Verdict: carrot
BLACK Diamond is a defiantly revealing novel about contemporary SA. By turns sane and insane, evocative and hilarious, cranky and considered, legitimate and crooked, the 207-page novel further elevates Prof Zakes Mda’s reputation as a robust and relevant storyteller.
You won’t find a title as contemporaneous with the avaricious democratic SA as Black Diamond.
As early as page 64, the narrator announces: “These are new Black Diamonds or Fat Cats, depending on who you are talking to, who revel in the membership of the Johannesburg Country Club in Auckland Park, a club that was out of bounds for them only a few years ago.
“The Black Diamonds see themselves as the new Randlords. Like the original Randlords, they come from humble backgrounds and suffer the same prejudices that were piled on their predecessors by the snooty English establishment which accused them of being the nouveau riche with garish tastes.
Book Details
Please register or log in to comment
