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Playing in the Light: A Novel
by
Zoë Wicomb
From the acclaimed South African novelist, a lyrical tale of self-discovery in post-apartheid cape town.
Set in a beautifully rendered 1990s Cape Town, "Playing in the Light" revolves around Marion, a woman of Afrikaner background, who hates traveling but nonetheless runs a travel agency, and her complex relationship with Brenda, the first black woman she has ever employed...more
Set in a beautifully rendered 1990s Cape Town, "Playing in the Light" revolves around Marion, a woman of Afrikaner background, who hates traveling but nonetheless runs a travel agency, and her complex relationship with Brenda, the first black woman she has ever employed...more
Hardcover, 218 pages
Published
June 6th 2006
by New Press, The
(first published 2006)
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Mar 16, 2011
Joan Winnek
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Joan by:
Stanford Book Salon
I found this book stunning in its development and imagery. I too have not the patience to look up Afrikaans words, but I found in context the meaning usually emerged, and I didn't think they detracted from the beauty of the writing. A translation of the poems and songs would have been helpful, but if you read the copyright page you will see that The New Press has a mission that may make the additional expense of providing translations (ideally in footnotes) too expensive. I am grateful the The N...more
South Africa's is a country laden with a myriad of stories waiting to be told. Playing in the light is a book that share's one of these stories. This is a remarkable book about the absurdities, nuances and complexities of South Africa. past and post apartheid. The book reveals the somewhat arbitrariness of whiteness in South Africa through the story of Marion that discovers that the identity she has been socialized into were all constructed and not real. Zoe Wicomb exposes the absurdities of apa...more
This book is being discussed this month through the Stanford online "Seriously Unstuffy Book Salon." I had never heard of the author so read it because it was the March book choice. I now want to recommend it to my Colorado book group because not only is it very well written, but I also think it will engender a wonderful discussion. The title, "Playing in the Light" can be "read" in several ways. It takes place in Capetown, South Africa in post apartheid times. I would rank it among the works of...more
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The following is a review I wrote when Playing in the Light: A Novel was the monthly "Stanford Book Salon" choice:
While remaining confused and jarred by the choice of narrator, I am still really glad I read Playing in the Light. Zoe Wicomb introduced me to racism, South African style, as no other author, including Patton and Coetzee, has before. For years I have cringed at reports of the violence and suppression the black population received at the hands of white citizens during the years of apa...more
While remaining confused and jarred by the choice of narrator, I am still really glad I read Playing in the Light. Zoe Wicomb introduced me to racism, South African style, as no other author, including Patton and Coetzee, has before. For years I have cringed at reports of the violence and suppression the black population received at the hands of white citizens during the years of apa...more
Playing in the Light is the story of Marion Campbell, a travel agent who is haunted by a sixth sense that there's a mystery in her own past. Marion must eventually go on a quest to seek out the people who can answer her questions about her grandparents, her parents, and her own identity. Set in post-apartheid Cape Town, this story presents one viewpoint of modern-day race relations in South Africa as the country continues to heal from its stormy past.
Although the book was critically acclaimed,...more
Although the book was critically acclaimed,...more
I loved her earlier book, You Can't Get Lost in Capetown. I thought it was one of the most insightful and politically astute books I ever read about South Africa and its race politics, and I first read it when I lived in South Africa. This one is less compelling. For people who don't know the way "Coloured" people fit into the story of South Africa, and the cost to those who passed as white and gave up their families and communities to succeed at that, this might be very helpful--although Judith...more
Omg. I loved this book. I didn't love the ending but what a fabulous writer. Apparently this is her first novel - she is a short story writer, set in South Africa after apartheid about a successful business woman discovering her past. Just the description of the light on the wall when she is visiting England is worth the book.
An interesting portrait of the subtleties of racial classifications in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. I wasn't mad for it, but the characters were somewhat engaging and the book picked up in the 2nd half.
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Illustrates the terrible reality and consequences of the apartheid laws. I found it hard to follow the back and forth of history and present perspective and did not think the ending "fit".
It took me three days to read 25 pages! After I decided to quit reading it, I flipped though. There seems to be a complete lack of dialogue. If you find something that I missed, please let me know.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Wicomb and listening her read from Playing in the Light when I was in Cape Town in January 2009. It is through this occasion that I learned of her. Playing in the Light is a novel of the new South Africa that deals with the complicated issues of race, relationships, and the complexities brought about by transcending those boundaries. The second half of the book is much more powerful when the story of how Helen and John become play whites is told.
This is foremost a book of racial self-discovery and how we look at ourselves, our friends, our family through the lens of race. Wicomb draws you into the story and despite its complexity, occasional unfamiliar Afrikaan terms/dialect ( at least to this western reader), it remains a very excellent read.
I actually liked this book, but was totally thrown by the ending and found some of the transitions in the book abrupt and unconvincing.Still, the subject matter sheds light on the horrors of living under apartheid in South Africa and so found it worth reading.
Interesting story but I found it hard to empathize with the main character. The ending was also kind of abrupt and unfinished in my opinion.
Jun 17, 2013
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She attended the University of the Western Cape, and after graduating left South Africa for England in 1970, where she continued her studies at Reading University. She lived in Nottingham and Glasgow and returned to South Africa in 1990, where she taught for three years in the department of English at the University of the Western Cape She gained attention in South Africa and internationally with...more
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