9. Short and Sour

The book:  "Master Harold" ...and the Boys
The author:  Athol Fugard
The rating:  2 stars

Master Harold shares a few similarities with Streetcar:  it's not what I typically read; it's a play, not a novel; I was assigned to read it for English class...  It's also one of those 'literary merit'-type of books, full of sophisticated themes and poignant social commentary, and unbearably dry.  As I mentioned in my Streetcar review, I love a large number of works of classic fiction, but I always prefer genre pieces to literary ones.  Plays like Master Harold feel more like a thinly-veiled essay than a story, and I've never been a fan of that.

While others are frequently referenced and hold great importance to the plot, only three characters appear in the 60-page play:  seventeen-year-old Hally (the titular Master Harold), and older black men Willie and Sam (the boys) who work for Hally's mother at her tea house.  I have noticed that one of the biggest differences between adult and YA/children's fiction is the role of the protagonist.  In stories for the younger crowd, protagonist = hero, almost without exception.  In works for adults, this equivalency does not exist, as is the case in Master Harold.  From the beginning, Hally made me want to scratch out my eyeballs.  The play may be set in 1950, but Hally was eerily like some insufferable seventeen-year-olds I know.  You'd recognize the type:  almost a hipster, pretentious and condescending; an atheist not because of well-considered philosophical beliefs, but because believing in things is for stupid people.  The world revolves around them and their struggles are paramount; nobody could possibly understand what they are going through, and nobody has ever suffered anything worse.  Add in some intense racism towards the boys and a disgust towards his father, not due to his unsavoury personality, but because he is a cripple, and suffice to say Hally's not the type of boy I'd want to ask to Senior Prom.

As I mentioned, the play often reads more like an essay than anything else.  Hally and Sam debate about men of greatness; the impact of racism in South Africa is explored; Hally is a complete and utter asshat to every person in his life.  And yeah.  That's it.  That's the play.  It's definitely not my cup of tea, but for what it is--a statement about the South African apartheid--it is interesting enough.

Next week:  Back to our regularly scheduled programming.