When the Lion Feeds

I finished "When the Lion Feeds" and then wondered how on earth Wilbur Smith has managed to sell so many novels peddling such arrogant, offensive, racist, chauvinistic, one-dimensional, turgid, predictable drivel.

This is a novel where white men rut every female in sight and then go and have a fight, shoot some game, flog the natives and make a fortune finding gold or ranching cattle. It is really awful.

The main character, Sean Courtenay, is especially annoying - a bizarre, macho hero who has no conscience. He blows off his brother's leg, impregnates a teenage girl and generally treats everyone around him like dirt, yet somehow we are supposed to swallow that this moronic alpha-male is magically immune from guilt or responsibility for his actions because he can throw a right hook, wears a square beard and is good with a rifle. I mean give me a break.

It staggers me that people find this stuff interesting and it is embarrassing that this nonsense of a novel has come to represent "the African experience". It is backward and derogatory.

If you want to read some imaginative, thought-provoking South African literature, get your hands on some Dalene Matthee, Athol Fugard, Sol Plaatjie, Can Themba or Herman Charles Bosman and stay well clear of anything written by Wilbur Smith.

A Wilbur Smith classic (0/0 people found this helpful)

I purchased this book because having read it years ago and having been very impressed with it, I felt that I should like to re-read it. It is just as excellent the second time around. Highly recommended.

Wilbur Smith a superb author (0/0 people found this helpful)

An outstanding, spellbinding, whirlwind of an adventure story!
This book is in a class of its own, I was amazed at the quality of the writing and the magnificence of the characters.

I don't know why, but I have always been put off reading Wilbur Smith's books. I would always pass them in book shops and not even give them a second glance. However, I finally took the decision to try one and bought this book to see what it was like. I wasn't even halfway through when I went out and bought the next three in the series.

If you have never read any of Smith's books, try this one as it is excellent. It's the gripping tale of one man as he steps into adulthood in the south of Arica during the latter half of the 1800's. War, family arguments, mining, hunting are just small parts of this magical story which will keep you gripped and reading late into the night (when you really should be asleep!).

A small caution however, the book does contain a couple of scenes of graphic ivory hunting. So this is something to bear in mind if this will upset or offend you.

All in all a superb read - don't hesitate to buy!

Is this what men like to read??! (2/11 people found this helpful)

Cripes! I have to admit Wilbur Smith can basically write, and there's some good character observation here. He clearly knows his stuff about Africa, too. But these good things make the ethical inadequacies of the story all the more of a betrayal. I lost patience with his 'hero' Sean Courtney by page 30 or so. Here are some of the implied lessons of this book:
1. If you accidentally shoot your brother's leg off, don't worry: just carry it off with a macho air and everyone will soon be blaming him for being a one-legged weakling, and conveniently forget about your role in the matter.
2. Teenage girls are desperate to have sex with teenage boys. If they should get pregnant, don't pity them, they're sure to have some wicked wile up their sleeves and it's ALL THEIR FAULT.
3. If your best friend dies of rabies, a little elephant-shooting will soon put you back in a good mood.
In short ... if this is the kind of thing men like to read when women aren't around, our society has pushed them onto an even smaller island of caricatured masculinity than most of us realised, and something needs to be done about it.

A Lion indeed (1/1 people found this helpful)

A writer I have never fancied reading before,stupid me!
The characters became so real I read the book and believed in them totally,so much so that at the end I was choked up with emotion,I am already looking forward to reading not only the further adventures of Sean Courtenay but probably any other Wilbur Smith book I can get my hands on.
I borrowed this book,I will be buying a one for myself,I will definitely be reading this again,as a first book from an author it rates for me with MacLeans HMS Ulysses,nuff said!!!

Wilbur Smith

Reader Reviews:

How has Wilbur Smith sold so many books? (2/5 people found this helpful)

A Wilbur Smith classic (0/0 people found this helpful)

Wilbur Smith a superb author (0/0 people found this helpful)

Is this what men like to read??! (2/11 people found this helpful)

A Lion indeed (1/1 people found this helpful)

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