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reedg's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
theseventhl's review
4.0
I still am conflicted about the ending and how the main conflict is (or rather is not) resolved, and what the deeper meaning of the desert and the hungry dog is, but overall, it was a fantastic, complex novel.
matiel72's review against another edition
1.0
This book is among one of my least favorites. The writing and plot are what I am criticizing the most. The writing is horrendous, and seeing as it was read for an IBHL English class, I expected decency, but this book's writing style isn't my thing. I dislike the fact that it's written without quotation marks around the spoken dialect, which just confuses me and makes me think that the characters point of view we are in is thinking it. I also strongly disliked Julie, she is another spur of the moment type of person who dives headfirst into things without really thinking. She up and leaves her nice home and I assume a job, to go with Abdu to his poor, economically and politically, village. She didn't think about the consequences that this can cause. I am the type of reader who likes to find character driven novels, the more I learn the happier I am, but Gordimer never tried to make me find a connection with either Julie or Abdu. The author, Nadine Gordimer, makes you have to read each passage twice to figure out what she is trying to say. When starting the novel I was hoping for an insight into a love story about crossing socio-economic class boundaries but instead all I got was a story about two people infatuated with the idea of one another, but not so much that they are unwilling to use one another for their own agenda. It’s one of the worst books I’ve read and a far, far cry from anything I would call great. The only reason I finished this novel was because it was for a class. I would have dnf'd this if not for my class.
drlark's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I read this back in college, I think, and thought it was romantic and intense, but upon rereading, I'd say The Pickup is mostly vibes and observation, a slowly unfolding story of two people meeting, connecting, and diverging. Julie is the white daughter of wealthy parents in South Africa, while Abdu is the mechanic who fixes her car, no longer in the country legally as his visa's expired. The two fall into a romance, which is complicated when Abdu is deported to his unnamed Arab country.
I think Gordimer does a stellar job writing this relationship between two people who connect but are also using each other for different dreams. Julie's ignorance and privilege, and Abdu's ambition and disdain for his home country are both portrayed with nuance and sympathy. There's nothing easy about this story or Gordimer's writing style, but I loved it.
I think Gordimer does a stellar job writing this relationship between two people who connect but are also using each other for different dreams. Julie's ignorance and privilege, and Abdu's ambition and disdain for his home country are both portrayed with nuance and sympathy. There's nothing easy about this story or Gordimer's writing style, but I loved it.
karenleagermain's review against another edition
3.0
I don't think that I gave this book the attention that it deserved. It probably should have been read in a single sitting, but I spread it over a month, a very distracted month. I think the way I read the book, lessened the impact of the story for me. The narration is strong and it grabbed me immediately. I needed to keep reading it to feel the full force of the pace and intensity. I short changed myself with reading this book at the time I did.
scarletohhara's review against another edition
4.0
This is a love story narrated from a third person's perspective, right from talking about the emotions the protagonists feel for each other, to the words they exchange with other characters in the book to their exchanges with rest of the works and their thinking. This is a unique way to tell a story, giving the author a lot of leverage to explore the story in ways not possible via conventional methods of story telling.
Needless to say, I loved it.
I loved that neither of the main protagonists had to be bad people in this story, nor do others mentioned throughout. I loved that a certain familiarity with an undisclosed and unnamed village in one of the Arab countries is formed (I suspect it is Egypt) for the reader thanks to the story telling. I love that Julie is strong, didn't have to face the usual gender discrimination one faces in those countries and had the will to take some decisions.
In all, I enjoyed the book thoroughly!
Needless to say, I loved it.
I loved that neither of the main protagonists had to be bad people in this story, nor do others mentioned throughout. I loved that a certain familiarity with an undisclosed and unnamed village in one of the Arab countries is formed (I suspect it is Egypt) for the reader thanks to the story telling. I love that Julie is strong, didn't have to face the usual gender discrimination one faces in those countries and had the will to take some decisions.
In all, I enjoyed the book thoroughly!
omnivorous's review against another edition
1.0
I read this book back in 2007 and *hated* it. It was compulsory reading for school, so perhaps my negative feelings wouldn't have been quite so strong had I been able to simply set it aside. Then again, there were hundreds of books I was required to read in school. I never hated any of them as much as I hated this book. It's been thirteen years. I still hate it.
I will say that this book's prose is really, really good. This is the best-written, worst book I've ever read. Nadine Gordimer won the Nobel Prize in Literature. She earned that prize. Her writing ability is some of the best I've seen. If you like this book, great! You should like this book.
Unfortunately for me, my reading enjoyment is almost entirely dependent on the characters. If I don't like the characters, I won't like the book. No other quality the book has will change this. A book can be as well written as, well… The Pickup. If I don't like the characters, I won't like the book. And this book's characters are the *worst.* The spoiled, rich protagonist was insufferable, her mechanic turned husband was a jerk. That's probably the point. I'm sure I wasn't supposed to like them. But I'm a simple person, even my phone's autofill has me figured out: if I don't like the characters, I won't like the book. If I was supposed to learn something from what's-her-face and what's-his name? I didn't. All I learned was that I hated them; therefore, I hated this book.
I will say that this book's prose is really, really good. This is the best-written, worst book I've ever read. Nadine Gordimer won the Nobel Prize in Literature. She earned that prize. Her writing ability is some of the best I've seen. If you like this book, great! You should like this book.
Unfortunately for me, my reading enjoyment is almost entirely dependent on the characters. If I don't like the characters, I won't like the book. No other quality the book has will change this. A book can be as well written as, well… The Pickup. If I don't like the characters, I won't like the book. And this book's characters are the *worst.* The spoiled, rich protagonist was insufferable, her mechanic turned husband was a jerk. That's probably the point. I'm sure I wasn't supposed to like them. But I'm a simple person, even my phone's autofill has me figured out: if I don't like the characters, I won't like the book. If I was supposed to learn something from what's-her-face and what's-his name? I didn't. All I learned was that I hated them; therefore, I hated this book.
sravreads's review against another edition
1.0
This book- I couldn't even finish it- I just wanted to throw it. Every word I read I was like confused. THEY HAVE QUOTATION MARKS FOR A REASON. You ain't cute! You ain't special! The first book I have ever rated a one, because this book is SO INCOMPREHENSIBLE.