Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Though I do admire the prophetic views Gordimer had, this book is bland to the core. I have to re-read it several times for Advanced Level English literature and this book's largely uninteresting writing style won't help it.
An interesting take on societal role-reversals in times of great political upheaval and strife in this fictional tale about the South African apartheid ending in a way that it thankfully didn't go in real life, but easily could have. As power-structures crumble and systems of control are broken down and obliterated, one white family flee with their trusted servant into the unincorporated lands of his family village, and from there people struggle to define who they are and what their place is in this new and uncertain dichotomy. Wonderfully told and vividly descriptive - it's just too bad that I couldn't really give half a shit about any of Gordimer's woefully underdeveloped characters. Otherwise, this would have been a perfect book. For the record, I think that the unfathomable July was the protagonist of this book, but I'm not sure if that's what Gordimer intended since Maureen is the main POV character, but I just found July to be the most sympathetic and his struggles were what held me to this book.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
This book was a bit of a slog to get through but its exploration of white saviorisim and revolution was really interesting. Very psychological
The writing style was a bit hard to understand at first - there are no indications of who is talking, you have to rely on context and content - but once I got used to it the style really helped bring immediacy to the story. Not sure that I understood the ending, but that doesn't take away from the book in any way.
adventurous
inspiring
tense
dark
tense
slow-paced
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes