Burger's Daughter

I always find Gordimer hard to read. Her formatting is certainly unconventional. Not many paragraph breaks, so you are walking through swaths of dense print. No quotation marks, no breaks from speaker to speaker. Hard to tell who is talking, if there's talk. Hard to tell where talk ends and thought begins. Whose head are we in now? Are these things important? I think they are. I am not at home on the page.I don't mind it when writers "break the rules." But these simple mechanical things would make reading the details she is so good at easier to understand and absorb. And free me to think. But her strengths are in the people, and the subtleties of racial and sexual tensions, and these are spectacular.It is difficult still to be in a relationship where for whatever reason power and emotion are imbalanced. Hard to be the giver, hard to receive. She gets this vital thing just right. And it is an important part of today's world, especially in the US where unconscious feelings are so obvious a part of our relationships. Most of us get it wrong. Apartheid has in places gone underground, and in others has shifted its focus. Few people are comfortable with strangers. She guides us through, and we nod to our many selves. I will never forget Rosa in France, with the strange and wonderful and so very French "exiles." I will never forget the phone conversation Rosa has with her black foster brother. I read this book years ago and learned a great deal about South Africa. I read it now and learn a great deal about America and myself.

This by far is one of my favorite books. The book is a heavy read and a lot to take in but, it gives an insight into the apartheid happening in South Africa. This book is not about Fry Cooks daughter it's about post-Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks. During the time period writing about Anti-Apartheid was not allowed, the book is meant to show the struggles of a young girl. She constantly has to go to jail to visit her father an activist arrested because of his views on Apartheid. Although her father speaks strongly, the shocking part of the whole story is that Rosa is white. During this time period,many whites had no problem taking if an African country and trademarking it as their own. Lucky few saw that the mistreatment of these Africans was wrong. As Rosa gets older she starts to learn that many feel that what her parents work in the Anti-Apartheid movement was not widely accepted. Many Africans see that whites do not serve any purpose in the movement they only help themselves. Even Rosa's childhood friend turns his back on her. She equally believes what her parents choose to preach, but she is constantly ridiculed by others. As Rosa continues to live her life she is constantly followed by the government because of the reputation her parents have built. But soon Rosa gets detained because it is thought that she was part of a protest of school children that lead to the death of many white workers. Rosa was a white woman with ambitious parents trying to make a difference​ in South Africa.

The story is that of the child of well known communists who eventually are imprisoned for life in South Africa. The story of a more modern life combined with flashbacks makes this an interesting book to read. With little sympathy toward communists I wasn't overly concerned about justice though I guess the U.S. in the 50s had its own slightly less oppressive version of this persecution. I am glad I read it.

I learned from this book, about South Africa during apartheid, and about what it's like to be a child of parents devoted to a cause. Gordimer shifts points of view without warning, so it's sometimes work to figure out who is speaking or who the speaker is talking about.

Gordimer's skill as a writer is unquestioned, Since my knowledge of South African politics and Apartheid is limited I had some difficulty in understanding the depth of the implications of many events--one gets the message, but I am sure I missed nuance. The end is dramatic and haunting, gut wrenching actually.

I had to say that I, too, thought this was the worst book I have ever read--hands down. I have a master's degree in comparative literature, and other than Moll Flanders and Fanny Hill, I have never read a...what did the other reviewer call them "bodice-rippers"?--so it's not a case of lack of taste. The author of this book is self-indulgent, pompous, "in the know, and I'm never going to let you forget it!"--the whole thing is like listening to a half muttered conversation that after time you realize that you are never going to be let into. I did plow through to the end, but only as a test of my endurance. And I cheered at the end--but only because the damned thing was done.

A stunning book. The style of writing and punctuation is uniqueand the narration moves back and forth in time from first person toan unknown narrator. The story about South Africa is fascinatingand her prose is beautiful. One comes to care deeply about the characters.It is somewhat challenging but very worthwhile.

South African Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer just may be the best living writer of meaningful fiction in English, and Burger's Daughter is her best book. Anyone who appreciates the written word, and what can be done with it, needs to read this. And it goes without saying that anyone who hopes to understand the reality of apartheid, and race relations in general, also must read Burger's Daughter. Gordimer's words are a true gift; do not miss it.

Excellently written novel about a tumultuous period in South African history through the eyes of a young woman who is familiarly compromised by the issues and trying to find her place in the system. Engaging description of how politics intertwines with the race issue, both in South Africa and beyond. Some of the descriptions of scene and character are exquisite. Some constructions are sometimes a little hard to follow and need to be read twice and not always clear at times (to me at any rate), is who some of the speech is attributed to. But well worth reading.

This book is written in a very complex style which is not easy to read but it is a very special book. It tells the story of the daughter of two deeply committed communist antiapartheid activists whose commitment to the cause left their daughter somewhat of a victim. A great book with lots of deep messages but not easy to read.

Great read

Book as described

rather boring, especiallly the irrelevant French episode.