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A review by kelwyngardencity
My Son's Story by Nadine Gordimer
1.0
I just kind of hated it, really, which is why it took so long to get through.
Gordimer has created a story filled with unlikeable characters, who it’s impossible to care what becomes of them. Whilst I can draw parallels with some of the unsavoury characters in Disgrace by Coetzee, which made me angry, at least that book gripped me and drew me in, it did what it was meant to. With this, I was just bored.
Aside from the characters, Gordimer’s style of writing didn’t do it for me. Unnecessarily verbose, rather indulgent, it left little room for the plot (such as it was, and it was pretty weak) to develop at any kind of pace. By the time you got to the end of another rambling paragraph you didn’t give a damn where the story was going to go anyway.
I read this out of curiousity as to what constitutes a Nobel worthy piece of writing but perhaps had I noticed the year she received the Prize, I may have saved myself some unenjoyable hours spent reading this.
Gordimer has created a story filled with unlikeable characters, who it’s impossible to care what becomes of them. Whilst I can draw parallels with some of the unsavoury characters in Disgrace by Coetzee, which made me angry, at least that book gripped me and drew me in, it did what it was meant to. With this, I was just bored.
Aside from the characters, Gordimer’s style of writing didn’t do it for me. Unnecessarily verbose, rather indulgent, it left little room for the plot (such as it was, and it was pretty weak) to develop at any kind of pace. By the time you got to the end of another rambling paragraph you didn’t give a damn where the story was going to go anyway.
I read this out of curiousity as to what constitutes a Nobel worthy piece of writing but perhaps had I noticed the year she received the Prize, I may have saved myself some unenjoyable hours spent reading this.