The Smell of Apples

Mark Behr's novel "The Smell Of Apples" is in many ways an amazing and remarkable story about a young boy named Marnus Erasmus living with his typical Afrikaner upper-class family near the ocean on the coast of South Africa.What is most striking about this story ist that most of the horrible incidents and tragedies within the Erasmus family are somehow hidden beneath the surface of harmonious normal life.Again and again Behr implies the racism an militarism Marnus Erasmus has to face every day. He is raised by parents who love their children as long as they do what is expected from them. Marnus's life is limited to the views and so-called virtues he is taught especially by his father, a high-ranked South African army officer.The relationship between father an son changes throughout the whole book that tells us a so-called "story of initiation".Marnus experiences things like the struggle between his mother and his sister, the homosexuality of his father and maybe even his mother's affair with a Chilean general. The facade of his former life starts to crumble. Behr describes it with a wonderful sense fo details and little symbols that imply certain facts and plots.But what is best about his book is its ending. Marnus still does not manage to turn away from his father. His fear and respect are deeper rooted than his common sense and need to be outraged. He obeys his father even after he saw him raping his best friend Frikkie.The real tragedy is that just until his death in the Angolan civil war Marnus is not able to forget all the prejudices he was told about the black majority of the Apartheid state South Africa. The short interludes of Marnus fighting in this war as an officer are placed between the different parts that tell us his childhood. Behr connects these two levels of time so masterly that the reader almost feels how strong the influence of his father was and how much his parents are responsible for what happens to their son. Although Marnus appreciates some of the black soldiers in Angola his last words are "For in life there is no escape from history".Marnus Erasmus and thousands of others of his generation were wasted, indoctrinated from the day of their birth and raised by hyppocrite parents causing psychic wounds Truth & Reconciliation will probably never heal properly.

After Mark Behr has earned good international critics from papers like the "Financial Time", "The Independent", and "The Times", I decided to get an personal impression of his first novel "The Smell of Apples" and to read this highly praised book. As the book only got best critics, I started to read with high expectations - and they were fulfilled.The author suceeds in presenting different aspects in only one book. As a reader you gain a deep insight into South African society, as into the Angolan War. Besides that, the author also reveals a story of initiation, which describes the development of Marnus Erasmus from child to adult.The book contains two time-levels. In the first one 12-year-old Marnus describes events which happened in December 1973 and which influence his later development from child to adult.This time-level gives the reader a detailed insight into South African society where blacks are still discriminated against. At first sight the Erasmus family seems to be a harmonious family, but during the development of the story, the reader realizes that this is not the case. Especially Marnus's father is not such an ideal as the reader is made to believe in the beginning. Outwardly he is a succesful and honourable general who fights for his ideals, but at a closer look he reveals perversion and cruelty.In addition to that, the reader notices how condescendingly the family behave towards blacks and how blacks in general are regarded by whites in South Africa.The second time-level deals with 26-year-old Marnus who fights in the Angolan War for South African troups. This sub-plot shows to what extent Marnus's childhood and especially the events in December 1973 influenced his later development and his behaviour in war.Although his father has revealed his face of evil to him when he was young, the reader realizes that he is still Marnus's idol. Moreover, the second time-level deals with the cruelty of war, with Apartheid and racism.The Smell of Apples is a very interesting book. The reader gains a general idea of different aspects. After reading only a few pages, he is interested in the development. The Smell of Apples is not only a book for those who are interested in Apartheid and South African history. Once you have started to read, you cannot stop.

Mark Behr's novel, The Smell of Apples, is a beautifully written look at the world of an eleven year old Afrikaaner child in 1970's South Africa. It is history writ small. The horrors and corruption of a society under the heel of apartheid are shown effectively in this story of one family. It is a coming of age story that is both personal to the child and emblematic of the society around that child. This novel is excellant at showing an historical period in a way that a book of history never could. Mark Behr makes the society feel real, and is all the more chilling for having done so. It is the small quiet moments that truly are the most shocking and that is how it should be. An excellant novel about a time and place of which more people should be aware.

The mark of a good book is that it comes back to haunt you after you've finished reading it. Subtle yet shocking, THE SMELL OF APPLES left me feeling both outraged and sad. Behr skillfully weaves his plot so that it isn't until the very end that the full irony and horror of the book's title become clear to you. It's hard to believe this is the author's first novel. I can't wait for his next one

It's nice not to be hit over the head with the obvious for a change. Behr's prose lets you in on the truth one layer at a time. Like the unfolding history of a child's life. The deeper roots of apartheid are uncovered in an unforgetable and lyric way. This book shows how fiction can have real impact. "For Whom The Bell Tolls" comes to mind