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by Donald McRae

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  • ISBN: 1847379656
  • Category: No category
  • Author: Donald McRae
  • Other formats: txt lit mobi lrf
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd (29 Mar 2012) (2012)
  • Pages: 432 pages
  • FB2 size: 1603 kb
  • EPUB size: 1314 kb
  • Rating: 4.9
  • Votes: 712
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Donald McRae's memoir of growing up in apartheid-era South .

Donald McRae's memoir of growing up in apartheid-era South Africa offers an unflinching view of a nation in which all logic is inverted, writes David Smith. There could be no more salutary reminder of this than reading Donald McRae's exquisitely framed memoir, Under Our Skin, recalling a not-so-distant era when people were dying, and being tortured, and being conscripted to fight in defence of a twisted ideology. Artistic expression and political expression really were a matter of life or death. McRae, a white boy of British descent, grew up in a comfortable middle-class bubble.

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The McRaes, like so many white people, seemed oblivious to the violent injustices of apartheid. Under Our Skinis a memoir of these tumultuous years in South Africa's history, as told through the author's family story. As the author grew up, the political differences between father and son widened and when Don refused to join up for National Service, risking imprisonment or exile overseas, the two were torn apart.

Donald McRae's exquisitely framed memoir, Under Our Skin, recalls a not-so-distant era when people were dying . A moving memoir of a father and son s conflict in a white South African family during apartheid -Sunday Times.

Donald McRae's exquisitely framed memoir, Under Our Skin, recalls a not-so-distant era when people were dying, and being tortured, and being conscripted to fight in defense of a twisted ideology. This is also a father-and-son story. In his unfailingly crisp and understated prose, McRae recalls with great tenderness how his dad nursed him when he cut his face open on a metal bedstead - Observer. McRae's sober, well-crafted memoir captures the moral nuances as well as the horrors of the apartheid era.

Read unlimited books and audiobooks on the web, iPad, iPhone and Android. Risking everything one dark and rainy night Ian McRae travelled secretly into the black township of Soweto to meet members of Nelson Mandela's then banned African National Congress to discuss ways to bring power to black South Africa. He had no political ambitions; he was just a man trying to replace the worst in himself with something better.

A moving memoir of thelife of a white South African family under apartheid, and the clash between father and so. The evil of apartheid was in its detail.

A moving memoir of thelife of a white South African family under apartheid, and the clash between father and son. Ed Caesar. March 25 2012, 12:01am, The Sunday Times. Soweto in 1987: Ian McRae would bring the township electricity (Noel Watson/IDAF). But apartheid’s prejudices also seeped into the humdrum of daily life

Aggett was born in Nanyuki, Kenya, and his family moved to South Africa in 1964, where he attended Kingswood College . McRae, Donald (2012). Under Our Skin: A White Family's Journey through South Africa's Darkest Years. ISBN 978-1-84737-967-2.

Aggett was born in Nanyuki, Kenya, and his family moved to South Africa in 1964, where he attended Kingswood College (South Africa) in Grahamstown from 1964 to 1970, and later the University of Cape Town, where he completed a medical degree in 1976. Aggett worked as a physician in Black hospitals (under apartheid hospitals were segregated) in Umtata, Tembisa and later at Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, working in Casualty and learning to speak basic Zulu.

Under Our Skin: A White Family's Journey Through South Africa's Darkest Years by Donald McRae .

3 Jun 2012: Donald McRae's memoir of growing up in apartheid-era South Africa offers an unflinching view of a nation in which all logic is inverted, writes David Smith. Katie Piper: I asked Mum to kill me. 2 Jun 2012

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The true story of an ordinary white family living under apartheid in South Africa, torn apart by an extraordinary country. Don McRae came of age in a South Africa where his father would call the black men he met 'boy' and where his mother gave their black servants old tin mugs and metal plates for their meals in the backyard. The McRaes, like so many white people, seemed oblivious to the violent injustices of apartheid. As the author grew up, the political differences between father and son widened and when Don refused to join up for National Service, risking imprisonment or exile overseas, the two were torn apart. The detention and torture of two young white doctors, Neil Aggett and Liz Floyd, then unhinged the family in dramatic circumstances. At John Vorster Square, the notorious security police headquarters in Johannesburg, the couple suffered a terrible and haunting fate. Years later, the author discovered that the father with whom he had fought so bitterly had transformed himself into a political hero. Risking everything one dark and rainy night, Ian McRae travelled secretly into the black township of Soweto to meet members of Nelson Mandela's then banned African National Congress, trying to bring power to black South Africa. He had no political ambitions; he was just a man trying to replace the worst in himself with something better. Under Our Skin is a memoir of these tumultuous years in South Africa's history, told through the author's family. It offers an intimate and penetrating perspective on life under apartheid, and tells a story of courage and fear, hope and love, especially between a father and his son. About the Author Donald McRae is the award-winning author of seven books. He is one of only two authors to have won the prestigious William Hill award twice, for Dark Trade and In Black & White. As a journalist he has twice won Sports Interviewer of the Year - as well as winning Sports Feature Writer of the Year.
Reviews about Under Our Skin: A White Family's Journey Through South Africa's Darkest Years (6):
Purebinder
I loved the start of this book - the early years in Witbank and Germiston. I was interested in the Barbara Hogan and Neil Aggett bit; yet somewhat disappointed that Donald was reporting about them like a historian. He was simply getting on with his own very privileged and and advantaged life - enjoying the Black services and indulging himself in education to avoid the army. And finally when he'd sampled it all he departed for greener pastures, leaving us to deal with the realities of South African life. What a pity that he didn't stay to make a difference. I'm left with a sense of a spoilt, cowardly, ugrateful boy - feeling that if he didnt have a connected father that this book would never (and probably quite rightly so)have been published...I shudder to think of readers imagining all White South Africans with cheerful Maggie's shining our shoes, adoring Daddy's buying us cars whilst pursuing endless fulltime studies, partying till dawn in the Soweto shebeens, indulging in 'forbidden' sex - and playing hero - hero in the black schools. Many of us were trying to earn a meagre living, cleaning our own shoes and simply fitting in with laws made by those in 'power' at the time..And when we could make a difference WE WERE HERE TO CAST OUR VOTES.. Since Donald found it all so unpalatable, where was he?
Zamo
For those white men , now aged 45 plus this book takes you back in time to the South Africa of innocence prior even to awareness of the evils of apartheid and through the tumultuous years leading to its demise . A very true reflection of white South Africa , where Germiston could have been one of many English speaking ,South African suburbs and Germiston High School could have been any one of scores of state run effective and efficient schools .A great pity that the author paints so much in cliched terms . White is bad .Black is good,State is bad ,townships are filled with righteous and good comrades. Life is Grey and a pity McRae does not use his observational skills to give a more rounded picture of the subtleties of South Africa's move away from the abhorrent system of apartheid.
porosh
It could have been a biography about my own life. Will generally appeal to those who lived through those horrific apartheid years
Agalen
An excellent, insightful and thought-provoking book, written with sensitivity and honesty. It gives a greater understanding, not only of South Africa under apartheid but also the modern day country.
Wohald
When apartheid was at its height I struggled to understand how white South Africans could tolerate the evils of their government. Those few that I had contact with seemed to disclaim any responsibility, blaming everything on Afrikanerdom. This fascinating story shows how discrimination and race consciousness was built into every part of society and day-to-day living, and impossible to escape from without major sacrifice. Donald McRae knew from an early age that he would have to emigrate to avoid national service, leaving his family behind.

There are three main strands to the book - (1) McRae's own story, (2) the torture of Dr Neil Aggett and his friends, leading to his suicide, and (3) the achievements of McRae's father in bringing electricity to black areas (even though, in the eyes of many whites, they didn't really want it!!) All three strands are fascinating and could merit telling in their own right. Editing the book must have been a major challenge and could have been done differently, but the nature of the South African experience shines out throughout.

I would have liked to read more of McRae's life after he left his homeland, and something about how the torturers fared in the new South Africa - but a line on what is included and excluded has to be drawn somewhere. Sometimes the fictional prose style grates a little, describing events and attitudes that McRae himself did not directly witness - but that is a minor concern in a work which is well worth reading for anybody wanting to understand better a culture which has thankfully gone.

I couldn't help making comparisons between McRea's South Africa and present day Israel. I have no way of knowing how similar the mindset and activities of the South African and Israeli states actually are, but perhaps another book like this one will be written in 40 years time which will tell us.
Rgia
Very well written, gives a real flavour of the times. The anecdotes are often emotional but never lapse into sentimentality. McRae is one of my favourite non fiction writers, and this book like his others that I have read, show a real grasp of his subject. Highly recomended!

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