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| Plot Summary of Before I Forget |
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"Set against a backdrop of political turmoil, aeing writer Chris Minaar looks back on the women in his life and the impact they've had on him. The trigger for this, after a long writers' block, is the death of Rachel, the woman he loves. Her death is significant partly because she dies young and unexpectedly, and partly because Minaar's love for her has always been one-sided. When Minaar meets her, she is married to another man, George. George has a large role to play in the development of Minaar's relationship with Rachel, and it is because of his good nature and friendship with Minaar that Minaar feels so torn about his love for Rachel.
Exploring his feelings for Rachel leads Minaar to examine his encounters with women throughout his life. He feels that (almost) each one is intrinsically special and has left a unique imprint on him. Many of them have also been entwined with his political anti-apartheid activities over about six decades.
Minaar's memories of women and their impact on him inevitably lead to examination of his relationship with his mother, and in turn with his father. His Afrikaaner background and the hypocricy of his pro-apartheid father (who despises blacks except to the extent that coloured women are good for extra-martial sex) cause Minaar a great deal of discomfort in his younger years, and family relationships are consistently tense and conflictual."
, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Before I Forget |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1980's-1999
Romance/Romance Problems
Yes
Kind of romance:
- GENERAL--no other subplots apply
Political/social activism
Yes
Plotlet:
- minorities fighting for rights
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 60's-90's
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- artist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 6 (an above average amount)
Africa
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
- touching of anatomy
- licking
- actual description of hetero sex
- descript. of female anat. (the big B's)
- descript. of female anat. (the big V)
Unusual Style:
- a lot of flashback and forwards
- written like a journal/diary/letters
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Andre Brink Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Jennifer Hamm
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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