cristo rank amongst my most enjoyable read ever. Full of charm and humour albeit somewhat exagerated in terms of the amazing life Peekay has by the time he reaches 16 years of age but nontheless, a truly fantastic and memorable book. You will without a doubt, go hunting for "Tandia", the follow up to Power of One . Well done again Bryce.