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Μια ιδιοτροπία της φύσης
Ένα αυθόρμητο, λευκό, όμορφο κορίτσι μεταμορφώνεται σε ένα συνειδητοποιημένο πολίτη που αγωνίζεται για να επιστρέψει ολόκληρη η αφρικανική ήπειρος στην κυριαρχία των Aφρικανών... Tρία χρόνια πριν βραβευτεί με το Nόμπελ Λογοτεχνίας, η μεγάλη νοτιοαφρικανή συγγραφέας δημοσιεύει ένα από τα πιο τολμηρά της μυθιστορήματα κατορθώνοντας να μιλήσει για πολύ σοβαρά θέματα με έναν ανάλαφρο, γοητευτικό τρόπο.
474 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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965 people want to read
About the author
Nadine Gordimer
325 books954 followersNadine 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
May 5, 2025
It took my breath away, a novel of incredible power. Mrs. Gordimer, the recently deceased Nobel Prize winner for literature, lived through one of the worst oppressions of the 20th century in 1990. She calmly paints this portrait of a woman who was not truly prepared to face such a fate—an act of resistance, opposition to the Pretoria regime, to be rediscovered urgently.
August 30, 2018
Este libro es curioso ¿Es la biografía de una mujer atravesada por la Historia o viceversa? No puede determinar dónde empieza una y termina la otra. Tal vez sean, a fin de cuentas, inseparables. Paso a explicar el motivo de mi pregunta: mientras leía Capricho de la naturaleza me vi sorprendida por la cantidad de acontecimientos políticos y sociales que trata Gordimer a través de la vida de una mujer. Y ahí me hago la pregunta. Porque la carga de la Historia en este libro es tan fuerte que no se nota la sutura. Eso es muy loable.
Capricho de la naturaleza narra la historia de Hillela, una niña (que luego madurará) a la que su madre abandona y deja con sus tías, en etapas diferentes. Viven en Sudáfrica y son blancos, hecho que los marcará muy a fondo porque todo transcurre durante los turbulentos años del apartheid. Y Pauline, una de las tías de Hillela, presenta la cara de la Humanidad, oponiéndose siempre a la segregación. Sin embargo, no se pierde de vista a Hillela en este asunto, ya que los cambios sociales y políticos se van dando mientras ella crece y empieza a experimentar la vida, primero de forma hogareña, luego como un espíritu libre que intenta acomodarse.
La novela está maravillosamente narrada y se mete en lo más íntimo de los personajes, no importa qué tan secundario sea. Siempre habrá espacio para conocer los pensamientos y los sentimientos de Hillela, Pauline y Sasha, por ejemplo. Es curioso porque justo estos tres personajes son los que presentan resistencia a los tiempos, pero desde distintos lugares y distintas maneras. Es muy interesante, por ende, ver cómo se desarrollan los acontecimientos y cómo cada uno va hilando la historia con la Historia, mostrando la crueldad y la solidaridad, las luces y las sombras de años duros para la región. De más está decir que aquel que no conozca el apartheid en profundidad aprenderá mucho (como fue mi caso) y querrá informarse mejor.
Sobre los personajes en particular, Hillela es una protagonista atípica, de esas que no se encuentran fácilmente en la literatura del siglo XX. Independiente, decidida, libre, determinada. Su libertad no está escindida de su liberación sexual y la narración agota cuando se focaliza en sus atributos y en el efecto que “provoca” en los hombres. Innecesario. No porque pueda echar abajo todos los comentarios que hacen acerca de su inteligencia (las mujeres lindas también son inteligentes, cosa que derriba el estereotipo de los chistes), si no porque no aporta nada a la novela. No suma y sólo logra que lectoras como yo, a las cuales la apariencia de los personajes y su vida sexual les importa un comino, terminen poniendo los ojos en blanco. Y hubiera preferido que Hillela fuera “fea”, ya que lo único que pude concluir fue que una mirada superficial desemboca en pensar que ella llegó hasta donde llegó porque atraía a los hombres. Hay muchas otras cuestiones de fondo, pero desconozco por qué Gordimer puso el acento en sus senos, en su cabello o en el traje de baño que usaba ¿Una fuerza de la naturaleza sólo puede ser una femme fatale?
Hay hechos claves en la novela que duelen y marcan a Hillela, la hacen madurar de golpe. En cierto momento ya no puede quedar aislada de lo que está pasando y empieza a intervenir sigilosamente. Creo que ahí empecé a conectarme con la novela, olvidando todo lo accesorio de Hillela y conservando lo importante. No obstante, no me alcanzó para que fuera un libro perfecto o uno que vaya a recordar por mucho tiempo.
Reseña en Clásico Desorden
Capricho de la naturaleza narra la historia de Hillela, una niña (que luego madurará) a la que su madre abandona y deja con sus tías, en etapas diferentes. Viven en Sudáfrica y son blancos, hecho que los marcará muy a fondo porque todo transcurre durante los turbulentos años del apartheid. Y Pauline, una de las tías de Hillela, presenta la cara de la Humanidad, oponiéndose siempre a la segregación. Sin embargo, no se pierde de vista a Hillela en este asunto, ya que los cambios sociales y políticos se van dando mientras ella crece y empieza a experimentar la vida, primero de forma hogareña, luego como un espíritu libre que intenta acomodarse.
La novela está maravillosamente narrada y se mete en lo más íntimo de los personajes, no importa qué tan secundario sea. Siempre habrá espacio para conocer los pensamientos y los sentimientos de Hillela, Pauline y Sasha, por ejemplo. Es curioso porque justo estos tres personajes son los que presentan resistencia a los tiempos, pero desde distintos lugares y distintas maneras. Es muy interesante, por ende, ver cómo se desarrollan los acontecimientos y cómo cada uno va hilando la historia con la Historia, mostrando la crueldad y la solidaridad, las luces y las sombras de años duros para la región. De más está decir que aquel que no conozca el apartheid en profundidad aprenderá mucho (como fue mi caso) y querrá informarse mejor.
Sobre los personajes en particular, Hillela es una protagonista atípica, de esas que no se encuentran fácilmente en la literatura del siglo XX. Independiente, decidida, libre, determinada. Su libertad no está escindida de su liberación sexual y la narración agota cuando se focaliza en sus atributos y en el efecto que “provoca” en los hombres. Innecesario. No porque pueda echar abajo todos los comentarios que hacen acerca de su inteligencia (las mujeres lindas también son inteligentes, cosa que derriba el estereotipo de los chistes), si no porque no aporta nada a la novela. No suma y sólo logra que lectoras como yo, a las cuales la apariencia de los personajes y su vida sexual les importa un comino, terminen poniendo los ojos en blanco. Y hubiera preferido que Hillela fuera “fea”, ya que lo único que pude concluir fue que una mirada superficial desemboca en pensar que ella llegó hasta donde llegó porque atraía a los hombres. Hay muchas otras cuestiones de fondo, pero desconozco por qué Gordimer puso el acento en sus senos, en su cabello o en el traje de baño que usaba ¿Una fuerza de la naturaleza sólo puede ser una femme fatale?
Hay hechos claves en la novela que duelen y marcan a Hillela, la hacen madurar de golpe. En cierto momento ya no puede quedar aislada de lo que está pasando y empieza a intervenir sigilosamente. Creo que ahí empecé a conectarme con la novela, olvidando todo lo accesorio de Hillela y conservando lo importante. No obstante, no me alcanzó para que fuera un libro perfecto o uno que vaya a recordar por mucho tiempo.
Reseña en Clásico Desorden
January 31, 2021
"O passado não é um fantasma, mas uma aprendizagem a utilizar."
April 20, 2013
A Sport of Nature is a fictional history of the end of Apartheid . It is the story of a white Jewish privileged girl who is abandoned by her parents and brought up by her aunts. She doesn't fit in with her her up tight Aunt Olga or her liberal do gooder ,Aunt, Pauline.
At about age 16 or 17 Hillela is discovered in her cousin's bed. From this point, she uproots herself totally from her family and becomes "The Sport of Nature," a spontaneous mutation.
It is the 60's,70's even the 80's Hillella is true to herself. She finds comfort and gives comfort to the people she meets. Both men and women find her bright , charming, innocent and wise. Though she accepts aid from many, I can't think of a character who admits to feeling used. She is tremendously loyal to her friends and lovers, though sexual fidelity is not a concept to her.
The novel starts in South Africa and travels through many emerging countries in Africa, England and the U.S. The reader is taken through the unimproved homes of black Africans and the luxurious suites and manor like homes of the ambassadors, the affluent whites and the affluent blacks. Hillella, a high school drop out, manages to be integrally involved in Ivy League College lecturing,the inner sanctum in the revolution of South Africa and a mother. I think she might be the muse for Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In. This is not an easy or quick read. Nadine Gordimer Is always insightful and challenging.
At about age 16 or 17 Hillela is discovered in her cousin's bed. From this point, she uproots herself totally from her family and becomes "The Sport of Nature," a spontaneous mutation.
It is the 60's,70's even the 80's Hillella is true to herself. She finds comfort and gives comfort to the people she meets. Both men and women find her bright , charming, innocent and wise. Though she accepts aid from many, I can't think of a character who admits to feeling used. She is tremendously loyal to her friends and lovers, though sexual fidelity is not a concept to her.
The novel starts in South Africa and travels through many emerging countries in Africa, England and the U.S. The reader is taken through the unimproved homes of black Africans and the luxurious suites and manor like homes of the ambassadors, the affluent whites and the affluent blacks. Hillella, a high school drop out, manages to be integrally involved in Ivy League College lecturing,the inner sanctum in the revolution of South Africa and a mother. I think she might be the muse for Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In. This is not an easy or quick read. Nadine Gordimer Is always insightful and challenging.
July 17, 2025
Met deze perfecte roman is Nadine Gordimer definitief toegetreden tot mijn rijtje lievelingsschrijvers. A Guest of Honour en vooral The Conservationist en July’s People bliezen me al weg, maar ook hier haalt ze weer dat bizar hoge niveau. Schrijvers die me met meerdere romans in extase brachten, daarvan zijn er maar heel weinig. Proust, Kafka, Virginia Woolf, Coetzee, Pavese, Franzen, Don DeLillo, Denis Johnson, Natalia Ginzburg, Paul Auster — in dat rijtje heeft Gordimer zich nu gevestigd.
April 24, 2015
Bem escrito mas a história não me cativou minimamente e a personagem principal não me diz nada
April 22, 2009
Good gawd. Her writing is like nothing else--intense, intuitive, and challenging, both in style and content. It was such a rush for me to read Gordimer again; her passion for her country (South Africa) and it's liberation is infectious--she is not preachy but an incredibly intelligent and fluent observer and guide to the political pulse in not just S.A. but all of Africa. Written in the 80's, but covering the late 50's to early 80's. She's a genius and doesn't make the reader feel dumb. I can't even begin to describe her characters (black and white) accurately, though--they are so naturally there I feel like I've already met them--utterly real and human. See? I did a terrible job.
August 5, 2014
A Sport of Nature by Nadine Gordimer recounts the life a white Jewish girl named Hillela whose mother abandoned her as a child, who was raised by two aunts, who ran away from a middle-class South African life and became, through sundry love affairs, the widow of a black South African revolutionary and the wife of a successful president in a country (not named) neighboring South Africa.
The concept here is that a “sport of nature” is an aberration, perhaps a felicitous aberration, and that Hillela mysteriously adapts to mysterious circumstances, becoming a political force in her own right--well-versed in international affairs as well as in romantic affairs.
In a sense, she is a natural blank slate upon which many different individuals are permitted to write. Her cousin, Sasha, is one. A South African informer, pretending to be a journalist in sympathy with anti-apartheid forces, is another. Then comes the love of her life, the high-ranking black South African who is assassinated on the threshold of their temporary home in exile, where he is planning and executing military actions against the white South African government.
All this makes for colorful, interesting reading. Hillela never resolves into what Gordimer claims for her--a personage who really understands her own purposes and is obscure simply because she keeps her own counsel--but she gets caught up in the spirit of the times and is willing to cross boundaries few white women would cross in the apartheid days of South Africa.
The peculiar quality of the novel’s heroine is matched in some ways by Gordimer’s curious style. She writes as if she’s taking notes, jumping here and there, starting sentences she doesn’t quite know how to finish, all in the service of exploring the intimacy of life under oppression and in revolt. I’ve read other novels and stories written by Gordimer that were not so distractingly expressed. In the end, I can’t help but feel that her inability to really get at Hillela (as Henry James got at Isabel Archer, for instance) made her stumble.
Having said that, A Sport of Nature has fascinating scope, many fine passages, and historical value. Here we encounter the conscience of anti-apartheid whites, their frustrations, the risks they took, and the limits of what they could contribute to the cause.
Gordimer takes some pains at one point to almost marry Hillela off to a New Republic-style American liberal who lives in a fine brownstone and knows all the right people. Given Hillela’s exotic past and taste in men, these passages read like a lame attempt to work in some anti-Americanism. Naturally Hillela breaks off their engagement when she falls in love with the revolutionary who would become president (for the second time) of the aforementioned neighboring country. This fellow is a lion of a man who is tough to take, or believe in: he’s shrewd, tenacious, brave, and wise. With Hillela as his mate, he does a hell of a lot of good for his country. I spent some time trying to determine what country Gordimer had in mind because I’m not aware of many countries in Southern Africa where things have turned out well.
At novel’s end, Mandela takes the stage and the overthrow of the whites is complete. Structurally, this is odd. Gordimer clearly is determined to focus on the politics of South Africa per se rather than on the psychology and personal life of Hillela the presidential consort who has, by this time, not that much to contribute to what her assassinated first husband helped bring about. She lives elsewhere, after all. By way of compensation, Gordimer focuses on the miserable fate of the one cousin (Sasha) who stayed behind and really suffered (and was imprisoned) as a result of his anti-apartheid efforts.
For about two-thirds of this almost 19th century novel, I thought I was reading something exceptionally good, and I’m still sure I was reading something interesting. But what I now think is that the conclusion devolves into a kind of sloganeering posing as a novel. In different contexts, Solzhenitsyn and Dos Passos actually used journalistic excerpts from the times about which they wrote as a way of penetrating further into their stories. That wouldn’t work here because, despite Gordimer’s themes, she really doesn’t seem to have been a deeply political writer. This isn’t to question the staunchness of her beliefs--it’s to suggest she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. Her strong literary personality leaves the stage at the end of A Sport of Nature and it’s just too late in the book to bow down before History and serve as its rapporteur.
The concept here is that a “sport of nature” is an aberration, perhaps a felicitous aberration, and that Hillela mysteriously adapts to mysterious circumstances, becoming a political force in her own right--well-versed in international affairs as well as in romantic affairs.
In a sense, she is a natural blank slate upon which many different individuals are permitted to write. Her cousin, Sasha, is one. A South African informer, pretending to be a journalist in sympathy with anti-apartheid forces, is another. Then comes the love of her life, the high-ranking black South African who is assassinated on the threshold of their temporary home in exile, where he is planning and executing military actions against the white South African government.
All this makes for colorful, interesting reading. Hillela never resolves into what Gordimer claims for her--a personage who really understands her own purposes and is obscure simply because she keeps her own counsel--but she gets caught up in the spirit of the times and is willing to cross boundaries few white women would cross in the apartheid days of South Africa.
The peculiar quality of the novel’s heroine is matched in some ways by Gordimer’s curious style. She writes as if she’s taking notes, jumping here and there, starting sentences she doesn’t quite know how to finish, all in the service of exploring the intimacy of life under oppression and in revolt. I’ve read other novels and stories written by Gordimer that were not so distractingly expressed. In the end, I can’t help but feel that her inability to really get at Hillela (as Henry James got at Isabel Archer, for instance) made her stumble.
Having said that, A Sport of Nature has fascinating scope, many fine passages, and historical value. Here we encounter the conscience of anti-apartheid whites, their frustrations, the risks they took, and the limits of what they could contribute to the cause.
Gordimer takes some pains at one point to almost marry Hillela off to a New Republic-style American liberal who lives in a fine brownstone and knows all the right people. Given Hillela’s exotic past and taste in men, these passages read like a lame attempt to work in some anti-Americanism. Naturally Hillela breaks off their engagement when she falls in love with the revolutionary who would become president (for the second time) of the aforementioned neighboring country. This fellow is a lion of a man who is tough to take, or believe in: he’s shrewd, tenacious, brave, and wise. With Hillela as his mate, he does a hell of a lot of good for his country. I spent some time trying to determine what country Gordimer had in mind because I’m not aware of many countries in Southern Africa where things have turned out well.
At novel’s end, Mandela takes the stage and the overthrow of the whites is complete. Structurally, this is odd. Gordimer clearly is determined to focus on the politics of South Africa per se rather than on the psychology and personal life of Hillela the presidential consort who has, by this time, not that much to contribute to what her assassinated first husband helped bring about. She lives elsewhere, after all. By way of compensation, Gordimer focuses on the miserable fate of the one cousin (Sasha) who stayed behind and really suffered (and was imprisoned) as a result of his anti-apartheid efforts.
For about two-thirds of this almost 19th century novel, I thought I was reading something exceptionally good, and I’m still sure I was reading something interesting. But what I now think is that the conclusion devolves into a kind of sloganeering posing as a novel. In different contexts, Solzhenitsyn and Dos Passos actually used journalistic excerpts from the times about which they wrote as a way of penetrating further into their stories. That wouldn’t work here because, despite Gordimer’s themes, she really doesn’t seem to have been a deeply political writer. This isn’t to question the staunchness of her beliefs--it’s to suggest she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. Her strong literary personality leaves the stage at the end of A Sport of Nature and it’s just too late in the book to bow down before History and serve as its rapporteur.
June 4, 2025
Omg I’m so so glad I have finally finished this book. Despite covering a very important topic, it was incredibly boring and was often just pages of meaningless platitudes and descriptions of the protagonist’s ‘full breasts’ (I swear this phrase came up at least 15 times). Hillela, although portrayed as a revolutionary, is really just a social climber and serial adulterer who is for some reason adored by everyone she meets even though she continually makes selfish decisions. I really am unsure what the point of this book was.
March 9, 2021
Πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία που αναδεικνύει ενδιαφέρουσες πτυχές της μεταποικιοκρατικής εποχής στην Αφρική και του αγώνα κατά του Απαρτχάιντ. Θα μπορούσε να γίνει ωραία ταινία, ακόμα και σειρά.
Δυστυχώς η κακή μετάφραση στα Ελληνικά έκανε το βιβλίο πολύ κουραστικό και συχνά δυσνόητο.
Δυστυχώς η κακή μετάφραση στα Ελληνικά έκανε το βιβλίο πολύ κουραστικό και συχνά δυσνόητο.
October 1, 2022
Captivating
March 14, 2024
With the past at her back, the main character sails through African decolonialism. A Forrest Gump before Forrest Gump.
May 18, 2012
I read "A Sport of Nature" as a meditation on dissidence; an exploration of whether and how a person can survive under a repressive regime and retain some level of integrity. Almost all of the main characters are portrayed in some form of reaction or relationship to the apartheid regime -- protest, escape, exile, determined ignorance, collusion -- and the reader is invited to exercise his/her judgement as to whether they have achieved anything praiseworthy, notable or even just acceptable as a result of their choices. When I look back over the cast of characters, I think Gordimer’s portrayal of the range of choices people make and how those choices affect their lives is extremely rich. But in this “sport” Hillela -- some kind of freak, monster or aberration -- is unquestionably the most successful by any definition. So the central question of the novel, for me, was “why”? Why does Hillela succeed so spectacularly? What qualities does she have that make her not only a survivor, but someone who flourishes and triumphs? What is the relationship between her success and her “freakishness”? To what extent is it possible to understand and predict what one would need -- how one would need to behave -- to survive intact the intense psychological pressure exercised by an extremely repressive regime?
Gordimer seems to credit Hillela’s success to her ability to live fully “in the present moment”, without regard to societal norms and values, and it is within this context that I understand the great emphasis she places on Hillela’s sensuality/sexuality. (It’s worth recalling that sexual repression is a key element of authoritarian control in Orwell's 1984.) It's true that Gordimer's descriptions of HIllela have an oddly detached tone; she is a bit of an enigma. But I think Gordimer is fascinated and puzzled by the idea of what makes a successful dissident, and doesn’t know herself what to make of the fact that dissidents are not always what or who we would expect them to be.
I found a short interview with Gordimer in the NYT from back in 1987 that I thought was really illuminating on this point:
(Gordimer): ''Looking around me over my long life in South Africa, it somehow seemed to me ironic that sometimes very unexpected people are the ones who prove adequate to the situation. I've seen so many wonderful people fail at it, particularly people who are in some way liberally committed - who do not go beyond liberalism. But somebody like Hillela can sometimes see in an instinctive way that so many of these other ways of dealing with the situation -the political ways - just don't work, and can find her own way....I am completely different from Hillela,'' she said, adding that the path chosen by her heroine ''would be quite shocking to moralistic people -including myself.'' (excerpts from an interview at the very end of a review of SON, at http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/03/boo...
Some of the sentiments in the book, written in the late 80s, seem a bit outdated from the perspective of 2012, and one wonders whether Gordimer might temper the optimist note she closes with if she were to issue a second edition today. I'm tempted to read her most recent book to find out.
Gordimer seems to credit Hillela’s success to her ability to live fully “in the present moment”, without regard to societal norms and values, and it is within this context that I understand the great emphasis she places on Hillela’s sensuality/sexuality. (It’s worth recalling that sexual repression is a key element of authoritarian control in Orwell's 1984.) It's true that Gordimer's descriptions of HIllela have an oddly detached tone; she is a bit of an enigma. But I think Gordimer is fascinated and puzzled by the idea of what makes a successful dissident, and doesn’t know herself what to make of the fact that dissidents are not always what or who we would expect them to be.
I found a short interview with Gordimer in the NYT from back in 1987 that I thought was really illuminating on this point:
(Gordimer): ''Looking around me over my long life in South Africa, it somehow seemed to me ironic that sometimes very unexpected people are the ones who prove adequate to the situation. I've seen so many wonderful people fail at it, particularly people who are in some way liberally committed - who do not go beyond liberalism. But somebody like Hillela can sometimes see in an instinctive way that so many of these other ways of dealing with the situation -the political ways - just don't work, and can find her own way....I am completely different from Hillela,'' she said, adding that the path chosen by her heroine ''would be quite shocking to moralistic people -including myself.'' (excerpts from an interview at the very end of a review of SON, at http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/03/boo...
Some of the sentiments in the book, written in the late 80s, seem a bit outdated from the perspective of 2012, and one wonders whether Gordimer might temper the optimist note she closes with if she were to issue a second edition today. I'm tempted to read her most recent book to find out.
January 16, 2021
Τι ωραίο βιβλίο...
Αν καταφέρεις να ξεμπλέξεις από τον γόρδιο δεσμό ονομάτων και ρόλων των πρώτων σελίδων τότε η απόλαυση είναι δεδομένη. Ξεκίνησα διστακτικά, κουράστηκα και αλήθεια, υπήρξαν στιγμές που σκέφτηκα να το αφήσω. Ευτυχώς συνέχισα γοητευμένος. Γοητευμένος από μια εκπληκτική συγγραφέα. Γοητευμένος από τη Χιλέλα, το αυθόρμητα ηρωικό λευκό κορίτσι που άφησε τις ανέσεις της για να ενηλικιωθεί μέσα στον αγώνα για την ελευθερία και τα δικαιώματα των μαύρων της Αφρικής.
Ακολουθώντας τα βήματα της σε αρκετές Αφρικανικές χώρες κάποιες από τις οποίες πλέον δεν υπάρχουν όπως η Ροδεσία, η Τανγκανίκα και η Ζανζιβάρη, ζούμε ιστορικές στιγμές και γεγονότα που σημάδεψαν την εποχή και τον αγώνα του μαύρου πληθυσμού για την ανεξαρτησία του. Αλλά και με έναν μαγικό τρόπο μυρίζουμε Αφρική, κουλτούρα, έθιμα, πολιτική και ανθρωπολογία.
Ήταν τόσο ζωντανή η αφήγηση, τέτοιες οι περιγραφές, οι ωμές αλήθειες, οι επεξηγήσεις, οι επιθετικοί προσδιορισμοί, οι παρομοιώσεις, τα πάντα. Πόσο γεμάτη ονειρική γραφή. Ήταν αρκετές οι φορές που διάβαζα και ξαναδιάβαζα προτάσεις ή παραγράφους για να κατανοήσω αυτή την τόσο περίπλοκα όμορφη γραφή με τόσα πολλά αποφθέγματα ζωής. Ένας πραγματικός πόλεμος ανάμεσα στο παραμύθι και την αληθινή ιστορία. Διαβάζοντας αυτό το μοναδικό βιβλίο ήμουν σίγουρος ότι η Χιλέλα Γκομάνι ήταν υπαρκτό πρόσωπο. Και μια και δυο και δεκαδυό φορές την έψαξα στο διαδίκτυο αλλά μάταια. Όμως τα περισσότερα γεγονότα που περιγράφει τόσο μοναδικά η Ναντίν Γκόρντιμερ, αν και φορώντας το μυθιστορηματικό μανδύα, υπήρξαν. Δυστυχώς υπήρξαν και ήταν πολύ σκληρά. Ήθελα να γράψω βρώμικη κηλίδα αλλά δεν ήταν κηλίδα. Ήταν πολλές βρώμικες κηλίδες. Εκατομμύρια ανεξίτηλες βρώμικες κηλίδες και ακόμα άλλες τόσες αίματος που στιγμάτισαν μια ολόκληρη εποχή και ντρόπιασαν την ανθρωπότητα. Μιλώ για το απαρτχάιντ της νοτίου Αφρικής.
Μέσα σε αυτό το ζοφερό κλίμα της εποχής το βιβλίο πιάνεται από την εφηβική ιδιοτροπία της Χιλέλα για γρήγορη προσωπική ανεξαρτησία και μας μεγαλώνει ταξιδεύοντας. Ένα διδακτικό παραμύθι για ενήλικες που αξίζει να διαβαστεί.
Woza Luthuli, woza Mandela, woza Tambo, woza Sisulu, woza Mbeki, woza Slovo, woza Kgomani...
Συγκλονιστικό.
Αν καταφέρεις να ξεμπλέξεις από τον γόρδιο δεσμό ονομάτων και ρόλων των πρώτων σελίδων τότε η απόλαυση είναι δεδομένη. Ξεκίνησα διστακτικά, κουράστηκα και αλήθεια, υπήρξαν στιγμές που σκέφτηκα να το αφήσω. Ευτυχώς συνέχισα γοητευμένος. Γοητευμένος από μια εκπληκτική συγγραφέα. Γοητευμένος από τη Χιλέλα, το αυθόρμητα ηρωικό λευκό κορίτσι που άφησε τις ανέσεις της για να ενηλικιωθεί μέσα στον αγώνα για την ελευθερία και τα δικαιώματα των μαύρων της Αφρικής.
Ακολουθώντας τα βήματα της σε αρκετές Αφρικανικές χώρες κάποιες από τις οποίες πλέον δεν υπάρχουν όπως η Ροδεσία, η Τανγκανίκα και η Ζανζιβάρη, ζούμε ιστορικές στιγμές και γεγονότα που σημάδεψαν την εποχή και τον αγώνα του μαύρου πληθυσμού για την ανεξαρτησία του. Αλλά και με έναν μαγικό τρόπο μυρίζουμε Αφρική, κουλτούρα, έθιμα, πολιτική και ανθρωπολογία.
Ήταν τόσο ζωντανή η αφήγηση, τέτοιες οι περιγραφές, οι ωμές αλήθειες, οι επεξηγήσεις, οι επιθετικοί προσδιορισμοί, οι παρομοιώσεις, τα πάντα. Πόσο γεμάτη ονειρική γραφή. Ήταν αρκετές οι φορές που διάβαζα και ξαναδιάβαζα προτάσεις ή παραγράφους για να κατανοήσω αυτή την τόσο περίπλοκα όμορφη γραφή με τόσα πολλά αποφθέγματα ζωής. Ένας πραγματικός πόλεμος ανάμεσα στο παραμύθι και την αληθινή ιστορία. Διαβάζοντας αυτό το μοναδικό βιβλίο ήμουν σίγουρος ότι η Χιλέλα Γκομάνι ήταν υπαρκτό πρόσωπο. Και μια και δυο και δεκαδυό φορές την έψαξα στο διαδίκτυο αλλά μάταια. Όμως τα περισσότερα γεγονότα που περιγράφει τόσο μοναδικά η Ναντίν Γκόρντιμερ, αν και φορώντας το μυθιστορηματικό μανδύα, υπήρξαν. Δυστυχώς υπήρξαν και ήταν πολύ σκληρά. Ήθελα να γράψω βρώμικη κηλίδα αλλά δεν ήταν κηλίδα. Ήταν πολλές βρώμικες κηλίδες. Εκατομμύρια ανεξίτηλες βρώμικες κηλίδες και ακόμα άλλες τόσες αίματος που στιγμάτισαν μια ολόκληρη εποχή και ντρόπιασαν την ανθρωπότητα. Μιλώ για το απαρτχάιντ της νοτίου Αφρικής.
Μέσα σε αυτό το ζοφερό κλίμα της εποχής το βιβλίο πιάνεται από την εφηβική ιδιοτροπία της Χιλέλα για γρήγορη προσωπική ανεξαρτησία και μας μεγαλώνει ταξιδεύοντας. Ένα διδακτικό παραμύθι για ενήλικες που αξίζει να διαβαστεί.
Woza Luthuli, woza Mandela, woza Tambo, woza Sisulu, woza Mbeki, woza Slovo, woza Kgomani...
Συγκλονιστικό.
June 5, 2021
Gordimer is well established and has no need of another fan, which is a good thing, because I am not quite one. This is the third of her novels that I have read, if memory serves, though the others were decades ago. She is an extraordinarily accomplished stylist though there are occasional passages that struck my ear as clumsy. She has a habit of remarking repeatedly on her protagonist's breasts, which are apparently quite fine; were this the book of a male writer I would mock that a bit. In her case I figure that it means something but I'm not quite sure what. The figure of Hillel, the woman at the center of the book, is easily the most puzzling Gordimer character I have encountered, and I think this is deliberate since she draws Hillel so very enigmatically. Again, were this book by a male author, I would simply dismiss it as a statement that Hillel's importance arises from the men she sleeps with, which is a true statement no matter how sympathetic you are to the book and the author. What makes her interesting is that in her course of partners she takes us on a tour of politics in Southern Africa at the time just prior to the end of South Africa's apartheid. But the journey has a rather empty feeling and Gordimer is left to struggle for an ending. Hillel, who does very little other than float mysteriously through parties, political meetings, and along sunny beaches, has no real narrative that can resound as it ends. Even when one of her husbands is killed, even in her grief, she is pale and uninvolving. This is a deliberate choice by Gordimer and it is accomplished with such exactness that it can scarcely be an accident, but exactly what the book intends to convey is lost on me. My reaction to the earlier novels that I read was more or less in the same vein. It is the importance of her material that draws me to read her from time to time, and that importance is quite real. But her kind of fiction is not really what I look for.
September 26, 2023
I lost interest in this story around the end of the first third. It's written well, even beautifully, in places, but the central character seemed more of an absence that a character - described by others around her as bold and trustworthy but not showing that to the reader - her actions just seemed things she fell into. I did wonder if this was a conscious choice by Gordimer but as the novel progressed, increasingly I just didn't feel invested in her journey or believe the relationships she moved into. I was also put off that she seemed to exist mainly in relation to men, especially men in power, and have worth in their reaction to her (which often seemed overblown).
Olga and Pauline were great characters and gave some interesting unpacking of familial ties with differing political opinions, and the question of how to do right in South Africa during apartheid was well explored. I felt that the novel assumed a lot of knowledge about that time in South Africa which meant, unfortunately, I struggled to follow the main events rather than learning more about that time in history. It also really bothered me that Nomo was so often referred to as "the namesake" - which seemed dismissive to her as a character and girl then woman, especially given how the book seemed to be missing an opportunity to be a stronger feminist writing.
Olga and Pauline were great characters and gave some interesting unpacking of familial ties with differing political opinions, and the question of how to do right in South Africa during apartheid was well explored. I felt that the novel assumed a lot of knowledge about that time in South Africa which meant, unfortunately, I struggled to follow the main events rather than learning more about that time in history. It also really bothered me that Nomo was so often referred to as "the namesake" - which seemed dismissive to her as a character and girl then woman, especially given how the book seemed to be missing an opportunity to be a stronger feminist writing.
Read
June 4, 2015I wanted to like this more than I did. It tells the story of a white South African woman, Hillela, coming of age in the 60's in S.A., and follows her life journey through other African nations and Europe. The first third of the book was great, the middle third was all narrative and by the end I didn't care anymore about Hillela or what happened to her.
The beauty of the book was the way Gordimer presented South Africa and made more clear the context- a time of tremendous social change throughout the continent. What frustrated me was Hillela's happenstance presence in the midst of very influential people and how she ends up being a celebrated person. She seemed to garner more attention for the famous people she knew and her "deep breasts" rather than contributing anything of substance, including her heart. Perhaps this was the point. I don't know- it didn't seem to be. I didn't like Hillela and I felt very empty after finishing the book. I've read one other Gordimer which I thought was incredible, so I'm going to keep on with her.
The beauty of the book was the way Gordimer presented South Africa and made more clear the context- a time of tremendous social change throughout the continent. What frustrated me was Hillela's happenstance presence in the midst of very influential people and how she ends up being a celebrated person. She seemed to garner more attention for the famous people she knew and her "deep breasts" rather than contributing anything of substance, including her heart. Perhaps this was the point. I don't know- it didn't seem to be. I didn't like Hillela and I felt very empty after finishing the book. I've read one other Gordimer which I thought was incredible, so I'm going to keep on with her.
December 30, 2021
“Lying beside him, looking at pale hands, thighs, belly: seeing herself as unfinished, left off, somewhere. She examines his body minutely and without shame, and he wakes to see her at it, and smiles without telling her why: she is the first not to pretend the different colors and textures of their being is not an awesome fascination. How can it be otherwise? The laws that have determined the course of life for them are made of skin and hair, the relative thickness and thinness of lips and the relative height of the bridge of the nose. That is all; that is everything.”
March 27, 2016
You sense Nadine Gordimer somewhat admires her protagonist, the colorblind, social-climbing iconoclast Hillela who rises in World Politics just as South Africa's apartheid is being overthrown. But this Machiavellian blonde is also a soulless egoist who could've just as easily aligned herself with a tyrant as a national hero. I admired the historic scope of "A Sport of Nature" but found its mythic heroine an irritant. Kind of a flop.
July 24, 2018
I'd define 'overwritten' with this book. Gordimer covers similar territories - although this novel in question seems a tad more aggrandized - in Burger's Daughter, and she does it there in a smaller, more powerful canvas. Interestingly enough, the protagonists of BD appear within these pages as throwaway references.
September 6, 2014
Other books by Gordimer are both smart and clear, but this one is very uneven. The personal story of the main character is totally underwhelming, and Gordimer writes it in a very challenging, difficult style.
August 26, 2023
A versão portuguesa, da Dom Quixote, tem erros gramaticais e de pontuação que não honram a obra original
April 19, 2023
Какво търсят феновете на спортните залагания?
Любителите на спортните залагания търсят предимно да залагат на разнообразни и интересни спортни срещи и състезания. На тази страница предлагаме пълно ръководство, което ще ви отведе до най-добрите сайтове за спортни залози в България през 2023 г., както и техните бонуси и оферти! Преобладават феновете на така наречените традиционни спортове, с които сме свикнали, но се разширява и кръгът на тези, които искат нещо друго. Ето защо операторите на спортни залагания все повече се обръщат към по-малко известни спортове, като футзал, виртуални спортове, тръс и дори електронни спортове. Ето защо букмейкърите ги включват в своите портфейли. Най-важните аргументи при избора на букмейкър включват бонуси, множители, мачове на живо, български лиценз, възможност за бърз контакт с букмейкъра, изисквания за депозит, методи за депозиране и изплащане на награди и др.
Лицензирани букмейкъри и казина в България
Ето списък на сайтове, които имат валиден лиценз (тук) за онлайн спортни залагания и надбягвания с коне и кучета. Те са сред най-големите и популярни организатори на хазартни игри у нас. Някои от тях също имат обширни наземни хазартни мрежи. Освен лиценз за спортни залагания, повечето хазартни оператори имат и лиценз за онлайн казино игри. В България не е разрешено да правите спортни залагания при нелицензирани организатори на хазартни игри, тъй като те се проверяват постоянно и достъпът е ограничен. До 2020 г. много фенове на спортните залагания са свикнали да правят залози в наземни букмейкъри.
Шанс
Различните хазартни оператори предлагат различни коефициенти. Сравнението обаче показва, че разликите не са толкова големи. Специалисти обаче посочват, че някои от лицензираните букмейкъри в страната предлагат най-високите коефициенти. Въпреки това, тези разлики могат да станат значителни с по-големи залози и различни комбинации.
Бонуси
В тази връзка всички действащи букмейкъри у нас се стараят да предоставят различни бонуси на своите клиенти. Това важи особено за бонусите за нови клиенти. Можете да получите такъв, когато регистрирате нов акаунт. Трябва обаче да проверите специфичните условия на тези бонуси, тъй като те обикновено идват с изисквания като избран метод на депозит, минимален депозит при присъединяване и т.н. Безусловните бонуси са много редки. За да използвате предоставените бонуси, трябва да въведете съответния код или да натиснете бутон до бонуса. Предлагат се допълнителни бонуси, например за презареждане на акаунта, бонуси за лоялни клиенти над определени суми, бонуси за определени спортни турнири, понякога бонуси без депозит.
Изисквания за депозиране и изплащане на награди
Това е друг много важен аспект при избора на букмейкър. В момента всички игрални оператори се стремят да разширят поддържаните методи на плащане, за да осигурят на клиентите си максимално удобство и избор. По този начин разнообразието от начини за извършване на финансови транзакции започва от традиционните банкови плащания до мобилни портфейли за незабавни плащания. Въпреки това, когато избирате метод на плащане, струва си да обърнете внимание на конкретните условия, тъй като в допълнение към факта, че определени бонуси не могат да бъдат изискани с него, може да има и допълнителни условия за изплащане на награди. Най-лесният начин е да се свържете с букмейкърите, които разполагат и с наземни казино зали, където също е възможно плащане в брой. На този етап обаче, в сложната епидемиологична обстановка, в която се намираме, това е по-трудно постижимо. Плащането с мобилен портфейл е следващата най-бърза алтернатива. Използването на дебитна или кредитна карта ще отнеме повече време за обработка на транзакцията. Банковият превод е най-бавният, при който плащанията се обработват в рамките на една седмица.
Любителите на спортните залагания търсят предимно да залагат на разнообразни и интересни спортни срещи и състезания. На тази страница предлагаме пълно ръководство, което ще ви отведе до най-добрите сайтове за спортни залози в България през 2023 г., както и техните бонуси и оферти! Преобладават феновете на така наречените традиционни спортове, с които сме свикнали, но се разширява и кръгът на тези, които искат нещо друго. Ето защо операторите на спортни залагания все повече се обръщат към по-малко известни спортове, като футзал, виртуални спортове, тръс и дори електронни спортове. Ето защо букмейкърите ги включват в своите портфейли. Най-важните аргументи при избора на букмейкър включват бонуси, множители, мачове на живо, български лиценз, възможност за бърз контакт с букмейкъра, изисквания за депозит, методи за депозиране и изплащане на награди и др.
Лицензирани букмейкъри и казина в България
Ето списък на сайтове, които имат валиден лиценз (тук) за онлайн спортни залагания и надбягвания с коне и кучета. Те са сред най-големите и популярни организатори на хазартни игри у нас. Някои от тях също имат обширни наземни хазартни мрежи. Освен лиценз за спортни залагания, повечето хазартни оператори имат и лиценз за онлайн казино игри. В България не е разрешено да правите спортни залагания при нелицензирани организатори на хазартни игри, тъй като те се проверяват постоянно и достъпът е ограничен. До 2020 г. много фенове на спортните залагания са свикнали да правят залози в наземни букмейкъри.
Шанс
Различните хазартни оператори предлагат различни коефициенти. Сравнението обаче показва, че разликите не са толкова големи. Специалисти обаче посочват, че някои от лицензираните букмейкъри в страната предлагат най-високите коефициенти. Въпреки това, тези разлики могат да станат значителни с по-големи залози и различни комбинации.
Бонуси
В тази връзка всички действащи букмейкъри у нас се стараят да предоставят различни бонуси на своите клиенти. Това важи особено за бонусите за нови клиенти. Можете да получите такъв, когато регистрирате нов акаунт. Трябва обаче да проверите специфичните условия на тези бонуси, тъй като те обикновено идват с изисквания като избран метод на депозит, минимален депозит при присъединяване и т.н. Безусловните бонуси са много редки. За да използвате предоставените бонуси, трябва да въведете съответния код или да натиснете бутон до бонуса. Предлагат се допълнителни бонуси, например за презареждане на акаунта, бонуси за лоялни клиенти над определени суми, бонуси за определени спортни турнири, понякога бонуси без депозит.
Изисквания за депозиране и изплащане на награди
Това е друг много важен аспект при избора на букмейкър. В момента всички игрални оператори се стремят да разширят поддържаните методи на плащане, за да осигурят на клиентите си максимално удобство и избор. По този начин разнообразието от начини за извършване на финансови транзакции започва от традиционните банкови плащания до мобилни портфейли за незабавни плащания. Въпреки това, когато избирате метод на плащане, струва си да обърнете внимание на конкретните условия, тъй като в допълнение към факта, че определени бонуси не могат да бъдат изискани с него, може да има и допълнителни условия за изплащане на награди. Най-лесният начин е да се свържете с букмейкърите, които разполагат и с наземни казино зали, където също е възможно плащане в брой. На този етап обаче, в сложната епидемиологична обстановка, в която се намираме, това е по-трудно постижимо. Плащането с мобилен портфейл е следващата най-бърза алтернатива. Използването на дебитна или кредитна карта ще отнеме повече време за обработка на транзакцията. Банковият превод е най-бавният, при който плащанията се обработват в рамките на една седмица.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 25, 2025Ik waardeerde het mooie, ineens zo rappe en enigszins ontluisterende einde van deze roman die ik me stukken betoverender had onthouden dan ik 'm nu met herlezen ervoer.
Zo jammer, dat ik nu vooral vond dat het te zakelijk, wisselend van schrijfstijl en bovenal vreemd overseksualiserend was, in plaats van een meeslepend fictief memoir van een witte vrouw, later minnares en zelfs echtgenote tijdens de zwarte opstand tegen de apartheid in Zuid-Afrika, die zich verplaatst over verschillende continenten en afspeelt in verschillende lagen van de zowel witte als zwarte bevolking van onder meer Londen, de VS en buurlanden van Zuid-Afrika.
'Afterwards, it seemed perfect, but it was not. It was happiness, it was life.'
Het aantal borsten dat vermeld wordt (inclusief hun aanprijzende bijvoeglijk naamwoorden) had een stuk minder gekund, en de indruk wordt gewekt dat de vrijheid van een land vol rassenscheiding toch vooral te danken is aan de op alle fronten gebruikte dan wel ingezette seksualiteit van de witte hoofdpersoon.
De witte Hillela wordt als drop-out vooral behendig, seksueel en 'ontzettend zichzelf' neergezet, met haar ongekamde bos krullen en priemende zwarte ogen, maar zich echt ontwikkelen tot een intelligente en integere grote liefde van onder meer een zwarte vrijheidsstrijder doet ze niet. Dat is uiteraard ook een perspectief, maar anno 2025 is het pijniging me te realiseren dat ik Hillela als begin twintiger zo'n ontzettend krachtig vrouwelijk personage vond - dankzij al haar seksualiteit.
Glad I've learned better, zal ik maar zeggen.
De liberale, voor vrijheid strijdende witte ooms en tantes van Hillela hebben geen idee wat ze aan het doen zijn (verwoordt een personage het treffend) als ze willen zorgen dat zwarte medemensen dezelfde rechten hebben - het lukt pas de generatie van hun zoon en surrogaat-dochter iets omver te werpen. Met geweld maar vooral door seksualiteit dus.
Vervreemdend dat deze roman door een vrouw is geschreven, maar vooral dat de leeservaring meer dan een half leven geleden zo'n andere indruk maakte. Dat wat ik sindsdien heb gelezen over racisme, onderdrukking en de seksualisering van vrouwen speelt ongetwijfeld een grote rol in het nu zo andere perspectief. Jammer van m'n oorspronkelijke adoratie van deze roman, hoera voor persoonlijke en literaire groei.
Ik laat m'n 5 oorspronkelijke sterren for het vak Zuid-Afrikaanse letterkunde's sake staan, maar zou het nu eerder 2 tot hooguit 3 sterren geven.
De herlezing van 'July's People' ligt nog klaar voor dit najaar. Ik hoop dat m'n waardering voor Gordimer als Zuid-Afrikaans auteur tijdens de gruwelijke apartheid daarmee enigszins overeind blijft.
---
Tijdens het lezen
Bewondering dat m'n eenentwintig jarige zelf hier destijds d'r hand niet voor omdraaide in een lesblok met in zes weken minimaal zes boeken van Zuid-Afrikaanse auteurs tbh.
De nogal afstandelijke toon van de roman valt me nu ontzettend op. Hoe sec Gordimer beschrijft hoe de tiener Hillela is, als dochter van een Joodse voorvader, een moeder die (naar zeggen) in Mozambique woont met haar lover en een vader die haar heen en weer jongleert tussen een kunstzinnige tante en eentje met een man die pro bono cliënten van kleur bijstaat in het regime van de apartheid.
28
'It was the first time the niece saw the full splendour of this aunt.'
33
Rosa Burger making her entrance.
205
'Hillela's a natural mistress, not a wife.—'
211
'(...) those wonderful breasts' maken me iets te vaak an appearance tbh.
De male gaze van mannen én vrouwen in dit boek door geschreven door een vrouw is killing me. Ik kan me herinneren dat ik de seksuele naïviteit van Hillela als vroege twintiger echt adembenemend vond, maar inmiddels erger ik me aan de stereotype manier waarop haar vrouwelijkheid voortdurend wordt neergezet.
De toon van de roman is ook zo afstandelijk zakelijk. En de vertelstijl springt heen en weer van een feitelijke berichtgeving naar een stuk terug en er dieper op in - waardoor je voortdurend spoilers krijgt van wat er in het volgende hoofdstuk wordt uitgediept. Weird.
214
Opgevoed in vol bewustzijn door een witte tante en oom die demonstrerend en procederend doen wat ze kunnen tegen de apartheid, heeft het meisje dat Hillela is het misbruikt worden door een heleboel witte (oudere) mannen en uiteindelijk de verliefdheid op een zwarte man 'nodig' als personage om zich te realiseren dat mensen in een geprivilegieerde positie die positie nooit vrijwillig zullen opgeven - en aan de zijde van die zwarte man, aangewakkerd door haar zwangerschap (that 'did not blunt (...) the physical presence').
221
'She might be white, but she was the right wife for a revolutionary (...).'
222
'An African wife isn't a wife if she doesn't produce children.— (...) He kissed her for the foolishness.'
229
'As a white South African actually married to a black South African, she remained for her hosts at these same gatherings an embodiment of their political and ethical credo, non-racial unity against the oppression of one race. (...) She was also, of course, very pretty — vivacious, the women called it, sexy, the men agreed, amused at their concurrence.'
233
'Mutter Courage' remark.
233
'Afterwards, it seemed perfect, but it was not. It was happiness, it was life.'
253
'(...) very thin except for her breasts (...)'
317
''(...) but the full lovely breasts were stirred only regularly (..)'
Stop with the breastststst!
330
'Her sexuality, evident to every man watching her pass (...) was part of the General's Command.
(...)
Everyone has some cache of trust, while everything else — family love, love of a fellow man — takes on suspect interpretations. In her, it seemed to be sexuality.'
375
Dat wat je wilde horen van Sasha - 'from here I'm free to say everything' - in een brief die de hele santenkraam van het plot versimpelt naar een puur 'I love you'.
Inmiddels zijn er twee jonge pure levens uiteengerukt, verprutst en zelfs verpest voor de liefde. Hillela die een lover jaren later bekent dat het 'haar schuld' was. Wút! Omdat ze enigszins ouder was, of zo'n verschrikkelijk seksueel dier dat ze op haar amper zeventiende al beter had moeten weten dan een man verleiden..? Wat een ouderwets en mannelijk perspectief op het lichaam van een jonge vrouw, dat vanaf het moment van separatie van haar van het gezin slechts in die fysieke, beschadigende richting kan ontwikkelen. En zo zowel Sasha's als Hillela's puurheid op seksualiteit en de liefde vervormt voor toekomstige lovers, ware liefdes en vreemdgaande hooggeplaatste mannen.
386
'(...) his choice wisely has been a woman who can keep up with him in the reality of the position of his power (...).'
387
'Chiemeka is not like other women, she is a match for him in this way as in all others.'
---
Voor het lezen
Summer of reading classics I guess and some beloved books I once read, like this one that mesmerised me half of my life ago in university in a course about South African literature <3
New York Times article
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
Zo jammer, dat ik nu vooral vond dat het te zakelijk, wisselend van schrijfstijl en bovenal vreemd overseksualiserend was, in plaats van een meeslepend fictief memoir van een witte vrouw, later minnares en zelfs echtgenote tijdens de zwarte opstand tegen de apartheid in Zuid-Afrika, die zich verplaatst over verschillende continenten en afspeelt in verschillende lagen van de zowel witte als zwarte bevolking van onder meer Londen, de VS en buurlanden van Zuid-Afrika.
'Afterwards, it seemed perfect, but it was not. It was happiness, it was life.'
Het aantal borsten dat vermeld wordt (inclusief hun aanprijzende bijvoeglijk naamwoorden) had een stuk minder gekund, en de indruk wordt gewekt dat de vrijheid van een land vol rassenscheiding toch vooral te danken is aan de op alle fronten gebruikte dan wel ingezette seksualiteit van de witte hoofdpersoon.
De witte Hillela wordt als drop-out vooral behendig, seksueel en 'ontzettend zichzelf' neergezet, met haar ongekamde bos krullen en priemende zwarte ogen, maar zich echt ontwikkelen tot een intelligente en integere grote liefde van onder meer een zwarte vrijheidsstrijder doet ze niet. Dat is uiteraard ook een perspectief, maar anno 2025 is het pijniging me te realiseren dat ik Hillela als begin twintiger zo'n ontzettend krachtig vrouwelijk personage vond - dankzij al haar seksualiteit.
Glad I've learned better, zal ik maar zeggen.
De liberale, voor vrijheid strijdende witte ooms en tantes van Hillela hebben geen idee wat ze aan het doen zijn (verwoordt een personage het treffend) als ze willen zorgen dat zwarte medemensen dezelfde rechten hebben - het lukt pas de generatie van hun zoon en surrogaat-dochter iets omver te werpen. Met geweld maar vooral door seksualiteit dus.
Vervreemdend dat deze roman door een vrouw is geschreven, maar vooral dat de leeservaring meer dan een half leven geleden zo'n andere indruk maakte. Dat wat ik sindsdien heb gelezen over racisme, onderdrukking en de seksualisering van vrouwen speelt ongetwijfeld een grote rol in het nu zo andere perspectief. Jammer van m'n oorspronkelijke adoratie van deze roman, hoera voor persoonlijke en literaire groei.
Ik laat m'n 5 oorspronkelijke sterren for het vak Zuid-Afrikaanse letterkunde's sake staan, maar zou het nu eerder 2 tot hooguit 3 sterren geven.
De herlezing van 'July's People' ligt nog klaar voor dit najaar. Ik hoop dat m'n waardering voor Gordimer als Zuid-Afrikaans auteur tijdens de gruwelijke apartheid daarmee enigszins overeind blijft.
---
Tijdens het lezen
Bewondering dat m'n eenentwintig jarige zelf hier destijds d'r hand niet voor omdraaide in een lesblok met in zes weken minimaal zes boeken van Zuid-Afrikaanse auteurs tbh.
De nogal afstandelijke toon van de roman valt me nu ontzettend op. Hoe sec Gordimer beschrijft hoe de tiener Hillela is, als dochter van een Joodse voorvader, een moeder die (naar zeggen) in Mozambique woont met haar lover en een vader die haar heen en weer jongleert tussen een kunstzinnige tante en eentje met een man die pro bono cliënten van kleur bijstaat in het regime van de apartheid.
28
'It was the first time the niece saw the full splendour of this aunt.'
33
Rosa Burger making her entrance.
205
'Hillela's a natural mistress, not a wife.—'
211
'(...) those wonderful breasts' maken me iets te vaak an appearance tbh.
De male gaze van mannen én vrouwen in dit boek door geschreven door een vrouw is killing me. Ik kan me herinneren dat ik de seksuele naïviteit van Hillela als vroege twintiger echt adembenemend vond, maar inmiddels erger ik me aan de stereotype manier waarop haar vrouwelijkheid voortdurend wordt neergezet.
De toon van de roman is ook zo afstandelijk zakelijk. En de vertelstijl springt heen en weer van een feitelijke berichtgeving naar een stuk terug en er dieper op in - waardoor je voortdurend spoilers krijgt van wat er in het volgende hoofdstuk wordt uitgediept. Weird.
214
Opgevoed in vol bewustzijn door een witte tante en oom die demonstrerend en procederend doen wat ze kunnen tegen de apartheid, heeft het meisje dat Hillela is het misbruikt worden door een heleboel witte (oudere) mannen en uiteindelijk de verliefdheid op een zwarte man 'nodig' als personage om zich te realiseren dat mensen in een geprivilegieerde positie die positie nooit vrijwillig zullen opgeven - en aan de zijde van die zwarte man, aangewakkerd door haar zwangerschap (that 'did not blunt (...) the physical presence').
221
'She might be white, but she was the right wife for a revolutionary (...).'
222
'An African wife isn't a wife if she doesn't produce children.— (...) He kissed her for the foolishness.'
229
'As a white South African actually married to a black South African, she remained for her hosts at these same gatherings an embodiment of their political and ethical credo, non-racial unity against the oppression of one race. (...) She was also, of course, very pretty — vivacious, the women called it, sexy, the men agreed, amused at their concurrence.'
233
'Mutter Courage' remark.
233
'Afterwards, it seemed perfect, but it was not. It was happiness, it was life.'
253
'(...) very thin except for her breasts (...)'
317
''(...) but the full lovely breasts were stirred only regularly (..)'
Stop with the breastststst!
330
'Her sexuality, evident to every man watching her pass (...) was part of the General's Command.
(...)
Everyone has some cache of trust, while everything else — family love, love of a fellow man — takes on suspect interpretations. In her, it seemed to be sexuality.'
375
Dat wat je wilde horen van Sasha - 'from here I'm free to say everything' - in een brief die de hele santenkraam van het plot versimpelt naar een puur 'I love you'.
Inmiddels zijn er twee jonge pure levens uiteengerukt, verprutst en zelfs verpest voor de liefde. Hillela die een lover jaren later bekent dat het 'haar schuld' was. Wút! Omdat ze enigszins ouder was, of zo'n verschrikkelijk seksueel dier dat ze op haar amper zeventiende al beter had moeten weten dan een man verleiden..? Wat een ouderwets en mannelijk perspectief op het lichaam van een jonge vrouw, dat vanaf het moment van separatie van haar van het gezin slechts in die fysieke, beschadigende richting kan ontwikkelen. En zo zowel Sasha's als Hillela's puurheid op seksualiteit en de liefde vervormt voor toekomstige lovers, ware liefdes en vreemdgaande hooggeplaatste mannen.
386
'(...) his choice wisely has been a woman who can keep up with him in the reality of the position of his power (...).'
387
'Chiemeka is not like other women, she is a match for him in this way as in all others.'
---
Voor het lezen
Summer of reading classics I guess and some beloved books I once read, like this one that mesmerised me half of my life ago in university in a course about South African literature <3
New York Times article
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytim...
October 7, 2021
A Sport of Nature – Nadine Gordimer
I was looking for new reading material a couple of weeks ago and had the mixed blessing of discovering a used paperback on a bookshelf with a home made .50 price tag, giving away its status as a garage sale book. Published in 1987 and set in South Africa starting in the 1950s it is as much or more about the freedom struggle as it is about the fictional characters. I found Gordimer’s writing style both interesting and annoying. She can pack a lot into a sentence, often will insert a lot of dependent clauses and interruptions that require careful reading - you really need to pay attention.
The book is interesting from the standpoint of getting a feel for the fight against apartheid from the inside, as told through the life of a white girl who grows up in the care of her two very different aunts, one wealthy and patrician, the other a conflicted liberal activist. We follow the protagonist through her life, a unique and elusive character, who somehow has the ability to operate outside the strictures of her aunts and then more generally of apartheid South Africa. The story follows her in a series of episodes over many years, with gaps of time in between. The portrait of this idealized character floating through history is a little like Forrest Gump. It ends up being something like a portrait of the New Woman who is uniquely able to skate through forbidden loves, relationships and politics and yet retain her beauty, intelligence and adherence to some kind of post-racial touchstone.
I found the first half of the book much more interesting and lively than the later chapters in which the descriptions of characters and events began to feel formulaic, playing out the lives of the fictional characters against the politics of South African and other liberation movements.
I was looking for new reading material a couple of weeks ago and had the mixed blessing of discovering a used paperback on a bookshelf with a home made .50 price tag, giving away its status as a garage sale book. Published in 1987 and set in South Africa starting in the 1950s it is as much or more about the freedom struggle as it is about the fictional characters. I found Gordimer’s writing style both interesting and annoying. She can pack a lot into a sentence, often will insert a lot of dependent clauses and interruptions that require careful reading - you really need to pay attention.
The book is interesting from the standpoint of getting a feel for the fight against apartheid from the inside, as told through the life of a white girl who grows up in the care of her two very different aunts, one wealthy and patrician, the other a conflicted liberal activist. We follow the protagonist through her life, a unique and elusive character, who somehow has the ability to operate outside the strictures of her aunts and then more generally of apartheid South Africa. The story follows her in a series of episodes over many years, with gaps of time in between. The portrait of this idealized character floating through history is a little like Forrest Gump. It ends up being something like a portrait of the New Woman who is uniquely able to skate through forbidden loves, relationships and politics and yet retain her beauty, intelligence and adherence to some kind of post-racial touchstone.
I found the first half of the book much more interesting and lively than the later chapters in which the descriptions of characters and events began to feel formulaic, playing out the lives of the fictional characters against the politics of South African and other liberation movements.
September 27, 2020
Olisi jäänyt tämäkin kirja lukematta, ellei lähikirjaston henkilökunta olisi nostanut sen Afrikka-teemaisen hyllynsä osaksi. Aikalaiskirjallisuutta apartheid-ajasta Etelä-Afrikassa ei ole käteeni tarttunut aiemmin, ja siksi aihepiiri ehkä nousikin kirjan kiinnostavimmaksi anniksi.
Tarina kerrotaan seuraamalla päähenkilön elämänvaiheita ulkopuolisin silmin lapsuudesta keski-ikään. Kerronnallinen ratkaisu tuo jossain määrin mieleen Heinrich Böllin Nainen ryhmäkuvassa, mutta siinä missä Böllin Leni on varsinainen pyhimys, on Gordimerin Hillela kuvattu sylistä syliin ajelehtivana luonnonlapsena, jonka tärkeimmät avut liittyvät taipumukseen olla keski-ikäisten miesten mieleen.
Odotin ehkä Hillelan tarinalta enemmän, ja odotusten jäätyä täyttymättä lopputunnelmat kirjastakin jäivät vähän toivottua latteammiksi. Alku kyllä tuntui varsin lupaavalta, ja saatanpa tarttua johonkin Gordimerin varhaisempaankin teokseen, jos mahdollisuus joskus tulee vastaan.
Tarina kerrotaan seuraamalla päähenkilön elämänvaiheita ulkopuolisin silmin lapsuudesta keski-ikään. Kerronnallinen ratkaisu tuo jossain määrin mieleen Heinrich Böllin Nainen ryhmäkuvassa, mutta siinä missä Böllin Leni on varsinainen pyhimys, on Gordimerin Hillela kuvattu sylistä syliin ajelehtivana luonnonlapsena, jonka tärkeimmät avut liittyvät taipumukseen olla keski-ikäisten miesten mieleen.
Odotin ehkä Hillelan tarinalta enemmän, ja odotusten jäätyä täyttymättä lopputunnelmat kirjastakin jäivät vähän toivottua latteammiksi. Alku kyllä tuntui varsin lupaavalta, ja saatanpa tarttua johonkin Gordimerin varhaisempaankin teokseen, jos mahdollisuus joskus tulee vastaan.
August 11, 2019
This has to be one of my favorite books. I am in awe of Gordimer, what she has tackled, and what has pulled off: A history of black nationalism in South Africa through the eyes of a white Jewish girl/woman from adolescence to her marriages to two black leaders to middle age. I'm going to copy another Goodread review that says it better than I can.
"Good gawd. Her writing is like nothing else--intense, intuitive, and challenging, both in style and content. It was such a rush for me to read Gordimer again; her passion for her country (South Africa) and it's liberation is infectious--she is not preachy but an incredibly intelligent and fluent observer and guide to the political pulse in not just S.A. but all of Africa. Written in the 80's, but covering the late 50's to early 80's. She's a genius and doesn't make the reader feel dumb. I can't even begin to describe her characters (black and white) accurately, though--they are so naturally there I feel like I've already met them--utterly real and human." Jenny 2009
"Good gawd. Her writing is like nothing else--intense, intuitive, and challenging, both in style and content. It was such a rush for me to read Gordimer again; her passion for her country (South Africa) and it's liberation is infectious--she is not preachy but an incredibly intelligent and fluent observer and guide to the political pulse in not just S.A. but all of Africa. Written in the 80's, but covering the late 50's to early 80's. She's a genius and doesn't make the reader feel dumb. I can't even begin to describe her characters (black and white) accurately, though--they are so naturally there I feel like I've already met them--utterly real and human." Jenny 2009
November 23, 2022
A strange novel. Gordimer traces Hillela, a free-spirited, Jewish, white South African from having sex with her cousin to becoming the widow of a black South African revolutionary and eventually the wife of an African freedom-fighter-turned-president of an unnamed country. Gordimer uses the third-person voice, but she writes about Hillela from a distance, almost through the eyes of other characters. Hillela does not seem especially ideological, at least in the beginning--she almost seems to fall into the life of being an African revolutionary. Or rather, she almost seems like an auxillary to African revolutionaries--she is almost always defined by who she sleeps with. Gordimer seems to be saying something here about sex and politics but I am not sure what. I think Gordimer is at her best when she writes about the delusions of Olga and Paulina, Hillela's aunts, the former being vapidly apolitical and the latter being liberal but not really grasping the enormity of apartheid and what it would take to kill it.
March 9, 2021
Recebi este livro através do BookCrossing, mas não era exactamente o que estava à espera. Primeiro, uma edição terrível, com letras minúsculas e estreitinhas, extremamente difícil de ler. Depois, uma narrativa densa e por vezes complexa, que me deixou aflita na leitura algumas vezes.
Este livro conta a história de Hillella, uma improvável interveniente nas revoluções da libertação da África negra e no fim do apartheid. O livro é quase como uma biografia imaginária, cruzando-se com referências da realidade. No entanto, a personagem principal é sempre indiferente a tudo aquilo que a rodeia e uma pessoa questiona-se porque raio é que ela se junta aos movimentos revolucionários se não aparenta ter uma ideia própria para pensar.
Apesar de existir uma boa caracterização do apartheid e do estado em que se encontravam os refugiados políticos na época, esta personagem esbatida acaba por tornar o livro numa narrativa estranha e quase desnecessária.
Desapontou-me.
Este livro conta a história de Hillella, uma improvável interveniente nas revoluções da libertação da África negra e no fim do apartheid. O livro é quase como uma biografia imaginária, cruzando-se com referências da realidade. No entanto, a personagem principal é sempre indiferente a tudo aquilo que a rodeia e uma pessoa questiona-se porque raio é que ela se junta aos movimentos revolucionários se não aparenta ter uma ideia própria para pensar.
Apesar de existir uma boa caracterização do apartheid e do estado em que se encontravam os refugiados políticos na época, esta personagem esbatida acaba por tornar o livro numa narrativa estranha e quase desnecessária.
Desapontou-me.
November 2, 2022
Gordimer is on my list as a Nobel Laureate writer. She writes about apartheid Africa and in this novel a young white woman kicked out of her family makes her way in the world. It is hard to tell if she is knowingly choosing the "winning" side, or if she is just doing the right thing, the latter we hope. In any case, I find Gordimer a "hard" read, and have to keep my wits about me. I'd do better if I knew more details of SA history, since some of the famous names and situations are unfamiliar and that adds a layer of difficulty to the read.
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