The Soft Voice of the Serpent

by Nadine Gordimer

The Soft Voice of the Serpent and Other Stories is a short story collection by the South African writer Nadine Gordimer. It was first published in 1952 by Simon & Schuster, and largely overlaps her first short story collection, Face to Face. (wikipedia)

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Africa

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

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

[Nyakallo Lephoto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soft Voice of the Serpent is a short story with two central themes: one of deception and the other of the importance of disabled people accepting their situation.

The story resembles a Biblical tale of Adam and Eve being deceived by the snake in the garden of Eden as we see a man and a woman being deceived by a locust in their own garden.

Note the man's feelings towards his disability before he sees the locust, how it changes when he is looking at the locust and the disappointment when the locust flies away.

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[Bear Wiseman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rule one often hears about writing is to always start with something that will endear the reader to the main character. Something that sucks them in. In this short (and rather beautiful in its simplicity) tale, the first sentence was exactly that: "He was only twenty-six and very healthy and he was soon strong enough to be wheeled out into the garden."

Also, there's something delightfully true in the very fast, very strong relationship he forms with the locust, as humans all try to make connections with others, in his case to find someone to relate to, to understand his issue. He humanizes the locust, makes it a reflection of himself, and then the mirror is shattered. It is crushing in its truth.

[Daniel Polansky]

A selection of early stories from this Nobel prize winning South African. Uneven, but there are some gems in here, particularly the titular short.