Alan Paton: Selected Letters by Peter Alexander

ISBN: 9780981426402 / 0981426409 - Alan Paton: Selected Letters, edited and introduced by Peter Alexander. Published by Van Riebeeck Society, 2009. Hardcover. Used, As New condition. 496 pp.

This publication is a collection of nearly 350 previously unpublished letters by one of South Africa’s greatest novelists. It throws a sharp light on a wide array of aspects of the country’s history in the 20th century. The letters range over Paton’s long life. When he wrote the first of the letters reproduced in this volume, in January 1922, he was 18 years old, a brilliant student at Natal University College. When he wrote the last of them, in March 1988, he was 85 and within a fortnight of his death.

Paton clearly enjoyed the give and take of letter-writing and was dedicated to it. Many letter-writers seem to produce monologues; Paton’s correspondence is more like a series of vigorous conversations. His engagement with other human beings and his capacity for friendship are everywhere on display. His letters, full of insights into his personality and principles, are the major aspect of his writings to remain largely unpublished. The publication of this selection begins the process of filling the gap.

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