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Mafeking Road
by Herman Charles Bosman
Archipelago, 2008. 201 pages.
(First printed in 1947 by Herman & Rousseau)

For it is not the story that counts. What matters is the way you tell it. The important thing is to know just at what moment you must knock out your pipe on your veldskoen, and at what stage of the story you must start talking about the School Committee at Drogevlei. Another necessary thing is to know what part of the story to leave out… And you can never learn these things.

So begins “Mafeking Road”, the title story in a classic collection by the South African writer Herman Charles Bosman. The passage is at once a challenge to aspiring storytellers and a charming exposition of the author’s craft. It’s true, you can’t learn these things. Certainly not by imitation or force of will. But by reading Bosman you can get a whole lot closer. And you’ll do it laughing.

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