Description
Orphan of the Desert is not a book of adventure, it is itself an adventure. It is a journey one travels again, sharing the light and shade, the tastes, smells, the joy of meeting inimitable characters with an experienced, wise and witty companion, the author Uys Krige. For here is assembled a choice selection from among the liveliest sketches, anecdotes and conversation pieces written by one of the most versatile pens in South African literature. Whether the author is taking one for a ride with South Africa’s now almost legendary poet Roy Campbel or looking with wonder and terderness at a creature as nearly as possible his opposite – the little deaf-mute Somali girl – the sense of immediacy, of strong clear vision is the same. This is what makes a unity of fifteen widely varying pieces. It is part of the style and personality of the writing; and is itself a justification of one of the strong pleas made in the book – for bilingualism. Some of these pieces were first written in Afrikaans and translated by the author, others direct in English, yet they all have the naturalness of original work and the ease which quietly oversteps boundaries and distinctions and makes of the art of writing a vital and unifying force.
