this book is like a huge, complicated, multi-dimensional landscape painting. which i think is what Gordimer is famous for. in this book, basically nothing of excitement happens to any of the characters, prominent or not. what it seems is that one could take a person, character, yourself, mandela, whomever, and insert it into the backdrop that the book creates, and understand how the events that unfolded in South Africa happened in the ways they did. the context is the tension of the book - it requires a somewhat careful read and it really helps to have a slight understanding of apartheid south africa and some of the colonial history.

i recommend wikipedia-ing the Boer War and South Africa apartheid before reading it.

its long for what it is and completely beautiful.

if you're looking for excitement and a fast-paced read, this is probably a bad place to go. but for a study in historical landscape mired in incredible descriptions of dirt and water and land, this is a really good one.