Breytenbach is maybe the most important Afrikaans writer ever. Afrikaans writing was central to the cultural identity, dominance and arrogance of the Afrikaaners, the ruling white tribe in Apartheid-South Africa. What a pity, or what an interesting experiment that Breytenbach happened to be a most outspoken enemy of the Apartheid system. The rulers cherished the works of the author they persecuted, the author, in writing against the system, reinforced the cultural fundament of the system he hoped to demolish.

That one of his brothers was a high ranking officer in the military and therefore a figurehead of the regime – in a work of fiction that might have been a bit over the top, but: die lewe is freemder as fisksie.

Breytenbach himself does not simply despise his country, it is more of a love-hate relation. From his French exile he made a trip to South Africa in 1973, with official permission from the government. The account he wrote of this trip, of how he experienced the land and the peoples, is »'n seisoen in die paradys«.

Shortly after his return to France, he went on a second trip – this time incognito, under an assumed name. The aim of this trip was to establish contacts for a new, all-white, underground resistance movement. The idea of Apartheid in anti-Apartheid work seems silly, and Breytenbach himself concedes that he was not much of a secret agent. Starting an affair with an Afrikaans stewardess (apparently they were known to be in close contact with the security police) may not have been such a good idea after all, nor was his contacting all his friends once he was in the country. But all this may not have mattered anyway, because it seems that the mission had already been betrayed even before Breytenbach's arrival at Jan Smuts Airport in Johannesberg.

Breytenbach's True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist give an only slightly glossed over version of what happened before his arrest, of the interrogations and the court case following his arrest, and, most importantly, of his time in prison. The last bit is the most important and maybe the most honest part of this story. It is definitely self-ironic and shows deep reflections on how imprisonment changes the soul and the character, how it welds together prisoner and imprisoned and deforms both of them.

This book is not necessarily an easy read because Breytenbach likes puns which can be difficult to understand if one is not familar with (Apartheid-) South Africa. One may not (should not) necessarily agree with his political positions. And one should absolutely not take Breytenbach too seriously. After all, he himself doesn't.

But one should definitely read this book if one is interested in the Apartheid period and how it deformed the people's minds.