Ingrid Winterbach - It Might Get Loud

Thank you, I said, and goodbye. Then I boarded the bus again, and went home. Now I know, I thought, what it feels like.

*

Is that how it happened, Sofie, Sister? Answer me!

A fascinating and meditative read, and Winterbach’s narrative is exquisite, the prose as rich and textured as a 1980s velvet painting — Business Day

A profoundly engaging and exhilarating read — Jane Rosenthal, Mail & Guardian

Winterbach’s writing is delight without respite — Michael Titlestad, The Sunday Times

Praise for The Book of Happenstance

Witty, allusive and beautifully crafted, this is one of the gems of recent South African fiction — Ivan Vladislavic

Winterbach is the kind of writer any literature could be envious of — Marlene van Niekerk

An intelligent literary mystery … Winterbach’s characters are rich, her story foreboding and tense, and her prose remarkably lean — Publishers Weekly , UK

Praise for To Hell with Cronjé

An exquisite book … an essential voice — Antjie Krog

I doubt that this book could have been written in the cosy Netherlands. You would have to go to Australia for Patrick White’s Voss , or to the Arizona of Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses . And to South Africa for Niggie ( To Hell with Cronje ). — Brabants Dagblad , The Netherlands

Winterbach’s writing sets the mood brilliantly, and she pitches her blend of characters perfectly to create an uneasy, occasionally frightening feel to her narrative — Belletrista , USA

Praise for The Elusive Moth

The language of the novel is simple, but rich and suggestive — Margaret Lenta, The Sunday Independent

A novel that will haunt the reader — Gerrit Olivier

Winterbach’s ear for language is acute, while her sense for linguistic irony is delicious — James Mitchell, The Star

Praise for It Might Get Loud

Fierce truth-telling … continuously exhilarating — Patrick Lenahan

Praise for Winterbach’s novels in the UK and USA

“Winterbach’s characters are rich, her story foreboding and tense, and her prose remarkably lean.” — Publishers Weekly

“… beautifully-written prose … The story is full of vivid characters, moments of quiet humor, and the occasional peek into South African society for those of us who do not live there. Winterbach’s prose is a joy to read, even in translation. — Belletrista

Steady now, Karl cautions himself. When he’s so stressed out and off-balance, things can start going wrong. Numbers can come up. Then he’s fucked. Then he’ll sure as hell never get to Cape Town. Then he and Iggy are fucked. Good and solid and permanently fucked. If they aren’t already.

*

An emptiness came upon her. It settled in every organ: stomach, heart, liver and kidneys. Eventually in her head. An emptiness akin to pain.

After a disturbing call from a certain Josias Brandt, Karl Hofmeyr departs for Cape Town to help his brother, Iggy, who is apparently running amok. On this journey Karl — hard-core heavy-metal fan — valiantly contends with inner demons as well as outer obstacles.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to fend off a beleaguering emptiness, Maria Volschenk embarks on a journey to understand her sister’s search for enlightenment … and her subsequent death.

These two narratives converge on a highly unconventional city farm, where Iggy is locked in a bitter duel with the inscrutable Brandt fellow, under the laconic gaze of Maria’s friend Jakobus.

Die aanspraak van lewende wesens , the original Afrikaans version of It Might Get Loud , won five major literary awards: the M-Net Award, the University of Johannesburg Literary Prize, the Hertzog Prize, the WA Hofmeyr Prize and the Great Afrikaans Novel Prize.

Ingrid Winterbach’s novels have won many awards:

Karolina Ferreira ( The Elusive Moth ): M-Net Prize; Niggie ( To hell with Cronjé ): the prestigious Hertzog Prize (2004); Die boek van toeval en toeverlaat ( The Book of Happenstance ) the following awards: M-Net Prize, W.A. Hofmeyr Prize, UJ Prize; Die benederyk : M-Net Prize. Die aanspraak van lewende wesens , the original Afrikaans version of It Might Get Loud , won five major literary awards: the M-Net Award, the University of Johannesburg Literary Prize, the Hertzog Prize, the WA Hofmeyr Prize and the Great Afrikaans Novel Prize. Winterbach is the only novelist to win the M-Net Prize three times. Two of her novels have been published in the Netherlands and in the USA, where they were received exceptionally well, and a third will follow soon. Winterbach is also a visual artist. She lives in Stellenbsoch.

Michiel Heyns was born on 2 December 1943 in Stellenbosch. He went to school in Thaba Nchu, Kimberley and Grahamstown. He studied at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cambridge and was a professor in English at the University of Stellenbosch from 1987 until his early retirement in 2003. Six novels have appeared since, of which The Children’s Day was translated into Afrikaans as Verkeerdespruit . He has also become renowned as a translator, and was awarded the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the Sol Plaatje Award for Translating for the translation of Marlene van Niekerk’s Agaat .