Helpful Score: 3
I was disappointed with this book for several reasons. The stream-of-consciousness-eque writing is especially confusing when you're referring to a place or a style of language unfamiliar to the audience. The ending left much to be desired. Ms. Gordimer only made the situation more and more edgy, then kind of left it off. What she does well, though, is chronicle the evolution of relationships in a severely changed environment. What role do you take when your "boy" becomes your only means of survival? Recommended only for fans of Gordimer.
Helpful Score: 2
Fascinating, but depressing. A liberal white couple in South Africa are helped by one of their long-term black servants to escape to his village during the upheaval at the end of apartheid. Their children quickly adapt to "native" life and are happy, but the parents are another story. I thought the writing very good and perceptive. Didn't like the fact that the story ends up in the air, but then again, plot was not the point.
Helpful Score: 1
Ms Gordimer never disappoints. Fine writing about a complex subject.
Helpful Score: 1
The narrative is often choppy and abstract. In many ways, the authors style and structure remind me of that of Alan Paton. Crisp, sentences. Often merely phrases. No quotation marks. Who is speaking? Is someone speaking? Often up to a page of narrative expires before, by assumption, the reader becomes aware of which character it concerns. A South African trait, or style? Prose imitating poetry! July is a native servant who rescues his white family from the riots and hides them in his native village. Gradually, their roles reverse. A sort of cliff-hanger ending that leaves far too much to the reader to fill in.
Helpful Score: 1
An enigmatic but fascinating study of human relationshps and global concerns. Beautiful prose with haunting images and themes.
