The Power of One

At the suggestion of a friend, I started reading "The Power of One." It's very well-written, which is quite a treat.

This was a fascinating passage, still not quite sure how I feel about it:

"Men, Peekay [the main character's name], are a good woman's downfall. Most of them are rotten, but you've got to have them anyway. Without a man a woman's life is more rotten than with one. It's no use pretending you don't care, that you're stronger than a man. Because even if it is true, it means nothing except loneliness. Men are pigs who sleep with kaffir [black - the story is set in South Africa] women and get drunk and beat you up. But a good beating never hurt, and soemtimes it's the only way those stupid men can show you they love you. It's stupid, heh?"

The day spent with the woman who made the statement was described as being "with a part of the human condition at its best."