Bryce Courtenay
The Persimmon Tree
Born in South Africa in 1933, Bryce spent his youth growing up with farmers and
local Africans. At the age of 5 he was sent to boarding school which is where he
was taught to box, "a means", he says, "to stay alive." Bryce was banned from
his home country after being labelled a communist for teaching Africans,
something at the time considered a "subversive act" by the government.
Love, and a new start, led Bryce to Australia where he has lived ever since. He
worked as a copywriter and creative director in advertising until the age of 55
when he decided to try writing his first book. The rest, as they say, is history.
Bryce is now Australia's highest selling author.
For more information, visit www.penguin.com.au/brycecourtenay
1. What is the best opening line to a book you've read?
'It was the best of times. It was the worst of times'.
– A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
'Call me Ishmael.'
– Moby Dick by Herman Melville
'This is what happened.'
– The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
2. Describe for us the place where you wrote the majority of your book.
In my study upstairs overlooking a natural pond and the knoll, a small mountain
that rises up from the front yard.
3. What is your earliest memory involving books?
I had been sent to walk alone for six miles to the doctor with a severely cut
finger. After the doctor had attended to it, I was weakened by the loss of blood, and unable to return, so I slept under the doctor's house. Rising at dawn the
next morning I saw a large packing case. I opened it and inside there were books. One in particular, had a red Morocco bound leather cover with the pages etched in gold. I knew instantly that come what may I must know what this wonderful object contained. I had discovered books.
4. What is one book you always recommend to your friends and why?
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, because it beautifully and tragically
evokes the human condition. Man's inhumanity to man.
5. If they were writing your biography, what would be the last line?
Thus endeth the storyteller, but the story moves on.
|
