Cry+Freedom

“Cry Freedom” is a novel writen by John Briley, an American journalist and writer, who wrote the famous screenplay for Ghandy for the cinema. Currently, he lives in Spain. This book is based on the real story of Steven Biko, an African activist. The author describes the horrible social situation of black people in South Africa at that time. In the middle of this dramatic situation, the novel shows how two different people can become close friends. This relationship gets them into dangerous and terrible troubles. The main characters are, STEVE BIKO a black leader of Africa and DONALD WOODS, the Daily Dispatch newspaper´s editor. The story is set in South Africa between 1975 and 1977, when a journalist, Donald Woods, by chance, gets some pictures about the brutal behavior of white police officers against black people, and decides to write about it and publish it in his newspaper. When he meets Steve Biko, a black African activist who has struggled all his life trying to achieve equality between white and black people, problems start to come, for both. “Cry Freedom” is a real drama and a thought-provoking novel. One of the strongest things is the plot, which is extremely hard and gripping. Another one is the close bond between the two main characters. And one of the other strengths is the description of racism and the terrible and cruel behavior of white people. It´s a depressing story and despite the predectable ending, the author has known how to portray everything so expertly that it catches your attention all the time. I´m really impressed by the character of Steven Biko and all that kind of people who spend their whole lives fighting to achieve goals and rights for others. I admire these simple and great people for their strength, courage and bravery, who fight always peacefully for justice, peace, truth and freedom and are not even afraid to die. Personally, I think it´s an interesting and absorbing story that caught my attention from the beginning and I couldn´t put it down till the end. (Conchi del Nogal)