Sounder

     Author                        William H Armstrong

     County                        Canada

     Genre                          Fiction

     Publication Date        1969

     Pages                           83
                





I happened to chance upon this book at the library and ended up picking it up more on impulse than design. And really, what makes life captivating is these seemingly insignificant impulse 'purchases'; which start with no expectations and then delight you like rain shower on a particularly hot day!

Honestly, I am not too much of a 'short story' or 'novella' person since I like books to grow on me through their many pages. Thus, my love for this book is limited in that sense. It can never end up featured on my list of favourite books but within it's established limitations, it did a fine job.

This is the story of a black family and the bond that ties them together in a world that is unjust and biased. It's a story of love, family ties, desperation, injustice and yearning. 

What intrigued me immensely about this book is the fact that none of the characters have a name - they are addressed as 'boy', 'mother', 'father' and the like. To me, this is a subtle message from the author that these individuals were really a non entity in a world that was governed by the colour of the skin. The fact that there is no reason shared with the reader as to why the boy's father was incarcerated makes me believe that the family was not worth being reasoned to. The fair skinned looked down upon these African Americans and did not deem it important to afford any justification for their actions against them. It is these subtle messages left to the interpretation of the reader that make this book endearing to me.

The boy's desperate search for his father, his coming of age as a result of his father's disappearance and his yearning to learn to read and write give us an insight into his character; which is heart wrenching. 

A reasonably good 'quick read' is how I would describe this book!

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