Identity area
Reference code
ZA COM NMPP 2009/57-9-1
Title
Grapes of Wrath [98y4-a8nD7M]
Date(s)
- 1992-12-21 (Creation)
Level of description
page
Extent and medium
1 audio clip
In-point: 38:57
Out-point: 43:32
In-point: 38:57
Out-point: 43:32
Context area
Name of creator
Name of creator
(1955-)
Biographical history
Editor and author. Collaborated with Mandela on his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom (published 1994). Co-producer of the documentary Mandela, 1996. Editor of TIME magazine.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Rick Stengel
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Robben Island prison had a library for each section of the prison. The libraries were staffed by prisoners and a fair amount of interesting literature escaped the censors who tried to ensure that subversive material did not get into the hands of the prisoners. One of Nelson Mandela’s close comrades, Ahmed Kathrada, was at one stage a librarian in B Section where he, Mr Mandela, and about two dozen other prisoners were held. If books arrived in the library they could be read. Books that just mentioned the name ‘Mandela’ for example did not make it. Here Mr Mandela talks about some of the books he read on Robben Island.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Access by permission of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright held by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
STENGEL: Do you remember any of the books you read during those years, that influenced you?
MANDELA: Well, I read a lot of books, man. Grapes of Wrath.
STENGEL: Right.
MANDELA: Grapes of Wrath. Then South African books like the novels of Nadine Gordimer, almost all those that have been published. I read some Afrikaans literature. I read novels like Exodus. You know Exodus?
STENGEL: Yes.
MANDELA: And I read Ernest Hemmingway’s publications. The Old Man and the Sea, hey? What were the others? For Whom the Bell Tolls, there were three of them, man. What was the other one? Mmm. Then of course, there were Glimpses of World History by Pundit Nehru. And there was The Unity of India also by Pundit Nehru and his biography.
STENGEL: Nehru’s biography?
MANDELA: The autobiography of Pundit Nehru. Those were some of the books I read, you see.
STENGEL: Was there an autobiography of Gandhi there?
MANDELA: Yes, yes. That’s right, yes.
STENGEL: And somewhere I remember you talking about reading War and Peace, did you read War and Peace at that time?
MANDELA: That's right, I read War and Peace there, Tolstoy. Yes, I read War and Peace and man, there are some books I’m forgetting. I see, I read Let My People Go by Luthuli. Well, those are some of the books I read. I also read the Bible, of course. Yes, those are some of the books I read.
STENGEL: Those books, some of them are very liberal? The Grapes of Wrath is a book which is about the downtrodden, you know?
MANDELA: Which one?
STENGEL: The Grapes of Wrath
MANDELA: Oh, yes, oh yes, oh yes.
STENGEL: So they didn’t censor books like that? Nadine Gordimer’s books are very liberal?
MANDELA: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No, they didn't censor them. They did not censor them.
MANDELA: Well, I read a lot of books, man. Grapes of Wrath.
STENGEL: Right.
MANDELA: Grapes of Wrath. Then South African books like the novels of Nadine Gordimer, almost all those that have been published. I read some Afrikaans literature. I read novels like Exodus. You know Exodus?
STENGEL: Yes.
MANDELA: And I read Ernest Hemmingway’s publications. The Old Man and the Sea, hey? What were the others? For Whom the Bell Tolls, there were three of them, man. What was the other one? Mmm. Then of course, there were Glimpses of World History by Pundit Nehru. And there was The Unity of India also by Pundit Nehru and his biography.
STENGEL: Nehru’s biography?
MANDELA: The autobiography of Pundit Nehru. Those were some of the books I read, you see.
STENGEL: Was there an autobiography of Gandhi there?
MANDELA: Yes, yes. That’s right, yes.
STENGEL: And somewhere I remember you talking about reading War and Peace, did you read War and Peace at that time?
MANDELA: That's right, I read War and Peace there, Tolstoy. Yes, I read War and Peace and man, there are some books I’m forgetting. I see, I read Let My People Go by Luthuli. Well, those are some of the books I read. I also read the Bible, of course. Yes, those are some of the books I read.
STENGEL: Those books, some of them are very liberal? The Grapes of Wrath is a book which is about the downtrodden, you know?
MANDELA: Which one?
STENGEL: The Grapes of Wrath
MANDELA: Oh, yes, oh yes, oh yes.
STENGEL: So they didn’t censor books like that? Nadine Gordimer’s books are very liberal?
MANDELA: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No, they didn't censor them. They did not censor them.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Hemingway, Ernest (Subject)
- Gordimer, Nadine (Subject)
- Nehru, Jawaharlal (Subject)