Book Wednesday

Jock of the Bushveld
By: Percy Fitzpatrick in 1907(wikipedia)

In honor of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, I thought I would feature this book. I was given this book when I was six or seven and our family was living in Germany. When we first arrived in Germany we had to stay at a guesthaus while we waited for our new home to become available. We did not speak German (or Dutch) at that time, so we became very close friends with the only other English speaking family staying at the guesthaus. The family was from South Africa, and we still stay in touch with them to this day. 

The family made several trips back to South Africa while we were still in Germany, and they brought back a copy of this book for me after one of their trips. I recall that I enjoyed the book since it had to do with animals as well as taking place in an exotic foreign country. The downside to the book follows the same style of Where the Red Fern Grows, The Yearling, Old Yeller, etc. In short...the dog dies at the end. Sorry to reveal a spoiler, but I think you can kind of figure that is what would happen. (Random aside: I think I finally figured out why our classes would always have to watch The Yearling or Fern when it was too rainy to go outside for PE. They were depressing movies that would keep all of the kids quiet instead of being rambunctious while staying indoors. Ah, psychological warfare in its most basic form.)

 I also seem to recall seeing a movie version of this way back in the day. I believe that there were some scenes of Jock bounding through the tall veld grasses chasing something. Our neighbors, in Germany, had a dog. There were also several farming fields behind our house. On occasion, the neighbor's dog would go out and play in the fields. I remember thinking that he looked a lot like Jock when he would bound through the crops that had been planted.

 I still want to make it to South Africa for a visit. I loved hearing about all the exciting things that our family friends did when they would go back to visit. One day I intend to make the trip and maybe I will get to see the statue of Jock myself.