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Kill Yourself & Count to 10
They’re psychopaths, violent offenders, drug addicts, sexual deviants and social misfits. And these are the good guys. In the notorious military camp known as The Vault, they are considered unfit to wear the South African Defence Force uniform. As part of a brutal rehabilitation programme they become the experimental toys of a rogue psychiatrist.Into this macabre world conscript Lloyd Norton wanders innocently due to a clerical error. He will never be the same again.The novel, based on the real apartheid-era camp Greefswald, not only rips open an all but forgotten chapter in a chilling history, but also tells a gripping rites-of-passage story.
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First published May 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 17, 2019
This was a difficult book to read but I could not put it down. Mr Torr, I hate you for writing such a brilliant book and making me read it. The fact that this story is based in reality makes it more hateful and fantastic. This book made me so feel so conflicted.
June 24, 2014
Kill Yourself & Count To 10 by Gordon Torr is a gripping tale that brings to light the true horrors of what a clerical error could cause a young man during the Apartheid’s era. Lloyd Norton, who was sent to a military camp for the broken, bad, and otherwise unwanted soldiers of the military, as a clerk for Major Kruger, winds up in the barracks with the ‘moffies’, ‘druggies’ and ‘conscientious objectors’ to be rehabilitated according to what the government of the time thought was ‘adequate’. As a result, Lloyd becomes just as broken as the rest of them when Doctor Levin gets his hands on them. The problem is, nobody can quite remember what exactly happened during those days. Nobody, except Robert, one of Lloyd’s primary school friends who was there as a medic during the time. Slowly, they piece together what really happened while Doctor Levin, the psychologist who was in control of the so-called rehabilitation program, is on trial. Will they finally get to the truth?
I found this book to be heavy, in the sense of it’s difficult to read without remembering that this type of stuff really did happen back in the day. It’s hard to know that most of the people responsible for these heinous acts were never brought to justice, and it’s even worse to think that the result of their ‘experiments’ screwed up quite a few people. Of course, the book is fantastic and paints a picture of old South Africa and the new South Africa wonderfully with words. A lot of Afrikaans words are used every now and again, but it won’t hinder the reading too much (just keep your Google translate open if you’re unsure of a phrase). Most of all, the plot will have you turning the pages to get to the end and then you’ll be asking yourself: “When’s the next Gordon Torr book coming out?”.
Gordon Torr has a wonderful voice as a writer, and his descriptions are exceptional. In other words, yes, this book is memorable and you might want to get your hands on it. I smell a few awards for Kill Yourself & Count To 10 in the future …
I’m not a keen reader of Apartheid literature in general (I had my full of it in university), but Kill Yourself & Count To 10 is a different type of book that doesn’t quite fit in with what you’re used to in that particular genre. It’s dark and deep and it’s suspenseful as hell. In other words, it’s a must-read for folks that’s looking for a literary gem.
(review originally posted on www.killeraphrodite.com)
I found this book to be heavy, in the sense of it’s difficult to read without remembering that this type of stuff really did happen back in the day. It’s hard to know that most of the people responsible for these heinous acts were never brought to justice, and it’s even worse to think that the result of their ‘experiments’ screwed up quite a few people. Of course, the book is fantastic and paints a picture of old South Africa and the new South Africa wonderfully with words. A lot of Afrikaans words are used every now and again, but it won’t hinder the reading too much (just keep your Google translate open if you’re unsure of a phrase). Most of all, the plot will have you turning the pages to get to the end and then you’ll be asking yourself: “When’s the next Gordon Torr book coming out?”.
Gordon Torr has a wonderful voice as a writer, and his descriptions are exceptional. In other words, yes, this book is memorable and you might want to get your hands on it. I smell a few awards for Kill Yourself & Count To 10 in the future …
I’m not a keen reader of Apartheid literature in general (I had my full of it in university), but Kill Yourself & Count To 10 is a different type of book that doesn’t quite fit in with what you’re used to in that particular genre. It’s dark and deep and it’s suspenseful as hell. In other words, it’s a must-read for folks that’s looking for a literary gem.
(review originally posted on www.killeraphrodite.com)
June 18, 2014
An interesting book all round. And if you are South African, male, over 46, white and understand Afrikaans, you will have deeper levels of understanding; one degree closer to the author's experience with every rung of that ladder. A good knowledge of the Mapungubwe/Shashi-Limpopo confluence area also helped me. The final two: having done military service and having served time in Greefswald elude me completely.
Greefswald was a shameful paragraph in the history of a country about which shameful tomes have been written. It was a military camp where experiments were conducted to straighten out the devious tendencies of homosexuals and drug users.
The author implies terrible experiments and makes mention of torture but there are no examples given or first-person accounts. The book certainly isn't David Chandler's "Voices from S-21", the Sabato Commission's report on the atrocities of the last military junta in Argentine, or Antjie Krog's "Country of My Skull". "Kill Yourself" is more a fictionalized account of true events than a historical document. Conversely, Greefswald wasn't ran by Joseph Mengele either. In the words of one of its characters, the brute Golding "it's not as though Greefswald is fucking Auschwitz or Buchenwald or something".
A good, entertaining read nonetheless.
Point #6 in this list throws more light into the matter and mentions some of the atrocities the author of this book didn't -I guess for legal reasons- spell out:
http://listverse.com/2008/03/14/top-1...
Greefswald was a shameful paragraph in the history of a country about which shameful tomes have been written. It was a military camp where experiments were conducted to straighten out the devious tendencies of homosexuals and drug users.
The author implies terrible experiments and makes mention of torture but there are no examples given or first-person accounts. The book certainly isn't David Chandler's "Voices from S-21", the Sabato Commission's report on the atrocities of the last military junta in Argentine, or Antjie Krog's "Country of My Skull". "Kill Yourself" is more a fictionalized account of true events than a historical document. Conversely, Greefswald wasn't ran by Joseph Mengele either. In the words of one of its characters, the brute Golding "it's not as though Greefswald is fucking Auschwitz or Buchenwald or something".
A good, entertaining read nonetheless.
Point #6 in this list throws more light into the matter and mentions some of the atrocities the author of this book didn't -I guess for legal reasons- spell out:
http://listverse.com/2008/03/14/top-1...
June 16, 2014
An incredibly poignant and thought provoking book, that I absolutely did not want to put down, neither did I want to finish.
As with getting to the end of any great literary experience, I was starting to worry about what I would read next!
A fascinating and incredible journey about the brutality of Apartheid as a white teenager, a camp set up for the insurgent kids in the 70's that were just starting to discover there was a whole different world out side of South Africa.
The rich tapestry of the stories of individuals weaves its magic - the beautiful descriptions of the smells, the heat and the mis-justice captures the South Africa that I love - even thought I am English and Apartheid was a mystery to us back then.
I am incredibly selective about what I read - this is a must - I want more!!
As with getting to the end of any great literary experience, I was starting to worry about what I would read next!
A fascinating and incredible journey about the brutality of Apartheid as a white teenager, a camp set up for the insurgent kids in the 70's that were just starting to discover there was a whole different world out side of South Africa.
The rich tapestry of the stories of individuals weaves its magic - the beautiful descriptions of the smells, the heat and the mis-justice captures the South Africa that I love - even thought I am English and Apartheid was a mystery to us back then.
I am incredibly selective about what I read - this is a must - I want more!!
April 20, 2015
No, this book wasn't for me I'm afraid. I really didn't enjoy the fact that the story seemed disjointed and didn't follow logically. I battled to follow who was who and I battled to actually know who the narrator was. I didn't enjoy the long rambling sentences, which seemed unnecessary and didn't move the story along. I would find myself skimming paragraphs and even pages to try and get to something interesting. I really wanted to love this book as the blurb on the back cover made it sound like exactly something I would love. But no, I thought it was horrible. I actually got to page 100 and then decided to stop. I very rarely give up on a book but this one didn't grab me.
July 3, 2014
The irony of brutality the Apartheid era South African Army carried out, not on its enemies, but on a group of young conscripts deemed to be different and sent to an experimental punishment camp called Greefswald. A touching and true tale of young men still in their teens and the stoic futility with which they faced a power and cruelness that they could neither understand nor could ever defeat. An uncomfortable and unpopular truth, told with stunning psychological insight. Mostly dark but also touching and at times funny.
June 27, 2014
I really wanted to love this book but I just found it frustrating at certain parts. The story could be a good one highlighting the sadly true prejudices that existed however the writing at times got me lost in unnecessary adjectives. Sometimes simpler writing styles convey a strong story better than a convoluted style. I also think that non South Africans would really struggle to understand this book
February 16, 2015
Sad, sad SAD! Part of a history I would not like to know more about. The old issue of labelling people. Humans playing God as part of a political agenda. No winners, only broken souls. Disturbing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews