Telling Times: Writing and Living, 1954-2008

by Nadine Gordimer

An extraordinary achievement, Telling Times reflects the true spirit of the writer as a literary beacon, moral activist, and political visionary.

Few writers have been so much at the center of historical events as Nadine Gordimer. Telling Times, the first comprehensive collection of her nonfiction, bears insightful witness to the forces that have shaped the last half century. It includes reports from Soweto during the 1976 uprising, Zimbabwe at the dawn of independence, and Africa at the start of the AIDS pandemic, as well as illuminating portraits of Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and many others. Committed first and foremost to art, Gordimer appraises the legacies of hallowed writers like Tolstoy, Proust, and Conrad, and engages vigorously with contemporaries like Achebe, Said, and Soyinka. No other writer has so consistently evoked the feel of Africa"its landscapes, cities, and people"through a remarkable range of travel writing from Tanzania, Egypt, and along the Congo River. Telling Times is an extraordinary summation from a writer whose enduring courage and commitment to human freedom have made her a moral compass of her time.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Africa

752 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

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

[Ms. Online]

In these 90-plus pieces of observation, remembrance and literary criticism, Gordimer is precise, unembellished, evocative. Now 86, the nobel prize-winner remains the white South African literary voice against oppression.

[Barry Gilder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gordimer Thought Compendium

Betwixt these pages (can you say that about a Kindle book?) is contained the full range of the thoughts of Nadine Gordimer - from literature to politics to life. A window, indeed.

[Yaru Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spanning decades and worldly subjects, these writings are perhaps the best demonstration that before there can be a Great Novel, the allegory must first exist in the heart.