รักต่างสี

by Nadine Gordimer, จิตราภรณ์ วนัสพงศ์ (Translator)

รักต่างสี
ความสัมพันธ์อันรันทดและงดงาม ระหว่างคนสีขาวและสีดำ ภายใต้ความกดดันทางการเมืองและระบอบการปกครอง ความรักและไมตรีเพียงน้อยนิด ที่คนผิวขาวหยิบยื่นให้คนผิวดำ กลับยิ่งชี้ชัดให้เห็นถึงความแตกต่าง และความอยุติธรรมในสังคม ซึ่งทำให้รู้สึกขมขื่นและเจ็บปวดอยู่ลึกๆ

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Africa, South Africa, Literature, Classics, English Literature

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer, political activist, and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was recognized as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".

Gordimer's writing dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. Under that regime, works such as Burger's Daughter and July's People were banned. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days when the organization was banned. She was also active in HIV/AIDS causes.

Reviews

[Urangoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Өмнөд Африкийн Бүгд Найрамдах Улсад төрсөн энэ Нобелийн шагналт эмэгтэй зохиолчийн зохиолыг унших нь африкийн үнэн төрхийг олж харахтай агаар нэг гэсэн номын арын хуудсан дахь тайлбар үнэхээр оножээ. Африкийн амьдралын тухай 7 өгүүллэг орсон нь бүгд л час хийсэн, өвөрмөц юмаа.

"Зургаан тохой газар" өгүүллэгт хууль бус хил давагчийг оршуулах 6-хан тохой газар олохоор эхэлсэн газрын эзний адал явдал хэн болох нь тодорхойгүй цогцос, 6 тохой газартаа "зөв хүн"-ээ олж оршуулах гэсэн эрэл зэргээр өрнөж эцэстээ тэр их хүчин чармайлт анхлан адал явдал эхлүүлэхийг ятган гуйсан хүмүүст ч хамаагүй болсноор бүр орооцолдох аж. Африк хүмүүсийн араншингийн талаар анхны ойлголт үлдэх шиг, надад.

Харин "Хотын амрагууд", "Хөдөөгийн амрагууд" хэмээх эсрэгцсэн нэртэй 2 өгүүллэг нь сэтгэл нийлж амрагласан ч нийтийн дагаж мөрдөж буй ёс заншил, үзэл бодлоос улбаатайгаар дурлалаа үгүйсгэж, өөрийн зам мөрийг хөөх болж байгаа амрагуудыг дүрсэлснээрээ адилхан. Мэдээж нэрнээсээ амраг дурлал хаана өрнөх, гол баатрууд нь хаанахын хүмүүс байх нь тодорхой бөгөөд түүгээрээ өгүүллэгүүд ялгагдна.

Хамгийн сэтгэлд үлдсэн нь "Хэвлэхэд зориулаагүй" гэдэг өгүүллэг. Нээрээ л нэртэй төртэй хүний намтраас асуудалтай хэсгийг нь үүн шиг "арчиж хасдаг" байх даа. Тиймдээ ч хэвлэхэд зориулсан намтар биш. Ерөнхий сайд болохоор сонгогдож, бэлтгэгдэж байгаа нэгэн. Магад колонийн үед байсан, магад одоо ч иймэрхүү түүх байгаа л байх.

Үлдсэн гурав нь "Таатай уур амьсгал, нөхөрсөг оршин суугчид", "Бадмааргийн өнгөт шигтгээ", "Аман түүх" гэсэн африк хүмүүсийн зан характерыг тодруулж харуулсан өгүүллэгүүд.

Надин Гордимерийн өөр өгүүллэгүүд тааралдвал заавал цаг гарган уншинаа.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can recall these stories searing across my mind.
I want to return to see how they measure up now.
I want to see how current writing measures up against these tales which grab you by the throat, punch you in the gut and brand your mind permanently. And without resorting to sick tricks, sensationalism, violence, sentimentalism or the macabre.
These are grounded in the realities of South African apartheid.
Without preaching or moralising, they show this policy impacting on the ordinary events in the lives of ordinary people in a way you'll never forget.
Should be made compulsory reading for many modern writers.
Then they might leave us alone.

AFTER REREADING:
Have just enjoyed and completed these stories again.
I was naturally less surprised by the evolving plots and able to more fully enjoy the writer's style and the journey the writing took me on, how she unravelled the tale.
My mis-remembering intrigued me.
My total forgetting intrigued me.
But the stories were still great - shocking, insightful, disturbing,
an education, a revelation.
I'm just adding her "Selected Stories" to my To Read Shelf so I can explore a range of her writing over a long period.
That is something to look forward to.

[555 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordimer has a knack for capturing the complexities of both interracial encounters and relations between women and men. The stories "City Lovers," "Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants," and "Six Feet of the Country" were definitely the standouts of this collection for me, though all seven were worth the read.

[Chelsea Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several of the stories in this collection, I'm not sure if by design, follow a pattern of sketching out and filling in a relationship between two people, usually who differ in gender/racial identification, then a calamity befalls them, and then the lens zooms out at the end to describe the end of the affair only in terms in legal terms/simulated court record. I liked "Six Feet of the Country," "Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants," "A Chip of Glass Ruby," and "City Lovers" the best.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of short stories about life in South Africa, written in the 1950’s to 1970’s, under the oppressive apartheid regime. Some of the best short stories I have read in awhile.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunningly good collection of stories. The title story, "Six Feet of the Country," just knocked me sideways with its deft exposure of liberal racism.

[Kuhle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Six Feet of the Country short story. It is a gripping story narrated by a nameless white man in apartheid South Africa. Nadine's choice of words are almost emotionless throughout the narration however the reader still gets a sense of acute desperation, powerlessness and grief from the servant characters in the story. She has an amazing gift for story telling. I appreciated that it strayed away from painting the macabre happenings during apartheid but simply illustrated the day-to-day reality of black people as well as interpersonal relationships, in a weird way, this was a lot more impactful and sad to me. We tend to dwell on the big events, marches and massacres that occurred during that time but a simple story of black people trying to bury a loved one really drove home the atrocities of the past. It is even sadder when you realize the deep importance of following tradition and rituals when burying someone in African culture and the heartache of failing in those left behind.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gordimer does "voice" like no other. Each of these stories gives voice to a different African and she puts you almost in the body of the narrator. I found all the stories chilling, for different reasons. The last one is not only chilling, but hits you over the head with how helpless the village African is in the face of the white man's ways and weapons.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short collection of stories about relationships and power dynamics in apartheid South Africa. Some reminded me of Grace Paley's snapshots, athough in a very different setting where the potential for atrocity hangs heavy just off camera.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some painful insights into life then in South Africa told in a strangely dispassionate way.

[Phoolani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Affecting, distressing, human.

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read only "Six Feet of the Country", not the other six stories. The short story has beautiful prose and an interest location and time but actually story line was lacking. It felt like a scene from a novel, not a stand-alone short story. I do plan on reading other works by Gordimer.

[Tom Romig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with insight and sensitivity, these stories of life under apartheid are all edged with the inevitable sadness that arises from cultural blindness and dehumanizing social structures.

[Daria Hasegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Russell Adzedu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Vivart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent, she is a master storyteller.

[Jo K Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories are not usually me but this is exceptional.

[Lulu Morales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 14/2025
This collection of stories represents some of the rougher realities of the Apartheid in South Africa. The author uses an objective and detached way of narrating to express delicate and emotional topics. This almost clinical narration helps to bring an atmosphere of "feelings don't matter when it comes to the law" to each of the stories.
It was a hard read for me, and made me think a lot about how racism affected people who lived through the Apartheid.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Seven stories from South Africa's finest living writer that distill the essence of what has been happening in that country in recent years, through people and landscapes so intensely and evocatively drawn that they seem to burn a hole in the page."
~~back cover

The difficulty with this book is that it was first published in 1956, and the stories are therefore, obviously, based on the realities of South Africa at that time. The passage of time has resulted in the stories seeming dated, unrealistic, and the people and culture stilted and unrealistic.

I'm sure they were cutting edge back in 1956, but time has not been been good to them.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this I remembered seeing on PBS years ago the filmed version of City Lovers, which left a strong impression on me. Some of the stories were very good, some seemed a bit obvious, not as good as other ones I've read of her in Jump, which when I read them years ago were mindblowing. But I'm sure they all made wonderful watching.

[Leslie Hu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love her writing and the topics she touches upon such as racism, oppression, social inequality in South Africa. She makes me feel all sort of different emotions at the same time. Would definitley want a copy for my permanent collection.

[Justin Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing stories combining deep socio-political insight and comment with genuine literary quality. This is only a small selection from her previously published collections, probably to tie in with the TV adaptation judging by the cover.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to read in Africa.

[Loraxe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite dated now but well worth the read for the sense of place and the voice which is Gordimers shining talent.

[Lekha Priya]

nice

[Francis Pulido]

hi how to read this the system wont allow me to read the ebook