It would be jingoistic to claim South African novelists are the best in the world, but they are certainly going from strength to strength and a genre which was once read for its political relevance is now enjoyed for the pure brilliance of the writing.

S.J. (aka Fanie) Naude has presented a gripping story in The Third Reel, commenting with impressive authority on such diverse subjects as campanology, Christian National Education and the school cadet system, Industrial rock, architecture, East Berlin, Cinematography and, at the heart of it all, love.

Etienne, a 22-year-old Afrikaner from a conservative family, flees South Africa in 1986 to escape conscription. He is not ideologically motivated, and struggles in London – where South Africans in exile are expected to nail their colours to the revolutionary mast.

Axel, a German artist, introduces Etienne not only to love, but also to a ‘lost’ German film, made by Jewish film makers in 1933 when Nazi intolerance began to bite.

Etienne follows Axel to Germany, and although the parallels between the racism of Nazi Germany, the fascist intolerance of East Germany, and the inhumanity of Apartheid South Africa are never spelled out, they always lurk in the background.

Etienne searches for the lost film, for his lover, and for himself in a bildungsroman which, while not for the prudish, will delight all lovers of good writing. ( )