The Smell of Apples
The Smell of Apples is a 1993 debut novel by South African Mark Behr, published in Afrikaans as Die Reuk van Appels then published in 1995 in English.Mark Behr describes the Afrikaner mentality in apartheid South Africa as seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy called Marnus, the son of an Army General. The novel also appeared in South Africa the same year in Afrikaans as Die reuk van apples. In 2017, the Afrikaans novel was adapted for the stage by the theatre company Theatrerocket, featuring Gideon Lombard in this solo production, directed by Lara Bye.
Quotes
edit- My name is really Marnus, but when Dad speaks to me he mostly says ‘my son’ or ‘my little bull’ and him and Mum also like calling me ‘my little piccanin.’”
- (Page 1)
- I know that it’s one of the greatest commandments, never to take the name of the Lord in vain. It’s one of those sins where the punishment gets carried from one generation to the next. Even if you don’t take the name of the Lord in vain yourself, but your great grandfather did, you’ll still be punished for it.”
- (Page 10)
- One year we didn’t even see a single [whale] and then Jan said it was because the bay doesn’t belong to nature anymore. He says the bay has been taken over by the factories.”
- (Page 27)
- Because Chrisjan liked fishing, Mum knew immediately that he must have stolen our stuff. Mum says that's exactly the way the Coloureds are. You can never ever trust them. After all the years of supplying them with a job and a decent income, they simply turn around and stab you in the back.
- (Marnus, 19-20)
- It's the most dreadful of dreadful disgraces if a woman gets raped.
- (Marnus, 45)
- Pop music can cause you to become a drug addict. Before Lucifer was thrown out of Heaven, he was the angel of music, and so it's only logical that the communists will use pop music to take over the Republic.
- (Marnus, 67)
- His back is turned in our direction. Across it, stretching from one shoulder right down to the other hip, we can see the scar, curled almost like a snake.
- (Marnus, 99)
- Then Ilse says she thinks the story is about much more than just whaling.
- (Marnus, 150)
- I smell the apple in his hand. It smells sour.
- (Marnus, 179)
- I must have slept for a while, because when I come to, I remember that I've been dreaming. Only a vague memory remains. Me, with someone else, galloping down a dry river-bed on horseback. We're chasing something across the sand, but I don't know what. It feels as though we're laughing, and I can see his teeth against his dark skin. It seems strangely familiar, and I try to remember . . .
- (Marnus, 63)
- But then he's a Coloured!" Frikkie cries out. I thought he was as dark as anything.
- (Marnus, Frikkie, 166)
- This is detente," Dad says. It's a soldier holding up a black arm with pink meat hanging out where it was cut from the body. I close my eyes, because I don't want to look at it.
- (Marnus, Dad, 172)
