Purchased for the Booker Prize Ring of Books organised by tantan.
Cover art differs.

tantan (Queensland, Australia)
fushmush (New South Wales, Australia)<---
meganh (Victoria, Australia)
blurbren (Malaysia)
Jenatleisure (England)
Jazz-ee2 (England)
dodau (England)
Lillyanna (Spain)
martinburo (Germany)
zzz (Serbia and Montenegro)
dospescados (USA)
tania-in-nc (North Carolina, USA)
lady-anglophile (Kuwait)
Back to peggysmum in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia!

I found this incredibly difficult to read. Gordimer eschews conventional punctuation, which is both tiring and tiresome. It is difficult to work out who is speaking when there is dialogue, and who is thinking when there isn't.

It's a bleak book about a bleak time in a bleak landscape. Not knowing enough about the specifics of South African history; some of the nuances are lost.

Mehring, our protaganist, is a wealthy white South African. An industrialist with a hobby farm. He is liberal but paternalistic and intolerant. An exploiter of his native workers and of women, he is not a sympathetic character.

I can see why it won the Booker in 1970 and its importance in the artistic expression of the mechanics and psyche of apartheid, but I didn't enjoy it. I probably wasn't meant to.

On its way to tantan today.

Received thanks to peggysmum. It's going to the bottom of my rather large 'bookrings to read' mountain to read as soon as possible.

Hmmm.

I don't really know what else to say. The method of punctuation reminded me a little of Alan Paton, but that said, Cry, the Beloved Country is one of my all time favourite books, yet I did not enjoy this. My confusion at times went beyond peggysmum's in that I'd think something was happening, or somebody in particular was talking, and half a paragraph (and they're usually very long paragraphs) later I'd discover that something different entirely was going on.

This will be heading off to fushmush as soon as I can get it out of the house! :-)

Received in the mail today. The previous reviews don't make me too hopeful on the prospect of enjoying this novel. Oh well, I shall read it anyway.

thanks peggysmum and tantan for sending it my way.

I really struggled through this book. It took me more than a week to read a 250 page book; a snail's pace. I found the style to be very dry and the lack of punctuation made it very difficult to figure out what was going on.

I giggled at peggysmum's comment: "...I didn't enjoy it. I probably wasn't meant to." So true!

As I've been reading the Booker novels I've divided them into two piles: the "enjoyed it" pile and the "ugh!" pile. This one is firmly placed in the latter division. Unfortunately, I also think the second pile is bigger than the first. I really haven't enjoyed all that many of the Booker books. Obviously "readability" is not a main judging criteria.

*yay* I can cross another Booker Book off my list! I'm sure MeganH will be thrilled when I contact her about this one *G*.

How embarassing - I've had this book for months - thanks fushmush for a scintillating(!) read. The writing was beautiful in parts, the sentences perfectly composed. The story, however, jumped from reality to thought; from character to character; and from present to past - often within the same sentence.
The story of Mehring, the wealthy industrialist, showed us a little of inter-race relations and his unattained desires for women (and young girls)but more of his inability to deal with emotions in the event of conflict and death. He had trouble communicating with his son and had many imagined conversations with him and others.

Off to blurbren when I get her address.

hi all, this book arrived here whilst I was away and then I had trouble logging in to record it but its safely here and I am about 1/2 way through it.

I decided early on just to let the book wash over me and try to extract the overall atmosphere and not worry about the individual meaning of the sentences.

Now I have read all your comments I am glad I am doing this because otherwise I would be there for days trying to work out who said what to whom. Anyway should finish it shortly.

This book arrived a few days ago, but I have only just managed to get round to journalling it - sorry! Not had chance to read any of it yet, it remains at the bottom of a rather large TBR pile, although I will endeavour to get to it asap.
Thanks jenatleisure!