Dream Life and Real Life: A Little African Story

by Olive Schreiner

Overview

Little Jannita sat alone beside a milk-bush. Before her and behind her stretched the plain, covered with red sand and thorny karoo bushes; and here and there a milk-bush, looking like a bundle of pale green rods tied together. Not a tree was to be seen anywhere, except on the banks of the river, and that was far away, and the sun beat on her head. Round her fed the Angora goats she was herding; pretty things, especially the little ones, with white silky curls that touched the ground. But Jannita sat crying. If an angel should gather up in his cup all the tears that have been shed, I think the bitterest would be those of children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781514383070
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	06/16/2015
Pages:	28
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.06(d)

About the Author

Olive Schreiner (1855-1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel The Story of an African Farm which has been highly acclaimed ever since its first publication in 1883 for the bold manner in which it dealt with some of the burning issues of the day, including agnosticism, existential independence, individualism and the professional aspirations of women; as well as its portrayal of the elemental nature of life on the colonial frontier. In more recent studies she has also been foregrounded as an apologist for those sidelined by the forces of British Imperialism, such as the Afrikaners, and later other South African groups like Blacks, Jews and Indians - to name but a few. Although she showed interest in a large number of bohemian notions and the passing fads of her time (i.e. socialism, pacifism, vegetarianism, the New Woman phenomenon etc.) her true views escape restrictive categorisations. Her published works and other surviving writings promote implicit values like moderation, friendship and understanding amongst all peoples, avoiding the pitfalls of political radicalism which she consciously eschewed. Although she may be called a life-long freethinker in terms of her Victorian background, she always remained true to the spirit of the Christian Bible and developed a secular version of the worldview of her missionary parents.

Editorial Reviews

They read like parables or fairy tales...their images haunt you.

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