So far, I have only read seven chapters of the famous book The Power of One, written by Bryce Courtenay. Even in these first 150 pages, the reader of the book becomes attached to the little boy. Peekay was a little boy whose 'life started' when he turned 5 and was placed in a boarding home. He was a loner, a boy who was bullied endlessly by a 12 year old. His thoughts are given when he talks to his only friend, a old half-plucked chicken. Peekay, or Pisskop, as he was called by his peers, treats this chicken as someone superior to himself. Throughout these 7 chapters, the reader feels for the boy. Peekay forces the reader to feel sympathy, both because of what he has been through, and because of how little he knows.
When I first looked at this book, I was far from enthusiastic about reading it (we are reading it at school). However, right from the first page, I was trapped in the amazing story of a boy who went through so much and thought so little of himself. Later, Peekay meets his friend 'Hoppie', a welter-weight boxer. Hoppie taught Peekay that small can beat big, just as long as you have a plan. Peekay decided that he was going to box, and be the next welterweight champion of the world.
Chapter 7 ends when Big Hettie, the lady who was accompanying Peekay on the train trip, dies. Big Hettie dies from eating too much. This leaves Peekay alone in the world again. In chapter 8 and following chapters, I think that Peekay will arrive home and start living a more normal life, going to school, and having boxing lesson's somewhere. I think that someone else will come into his life to be his special friend, possibly his boxing teacher or another boxer he works with. Eventually, Peekay, with lots of wins, and possibly a loss behind him, will become the greatest welterweight champion of all to draw the book to a close.
I encourage all people to obtain this book and read it for themselves, even if it looks like a big, fat, boring book!
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