A Video clip to hear her voice.Nadine Gordimer has written many novels and received the highest literary prize for a "body" of literature when she received the Nobel Prize in 1991. This is the speech she gave when she was presented with this award. Here is an essay written by a literary reviewer about the depth and importance of her work. Questions on The Pickup from the Great Books website to read after you finish the whole book. Post comments after page 22, 108, and at the end of the book. Good Reading!
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ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I was really confused reading the first 22 pages. I still get confused here and there. I never know whose talking. Sometimes I think its other characters, but other times its sounds like voices in someone’s head. Does anyone else feel that way?
I do like the plot though, it’s very grabbing. I think it’s interesting how Julie fell for Abdu so quick. I think she fell so hard because he’s different, mysterious. Any thoughts?
I can't wait to see what happens!
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ReplyDeleteSo much going on! From The Table, to Uncle Archie, to Julie’s dad and his ‘status.’ But the main thing, Abdu being deported back to his county, where ever that is. It’s enduring that Julie still wants to be with him, AND goes as far as marrying him and leaving to live in a place she knows nothing of.
I think it’s great that Julie has supportive friends. The group sounds really eclectic. Her Uncle Ariche sounds like a sweet man. I’m still wondering where his place is in the story. I’m not surprised that Julie’s father’s wasn’t so thrilled about Abdu. But I was surprised that he had a party for them after their wedding.
I think even though Abdu agreed to have Julie come along with him, and asked her to marry him, he does not want her to live in ‘his country.’ He knows there are negatives to living there. That’s why he didn’t live there! He doesn’t want that for her.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you Andreah, I was also confused of who's talking. I think the story is very engaging,it always pull me to look deeper and read more.
The love story between Adbu and Julie is interesting. It started as a customer - mechanic relationship and for some reason this "aggressive" Julie got amazed by the "cool laid back" guy Abdu. Now the aggressive asked the laid back guy to go get coffee with her.. Probably because of the word "fate" or just believing in it made Julie interested to Abdu.
On page 12, the conversation between Julie and Abdu became intense! This is when they talked about "Where is home?", equality, and religion becoming the same as politics..
They both started hanging out making the "car" the reason why they saw each other. hahahaha
On page 17, Ms. Aggressive asked Abdu to go to her place to eat and drink. tsk tsk.. Julie is so into Abdu! lols
Very interesting book! I am loving it!
<3 Karen
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ReplyDeleteLike Andreah and Karen, I found the text a little hard to read. Mainly because the author writes without using "quote marks" or anything else to help delineate the narrator from the character dialogue. It just makes it a little difficult to read, but i am getting used to it. This early into the novel, I can't say I am loving it, but I am intrigued to see how the Abdu/Julie relationship will blossom, and how the "friends" will act.
I too, like Karen, am interested in the non-traditional dynamic of Julie being the initiator in the relationship.
Bret S.
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ReplyDeleteMy first observation is that "class" is everywhere. Just from the way Gordimer is describing the seedy streets and how she is capitalizing certain times like "The Suburbs". It is interesting that Julie wants to deny being a part of the white suburban riche that she is. It is very hard to tell who is speaking; not just the characters but the narrator as well. As the novel moves forward you can tell by the dashes that are being used instead of quote marks. I love the dialogue and the language.
I also made note of the word "fate". That seems like something to keep an eye on. Something is important about Julie throwing her arms up in the air and having her palms out. She (Gordimer) mentions that action again twice. We shall see what that means.
I noticed that Abdu doesn't seem to like "The Friends" and we the reader are not sure where this is taking us. " The Friends" talk a lot about captialism and Abdu describes his nation as feudal. Interesting.
This concludes my thoughts and notes on the first part.
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ReplyDeleteThere is an air of social tention between Abdu and The Friends. Why did Abdu leave home? He feels guilty about hiding it, "And --of course, again--that was impossible, he himself was not here: had disappeared under the name in which he was born to them"(Gordimer 26).
The sexual encouter was romantic and steamy. I found it less raunchy then the last two novels. The way Julie reached for her favorite poem with biblical inuendo was telling, "Everything happens for the first time but in a way that is eternal" (Gordimer 28). I do feel like Gordimer cheapened the moment with Abdu's self comments , "He resists residue feelings of tenderness towards this girl" (Gordimer 28). This Girl! "He knows that at least he gave her complete satisfaction" (Gordimer 28). Hmph, modest.
I made a list of The Table.
The Friends:
Old Poet Guy
Gay Guy
Ralph with HIV
Julie
Abdu
The Buddhist Convert
David
The Political Guru
The Political Theorist
Page 38 is when Julie first starts to describe her parents to us and we realize that she is ashamed of them. We can tell that this may be a foreshadowing of tention between her and Abdu. One could think he may feel she is ashamed of him instead of vice-versa. "She is ashamed of her parents; he thinks she is ashamed of him. Neither knows either, about the other" (Gordimer 38).
"To discover and take over possession of oneself, is that secretly the meaning of 'relocation' as it is shaped by the tongue and lips in substitution for 'immigration'?" (Gordimer 48). I thought this was an interesting way of looking at immigration, relocation, and "pulling up anchor and going somewhere else" (Gordimer 48). That whole scene at the party with her father and Abdu is fascinating because you come to see that Abdu is idolizing these people and disliking her friends when Julie dislikes her family and loves her friends. --They do say opposites attract--
This situation is brought up again, "Yes, your father and the other men. They know what they speak about. What happens. Making business. That is not bad, that is the world. Progress. You have to know it. I don't know why you like to sit there every day in that other place"
"The wind that sweeps a path for rain suddenly came between them" (Gordimer 62).
I love that line right after their disagreement. That is foreshadowing.
Just to repeat a few lines of the poem that Old Poet Guy gives to her before their marriage and thrip to whever desert land, "Let us go to another country/Not yours or mine/and start again." (Gordimer 88).
What about this scene is important? Gordimer writes this for a reason, "A recent addition to THE table passes a hand over his shaven head, staring as if to follow the path The Table's intimate and the foreigner are making through Saturday night partying that buffets them. --Julie should chill out.--" (Gordimer 92). Who's that guy and what does he know?
Andreah--I don't think her dad throws them a party after the wedding int the courthouse. He write Julie a letter about how he is disappointed. The only party is the one for his friends that are moving to Australia.
I don't know what to think of her Uncle Archie. Is he a pervert? Is he a good guy? Why is this happening to him right before she lives to who knows where? I haven't formed an opinion on that yet. We'll see in the next post at the end of the story. I love love love this book. I highly recomment her book of essays too. Non-fiction can be just as entertaining as fiction.
After reading up to page 22, I was a little bit confused, I had to re-read paragraphs to understand what Gordimer is trying to say often. It might have been just a reading-shock for me. I was so immersed in the writing style of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun,’ that this was sort of a turn off in the first 22 pages.
ReplyDeleteI’ curious about Abdu, he’s pretty hard to read. I can’t tell what he feels about Julie and the attendees of The Table,
“He listened to her without any reassuring attention or remark. She waited a moment in his silence” (7).
It may be the language or cultural differences that accounts for his sort of recluse ways of being. I’m wondering if he’s acting guarded or if he doesn’t find Julie or her friends interesting? I can’t tell if he’s being rude or just weird!
Abdu and Julie’s friendship seems a bit awkward and uncommon at this point. It seems like Julie has never befriended someone of Abdu’s social ranking and background before, and vice-versa. This budding relationship seems like it could be new and thrilling for both of them.
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ReplyDeleteNadine Gordimer got me confused at the beginning of the novel by her wording and grammars but later I think I can get the idea better and started to enjoy it more.
I think Julie has an easy life, everything comes to her so easy and she is clueless about the meaning of her life. Meanwhile Abdu has to struggle for his life to survive in the country where he doesn’t belong. She is attracted to him fast and even we some time have to wonder “how does she develop the romance so quickly and what is the base of this relationship?” Opposite attract? Only the heart can tell.
I engage with this novel very well and can’t wait to finish it.
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ReplyDeleteThe first section of the book was a bit difficult to read since dashes replaced quotation marks and it I was confused on which characters said which line. It was also difficult to read the sentences because I was not familiar to the word structure in the book.
The relationship between Julie and Abdu is unusual because they both come from two very different backgrounds. Julie comes from a privileged background where she takes her bathroom for granted.
“Can I have a hot bath?
His manner suddenly made her realize that she had never given a thought to how he managed in that room, that room behind the garage - there would be no bathroom?” (26)
Although they come from different backgrounds Julia seems to share her things while Abdu takes advantage of the resources that he is given. So far, the relationship seems to be steady at the moment, their relationship might fall apart later because of their different backgrounds.
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ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings on Julie and Abdu's relationship. I am happy that they spend quality time together...
"Apart during those days, at weekends they often drove into 'the veld', as he became accustomed to hear her the countryside, whether it was grassland or mountains. There they walked, lay watching the clouds, the swoop of birds, were amused, as lovers are, by the difference in their exchanged perceptions of what each took for granted. They were never far enough way not to have the surf of some highway they'd turned from, sounding under the sough of air and the passing calls of the birds that ignored them in contrast with the inescapable inclusion calling upon them, at The Table in her haunt, the EL-AY Cafe. She laid slack hand on his smooth throat and marvelled to him: We never do [33-34].
The first part of this quote shows that they try to get out of their daily routine, unwind and relax together --- away from the stresses on work in the city.
On the other hand I feel like Abdu is causing so much stress to Julie. He is somewhat telling Julie to DO SOMETHING OR ELSE I'LL BE DEPORTED. He is hopeless, and Julie is the one and only Key for him to stay there. I don't like how Abdu asks Julie to do so much for him and rely too much on her. I believe that in a relationship, it should be balance.
K
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ReplyDeleteIt is hard to understand what Julie's motivations are for being with Abdu, as well as sticking with him and advocating for him except to her father. One article I read mentions that the reason she is willing to go to his home country is due to the fact that she felt guilty for not appealing to her father for help. I don't necessarily agree. I think Julie's motivation are purely selfish. She is uncomfortable in her current life. Dating and then subsequently moving with Abdu/ Ibriham is her way of breaking out, and proverbially "sticking it" to her father.
Something I found interesting was this quote on page 73 "...she loves the man who appeared to her, legs, body, finally head from under a car"
This quote if from when she is in Uncle Archie's gynecology office. The language used in the above quote alludes to a birth. Like, somehow Abdu was born from the car. Not only born, but a breach baby. (Legs first) Makes me wonder what Gordimer is trying to say here. This quote also seems to place Julie in a motherly light in relation to Abdu, just by association... Very interesting...and weird!
Now that I am familiar with her writing style the book is moving along quite fast.
Bret. S
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ReplyDeleteSorry about the delay I had my Creative Writing Midterm this weekend and a 42 line poem to memorize for recitation today. All eyes on The Pickup.
We all loved this book right? Just checking.
Page 109 starts off by showing us his real name. That was nice. I wonder why Ibrahim chose to go by the generic name Abdu while he was in South Africa? Do you think that Ibrahim would cause more alarm? It was an interesting start in the desert when Julie comes from using the bucket behind the coffee spot and she referrences his penis. He was clearly internally offended. I noticed here that he did not say anything to her about this and started to wonder if this would be a pattern. I think that throughout the story Julie and Ibrahim often kept their grievences to themselves. Is this why their relationship, as strange as it appeared to be, worked? Did it work? I think they were deeply in love. Maybe her more than him, but this was his first and only love-noit f*ck, love.
At the beginning of the desert visit they (his family) and he keep referring to Julie as the "woman not for him". I thought that was an odd term. Was this because she was not Arab or Muslim or because she was not his arranged marriage?
"It was perhaps right then that she made the decision: I have to learn the language" (Gordimer 121). Really, Julie? You have been in a foreign country for how long and knew you were going to be there for a long while and NOW just think, hmmm I should learn the language. I thought this was a little rude of Julie. I don't think she was as prepared for her love affair with the desert and its people as she thought she was. She asked to take a bath right after they got settled in their first night! Shocking and maybe a little naive.
Anyone have a good definition of a "lean-to"?
Observation around page 164.
To me it sounds like Julie is happy living in the lean-to in his family's home. I think she wants him to be more happy with their new life as well. She has a desire to be more like the other women and wear the chador. Ibrahim is obviously unhappy and transfixed with the idea of leaving and never returning. He also mentions the fear of Julie leaving him beacuse he has not found a way out for them yet. He seems blind to her new found calm happiness.
Can't figure out what is up with Ibrahim and his Muslim religion.
"Are you crazy?" and
"Just say the word." are the new catch phrase for this half of the book.
I was touched by the ending. I figured that Julie wouldn't leave but I thought that Ibrahim would have stayed too. I am happy with the ending. I thought thought it was interesting that Julie is staying with his family while he goes to America. She doesn't want to go there so even if he finds success and happiness would she follow? I don''t really think so. That is quite the long distance relationship to keep up.
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ReplyDeleteI cannot believe Julie! I am seriously in shock. I guess through out the last part of the book I was looking more at Ibrahim’s character. I was enthralled with how motivated he was to get out of his country. I did see that Julie was beginning to get use to living there. It didn’t really seem like it took her that long either. I guess I didn’t realize that she liked it that much to stay and let Ibrahim leave by himself!
I think Julie stays in Ibrahim’s country because maybe for the first time, she actually feels like she belongs somewhere. Maybe the connections she’s made with not only with his family but with the desert symbolize self discovery and self love. She likes herself there it seems. I think the desert embodies a rawness and force for Julie. It’s real and something tangible. Something strong and deeply rooted and will never change. I think it gives her strength.
I didn’t really get the feeling that the relationship between Ibrahim and Julie was something passionate. Did anyone else get that? I felt like they both were using each other. I think they did love each other, but I think they loved their ‘cause’ more than they loved each other.
I was also wondering what the 'lean to' meant as well like Victoria. I never really figured it out though.
Agh! I need to post when I actually finish readings!
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I found the style really challenging in the first 20 or so pages. It’s like the author was purposefully trying to make her writing obtuse. It was kind of frustrating. In the first few chapters, I find Julie to be incredibly shallow and self-absorbed. When Abdu brings the first car, she asks him some questions about himself, and when he starts to answer her, she interrupts him to say, “Look, I’m Julie, don’t call me anything else” (16). If she was sincerely interested in what he had to say, I don’t think she would have picked that exact moment to talk about herself. Another thing that bothers me is how her awareness of their difference in class and social status seems to fade in and out. When she first initiates the pick up with the cup of coffee, she is cognizant of it: “It was patronizing, after all, this making free encounters out of other people’s lives, a show of your conviction of their equal worth, interest, catching the garage mechanic in the net, EL-AY Café” (11). Here she seems to recognize how different their lives are. For her, this is just a casual lunch, but she’s taking him away from the scant livelihood he can scrape together by working at the garage. She sees that no matter how well intentioned the gesture, showing Abdu his “equal worth”, it can’t hide the fact that they aren’t equal in class. Then there are other times when she’s completely unaware of her privilege: “Her outhouse renovated as a cottage was comfortable enough, its under-furnishings nevertheless giving away a certain ease inherent in, conditioned by, luxuries taken for granted as necessities: there was a bathroom that dwarfed the living-cum-bedroom by comparison and the cramped kitchen was equipped with freezer and gadgets” (18). Even when she tries to scale down and scale back, she can’t help living a little luxuriously, and no matter how much she gives up, it can’t compare to Abdu living at the garage.
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ReplyDeleteI’m still feeling unsympathetic toward Julie. I just don’t understand why she’s staying with him. What is it about him that makes it worth it for her? I wonder if there’s an element of exoticness that plays into her attraction to him. I know that he’s staying because he wants to use her status to get somewhere, but I didn’t know how much that factored into the relationship until I saw all the hidden frustration and resentment. The quote Eugene read in class stuck out to me as well. It was an interesting moment for me, because I’m so used to seeing media where women are objectified. We don’t see it often probably because there has to be a particular situation (like this one) for that to happen. It may seem harsh, but I totally agree with Abdu at the top of page 95. I can see how he feels trapped by his masculine identity, how he doesn’t want to take on the perceived responsibility of having to take care of her. Even if she doesn’t want him to take care of her, if he wants to reinforce his masculinity, he will take care of her regardless.
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ReplyDeleteThe ending of the book was surprisingly satisfying despite the fact that it was inconclusive. I was much happier with Julie through the second half. I guess I underestimated her strength, as did Ibrahim. Before, I would agree with him whenever he had the thought that their desert life was just another adventure to her. By the end, however, I think she’s earnestly trying to fit into this community and accepts their way of life as her own. She’s found a higher purpose through teaching English to people in the community, and she’s finally found a family she can be comfortable with (even if the mother is a bit intimidating). It’s then she realizes the artificiality of her previous life: “We were playing at reality; it was a doll’s house, the cottage; a game, the EL-AY Café” (164). In realizing this, she is able to grow and become the person that decides to stay behind and keep her place in the community. I like that we get to see more of Ibrahim’s thoughts at the end of the book. They’re relationship is so tangled up, so it’s useful to see his perspective.
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ReplyDeleteIn the first 22 pages, I enjoyed how much detail Gordimer can express of setting with a just a few lines. I found it interesting to see the culture clash of Abdu's conservative background with the liberal, almost hedonistic setting of the Cafe. Especially at the end of the Cafe scene:
She turned to see: a girl with sunglasses pushed back crowning her hair, thighs sprawled, stroking the Rasta locks of a young man passed out, drink or drugs, on her lap.
He walked away with a face closed in distaste. Her Well?-was more tolerance than an enquiry of his mood. People are disgusting, in that place (22).
This gives an idea of Abdu's and Julie's backgrounds, and makes it more interesting and perplexing to see their relationship grow later.
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ReplyDeleteSo to me, it looks like the relationship between Abdu and Julie started off as a curious fling that had the potential to turn into a serious romantic relationship, but is really becoming more politically motivated than anything else as Abdu and Julie began to understand what each had to offer. However, I think love could have been what made the relationship or at least part of it. After Abdu walks to the garage after love-making: "He knows at least he gave complete satisfaction. He resists residue feelings of tenderness towards this girl. This temptation" (28). I think this is telling that at least for Abdu, love could be a genuine aspect of their relationship although I'm not sure why he was so afraid of it at this point in the story. Perhaps it seemed to good to be true, because in his naivety he saw a woman that he could love that could also provide him with his dream for a visa.
Like a lot of people who've already posted, I'm not really sure what Julie wants in this relationship other than to disregard her family and her background. While I can symphathize with her in being independent from her controlling background, I don't understand why she's willing to disregard her family to the point of being a relationship with a man that is obviously using her. I can see her being initially enchanted by his mystique and physical attractiveness, but to the point of staying with him all the way to his country, it further baffles me. So even after reading over half the book, Julie's character is still very mysterious to me. I feel like she's not even a character, more like an unexplainable series of cataclysmic events that everyone else has to cater to.
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ReplyDeleteBy the end of the story, we see Abdu and Julie both reaching their ultimate individual goals at a severe blow to their relationship. Abdu goes to America while Julie stays behind in her new-found independent life. While I symphathized with them for their individual aspirations, I did not symphathize with them in how they went about reaching them. Abdu wanted to go to a rich country because he valued his family highly and wanted to help them. Yet he turned down the opportunity from his Uncle to manage his Uncle's business. He justifies this by not wanting to perpetuate his family in their current situation. I also think this might be a reason why Gordimer never names the country that Ibrahim is in, because his situation in not being able to truly rise in class is what mattered and not what specific country he resided in. So Ibrahim uses his relationship with Julie to acquire visas while Julie uses the relationship to find a new adventure. Both were pretty selfish towards the relationship.
But I think that in the end, if either character actually loved the other it would be Ibrahim, as was evident by how upset he was with Julie for not coming, even after he had his visas to go to America. Or it could be that Julie was challenging gender roles and ties to family by refusing to listen to Ibrahim's pleads and live with her mother in America. That seemed like a somewhat ambiguous element to the story.
I liked how Gordimer's style of writing brought me into the world of the story. The long and jumpy sentences really fleshed out the sometimes contradictory situations and many voices that arose during the story.
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ReplyDeleteThe themes that ti thought unraveled most in the first section were the ideas of privilege, social-class and social ranking.
“For the first time, the differences between them, the street conditioning of their origins, an intriguing special bond in their intimacy against all others, is a difference in a difference sense – an opposition” (38).
I think this was the first time Julie realized the socially obvious differences that stand between them. To me, this reveals Julie to be a little self-absorbed. She has met this man and takes him into HER life. He doesn’t seem to object, but why would he? He doesn’t seem to have anything better to do in this (her) country. I’m not sure if she ever stopped to think about how he felt about her. She seemed to assume that he is really into her. It sort of makes her come off as a bit cocky.
It seems from this section that this man thrills Julie partly because he is so risqué to her social standing. It’s rebellious of her to date a man so different from herself - which she likes. A bit selfish on her part, but at the same time we don’t know Abdu’s true reasons for being with Julie. Maybe he is plain using her to get to where he wants to be.
I’m curious to see what’s to come of their relationship in the new country….
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ReplyDelete-posted prior to Thursday's class.
I have to completely disagree with Victoria. I don't think Abdu and Julie ever really truly loved each other. Maybe they fooled each other and themselves that there was love, but truly, they were in a relationship on opportunity, sex and taking advantage of each other's culture lifestyle.
This is supported by the fact that he nor hshe sacrifice their happiness to be with each other at the end of the novel. Julie doesn't show much emotion at Abdu's departure, and lastly when Khadija says "He'll come back. (268)" She, in her mind, through the authors voice, just chalks up the line to Khadija's feelings towards her man. Julie knows Abdu wont be back, and this probably doesn't phase her one way or another. Notice, that at no time did she argue, beg or plead with Abdu to stay...
I liked this novel. I liked how the first half mirrored the second half, and I liked how once you got used to Gordimer's writing style it added to the complexity of the novel. It is interesting to have a narrator that appears as an invisible but all knowing character in their own novel.
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ReplyDeleteResponse to Bret.
This is amazing! I don't know is everyone will still come back to this and look at all our posts, but it's amazing how this "LOVE" between Abdu and Julie can be so complex where we have different opinion about it.
Like we have talked about in our seminar today, the relationship between Abdu and Julie. I appreciate the diversity of our group because we bring so many things on the table. The Seminar today was lively and I hope that the rest of our seminars will be much livelier. :)
Anyway, my last words for the book.. It was a good read. Definitely makes me read more of her work. I would say I like the ending because they both achieved what they wanted.
I don't know if I should feel sorry for Julie because her sexual needs wasn't met because Ibrahim was away.. I think Gordimer is just saying that people in general jut don't get EVERYTHING they desire.. When Julie was back in South Africa, he was satisfied in her sex life - not only to Abdu but even before Adbu came in her life. On the other hand being somewhere in Arabia, she cannot have sex because her husband was not there, but she has something new -- new friends, family, students -- just more people that she can say she has a close relationship to.
Also.. another conclusion is that Gordimer is trying to imply that Julie cannot live a life without a more richer relationship (family, friends, students) and she can live without a guy..? Not so sure about that..
Let me know what you think? or maybe let's move on to the next book. :p
I love this book!
Peace y'all see you Thursday!
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ReplyDeleteI follow the story line and focus on relationship between Julie and Abdu. It makes me curious about how come two completely different people, each carries his/her own business, can fall in love?
“He put on the mechanic’s overalls and went to the garage everyday. She went much later to the tenth-floor suite of offices and occupied her custom-designed chair… (33)
I agree with Bret that this is not really LOVE but people meet on the same page and on the same journey to reach to their goals.
I really like the part when Julie’s father say “you choose to go to hell in your own way” (98) this part clearly depicts all the challenges regarding social conflict, culture, class that Julie would have to face if she decides to go with Abdu.
It is hurtful when family’s opinion is not valued because of Julie’s stubbornness, however, that makes a good story.
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So far, I enjoy this book the most among all the 3 books we have read. This is right up my alley, and I’m glad to have a chance to dig into it during the seminar and reading your blogs.
As I shared in class, the part when they say good bye at the airport is really touching to me and I don’t want the story to end.
I like the way Nadine Gordimer leads the story line and how she shows us each character’s personality and situation. At first, it was confusing but later I’m absorbed in it. Her words of choice is excellent!
Now we have to move on to the next book. It’s time to read more.
Sorry for the delay, classmates. As I mentioned today, I got the flu and was literally in bed from Friday afternoon until this morning - well, I did get out of bed to go to Urgent Care on Saturday. :( I'm still quite sick, though thankfully no longer contagious, so my input here and in class will probably be low-energy for the next little while. Forgive me! I finished the book last Wednesday & was writing my blog posts in MSWord.
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You know, I know that I say this at the beginning of every book, but I'm already hooked. Intrigued. Why does Julie like Abdu? Why does Abdu like Julie? Is there anything real there, or is it a lark for one or both of them?
And whoa, is Gordimer's writing ever different from Adichie's! It's, what, economical? Precise and considered and careful - nothing mis-said, nothing wasted. Beautiful prose, carefully revealing a story, but not everything and not obviously. I thought the shift would take a little getting used to, but it didn't. I really sank right into Gordimer's style. I love unique prose.
What I'm noticing most in these first couple dozen pages is class - Julie's class, her friends' class, the way her friends "other" the people of the city, and so on.
I can't imagine much of a future for Abdu and Julie, to be honest, so I am very interested to see where this story goes!
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ReplyDeleteOkay, wait. She did WHAT? She invited herself along to his country and married him before moving there? Was this completely out of nowhere, or was it just me? I guess they've been together for a while - Gordimer's writing covers so much time in so few words, it's sometimes hard to keep track - but I never got the feeling that they were so committed to each other (or, well, that she was so committed to him) that she'd leave her entire life. Of course, she doesn't seem that committed to her entire life in this African city, either, now that I think about it... Another lark for Julie? I find myself wondering how this marriage can possibly work out, since he obviously does not want her to come with him. Of course, when I wrote my last blog post, I didn't think their relationship would last very long at all, so what do I know? ;)
I do have to say that I believe that Abdu & Julie love each other, though Gordimer portrays it in small, subtle, quiet ways that we are not used to seeing. I don't think it's uncomplicated or pure - certainly each has his/her own motivations and machinations in addition to genuine affection - but I do believe they both care about each other (though Abdu tries hard to repress that).
So curious to see what happens next!
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ReplyDeleteWow. Wow wow wow! What a shock! Julie stays in Ibrahim's country! I would never have predicted that. Does that mean I wasn't paying close enough attention? It seems possible. I went back and re-read the last few chapters with the ending in mind, and it all fell into place, like puzzle pieces, perfectly interlocking and making a complete image. Of course she's staying. This is the first time in her life that she has ever felt needed and truly productive, much less part of a real family. Everything she was looking for has been found in this family, this crowded house, the desert and a little girl's small hand.
As for Ibrahim, will he ever find what he's truly looking for? Is he really looking *for* something - or is he simply running *from* his history?
I find it astonishing that a free, modern woman like Julie would find fulfillment in a society that represses women's rights and curtails their freedoms. It's a powerful demonstration of the choices some women make, and the infinite number of reasons they might make them. In giving some things up, Julie found a whole new world - a life full of connection, and love, and meaning, and a family she didn't even know she was looking for.
Beautifully written and told.
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ReplyDelete2/3
ReplyDeleteWithin the first half of the novel, Julie, a naive white woman from a privileged household, goes against her father's will and travels with a foreigner to his homeland.
The relationship between Julie and her father is interesting because it results in Julie's decision to travel with Abdu. As a child, Julie was always able to do anything that she wanted.
When Julie announces her plans, her father acknowledges the affect that his decisions have had on Julie.
"You have always lived your own life and ib my love for you I have respected this although at times it causes me concern - and hurt, yes hurt. You lack considersation for what you do, indirectly, to your family, I suppose I've spoilt you, this happens when one parent or other when there's a divorce." (97)
The theme of personal politics has played an important role in Julie’s life and causes her to act in an arrogant manner. In some cases, they can be seen as careless and unnecessary. After living in an environment where Julie has the she is able to make choices without thinking about the consequences, because of the money that her father has. This decision is different from all of her other decisions because she is running away from her father’s wealth. Without her father’s wealth, I am curious about how Julie plans to live her life in Abdu’s homeland.
3/3
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the novel, I had hopeful feelings for Abdu’s departure. In the past, he has spent numerous attempted to become a resident in a developed country, when he leaves his homeland, I like to believe that he is able to stay in America despite his unsuccessful past. Julie on the other hand made a choice that really surprised me. By refusing to go to America with Abdu, Julie made the decision to give up financial freedom for a sense of belonging in Abdu’s homeland with his family members. Although her decision will cause her to be dependent on others, her method of approaching the issue was aggressive compared to how other women in the community would have handled the situation. Abdu realized her aggressive nature after he worked very hard to obtain the passports and visas.
“He had a power over this girl he will never have over his wife Julie and that he would never want to have, it is part of what he emigrates from, every time he gets away. While he exerts it, it sickens him, the anger his sister fearfully sees rising in him” (256)
1/2
ReplyDeleteNadine Gordimer exposes in the very beginning portion of the book, the love and attraction between two youngsters which are stranger to each other. When Julie Summers met Abdu first time in the garage, she realized her love towards him “She loves the man who appeared to her, legs, body, finally head from under a car" (Gordimer 73).
Though the relation and love has happen very spontaneous and rapid manner, yet there is no significant common ground that seems tangible to justify this instant attraction. All dividing barriers of the South African society, like class, color and immigration status was there. Julie was a daughter of wealthy South African white family in her home, were Abdu was poor immigrant who is illegally working at the garage.
Julie enjoys hearing different intellectual perspectives of life, and as she is a member of the liberal and diverse El-AY table she picked up Abdu believing that he will add another unique perspective. When Julie heard big words like “fate” from Abdu, his arguments sound to her too philosophical and though full, that must fit to the EL-AY table.
2/2
Julie and Abdu was heading totally opposite directions. Julie is escaping from the materialistic environment. She is preferring the simple and intellectual life that she is having in the table of the EL-AY cafe, and she never considers Capetown as her true home. “Another of the adventures she prided her self on being far enough from her fathers beautiful house always to be ready for her”(Gordimer 112). When she immigrated to different country, Julie found her self in Abdul village rather than her home of birth.
On the other hand Abdu is graduate young man who migrated from his country to look for better opportunity, he was desperately trying different countries and willing to go any one that accepts him. Abdu is not willing to go back his own village, because there is no opportunity back there. Abdu is an economist who knows where he is heeding, his main target is to make money and create his own business some were in the western countries.
Abdu was admiring Julie's father as successful business man who is heading right direction. But Julie is getting bored when ever he Abdu talks about that class. At last Abdu is happy to America, while Julie refused to join him, but she rather prefered to stay that village at the desert with Abdu's family. Their opposite targets make them apart ideologically when they were in South Africa, and finally was the cause of physical separation between them.