Title: Magical ... or empty?
Review: There is very little that can be said about this book without bending over backwards to find reasons to praise it. "Magical realism" implies the richness of Marquez, but what Mda has done with "The Whale Caller" is bland and generic. The description evokes no sense of place, and as far as offering a comment on "post-Apartheid South Africa" as the book jacket claims, don't expect it. Mda has written an allegory - a thin story which cannot support the weight of its design. Once again, instead of reading the blurbs on the back, take a few minutes and dip into the book anywhere - it doesn't matter where - and you will discover the empty sameness which permeates the entire book. It just doesn't go anywhere.
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