Reviewed by: Jane Coker
Author: Albie Sachs
Publisher: Souvenir Press
ISBN: 9780285640207
Price: £15.00

From the opening words 'Oh Shit. Everything has gone abruptly dark' to the closing 'Life is good…', the second edition of this book written in 1989 grips you in its personal moving account of the attempted assassination of its author, Albie Sachs, and his recovery. Give yourself time to read because once you start you will not want to put it down, even though you may need a rest from the powerful emotions it will cause. Albie Sachs’ recovery was astonishing; not merely because he overcame such personal difficulties but because he continued to play such an important role in the liberation of South Africa, co-drafting the constitution and becoming one of its leading constitutional judges whose judgments have an impact across the world for their clarity and erudition.

But the book is not blood and gore - it is hope and love and emotion and the future. Not just personal but intertwined with the birth of a better South Africa. His resounding answer to the question he poses himself as he recovers, 'was it worth it?', is 'yes' and the reasons for that answer suffuse the book.

This amazing man, with no bitterness, retains his belief in justice and the rule of law. His soft vengeance is not a personal vendetta against those who tried to kill him - both the individuals and the old South African state - but is the future creation of a country where justice and the rule of law prevails.

Valuable additions to this account are the Foreword, Introduction, Epilogue and Afterword. Each is written at a different time with a different political context in South Africa but renewing the wonder of survival and progress.

The introduction to this edition, written in January 2011 by Njabulo S Ndebele, describes Albie’s capability as South Africa’s capability and the complexity of Albie’s 'painstaking voyage through wounding, recovering, healing and living' as displayed in his writing as complementary and analogous to the changes in South Africa.

Albie’s Epilogue, written in October 1998, is an enthralling look at forgiveness and the need to promote reconciliation. His Afterword, written in January 2011, when he takes his young son to Maputo where the bomb had nearly killed him, brings tears to your eyes with the realisation that the future is full of hope and life. If those who suffered so dreadfully can look forward without the desire for vengeance, the future for South Africa, for all its current difficulties, can only be bright.

Jane Coker is a salaried Judge of the Upper Tribunal

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