Product Description
This is the story of two families - branches of the Solomons - transported to an alien land, both of whom eventually grow rich and powerful but who, through three generations, never for one moment relinquish their hatred for each other. It is also the story of our country from the beginning until we came of age as a nation. I have learned a great deal about Australia and those things which concern us as a people and make us, in many ways, who we are today. To write this book, I visited Gallipoli and came away deeply saddened by the terrible waste of our young blood. We would never be quite the same again.It has been a grand adventure and I hope that you will find Solomon's Song a good and powerful story. No writer can possibly hope for more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Final book
The only problem with this book is it ends. I have enormously enjoyed the trilogy and I put off buying this last installment because the reviews seemed slightly negative and I couldn't find a copy at a reasonable price. I love it. Great characterization, fantastic plot--it's better than being at the movies. The fact that it has to end is a true bummer. Now I have to rent the movie Gallipoli to watch it again with the insight I've gained from reading this book.

Final book of the trilogy
Bryce Courtenay is a solid writer.Starting with the Potato Factory, through Tommo & Hawk, and concluding with this book, he weaves a tale of four generations.As with all the books, this has highs and lows.I read it with my wife and she laughed and cried loudly at different parts.My only commens really relates to plot -- I wish that Bryce would have written the last paragraph differently.Saying anymore would spoil the plot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

must read
this is an epic novel for all time! I saw the movie as a child in my grandparents living room, from that point on I decided I was going to find it. it took me several years to find the book. it has been my favourite book since that time. It is hard for an author to relate to so many people hit so many social issues on the head. Mr. Courtenay has managed to do just that. before this novel I would have NEVER read for pleasure. now I cant get my head out of books. I have often re read this book and given it to others to read as well, never have I heard an ill word about this book. I am now on my 5th book as they get too worn or I give them away for others to read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comment on the audio edition
Bryce Courtenay is an amazing writer from Australia; probably the best and the best known.His books are near impossible to find in the US without spending a fortune.Why they are not available in bookstores is a mystery.I have listened to all but three. This means 15 audio books! The Australian Trilogy consists of three books, The Potato Factory, Tommo and Hawk, and Solomon's Song.I will not give a synopsis here because it can be read in other reviews.Humphrey Bower, the reader is absolutely the best male reader I have ever listened to.I actually purchased this in book form to be able to share with my friends.Bryce Courtenay books are available in audio form.Once you start you will never stop until you read each one.Maybe his books are not sold here because they are stories about South Africa and Australia.What counts is that they are about the Human Condition, and the Human Condition is the same all over the world.The names and the places are different, but the stories he tells are about what humans experience no matter where they are.Love, hate, war, superb individuals and horrible, cruel, and sadistic individuals.Heroes, heroines, the downtrodden.Bryce Courtenay's books are populated by people of every color and creed.Humphrey Bower brings them all to life.He does accents brillantly.He makes you laugh and he makes you cry.Humphrey Bower does Bryce Courtenay proud. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Beautiful thoughts and pictures for the journey
Bryce Courtenay and illustrations by Anie Williams, A Recipe for Dreaming (Camberwell: Penguin, 2007)

Reviewed by Darren Cronshaw

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" Einstein announced. Imagination also often comes to us in different ways than knowledge. We might be able to acquire lots of knowledge through reading hundreds of pages, listening to lots of people and asking multiple questions. But I am realising imagination is cultivated in other slower, more subtle and often more solitary ways.

In the past I have enjoyed Bryce Courtenay as an author of 500+ page novels. Last week I discovered his thought in a new genre - a coffee table or gift-type book with 40 reflections, sayings and quotes about creative dreaming. Each double page is accompanied by an awesome illustration or "visual poem" by Anie Williams.

I reflected over Courtenay and Williams' combination of words and pictures while walking up and down the river at Warburton. It helped me cultivate my imagination, dream and pray, and listen to my wife Jenni over a day of retreat, coffee and cafe meals.

A Recipe for Dreaming offers ingredients for daring, wild and out-of-the-box thinking - following your gut, visualisation, self-affirmation, moving beyond negative self-talk, wise planning, self-discipline and persistence.

I found it went beyond trite success-poster sayings on the one hand, and was not as laborious as goal-setting method books on the other.

For me it prompted dreaming about work, ministry, parenting, gardening, holidays, life and friendships. Each of the pages helps points towards dreams about new pathways and outcomes. Not just "What is?" but "What if?".

As I evaluated options and challenges for the coming year, it inspired me to think big: "Dream the impossible dream and start walking towards it."

As I considered a big project, it called my bluff and challenged me to go for it: "Why then is it that most people seem to be so afraid of success that they'll do almost anything to avoid it?"

As I stressed about the competing demands and pressures of everyday life, it reminded me to stay focused: "Life is too short to iron tea towels."

As I started planning how to make the most of long-service leave, it urged me to consider working on my self: "Add something that makes you more valuable and lovable."

As I wondered why I sometimes feel overwhelmed, it invited me towards breathing deeply and being content: "Feeling sorry for yourself is the ultimate self-indulgence; being happy in yourself is the ultimate fulfilment."
As I was tempted by normal career paths, it encouraged me to pursue the wildest unknown way: "One bright, sunny morning you'll discover the wild and unknown way you took is carpeted with moss and strewn with tiny flowers. It has become a familiar path, a well-trodden direction that has put you miles ahead of anyone else and much, much closer to achieving your once-impossible dream".

As I worried about the risk and challenges, it encouraged me not to play safe: "When you are skating on thin ice, you may as well tap dance."

A Recipe for Dreaming was a gift for refocusing and refreshing my enjoyment of life. It would make a wonderful gift of a small book for yourself or a friend to help cook up imagination and capacity for dreaming and an optimistic outlook on life.

Darren trains leaders and missionaries with the Baptist Union of Victoria and Forge Mission Training Network and looks forward to more monthly coffee dates and dreaming retreats up in the hills at Warburton with his wife Jenni. This review may appear in print later in 2010 in Zadok Perspectives.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Please read a book before reviewing
I was amazed that the person below thought to put a review in for a book he hasn't read.
From the Dymocks web site's description of the book gives a more accurature description. "Bryce Courtney's beloved son Damon, a haemophiliac, died from medically-acquired AIDS on Aprils Fool's day 1991, at the age of 24."

Damon did not chose to have haemophilia, he didn't chose to have blood transfusions and he didn't chose to get HIV. Drugs addiction is not an issue here. It is about a disease caught by no fault of the victim.

What a load
I've got to be honest, I've read 6 pages of this book, and this wasover the shoulder of someone on the bus this morning.

But that was more than enough

In these pages, 2 people became drug addicts (my grandmother could write a more accurate account of amphetamine addiction), one became HIV positive, and went to a dentist.I was shocked at the content and at the thought that a seemingly normal young lady could be reading what i assumed was some fundamentalist christian propaganda wrapped up as a light romance novel.When I saw the cover, and consequently the author, I was shocked.

I am, by no means a Bryce Courtenay fan, but I did read "The power of one" when i was about 10 at my grandparents on holidays and seem to remember it as being more appealing than spending time with my family.But this book (based on those six pages) is so incredibly awful that it prompted my to write a review of it on amazon.I was so appalled at the content I had to check myself to ensure I didn't snatch it out of the readers hands and rip it into pieces.

Bryce Courtenay, I hope you meant well by this, but you have produced nothing but pointless poorly written fluff.

Certainly a VERY painful experience...
I had real trouble with this one. I loved "The Power of One", and hated "Tandia", so I was hoping that "April Fool's Day" would show me whether Bryce Courtenay was a wonderful writer or whether "The Power of One" was a one-off. It did neither. The only thing that it did do for me was explain why "Tandia" was so awful -- working under strict publishing deadlines while his child is extremely ill must have been extremely upsetting.

On the one hand, I applaud Mr. Courtenay for publishing such a personal experience, as I don't know whether I could be as frank as he has been in front of an unknown audience. It certainly would make interesting reading for health-care professionals who treat terminally ill people (not just those with HIV/AIDS/ARC).

On the other hand, the story didn't grab me by the heart. I didn't find Damon particularly heroic, even though I realize that he went through hell for most of his life between the haemophilia and HIV. He was a man who had a pre-existing condition, contracted a disease and lived with and died from the disease. He is no different from anyone who has cancer or any other terminal illness, nor is he different from any other person who consistently has been discriminated against. His story's a personal tragedy, but I didn't get the feeling of the awful things that happened to him a community tragedy... what happened to him is called "life".

Mr. Courtenay gets full marks for detail and poignancy. At times, I did feel that I was going through the process with the Courtenay family... and that made finishing the novel difficult. For example, I thought that I didn't want to go to the hospital AGAIN several times throughout my reading of the book.I liked the depictions of Damon's interactions with his family and caregivers and how Damon addressed obstacles in his treatment as both patient and person.

By the same token, the book was almost too detailed and repetitious in places, leaving me to wonder if I really cared if Damon made it to the next chapter. This also had the result of my feeling like Mr. Courtenay's counsellor/psychotherapist in many places throughout the book, which irritated me.

I'm not sure what to think about this book. It's definitely not a light read, and has some good points, but I don't think that it's one of Mr. Courtenay's must-reads. I'll have to read the next Courtenay book to make my decision on what kind of writer he is.

Why is this book out of print???
I can't believe this book is out of print, it should be required reading for medical students. Although the medical information here is (thankfully) out of date, I can say from first hand experience (UK) that there are still plenty of ignorant, arrogant people working in the medical "profession". That Bryce Courtney found the strength to put his book together isquite amazing, though no doubt a lot of it was driven by justifiable anger and bitterness. Whilst I know a lot about the gay side of Aids, I was fairly unaware of what haemophiliacs have been through, though it is now common knowledge that they were well and truly screwed by governments and health systems in many countries. Bryce Courtney's testament to "the mighty Damon", his son,is constantly heartbreaking, whilst never sinking into sentimentality. I do hope this book will be reprinted at some point, ideally with an update on the current medical situation, for the benefit of any readers who may be in the Courtney family's position and being kept in the dark by their doctors. Whilst Aids is no longer the death sentence it was, books like this are very, very important in the fight for compassion and understanding that still goes on in this terrible war. May the Courtney family find peace.

This book is real because Aids is real.
Bryce Courtenay has shared with us not only the life but the death of his beloved son from Aids in this warm,real ,sad yet beautiful book.It's not only about the experience of losing a loved one,but it also lets us know just how real the disease is...no matter how it is acquired.Bryce's son tragically contracted the virus via blood transfusions needed for his Haemophilia(a blood disorder).This book not only tells us of the courage of young Damien,but also of the power of love his family and girlfriend showed.It also hits on the prejudice and discimination experienced by those with the HIV and makes you realize that that approach is neither necassary nor right. This book is a must for everybody.....It left me breathless,tearful yet stronger. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Frustrating, but fantastic
I recommend this book as it is a highly emotional and involving read.Courtenay's Power of One is my favorite book. One of the earlier reviews said that Jessica's character development was better.I disagree , however, Jessica is still amazing.I couldn't put the book down until I'd finished it.If you like books that incorporate culture, class, and gender issues then Jessica is for you. Jessica gave me a taste of Australia just as the Power of One gave me the warmth of Africa.I didn't cry... much, but I felt the injustice and self-righteousness burning right through me as I read.Unlike one reviewer, I continue to think about this book and its lessons of survival, friendship, and love.

Wonderful Story
I dont even need 1000 words. Every time I went to read this book I was both nervous and anxious. I was scared to find out what happend to this girl next and at the same time, I couldn't keep away from the book! Great read! ... Read more

Product Description
In 1939, hatred took root in South Africa, where the seeds of apartheid were newly sown. There a boy called Peekay was born. He spoke the wrong language–English. He was nursed by a woman of the wrong color–black. His childhood was marked by humiliation and abandonment. Yet he vowed to survive–he would become welterweight champion of the world, he would dream heroic dreams.
But his dreams were nothing compared to what awaited him. For he embarked on an epic journey, where he would learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the mystical power that would sustain him even when it appeared that villainy would rule the world: The Power of One. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

"First with the Head and Then With the Heart..."
There are two versions of Bryce Courtney's "The Power of One"; the original version and this, the junior novelisation. The two are quite different so make sure that you double-check what publication you're getting before you order. I would suggest the older version for most readers, since this basically tells the same story in simplified form. However, in Australia and New Zealand, "The Power of One" has reached almost cult-status in terms of popularity, and some younger readers will leap at the chance to familiarise themselves with the story before they are ready to tackle the more complex and violent subject matter of the original. Furthermore, it is a perfect choice for school libraries and/or compulsory reading in classrooms.

Like the adult version, the junior novelisation is concerned with the life of Peekay, a young boy living in 1930's South Africa, coping with racism, tension between the various social groups of the time (the Boers, the English and the Africans) and the growing threat of World War II. This younger version begins in the same place as the adult one, with Peekay being sent to a boarding school in which he is urinated on by his fellow students - a clear sign that Courtney is not prepared to soften the harshness and cruelty of the original book for the benefit of a younger audience. In comparison this story ends after the famous concert at the prison, the moment in which the adult novel really begins.

The junior novel follows Peekay's journey from childhood into earlier adolescence and the beginnings of the adult world, told in significantly less detail and in more simplified language than the first "Power of One". On the way, he makes friends from every race and class, learning the most important truth of his life: to think with his head and then with his heart. In particular, he finds work in a jail, inventing an ingenious way to help the convicts communicate with their families on the outside, and discovers the sport of boxing along with the remarkable idea that you do not have to be the biggest in order to be the best.

Courtney's gift comes from finding the grey areas in each situation, showing us clearly that one race, one country, one ideology is never wholly righteous; goodness can only come from an individual. Near the beginning of the book Peekay is persecuted by Nazi-supporters; later a dear friend of his unfairly is jailed for being a German. Humanity's overwhelming desire to classify and then judge people based on these classifications is never more frustrating than it is here, and it is a lesson well worth learning.

Although this is a more-than-adequate introductory book for younger readers eager to tackle "The Power of One", I would recommend to anyone else over the age of twelve (or any confident reader under that age) that they simply pick up the first (and best) adult version.

growing strong
how you can feel with a little boy's hardship in a boarding school and how you hope for his stamina and how you love his intense friendships that bring him on his way.

You really live with that life and that is best a book can do.

A powerful story of courage and change
If Bryce Courtenay's The Power Of One sounds familiar, it's because this represents a young reader's condensed edition of a prior hard-hitter which became both an adult classic and an acclaimed movie of the same name. It's great to see such a powerful novel condensed with youth in mind: grades 8-12 will find compelling the story of 1930s South Africa and a boy who faces apartheid and prejudice in a country where his childhood is marked by loneliness and dreams of changing lives. A powerful story of courage and change evolves.

Great Novel - but CONDENSED
I have read the Power of One, the unedited version and it is brilliant, inspiring, and brutal - one of the best books I've read. However, this edition that is being sold here, is the Young Reader's edition, which isn't immediately obvious from Amazon's description or the picture. It does say so on the cover, but it's very small unless you enlarge the picture. So, my review gives it a 2 as it may be an unpleasant surprise for those who want to read the actual novel.

A Masterpiece
I read this book before the crap movie was ever released, and it's a good thing, too. Whoever says the novel is dead needs to take a look at this. Courtenay has written a brilliant bildungsroman that you literally can't put down. You might even end up re-reading certain passages over and over, such as the boxing match between the protagonist and a Goliath-like opponent. If you have a bright pre-teen, give him this, and I bet he'll enjoy it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Power of One
Amazon.com sent the "Young Readers Edition" and I have returned it. I am waiting for the "Library Edition" and then I will be able to review for you.I have read the Library Edition and it was so wonderful I ordered a copy for my self to share with others. It is one of the best books on tape I have ever read.Very Powerful. ... Read more

Product Description
The Power of One: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. Tandia:Half-African, half-Indian and beautiful, Tandia is just a teenager when she is brutally attacked and violated by the South African police. Desperately afraid and consumed by hatred for the white man, Tandia seeks refuge in a brothel deep in the veld. There she learns to use her brilliant mind and extraordinary looks as weapons for the battles that lie ahead: she trains as a terrorist. But then Tandia meets a man with a past as strange as her own: Peekay, an Oxford undergraduate who is also the challenger for the world welterweight boxing championship - and a white man. And in a land where mixed relationships are outlawed, their growing love can only have the most explosive consequences. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Power of One , and, Tandia
This duo is fabulous!I hope they get this double set in stock for Bryce Courtney fans. Page after Page, the story and imagery imprint upon readers such a sense of honor and integrity, injustice and privilege, and the beauty and diversity of Africa.You won't be able to put it down.
First read these in my late teens, and now want my own kids to read them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

But what happened to Fagin?
Bryce Courtenay's Potato Factory follows Ikey Solomon and Annie Abacus back through the convict ships to Van Dieman's Land, Australia.
Reminicent of Dicken's "Fagin", Solomon is a shrewd theif who employs the services of young children, among others, to make his fortune, before being convicted to Australia.
Annie Abacus, a whiz at accounting with an abacus, also finds her way on a convict ship to Australia. Together they find ways to make their fortune in this new Country whilst trying to outsmart Solomon's greedy wife.
This is the first book in a trilogy. This book is followed by Tommo and Hawk (Potato Factory Trilogy)and then Solomon's Song (Potato Factory Trilogy)
An excellent read

Half brilliant and half bizarre
I have seldom read a book with such a huge contrast between the first and the second part.

The first half of the book is a brilliant Dickensian evocation of 19th century London, and of the exploits of Ikey Solomon (a historical figure) and his gang. (SPOILER) It soon becomes clear that the author is moving the plot of the book towards getting his main protagonists convicted and sent to Australia. He achieves this with a great plot, characters and humor. However, as soon as the author lands his characters on the Australian shore, he seems completely lost as to what to do with them. The story goes all over the place, culminating in the bizarre conception and birth of Tommo and Hawk, their weird abduction and their sudden and absurd reappearence, with no explanation about what happened to them whatsoever. By the end of the book, the story becomes almost ridiculous. The adventures of Tommo and Hawk and Ikey Solomon are described in the other 2 volumes of the trilogy, but by the end of this book I was so completely lost that I couldn't be bothered to read them.

So my advice is: read the first half of this book, then put it away when Ikey arrives in Australia and go on to read another book.

Great characters, meandering plot, gratuitous violence, contrived ending
When starting to read this book, I felt a thrill because Bryce Courtenay does such a good job creating 19th century London characters that it felt like a modern-day Dickens bringing them to life again.Halfway through the book, however, it occurred to me that I didn't know (or much care) where the story was going, and neither did Mr. Courtenay.The author keeps having terrible things happen to his characters, just so they can get a glimpse of happiness, only to fall into peril soon enough.Courtenay over uses human tragedy to make up for poor plot.His characters are viciously and repeatedly raped, beaten, tortured, and sodomized because he cannot think of other ways to keep his audience reading.By the time we got to the bizarre and contrived "Sperm Whale Sally" interlude, it was clear to me that Mr. Courtenay was just writing to fill pages for some sort of quota.Still, I read on, to see what the purpose of the plot was.SPOILER AHEAD:I can say I felt very cheated when Tommo just mysteriously shows up at the end with no explanation so they can all live happily ever after - Oh, I see, I must suffer through parts 2 and 3 of the trilogy to find out what really happened.No thanks!Mr. Courtenay, PLEASE collaborate with a great plot writer.Your characters backed by a great (or even good) plot would be a treasure to read.

Really 4.5 stars
I found this book to be a fascinating read about early England and then Tasmania (Van Dieman's Land), and the transport of convicts to Tasmania (remember England cleaning out their jails...).

I am finding that I really enjoy historical fiction becuase it educates me enough to ask good questions and then enables easier digging for the real info - this story, based on a real person, gives a great view of this era (early 1800's).

The reason for 4.5 instead of 5 is that there are one or two occasions that the story moves a little slowly, but once a historical fiction lover gets sucked in - there you are, stuck enjoying this great read until the end!

I highly recommend this book and then the sequel "Tommo & Hawk", which I enjoyed even more.Enjoy.

A Big, Juicy, Wonderful Novel
I don't go anywhere without a book, so when I visited Australia this summer, I brought along enough reading matter to supply a small library. However, realizing that I was unfamiliar with Australian culture and history, I asked several Aussie acquaintances to recommend some good novels about Australia. All of them mentioned THE POTATO FACTORY, the first book of an Australian trilogy by Bryce Courtenay, ( author of the magnificent novel,THE POWER OF ONE), so I rushed right out to buy it. Lucky,lucky me!!!
What a fantastic book! Bryce Courtenay is a master storyteller, and as he paints a portrait of 19th century London-in all of its noisy, corrupt and reeking glory, the reader has no choice but to follow along. From the repulsive yet brilliant Ikey Solomon an (un)common street criminal (whom I later learned was an actual historical figure) to the heroic and equally brilliant Mary Abacus, Courtenay uses both fictional and historical characters to take us from London to Australia via a hellish convict/slave ship. The reader lives, breathes, eats and sleeps with the characters, and while the journey isn't always pleasant, it's always enthralling.
For the first ten days of my trip, I carried THE POTATO FACTORY with me wherever I went, read at every possible moment, and even became known as "the book lady" in my hotel. I accepted that title proudly, and when I got home, the first thing that I did (after developing my pictures and sleeping off my jet lag), was go on-line to find the sequels, TOMMO and HAWK, and SONG of SOLOMON. I am presently awaiting delivery of these two books, and cannot wait to reunite with the characters and revisit the world created in THE POTATO FACTORY. Fabulous book, fabulous writer. Try not to miss it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I need your copy
I haven't read this but would like to. Please email me if you can send me your copy. This may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Thanks! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very good service
The night country was a dissapointment for me. I expected a full length novle, however this one was only about 50 or 60 pages.

Vendor provided excellent service and timely shippig.dw Diboll TExas ... Read more