Seed-Time and Harvest, and Other Stories by Herman Charles Bosman (Used)

Drawing on his experience as a schoolmaster in the magical Marico District, Bosman spins magnificent yarns about the region through his larger-than-life mouthpiece: Oom Schalk Lourens.

For the first time these Bushveld stories appear in the order in which they were originally published, and we witness Oom Schalk rapidly developing from a blustering fool into the wise old man of South African fiction. The reader will be reacquainted with some old classics, among them “Marico Moon”. “Dopper and Papist” and “Seed-time and Harvest. Two fresh stories – “The Ghost at the Drift” and a unique example of gallows humour, “The Old Potchefstroom Gaol” – appear here for the first time, while others have never before been collected in book form.

With the insight and trenchancy for which he has justly become famous, Bosman has created characters for today’s reader. The women prove remarkably doughty and independent (“Francina Malherbe”, “Bushveld Romance”, “Concertinas and Confetti”), while the black people are shown to be entirely at ease in their setting (“The Ramoutsa Road”) and able to cast a powerfully satirical eye on their white neighbours (“Graven Image”).

Twenty Oom Schalks – in sequence and uncut, edited from original versions, with an introduction and notes on the texts.

Condition: Very good