Antjie KrogBlood's Inner Rhyme: An Autobiographical Novel (Paperback)

About

English:

I came to know the country, I have enacted my life not better or worse than others, the harvest was not richer or poorer than that of others, though full of good shoots. But I knew that I was coming to die here next to the river; I came to look for it like the elephants do.

Poet Antjie Krog returns to the landscape of her childhood. The Free State plains enchant her – it is her home, and the home of her mother, the writer Dot Serfontein. In her nineties, Dot is frail and needs full-time care, but her intellect and sense of humour are razor-sharp, and her writing is comparable to that of her daughter.

In  Blood’s Inner Rhyme, Antjie Krog breaks the boundaries between genres and writes about this relationship that continues to fascinate and torment her. Using letters, diary entries and care-home records, the book explores creative influence, ideological disagreements and the realities of ageing.

Krog exposes the insurmountable differences between generations but also shows the love and mutual admiration between two highly skilled writers. Beautifully and poignantly written, Blood’s Inner Rhyme delves into cultural heritage, the country›s Anglo-Boer War history, issues of land ownership and race, as well as romantic relationships across racial boundaries.

The story of the relationship between mother and daughter, this is Krog’s most personal book, as well as the most universal.

Afrikaans:

Ek het die land leer ken, my lewe bedryf nie beter of slegter as ander nie. Die oes was nie ryker of skraler as dié van ander nie, maar dit was vol goeie are. Tog het ek geweet dat ek kom doodgaan langs die Valschrivier. Ek het dit kom soek soos die olifante.

Digter Antjie Krog keer terug na die landskap van haar kindertyd. Die Vrystaatse vlaktes bekoor haar – dit is haar tuiste; ook die tuiste van haar ma, die skrywer Dot Serfontein. Dot is by die negentig. Sy is verswak en moet voltyds versorg word, maar haar intellek en humorsin is vlymskerp en haar skrywerskap vergelykbaar met die van haar dogter.

In Binnerym van bloed  breek Antjie Krog die grense tussen genres af en skryf sy oor hierdie verhouding wat haar bly fassineer en kasty. Sy gebruik briewe, dagboekinskrywings en versorgingsverslae om verrykende benaderings tot kreatiwiteit, ideologie en die waarheid van oud word bloot te lê.

Krog spoel die onoorkombare verskille tussen geslagte oop, maar wys ook die liefde en wedersydse bewondering tussen twee hoogs bekwame skrywers. Pragtig en indringend geskryf, delf Die binnerym van bloed in kulturele erfgoed, die land se Anglo-Boereoorlogverlede, kwessies van grondbesit en ras, ook romantiese verhoudings oor rasgrense heen.

Hierdie verhaal oor die verhouding tussen ’n ma en ’n dogter is Krog se mees persoonlike, ook haar mees universele.