An Instant in the Wind by André Brink was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 1975, I could not find it on The Greatest Books of All Time site, presumably because it is not on their radar, not even at 20,000 or thereabouts…notwithstanding this flagrant omission, the novel is in my Top 500; you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

An Instant in the Wind by André Brink was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 1975, I could not find it on The Greatest Books of All Time site, presumably because it is not on their radar, not even at 20,000 or thereabouts…notwithstanding this flagrant omission, the novel is in my Top 500; you have thousands of reviews of magnum opera on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

9 out of 10

 

A Dry White Season https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-dry-white-season-by-andre-brink-84.html is on the 977th place on The Greatest Books of All time site, where An Instant in The Wind does not exist, maybe just for the time being, it was shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize in 1975, and it has my vote

 

I found it magnificent, except for the ending, I am not sure if I will get into that, it may be that I did not understand it, perhaps it is meant to be ambiguous, it could be evident for the average reader, only I just did not get it, another possibility is denial, the first stage of grief, I just refuse to accept what is unfortunate

The speculation may have derived a spoiler alert, on the other hand, I mention ‘ending’, ergo, if one reads here, which is more than doubtful, then he or she could see where this is going- I should get back to (near) the start, when Elizabeth, the white heroine, meets with Adam aka Aon, the black slave who scares her, at the beginning

 

Her husband has been lost, he was a Swedish explorer, interested much more in nature, than in his young spouse, they had had a guide, but the latter became attracted, maybe even infatuated with Elizabeth, and when he tries to harass, even abuse her, there is a clash, and then the false guide kills himself with a gun

There is intense tension between Adam and Elizabeth in the first chapters, but then they have to travel together, to the Cape, after a brief period, they find the corpse of the late husband, being devoured by vultures and wild animals, she wants him buried, but the earth is too hard, they have to have only stones on top of him

 

Gradually, the two of antagonists come closer, they become lovers and this is a mesmerizing love story, albeit I get back to that irritating ending – I muse about what might have happened, maybe she did not have a role there, they just ignored her request – they have to go to hell and back, starving, facing lions, snakes almost all the adversity possible

It reminded me of The Sheltering Sky https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-sheltering-sky-by-paul-bowles-is.html there is so much to enjoy in here, also to be appalled by, from the scene where the girls show they intimate parts to Elizabeth, to the baptizing with moisture from within herself, the upsetting stubbornness…

 

Elizabeth insists that the last bull they have enters the river, contrary to what Adam had said, and then they lose this animal and they come so close to dying themselves, not just then, but multiple times, only for the apparent ‘happy end’ to be placed in doubt, maybe there is one, if you see this ending on a positive note, let me know

 

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