Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Too Late the Phalarope

Too Late the Phalarope
Author: Alan Paton
ISBN: 168182
Publication Date: 1953
Pages: 272
Rating:
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 1

3 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Scribner
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Write a Review

Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Too Late the Phalarope on + 77 more book reviews
This book takes us into another world, showing the struggle of one man against his own heart in his own culture, and the far-reaching effects his failure has. We know this from the opening pages, narrated by his elderly aunt, who is a nearly omniscient narrator throughout. We hear the protagonist's voice sometimes, too. But what happens when you're obsessed with the idea of possessing a woman not your own? And you live in Apartheid South Africa mid-twentieth-century? And you are from a deeply religious family with mythically-strong family traditions?

The conflict is strong enough on its own, and in the hands of Alan Paton (*Cry the Beloved Country*) it is especially heartbreakingly beautiful.