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Selected Stories
In stories written over a period of thirty years, individuals caught up in racial and other South African tensions choose or fall victim to visions and fears of freedom and change
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
14 people are currently reading
398 people want to read
About the author
Nadine Gordimer
328 books953 followersNadine 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 30, 2015
4.5 stars for this book.
Nadine Gordimer has a very impressive literary output, but surprisingly; outside the academia & readers specially keen on SA lit, she doesn't find that many takers!
It's a pity because she writes beautifully.
This book is a significant one as the stories here, have been hand picked by the author herself, from her various short stories collections over the years. Also, as the selection has been made in a chronological order, it not only shows the development of a writer's mind & art but more importantly, a historical perspective as the characters & situations show a gradual shift in the social & political landscape of Africa.
All the featured 31 stories are good in their own way but some like 'Abroad', 'Six feet of the Country', 'Not for Publication', 'Africa Emergent', & 'Something For The Timebeing' are simply outstanding.
From the opening tale 'Is There Nowhere Else Where We Can Meet' to the closing one 'Africa Emergent', the collection completes an arc wherein almost all the racial stereotypes find an expression but there is no moralising here.
With sheer finesse, she lets the stories speak for themselves: the mark of a superior writer.
Few years back, I happened to read her short story 'The Ultimate Safari' in my daughter's English textbook. It moved me to tears & I made a mental note to read anything by this writer.
It saddens me to hear people react to Gordimer with "Oh that White lady who always writes about Black folks! But isn't Apartheid over, what's the point?"
What's the point!!! It's like saying Holocaust is over so why read about it?
Sins like Apartheid & Holocaust are humanity's collective guilt which we shdn't be allowed to forget lest we repeat them with other people, in other times & other places.
Shelley called poets "The unacknowledged legislators of the world". If writers & artists don't give expression to the beauty/ horrors/ aspirations of their times,who will?
It's not for nothing that Gordimer has been called "The conscience of South Africa". True, there is her obsession with racial issues but then as she writes in the preface:
"... there are some stories I have gone on writing, again and again, all my life, not so much because the themes are obsessional but because I found other ways to take hold of them; because I hoped to make the revelation of new perceptions through the different techniques these demanded."
I can vouchsafe that not a single story is repetitive here: like a kaleidoscope they all show a different perspective, reveal a new insight. From the secluded, privileged life of the Whites, safe behind barbed wire fences, to the Indian ghettos (remember Gandhi's South Africa connection?), to the appalling deprivation of the 'locations' (think of them as the Red Indian's reservation area).
There are people here from all walks of life, tentatively making a connection & then recoiling, out of fear, doubt, distrust, prejudice, moral ambiguity & what not!
The stories capture class differences, conflict between the races (with maximum effect in stories like 'Which New Era Would That Be?', 'The Catch' etc), but mainly conflict within an individual himself. There are some amazing psychological character portraits & some torrid affairs with so much emotional honesty in them as to make one wonder about certain claims of Gordimer's biographer...
What stands out most is the quality of her writing: there is never a false note, her understanding acute, her sympathies broad, her observational skill dead on, her imagery always exact.
Highly recommended.
December 8, 2025
As a Canadian, I feel implicated in South African history. I still remember being taught "We are Marching to Pretoria" in elementary school as our educators wanted to teach a new generation of Canadians to admire our heroes who had participated in the Boer War (1899-1902). Being thus engaged in the history of South Africa I was absolutely fascintated by Nadine Gordimer's "Selected Stories" which chronicles the movement for black majority rule in South Africa from the time of the creation in 1948 of the Apartheid system of segregation until 1975.
The date of 1975 was arbitrary. Gordimer's publisher Jonathon Cape simply wanted an anthology of works drawn from five earlier collections of stories. "Selected Stories" offered a progress report not the final chapter in the story of the struggle for black majority rule which is generally regarded as having concluded in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president.
It can also be said that "Selected Stories" did not tell the final chapter of Gordimer's career as a short story writer. She continue to write prolifically with her last collection of short stories being published in 2007.
One must be interested in the movement for black majority rule in South Africa in order to enjoy "Selected Stories". As noted above the interest was quite logical to we Canadians as we had been directly involved in South Africa. The interest was also very natural for our American neighbours who in 1975 were still involved on one side or the other in the movement for black civil rights that was attacking an informal but highly effective system of segregation. I personally feel that the subject has loss none of its pertinence. There are a still a wide variety of caste and class systems in full force throughout the world. As a pessimist, one must recognize that a race based regime like Apartheid could reappear somewhere at some point in the future.
Gordimer's portrait of the era is fascinating. She covers not only South Africa but several satellite territories. Southwest Africa (now Namibia) was a South African Protectorate. Lesotho was and still is an enclave within South Africa. Swaziland (now Eswatini) was under British Rule until 1968 but was subject to influence from South Africa. The satellite territory that Gordimer talks the most about however is Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) that in the timeframe described by Gordimer was regarded as part of the homeland of white South Africans. Southern Rhodesia would become an independent country with black majority rule in 1980. In the early sections of "Selected Stories" Gordimer describes Rhodesia as being solidly under the control of the white minority. In the late sections, she describes how the white regime is falling apart.
Generally, Gordimer offers us a set of characters who have different names but who change very little. History and language however are transforming rapidly. The individuals of Zulu or Bantu heritage are referred to as natives or Africans in the early stories. The term "Black" will be used in the later stories. The methods of dissent and suppression of dissent also change continually during the time period of the stories.
Gordimer also works with a limited group of settings. A number of her stories take place on trains. A even larger number occur in parties or receptions. The dates however are never the same. Gordimer is showing the reading how people and social settings evolve in a rapidly changing and political context. Gordimer may well be correct that history advances but that human nature does not change. The problem is that for a reader who reads the entire collection from beginning to end without other readings encounters a limited group of characters who seem to act in a consistent fashion who change primarily in the moniker assigned to them.
"Selected Stories" is a very worthwhile anthology. I now need to find a way to sample the stories that Gordimer wrote in the 30 years after 1975.
The date of 1975 was arbitrary. Gordimer's publisher Jonathon Cape simply wanted an anthology of works drawn from five earlier collections of stories. "Selected Stories" offered a progress report not the final chapter in the story of the struggle for black majority rule which is generally regarded as having concluded in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president.
It can also be said that "Selected Stories" did not tell the final chapter of Gordimer's career as a short story writer. She continue to write prolifically with her last collection of short stories being published in 2007.
One must be interested in the movement for black majority rule in South Africa in order to enjoy "Selected Stories". As noted above the interest was quite logical to we Canadians as we had been directly involved in South Africa. The interest was also very natural for our American neighbours who in 1975 were still involved on one side or the other in the movement for black civil rights that was attacking an informal but highly effective system of segregation. I personally feel that the subject has loss none of its pertinence. There are a still a wide variety of caste and class systems in full force throughout the world. As a pessimist, one must recognize that a race based regime like Apartheid could reappear somewhere at some point in the future.
Gordimer's portrait of the era is fascinating. She covers not only South Africa but several satellite territories. Southwest Africa (now Namibia) was a South African Protectorate. Lesotho was and still is an enclave within South Africa. Swaziland (now Eswatini) was under British Rule until 1968 but was subject to influence from South Africa. The satellite territory that Gordimer talks the most about however is Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) that in the timeframe described by Gordimer was regarded as part of the homeland of white South Africans. Southern Rhodesia would become an independent country with black majority rule in 1980. In the early sections of "Selected Stories" Gordimer describes Rhodesia as being solidly under the control of the white minority. In the late sections, she describes how the white regime is falling apart.
Generally, Gordimer offers us a set of characters who have different names but who change very little. History and language however are transforming rapidly. The individuals of Zulu or Bantu heritage are referred to as natives or Africans in the early stories. The term "Black" will be used in the later stories. The methods of dissent and suppression of dissent also change continually during the time period of the stories.
Gordimer also works with a limited group of settings. A number of her stories take place on trains. A even larger number occur in parties or receptions. The dates however are never the same. Gordimer is showing the reading how people and social settings evolve in a rapidly changing and political context. Gordimer may well be correct that history advances but that human nature does not change. The problem is that for a reader who reads the entire collection from beginning to end without other readings encounters a limited group of characters who seem to act in a consistent fashion who change primarily in the moniker assigned to them.
"Selected Stories" is a very worthwhile anthology. I now need to find a way to sample the stories that Gordimer wrote in the 30 years after 1975.
February 10, 2019
Marvelously composed, startling short stories. I took my sweet time with this collection; Gordimer’s incisive, insightful prose invites such a slow, pleasurable reading. Deep and far-ranging, this collection was the perfect introduction to her brilliant narrative mind.
May 6, 2024
https://www.neapoulain.com/2020/09/es...
Lo que más recuerdo de Ningún Lugar Semejante (seguro lo leí el mismo año que a Munro, porque hubo un momento de mi vida en que tuve sincero interés por conocer a los ganadores del Nobel, nada más por saber) es su retrato del apartheid sudafricano. Me tardé mucho más en leerlo y no puedo decir que sea de mis favoritos, pero sí es una lectura que valoro bastante. Entre las cosas que retrata hay algunos cuentos de Nadine Gordimer que remiten a la esperanza y en el retrato tan cabrón de las desigualdades creo que eso es algo que nunca debe perderse.
Además que son cosas que hacen las mujeres. Muchas veces la literatura realista (y no solo esa) suele estar secuestrada por la violencia y la crudeza. Increíblemente (si lo sabe yo, que tengo todo un ensayo sobre retratar a violencia dentro de la literatura de género aka la especulativa) es posible hacer eso y aún así ser sensible y al menos eso sí recuerdo con claridad que Nadine Gordimer lo logra. Ella fue la primera autora (y creo que hasta el momento la única) autora sudafricana que leí. También de las primeras africanas. Desde que la leí he vuelto varias veces al continente porque es algo muy variado y su literatura esconde muchas cosas maravillosas.
Lo que más recuerdo de Ningún Lugar Semejante (seguro lo leí el mismo año que a Munro, porque hubo un momento de mi vida en que tuve sincero interés por conocer a los ganadores del Nobel, nada más por saber) es su retrato del apartheid sudafricano. Me tardé mucho más en leerlo y no puedo decir que sea de mis favoritos, pero sí es una lectura que valoro bastante. Entre las cosas que retrata hay algunos cuentos de Nadine Gordimer que remiten a la esperanza y en el retrato tan cabrón de las desigualdades creo que eso es algo que nunca debe perderse.
Además que son cosas que hacen las mujeres. Muchas veces la literatura realista (y no solo esa) suele estar secuestrada por la violencia y la crudeza. Increíblemente (si lo sabe yo, que tengo todo un ensayo sobre retratar a violencia dentro de la literatura de género aka la especulativa) es posible hacer eso y aún así ser sensible y al menos eso sí recuerdo con claridad que Nadine Gordimer lo logra. Ella fue la primera autora (y creo que hasta el momento la única) autora sudafricana que leí. También de las primeras africanas. Desde que la leí he vuelto varias veces al continente porque es algo muy variado y su literatura esconde muchas cosas maravillosas.
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December 2, 2020No les he encontrado lógica a los 5 relatos que he leído. No he avanzado más porque me sentía sinsentido leyéndolos. No digo que no tengan significado para alguien pero para mí eran historietas y además absurdas.
No voy a quedarme con este sinsabor sobre la autora porque no los ha escrito ella, en esta obra sólo se ha dedicado a hacer una recopilación de los relatos que considera más significativos sobre su tierra. Eso sí, para mí no han tenido significado alguno.
No voy a quedarme con este sinsabor sobre la autora porque no los ha escrito ella, en esta obra sólo se ha dedicado a hacer una recopilación de los relatos que considera más significativos sobre su tierra. Eso sí, para mí no han tenido significado alguno.
November 20, 2015
31 stories, none of which go anywhere, just are, just show you glimpses into people's lives as they go about it. There are quite a few political undercurrents considering the stories are from the 1960s-70s and written in Apartheid South Africa. And her observations are typically pithy, coming from someone with an unerring eye for picking up the details of interactions - a nod, a type of smile, a way of talking. Almost like an outsider looking inside at everything. And that's a remarkable achievement, cos she ends up not taking sides, just showing things and letting the readers make up their minds.
As a child she did not inhabit their world, a place where whether the so-and-sos would fit in at dinner, and whose business it was to see that the plumber was called, and whether the car should be traded in or overhauled were the daily entries in the ledger of living. The sum of it was the comfortable, orderly house, beds with turned-down sheets from which nightmares and dreams never overstepped the threshold of morning, good night kisses as routine as the cleaning of teeth, a woman stating her truth, 'Charles would never eat a warmed-over meal,' a man defining his creed, 'One thing I was taught young, the value of money.'
As a child she did not inhabit their world, a place where whether the so-and-sos would fit in at dinner, and whose business it was to see that the plumber was called, and whether the car should be traded in or overhauled were the daily entries in the ledger of living. The sum of it was the comfortable, orderly house, beds with turned-down sheets from which nightmares and dreams never overstepped the threshold of morning, good night kisses as routine as the cleaning of teeth, a woman stating her truth, 'Charles would never eat a warmed-over meal,' a man defining his creed, 'One thing I was taught young, the value of money.'
February 17, 2011
An excellent collection of short stories by this Nobel Prize winning author. The stories are arranged chronologically by publication date and range from stories published in the 1950s to those in the mid-1970s. This arrangement really gives the reader the chance to watch the development of race relations in South Africa during those decades.
December 5, 2010
There are no duds, and many gems in this collection. Her characters are varied and vivid, her writing is flawless and her ability to describe psychological states is exceptional. For a history of South African life, through literature, from the 50s-70s, this is a perfect volume.
April 23, 2024
Beautiful stories about life in South Africa between the 1950's and 1980. The stories span decades of Gordimer's writing, and she has selected these few that appear chronologically. This adds another layer to the reading, as you can not only see the development of the country, events and movements and how they change the content of the stories, but you can also see how Gordimer herself progresses as a writer as she ages. In the beginning they are harder to follow, and it's harder to understand the nuances of the themes she wants to convey. But as you delve deeper and deeper into the book she comes into her own and they become truly engaging. Nothing big ever happens, there are no shocking climaxes; instead these stories are vignettes of the lives of all kinds of South Africans under Apartheid. She writes the English madam, the Afrikaans boer Oom, the Indian activist and POC at various levels of what were then their assigned societal rungs with the same understanding, empathy and dignity. Certainly a good place to start to truly understand what life was like in the times of Apartheid if you're worried about unreliable narration from the people you know that were actually there, who you could also ask... in theory...
April 3, 2024
Gosh… THAT felt long!! At the same time, I was going to bed much later than I normally would to start reading, so I’d fall asleep after a page or two on most nights… Does this say something about Gordimer’s writing, or just my attitude to it? Nevertheless, there were several gems in this collection, each providing distinct nuances of the South African Apartheid experience. While somewhat disheartening as I gained a sense of not all that much having changed - in certain respects - between then and now, Gordimer’s intricate, romantic descriptions of surroundings and unflinching depictions of behaviour and attitudes was refreshing, particularly given how the themes and perspectives shift from story to story, while all carrying similar political undertones. Also intriguing is witnessing the authors gradual transformation over the 20 odd years over the course of which these stories were written. Recommended for those interested in reading short stories and in life during apartheid from a white activist’s perspective.
January 1, 2026
These are insightful stories about a part of the world I knew little about. They cover not just Gordimer’s native South Africa, but also the broader region including Zaire, Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it was then called, and other unnamed countries. Perhaps the most powerful story for me was “Six Feet of the Country”, where a black African family discover that the coffin of their beloved relative contains the wrong body. In the face of white indifference and the hypocrisy of the family’s white employer, the relatives are destined to never find their kin’s body for a proper burial. I thought I knew something about the cruelty of apartheid, but some of these stories really brought home the injustices and the powerlessness of the oppressed in the face of an authoritarian regime. Gordimer also levels her critical eye on the misguided emancipation and arrogant “understanding” of certain white liberals in stories such as “Which New Era Would That Be?” and “Not For Publication”.
But even outside of South Africa, Gordimer highlights the cynicism and barely-veiled prejudices of white Africans and Europeans towards the newly-independent, majority-ruled nations that had only recently sloughed off colonial rule, such as in “Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants”.
There are stories that touch less on racial issues and more on relationships and their complexity. “Friday’s Footprint” traces the life of a widow as she seems to come to terms with her husband’s death, continues running the family hotel and remarries, only for grief to finally surface. And there’s “The Life of the Imagination” where a married woman believes she is immune to the feelings of guilt whilst conducting an affair with her doctor only to find a profound hollowness at the centre of her soul exposed by a doom-laden fantasy of her own death.
The quality of these stories lies in their subjects and themes. But I did struggle somewhat with Gordimer’s prose style. I found its quality variable. Mostly of a high standard, if I may judge on the basis of being able to read fluently. But occasionally, it stuttered, or didn’t scan properly. There were a few times where I had to reread sentences or dialogue to try and comprehend their meaning and occasionally I couldn’t. I wondered if these were editing mistakes. Thankfully, these were rare and I was left with an overall sense of having my first encounter with a great writer.
But even outside of South Africa, Gordimer highlights the cynicism and barely-veiled prejudices of white Africans and Europeans towards the newly-independent, majority-ruled nations that had only recently sloughed off colonial rule, such as in “Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants”.
There are stories that touch less on racial issues and more on relationships and their complexity. “Friday’s Footprint” traces the life of a widow as she seems to come to terms with her husband’s death, continues running the family hotel and remarries, only for grief to finally surface. And there’s “The Life of the Imagination” where a married woman believes she is immune to the feelings of guilt whilst conducting an affair with her doctor only to find a profound hollowness at the centre of her soul exposed by a doom-laden fantasy of her own death.
The quality of these stories lies in their subjects and themes. But I did struggle somewhat with Gordimer’s prose style. I found its quality variable. Mostly of a high standard, if I may judge on the basis of being able to read fluently. But occasionally, it stuttered, or didn’t scan properly. There were a few times where I had to reread sentences or dialogue to try and comprehend their meaning and occasionally I couldn’t. I wondered if these were editing mistakes. Thankfully, these were rare and I was left with an overall sense of having my first encounter with a great writer.
September 2, 2018
Powerful, gut-wrenching, realism in fiction. Remarkable linguist. Each story forces you to recognize and FEEL the human tragedy of Apartheid.
Gordimer's depictions were from days past, presented chronologically as she experienced Apartheid & its ultimate demise in real time.
The parallels to current socio-political tragedies, both global and domestic, are unmistakable. It hurts to read this book, therefore I recommend it as a MUST READ.
Gordimer's depictions were from days past, presented chronologically as she experienced Apartheid & its ultimate demise in real time.
The parallels to current socio-political tragedies, both global and domestic, are unmistakable. It hurts to read this book, therefore I recommend it as a MUST READ.
general-fiction
September 5, 2019FIC
GOR
GOR
January 9, 2022
Proxy for The New Yorker short story, ‘The Beneficiary.’ What do we do with unexpected news that shakes your assumptions about your life.
May 14, 2025
Buen cuento corto.
January 13, 2021
Много ми беше интересно да се потопя в атмосферата на Южна Африка през 70-те и 80-те. Авторката получава Нобел за литература през 91-ва. Иска ми се да я бях прочела тогава. Бих я оценила още по-високо.
Want to read
December 30, 2025Read so far:
from The Soft Voice of the Serpent (1952):
*Is there nowhere else where we can meet?--
The soft voice of the serpent --
Ah, woe is me--
The catch--
*The train from Rhodesia--
***
Another part of the sky--2
*La vie boheme--
The defeated--3
Amateurs--
from Six Feet of the Country (1956):
A bit of young life--
*Six feet of the country --
*Which new era would that be?--
Enemies--
Happy event--
*The smell of death and flowers--
***
Face from Atlantis--
from Friday's Footprint (1960):
Friday's footprint --
The night the favourite came home--
The bridegroom--2
The last kiss--
The gentle art--
***
*Little Willie--
from Not for Publication (1965):
Something for the time being--
A company of laughing faces--
Not for publication --
*A chip of glass ruby--
*Good climate, friendly inhabitants--
*The African magician--
Some Monday for sure--
***
Through time and distance--
from Livingstone's Companions (1970):
*Abroad--
*Livingstone's companions --
*An intruder--
*Open house--
Ink
Rain-Queen--
No place like--
*The life of the imagination--
*Africa emergent--
***
Inkalamu's place--3
Why haven't you written?--
***
from A Soldier's Embrace (1980):
A soldier's embrace--
*Town and country lovers--
For dear life--
Oral history--
A lion on the freeway--
from Something Out There (1984):
A city of the dead, a city of the living --
At the rendezvous of victory --
Letter from his father --3
*Something out there--
from Jump and Other Stories (1991):
Jump --2
Once upon a time --3
The ultimate safari --3
A find --2
Some are born to sweet delight --4
The moment before the gun went off --4
from Loot and Other Stories (2003):
Loot --1
The generation gap --2
Look-alikes --2
The diamond mine --2
from Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black (2007):
Beethoven was one-sixteenth black --
Tape measure --
Dreaming of the dead --
*Mother tongue --
*A beneficiary--
from The Soft Voice of the Serpent (1952):
*Is there nowhere else where we can meet?--
The soft voice of the serpent --
Ah, woe is me--
The catch--
*The train from Rhodesia--
***
Another part of the sky--2
*La vie boheme--
The defeated--3
Amateurs--
from Six Feet of the Country (1956):
A bit of young life--
*Six feet of the country --
*Which new era would that be?--
Enemies--
Happy event--
*The smell of death and flowers--
***
Face from Atlantis--
from Friday's Footprint (1960):
Friday's footprint --
The night the favourite came home--
The bridegroom--2
The last kiss--
The gentle art--
***
*Little Willie--
from Not for Publication (1965):
Something for the time being--
A company of laughing faces--
Not for publication --
*A chip of glass ruby--
*Good climate, friendly inhabitants--
*The African magician--
Some Monday for sure--
***
Through time and distance--
from Livingstone's Companions (1970):
*Abroad--
*Livingstone's companions --
*An intruder--
*Open house--
Ink
Rain-Queen--
No place like--
*The life of the imagination--
*Africa emergent--
***
Inkalamu's place--3
Why haven't you written?--
***
from A Soldier's Embrace (1980):
A soldier's embrace--
*Town and country lovers--
For dear life--
Oral history--
A lion on the freeway--
from Something Out There (1984):
A city of the dead, a city of the living --
At the rendezvous of victory --
Letter from his father --3
*Something out there--
from Jump and Other Stories (1991):
Jump --2
Once upon a time --3
The ultimate safari --3
A find --2
Some are born to sweet delight --4
The moment before the gun went off --4
from Loot and Other Stories (2003):
Loot --1
The generation gap --2
Look-alikes --2
The diamond mine --2
from Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black (2007):
Beethoven was one-sixteenth black --
Tape measure --
Dreaming of the dead --
*Mother tongue --
*A beneficiary--
February 17, 2016
I'd somehow never read Nadine Gordimer before this year, despite her status as eminent South African activist responsible for some of the very best writing this country can boast. These short stories confirmed that reputation a dozen times over. The stories target race, class and gender in the main, but with such a matter-of-fact, colloquial style that Gordimer somehow avoids sounding repetitive or didactic. She gets right into the thick of things, not only the contentious issues that white South Africans find deeply discomforting, but also the messy insides and undersides of being alive in the world: the strangeness of youth, death and displacement, the peculiarities of disparate communities. I found that I moved hungrily from one story straight into the next one, pausing only at brief intervals to digest, like a snake. These were stories gathered from older collections of her work, and I have heard that her more recent material is more strictly literary--perhaps. Either way, I'd recommend this collection heartily.
December 17, 2014
I liked the stories. I particularly liked those stories that focused on issues related to apartheid, such as the one about the missus of a household that saw her housemaid going through all these terrible things in her own home and did almost nothing to help her or even be compassionate with her. Also "The Smell of Death and Flowers'' where a white woman finds herself in the African's ghetto world (compare to her novel July's People), and also the one where the upscale white party goers' pick up a black woman on the road. It's this contrast (and clash) between races and cultures that really defines Gordimer's writing as exceptional in my view.
June 17, 2017
As in most short story collections there were some I liked a lot more than others. Some of them I liked a very great deal, the quality of her writing was amazing at times. This collection has a LOT of stories in it, so I took my time; you don't want to read them all in a couple weeks probably, better to mix in with something else you're reading concurrently.
December 7, 2009
A good surprise.
March 30, 2011
Rare insights into the lives of common folk in South Africa. A book of stories to pick up and read any time, any place. A keeper!
February 4, 2011
Short story collections are difficult to rate or describe. Overall, this is very good with at least four stories that I would give 5 stars. Well worth reading.
January 12, 2011
Packed with perfect stories - "The Soft Voice of the Serpent" and "Six Feet of the Country" chief among them.
January 22, 2008
I'm not sure how I feel about this one also.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews