Scan barcode
A review by cleheny
The Steam Pig by James McClure
4.0
McClure's Kramer and Zondi mysteries are great books. Set in apartheid South Africa, and featuring an Afrikaaner lieutenant (Kramer) and Zulu sergeant (Zondi), they explore the tensions inherent in South African society while also featuring compelling mysteries. As one might imagine, the racial issues--the classifications, their terrible social, legal, and practical effects, and the grotesque inequities of South African society--are always present. But McClure explores other tensions, too. For example, interracial tensions between the disadvantaged minorities and cultural tensions between the English and Afrikaaner whites are also depicted. Gender norms and sterotypes, and the puritanical social norms enforced by the government are also shown.
The relationship between Kramer and Zondi is fascinating. It is evident that they are close in many ways; Kramer's white colleagues often view their professional partnership skeptically or critically. It may be that Zondi is Kramer's only real friend, but that friendship is complicated by the fact that Zondi will never be seen as an equal--not those by around him and not by Kramer.
The mystery at the heart of The Steam Pig involves the murder of a young white woman with a mysterious past. The plot gives McClure a chance to illuminate some of the consequences of South Africa's elaborate racial classification system--its devastating effects and the way in which it could be used against people. The story gets a bit convoluted in the final third of the novel, but it's involving and sad. Kramer's reaction to what he learns and the people he comes into contact with makes him a more sympathetic character than many of his white compatriots. He seems enlightened. And then McClure reveals Kramer's last thought, and you realize just how embedded the racial and gender attitudes are.
The relationship between Kramer and Zondi is fascinating. It is evident that they are close in many ways; Kramer's white colleagues often view their professional partnership skeptically or critically. It may be that Zondi is Kramer's only real friend, but that friendship is complicated by the fact that Zondi will never be seen as an equal--not those by around him and not by Kramer.
The mystery at the heart of The Steam Pig involves the murder of a young white woman with a mysterious past. The plot gives McClure a chance to illuminate some of the consequences of South Africa's elaborate racial classification system--its devastating effects and the way in which it could be used against people. The story gets a bit convoluted in the final third of the novel, but it's involving and sad. Kramer's reaction to what he learns and the people he comes into contact with makes him a more sympathetic character than many of his white compatriots. He seems enlightened. And then McClure reveals Kramer's last thought, and you realize just how embedded the racial and gender attitudes are.