Product Description
Written over a span of 30 years, from the 1950s until 1985, the 23 eloquent and powerful essays collected here provide an intimate picture of South Africa. "No one who has read this book will fail to understand the need for those with political loyalties to keep their heads while giving their hearts."--Boston Sunday Globe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Recommended for Gordimer fans
I have read several of Gordimer's novels so I was prepped to like this book and I did.I learned a lot about South African politics and also appreciated her novels more, after having received some context for them. My only real caveat is that essays of these type can seem dated ratherquickly, especially when they concern an area of such great political flux,and may seem difficult or irrelevant to some. ... Read more

Product Description
“It is an inexplicable lapse on the part of literary scholars and critics,” writes Nadine Gordimer in her Introduction, “that Turbott Wolfe is not recognised as a pyrotechnic presence in the canon of renegade colonialist literature along with Conrad.” Indeed, William Plomer’s astonishing first novel, which first appeared in 1926, ignited a firestorm of controversy in his native South Africa. At the novel’s center is Turbott Wolfe, a British trader who opens a general store in Lembuland. He befriends many of his black customers but has less luck ingratiating himself with the bigoted whites who have lived in the area for generations. Eventually, Wolfe and his comrades embrace miscegenation as the key to Africa’s future—the Young Africa, where the races have blurred. Provocative and deeply questioning, Turbott Wolfe remains a powerful chronicle of the intimate human consequences of racism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

i can't believe this isn't famous
an absolutely brilliant novel, concise and intense and thought-provoking while allowing for occasion bits of wry humor and, towards the murky conclusion, outright hysterics.plomer tells the story of w.p. telling the story of a dying turbott wolfe telling the story of a young turbott wolfe as he interacts with native south africans.the superficial theme of race relations my have gotten this book reprinted and heralded by nadine gordimer, but its real worth is in the character of wolfe, a bizarre combination of gatsby and prufrock (and a possible genius), ultimately failing in a great attempt of re-creation.pay special attention to plomer's cat-thought descriptions; they're fleeting but brilliant. ... Read more

Product Description
James Bray, an English colonial administrator who was expelled from a central African nation for siding with its black nationalist leaders, is invited back ten years later to join in the country's independence celebrations. As he witnesses the factionalism and violence that erupt as revolutionary ideals are subverted by ambition and greed, Bray is once again forced to choose sides, a choice that becomes both his triumph and his undoing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Maybe the best book I've ever read
The title pretty much says it all.Despite what the other review says, all of Gordimer's work is still relevant.It is the human feeling and emotion she uses to describe past events that make them understandable to us in the present day.Not only is this a book about historical events- it is an eternal story about human interactions and love.Gordimer has a rare gift that allows the reader to see these past events as representations of human actions, thought processes, and feelings that are repeated around the world today and across time.This book is a little hard to get into, but if you get through it and can understand it- it is a story you will never forget.Gordimer's ability to tell such a complex and human story is awe-inspiring.This one still haunts me, and I read it a long time ago.

Carbon-Dating a Nobel Prize Winner
My book club chose Guest of Honour for at our last meeting. We wanted to read something by Nadine Gordimer, and we found a site on her which described Guest of Honour as "arguably her best book." Ignoring our usual rule that choices be one-finger length classics, we went with Guest of Honour. When we managed to find copies of the 500+ tome, we were all immediately sorry. One needs waders to get through. Since I was the one who had proposed her name to my group, I felt honor bound to get through it. "Something must happen eventually," I thought, as I turned over page after page. Not that Gordimer isn't a fine writer. At no point does she lapse into the sentimental, the untrue, or the awkward. She deals with the world she creates at a subtle level. She is obviously a writer of great talent. I can only think that Guest of Honour no longer appeals because it is set in the 70s, and written about events in the late 60s. She describes British whites living with Africans. In the 70s, this would have been startling. Today, it doesn't mean anything at all. She describes the sad degeneracy of a hopeful young nation from rule of the people to chaotic government by a cruel few. So did George Orwell in Animal Farm. So did Arthur Koestler in Darkness before Noon. So, for that matter, did Hossein in Kite Runner.

I'd rather read Kite Runner. It's shorter, and things happen in it.







... Read more

Product Description
A collection of short stories exploring the emotional and physical landscapes of South Africa. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is a selection of short stories which are well written
These collection of stories are well put together and are very well written and i am looking forward to reading another book. I would recommend this book, but there are a few down sides. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of short stories by the Nobel Prize-winning author of My Son's Story and Jump and Other Stories features tales of human separation and entanglement and of love and freedom. ... Read more

Product Description
This powerful collection of short stories, set in Gordimer's native South Africa, reveals her outstanding ability to pierce the core of the human condition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A moving compilation of short stories
Crimes of Conscience was the first contact I had with Gordimer's work.I found these stories to grab my attention- by focusing in on the happenings in fictitious individual's lives she comments in a profound way on life in South Africa before and immediately following apartheid rule.I gave the book four stars rather than five because as you read more and more stories the startling nature of her story telling becomes a little repetative and loses its effect somewhat.After reading this book I was interested enough to pick up more and more of Gordimer's books- she is an excellent writer.Definitely worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
autobiography of South African activist ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of short stories covers 25 years of the author's career. By the author of "Crimes of Conscience". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Life and Death in Apartheid
Thoughtful and thought-provoking photographs of apartheid.I love the fact that these are real people, real lives affected.The text adds strong literature merit to the collection. ... Read more