**NO AFFILIATE LINKS. JUST LINKS**
**WARNING!!** Possible Spoilers. I can’t help myself when I try to convey a point, but I’ll put ** before and after what could be spoilers.
Welcome, dear reader!
A local coffee shop in our town put this book on offer a few years ago. Written by a local writer about our beautiful town. Unfortunately out of print. And somewhat outdated.
Book details: Magaliesberg Kaleidoscope by Willie Meyer
TITLE - Magaliesberg Kaleidoscope
AUTHOR - Willie Meyer
GENRE - Non-fiction, Essays
YEAR PUBLISHED - 2012
PAGE COUNT - 229
RATING ELSEWHERE - N/A
The edition I read
2012 Paperback edition
ISBN 978-0-620547-10-9
Published by Yesterday's Classics, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
MY RATING - 3 Stars
Description on Groep 7 Drukkers
The Magaliesberg between what is now Pretoria and Rustenburg, and the valleys surrounding it, have been home to man and his ancestors for literally millions of years.
The mountains were already ancient when the first humanoids with their clumsy gait and crude implements scavenge in the valleys for the remains of the prey of the sabre-toothed tiger and the giant hyena. In historic times the rugged rock faces impassively witnessed the arrival of the cattle herding immigrants from East Africa, the marauding impis from Natal and itinerant farmers from the Cape.
They witnessed the Dificane, the Boer civil war, the first and second Anglo Boer Wars and the construction of man-made features that changed the nature of man’s pursuits in the valleys and surrounding hills. This book is about just some of these people and their exploits.
My initial thoughts and what I expected
We’ve been living in this area for nearly 20 years now. Although I know bits and bobs about this area, I definitely know too little. So I hoped this would be a good way to start that particular discover.
I don’t know the writer. And I think this was the only book he’s ever published. According to Magaliesberg Meander, the book is based on a series of Kormorant feature articles by the author. Kormorant is a local newspaper.
So essentially, now real expectation
‘The joke,’ he said, ‘is as invisinle as a weathercock on a steeple.’
Two Gentlemen of Verona
What says I about MAGALIES KALEIDOSCOPE BY WILLIE MEYER
This was a fun read. The author has a no-nonsense way of writing. Every essay focused on one aspect of our area. It started sharing small tidbits about a time before it became a settlement, a neighbourhood, and a town. He wrote about the Genl Hendrik Schoeman. This boer general was instrumental in the run-up to the Anglo-Boer War. As well as the subsequent wars. His farm became our town.
Other than the versions we were taught at school, I’ve never actually taken the time to educate myself. About that war, the people who lived here and so much more about our history. The author managed to let every essay highlight something. About the people, the history, the justices, the struggles, the developments, and the progress.
We like to think that this moment in time is the first time that horrible things happen. Or that good things came to be with a lot of labour and pain and jumping through hoops. But reading this book I realised that it is just not true. This area had ginormous struggles and successes even halfway through the 1800’s!
Doesn’t it just help to give one a bit of perspective? Today is not the worst it’s going to be. And it’s also not the best it’s going to be.
The books ends with a brief overview of the Hartbeespoort Dam. And the struggles we’re still facing around this body of water. The pollution, the constant struggle to keep it from falling deeper and deeper into the toxic situation it’s teetering on.
What says others
Sadly, I could not find reviews or recommendations by others about this book. I’m going to assume that it was more for ‘friends and family’ that this book was published.
At least it’s recommended reading if you want to know more about the Magalies, the mountain range surrounding our town. A list I would like to invest in as part of my education process.
Where to find the author and other books I read by the author
There’s no website or author platform to learn more about this author that I could find. If you know where to reach him or more of his books, please email me at anne@annecwest.co.za.
Where to buy this book
- Out of print
- Listed: Magalies Meander, Groep 7 Drukkers, Graffiti Boeke, Book Dealers, African Bib,
And that is it from me for now
Until next time sweet peeps!
