Num 2: The Context, Popularity, Appeal and Audience of "The Power of One"

For this blog entry, I have been required to focus on the context of the novelist; the popularity and appeal of the novel and the intended audience. This book was written by Bryce Courtenay, a very successful author. Courtenay’s own context is vital to the storyline of this book and it adds to the appeal and popularity of the novel. Although this book is written from the perspective of a five-year old, it has a very distinct target audience.

Arthur Bryce Courtenay was born on the 14^th August 1933. He is a South-African-born Australian novelist and his own context plays a very important role on the storyline of The Power of One. Courtenay was born in Johannesburg and spent most of his early years in a small village in the Lebombo Mountains in South Africa's Limpopo province. This book was set during the 1930s and 1940s, around to time that Courtenay himself was young. The novel includes many references to the war (WWI and WWII); it is important to note that WWII which was about to take place. The fact that Courtenay also experienced and lived through WWII, no doubt influenced his writing. The author identifies the main character "Peekay" as a reference to his earlier nickname "Pisskop": Afrikaans for “Pisshead”. The book is written from first person perspective and it is loosely based of Courtenay’s life. It includes many references to certain characters and events that did in-fact occur during the life of the author.

The Power of One was an extremely successful book and it appealed to a large number of people. This novel is one of the most popular classics, in Australia, and it is currently used by many English classes. Some comments on the book include: “This is a truly inspirational historical fiction about of boyhood in South Africa at the birth of apartheid”, “The reader really gets pulled into the life of PK, experiencing his trials and successes”, “In this magical novel, an irresistible boy tells the story of his survival and coming of age against the background of South Africa during and just after World War II.” A certain book review website rates this novel 4.3 out of a possible 5.

It is vital to consider the target audience of the novel The Power of One. Although the book was written from the perspective of five year-old, it is no way intended for this young age group. The novel is intended for a teenage to adult audience, particularly Australian and South-African. The language, vocabulary and issues dealt with, in this story, are not a suitable read for younger children. However, because of its popularity and powerful storyline, an additional book was written based on The Power of One which targets younger children. This allows all ages to benefit from this inspiring story.

Bryce Courtenay has included a lot of his own history in this story. He tells the story from first-person perspective and it is based loosely on his own life. Such a powerful and inspiring story is very popular among many teenagers and adults in Australia and South Africa.