I was very interested in the topic of this book and studied South Africa a lot in school; however, I felt that it was a bit academic. I would a preferred a lighter read. That said, the information was excellent and the history that was given created great context. ( )

This work, admirable as the project might be, really suffers from being overly academic. The prose is weighted down by overly formal language and extended digressions into history, explanation/rationales, and analysis. What might have been powerful stories are instead shaped (tortured?) into black & white pictures of individuals who are made to be flat and fairly one-sided when depicted in the narrow confines of the academic and authorial interest presented here. Truthfully, I found this last issue somewhat infuriating because I felt that the book's project did have so much merit, but that the starkly academic approach took all of the color and life from the projects, reducing to flat case studies what should have been powerful introductions to real people.

The best moments for the book are in its analysis of history and in the first-person anecdotes where a reader is actually able to hear the voices of the people the author examined. Unfortunately, these first person moments with the people at the center of the book are few enough to be little more than glimmers of understanding in what is, otherwise, presented in such a flat manner as to be incredibly unengaging.

I really wanted to engage with and fall into this book; based on the subject matter and my own interests, that shouldn't have been a problem. Yet, more often than not, I was bored and anxious to simply be done with the read, and wishing that someone with a less heavy-handed academic style had taken on the writing. ( )

After Freedom reads more like a movie documentary than a narrative book. This perspective allows for a look into the lives of people the first post-apartheid generation. The book moves between South Africans of different political persuasions, class, and backgrounds to provide a narrative that is complicated and informative. The authors do not try to unify or gloss over differences and contradictions but rather allows them to exist and be seen. This provides a narrative that leaves the reader struggling to understand modern South Africa. This struggle is not a weakness however, but allows the reader to see the complexities that exist in contemporary South Africa. ( )

This is a book of sociological research; so the writing style doesn’t really lend itself to casual reading. At first I found it slow, but as I got further into the book, it got more and more interesting. The researchers in this book followed a group of South Africans to see how different groups had fared after apartheid. It was interesting to see the long-lasting effects of the rigid segregation of Apartheid. Interestingly, education or the lack of it seemed to predict who would and who would not be successful after Apartheid.

I have a long-standing interest in South Africa, so the book was interesting to me. Also it was interesting because there are a lot of parallels to the United States. The authors point these parallels out, but don’t develop this theme, as it would be beyond the scope of their research. I am not sure that this is a book for the general reader; but it would be good for a college classroom, or if one has an interest in South Africa. ( )

This is a book of sociological research; so the writing style doesn’t really lend itself to casual reading. At first I found it slow, but as I got further into the book, it got more and more interesting. The researchers in this book followed a group of South Africans to see how different groups had fared after apartheid. It was interesting to see the long-lasting effects of the rigid segregation of Apartheid. Interestingly, education or the lack of it seemed to predict who would and who would not be successful after Apartheid.

I have a long-standing interest in South Africa, so the book was interesting to me. Also it was interesting because there are a lot of parallels to the United States. The authors point these parallels out, but don’t develop this theme, as it would be beyond the scope of their research. I am not sure that this is a book for the general reader; but it would be good for a college classroom, or if one has an interest in South Africa. ( )