Denis Becket's  Radical Middle is an amazing journey through the turbulent 80's. An important journey in that it is a trip made by an unlikely fellow. We expect books like these to be detailing the journeys of the darker skinned brothers of this continent of ours, in that most of us in those heady days of apartheid slightly ignored the travels and trials of our brothers and sisters from the other side of the divide.

Neels Blom, www.newstime.co.za November 29, 2010

Citizens who have attained fishing age will remember the republic’s second referendum, held in 1983, when South Africa’s whites-only voters were asked to say yes or no to the National Party’s tri-cameral parliament, an institution which would entrench the disenfranchisement of the country’s African majority.

Denis Beckett, in his new book, Radical Middle: Confessions of an Accidental Revolutionary, reminded me of that decade of heavy state oppression, bombs in street bins, economic sanctions – and Frontline magazine. If you were youngish and whitish in the 1980s, it was hip to profess pinko-liberal politics, wear a Che Guevara T-shirt and have the colour of your skin modified by the Purple People Eater during an illegal gathering. Those days the thinking pinko South African’s magazine of choice was Frontline, all seven of us.

An actual real review of Themba's Head, from all the way across the big pond. Historic, and damn welcome, even if it's not altogether won-over.

David’s Rapier

Foreword by Denis. David Thomas, PhD (Sydney), was an SA journo, one-time parliamentary candidate (Progs – ancient days), and political science teacher. He’s now in the army of brainy Seffricans helping to boost Austrylia’s national IQ. He is also far advanced writing up a true story that in my (sometimes allegedly fervid) imagination might just end up as a hit in the same mould as Breaker Morant.

Here follows David’s critique of Themba’s Head. He scores many excellent points, including several that advance my understanding of what I’m talking about. I believe I have real replies to him. I’m putting him up here solus in the meantime. I hope you might see things you’d like to reply to.

The plan, people, is that on this page you tell me why Themba’s Head is misguided, irrelevant, imaginary or before its time, and why my logic is up the spout. Then I reply with why it’s real, it’s now, it’s going to boost your life, too, and it’s your logic that needs repair.

Then we go home and have two beers or equiv, and toast each other from a distance. And you decide that Democracy Two is the way to go.

Well, that's the plan. Variations may occur. And I promise I won’t always grab the last word.

For 6 months all I got from Themba’s Head was a handful of guys who had read to page 10 or 20 (in one case, page 6) saying “let me tell you why you’re wrong”. Since then, things have picked up. Here’s Carmen, beautiful person and as free and independent a spirit as you are ever going to find:

Give us an Autocrat!

You have taught me to dream big, so I dream of peace and kindness and a gentle world with safe and happy children. However, educating masses to understand the ramifications of election is an ideal - kudos to you for holding up ideals, but ideals are not real. Despots, Tyrants and Dictators are a part of our world and the un/enfranchised masses respond to these all too easily.

The plan, dear reader, is that you've got through the introductory bits, you have the idea that I'm saying there's a nicer way of running countries, sitting waiting to be taken. You're half-intrigued, but 3/4 sceptical. Well, won't you please go through this book. I think, I hope, that in here you'll see an attractive vista looming. (Amazingly short book too, please note, though I admit that not many people support my original belief that you could finish it before the bathwater got cold.) 

You can read the PDF below...
or download it here (4.1MB PDF)

Magenta review in The Witness, February 11, 2009

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Sharmini Brookes

Denis Beckett is best known for his popular South African TV series, Beckett's Trek and several non-fiction books. Magenta is his first novel and is set in present day Johannesburg - the high-octane, finance-rich capital of South Africa, where crime is the number one topic and security fences rise ever upwards.

Beckett's characters speak Seffricanese, the language of Josi or Joburg as the locals call their city – an exuberant mix of English peppered with popular phrases and slang words from Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho. Non-South Africans may find this difficult to negotiate even though he does provide a comprehensive, alphabetically-listed glossary, but South Africans at home and abroad will enjoy the witty wordplay in their familiar lingo.

Themba’s Head

Themba’s Head scored a princely total of two reviews, one of them anodyne and the other one a declaration of war. For the record here they are:

Teetering on a Soapbox
Phil Murray – The Cape Times

“Remember good old Beckett’s Trek way back before the Travel Channel backpacked onto our television sets? What a great South African show that was, and charmed by little memories of Beckett’s chatty, warm manner and cunning perceptions. I snaffled up Themba's Head. Now I have a new kaleidoscope through which to see Mr Beckett.

Beckett has outlined his political viewpoint in this book, and presents his idea in a conversational textbook with little pictures, and synopses from his other books, Frontline, Permanent Peace and The Fallacy of Heroes. Now, not having read any of his other books I was interested to read that Beckett seems to be able to criticise himself, and laugh at himself.