Here are reviews of outside reading selections. They are written by tenth graders whose intended audience was future tenth graders. Enjoy!
Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote July's People, by Nadine Gordimer The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
1.
This is the kind of book that makes you doubt everything. And be happy that you are alive so you can know what all of that feels like and discover more, beyond questions. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer is a novel and a Holocaust book. It is humorous and yes, illuminating. This book is a brilliant mix of different worlds: modern-day Ukraine, modern-day America, and Ukrainian shtetel life pre-World War II. Through several different voices, similar to the style of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Foer tells the story of a young Ukrainian translator and an American man whose journey he guides. The lives of the characters are portrayed in understandable and often humorous ways, even when the message itself is very serious: “If you want to know who protects you from the people that take without asking, it is the police. If you want to know who protects you from the police, it is the people who take without asking. And very often they are the same people” (64).
If a predictable book can be enjoying to read, then this is it. Everything Is Illuminated gets so engrossing at certain points that you can just feel where the plot is going to turn next. But figuring it out is fun, and there are many surprises about how the story unfolds. Everything Is Illuminated is subtly effective, and many deep themes find their own ways amidst the plot. “But isn’t there something strange about the picture, the closeness between them, even though they’re not looking at each other? The way that they aren’t looking at each other. The distance. It’s very powerful, don’t you think?” (61) Somehow, Foer captures the intangible and puts wise observations in the mouths of his characters. These well-articulated ideas are simple truths in the lives of the characters and fascinating to the reader.
Foer mentions “intimacy, that closeness attainable only with distance” (134). Everything Is Illuminated combines bits of philosophical wisdom, another perspective on the Holocaust and search years later, and humorous insight into the uses and struggles of language.
2.
Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated is a story about a boy and the journey to his past, the past of his ancestors. It depicts the story of not only the Jews during the Holocaust but also the gentiles. Safran write his book with three different narrators, the Ukrainian guide (Alex), Safran portrays the story of his grandfather, and the guide’s grandfather. Just as in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Safran incorporates many different sides of the story which is what makes it a good book; it is not biased. Yet after reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close I had high expectations for this book, my mind set was that it would be very similar, humorous, and intriguing. This book had a very similar writing style, yet was not as eye capturing. While the tale keeps you wondering what is going to happen, it is very confusing with so many different stories from different times and narrators.
Though there are many different stories, they keep you in anticipation, and you cannot stop reading it, even up to the last sentence of the book, you do not want it to end. Having never really heard about the Ukraine during the war or even knowing about the shtetels during the Holocaust, this book gave me about a lot of information. The book tells of the separation of Jews (Slouchers and Uprights) and how war can bring everyone back together, even if it is to die. The book reveals the struggle of survival and how through so much terror and destruction of Safran’s ancestor’s homeland and people; there are still remnants, items, and even some survivors from there. This book made me want to take a trip to my ancestor’s homeland; it was inspiring and made me want to learn more about my family. Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, Everything Is Illuminated, is an inspiring, suspenseful story that I would have kept reading for another hundred pages.
3.
Everything is Illuminated, but in this case, Jonathan’s goal in the book in to illuminate his family history. With multiple narrators, this book gives us not only a story about a man trying to discover his ancestor’s origin and history, but a history of the Holocaust and life in Ukraine from multiple perspectives. As you read about the life of Jonathan’s ancestors such as Safran, you also meet other characters such as Lista who are burdened with the destruction of Trachimbrod. Lista considers herself to be the keeper of the memory of Trachimbrod. While some people call memories blessings, Lista calls her memories burdens that she must keep with her forever, which immobilizes her from being able to start over and reach for new opportunities. Aside from the impact of memory, one-third of this book is told through saved letters alone. The people of Trachimbrod also consider writing as a way to cement memories into place for future, past, and present generations. The third narrator is Alex, Jonathan’s guide in Ukraine. Alex writes to Jonathan and at first brags about how many women he sleeps with and the nightclubs he pays for. But eventually as Jonathan and Alex keep writing to each other, Alex becomes closer and more honest with Jonathan, revealing that he likes to spend his time at the beach instead of a nightclub and is a virgin. This book teaches you about destruction and the brink of situations vs. love and the beginning of new lives. Once you begin to read Everything is Illuminated, you won’t stop until you are done to the last page. This book kept me thinking about how lucky I am to live a life without war and tragedies. At the same time it gave me a profound view of life in Ukraine and the aftermath of the Nazi invasions. The Impact of this book not only enlightened me with knowledge, but it illuminated me with multiple lessons on love, the importance of memories, and responsibility.
4.
In Jonathan Safran Foer’s first novel, Everything is Illuminated, three different narratives combine to create a delightful and amusing story. The story of an 18th century shtetl, the letters and life of a modern young Ukranian hoping to improve himself, and the escapades of a tourist searching for survivors of the Holocaust combine to weave a tale full of meaning and hope. The three perspectives each bring totally different understandings to the reader.
In the first thread, Alex, the young Ukranian tour guide, writes letters to Foer about a novel he is writing and his hope to move to America. In the second thread, Alex tells the story of how he was assigned as a tour guide to take Foer to find his relatives. Readers will find themselves laughing constantly, even during the serious moments of discovery of the past. In the third thread, perhaps the strangest, the story of a young girl growing up in the 18th century is told. She is raised in the strangest village, and she herself defies all customs and assumptions of the times.
The story is creative like Extremly Loud and Incredibly Close in that it combines different story lines to lead the reader to the larger picture, but it is different in that the different story lines parallel each other in that the characters are each searching for the same thing. Beneath the humor, wacky customs and odd incidents, the story is ultimately about searching. Searching for love, searching for hope, searching for meaning, all are pursued during the novel.
The book was impossible to put down. The plot is heavy and thick, making this book a real page-turner. Complex questions are raised, human behavior is ridiculed, and in the end the reader is left with more questions than answers. That is the reason this book is so great; it is entertaining and it encourages the reader to think in new and different ways.
5.
Jonathon Safran Foer’s breakthrough novel Everything is Illuminated is the poignant yet fresh Holocaust story that stands out from all others written before it.
The story takes place in multiple time periods, settings, and styles. The first we are introduced to is a narration by Alexander, the Ukrainian translator who is assigned along with his grandfather to travel with Jonathon Safron Foer (whom Foer has made a character in his own novel). Alexander tells the story of the three traveling to the apparently disappeared shtetl, Trachimbrod, to search for the past of Foer’s deceased ancestors. The second narration is Foer writing the story of his ancestors, recalling their experiences of love, confusion, and death. Finally, the third narration is again that of Alexander, writing honest and often philosophical letters to Foer, who has returned to the United States.
While the first fifty pages of the novel are hard to get into, the outcome of the stories as a whole proves to be captivating and moving. With multiple stories to follow, one does not tire from any one storyline, but rather enjoys the one they are reading presently while at the same time eagerly anticipating the next section. Another important factor of the book is that it does not just describe the happenings of the Jews during the Holocaust, but Gentiles as well, as we come to learn from Alexander’s grandfather. We see before us as a society that has thrived for hundreds of years is demolished with one swift blow, without the simple facts of history books blocking emotion.
Finally, Foer proves to have mastered the art of weaving multiple tales into one story, doing so in a way that keeps each very distinct as its own, but obviously part of the larger picture as well. Through these three storylines, Foer is able to add a depth to his story, that could not have been achieved otherwise. Everything is Illuminated certainly lives up to its outstanding reviews!
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
1,
The book In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote is a captivating, well written, and suspenseful true story following the brutal murder of a family living in a quiet, Kansas town. Through the interviews conducted while writing this book, Capote became friendly with both murderers. By interviewing these men, he could truthfully recount what happened the night of the murders in addition to the time following it, which results in the book having a very personal feel. In the novel ["non-fiction fiction"], Capote approaches the situation from all angles, giving expansive detail about the people directly involved with the murders, their friends, family, and even manages to describe encounters with random, seemingly unimportant people. Clearly, Capote’s detail becomes somewhat excessive; however I do not believe that it takes away from the book itself.
Truman Capote does a great job of keeping the book entertaining and suspenseful, which is a difficult task because the outcome is presented at the beginning. However, one has to wonder if every conversation recorded, and every event mentioned is entirely true, for who remembers exactly what they had said on a certain day at a specific time. The book also contains gory descriptions of the murders of all four family members, which makes it all the more similar to a juicy Law and Order; entertaining to watch, but unrealistic. This however, was real, yet Capote’s writing style makes the book seem more of a fictional story, rather than the true tragedy that was.
Overall, In Cold Blood was a very compelling and extremely creepy story that I enjoyed reading. However, I began to doubt the evidence offered by Capote because of his empathy towards and obviously biased perception of the murderers. Still, the novel provides insight into the minds of two killers, which is rarely seen, and very interesting to read. Just be prepared- you may feel queasy and somewhat disturbed upon reading this novel.
2.
Truman Capote’s 1966 release, In Cold Blood, is a strangely fascinating read, giving the reader an interesting view into the mindset of two murderers one would not normally receive. In the novel ["non-fiction fiction"], the result is known all along, but Capote keeps the book interesting and fun to read. Although the story is slow-paced, unusual for a murder novel, it is still very entertaining.
The insights into Perry Smith and Dick Hickock’s minds are excellent and fascinating, and Capote really gives the reader lots of detail into the characters’ lives, unlike TV reports or newspaper articles. Capote does a particularly fine job writing about Smith, detailing his troubled past and giving off a general feeling of pity, even to the point where one feels sorry for his perfectly justified arrest. The juxtaposition between Smith’s quiet cautiousness and Hickock’s wild crudity works to perfection, and, of course, is completely realistic, seeing as the book’s events are truthful. The fact that the novel is true is the most impressive detail of all, seeing as the events seem like a documentary, but still keeps one’s attention and manages to be suspenseful.
One negative aspect of this book, however, is the beginning. The book is divided into four relatively equal sections. The first, “The Last to See Them Alive”, spans roughly 75 pages, nearly entirely of extremely detailed background on the four murder victims. While some background is necessary for any good historical work, in this case the amount of setting seems somewhat excessive, and gets boring.
In conclusion, In Cold Blood is a very intriguing read. It is unlike any book I had ever read before, and at first, it was tough to really get excited about it. But when Capote describes the murders and the two outlaws’ fleeing from police, one cannot help but feel attracted to the novel. As Capote describes Smith and Hickock, readers often begin feeling empathy towards them, a boggling and confusing feeling considering the book’s circumstances. But that shows just how well Capote described the murderers, and how well written this novel is.
3,
The novel ["non-fiction fiction] In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a surprisingly impartial recitation of the story of two vicious killers who invaded the sanctity of a family home, bound four innocent people and methodically executed each of them. Capote’s writing throughout the novel is simple and eloquent, which creates an odd juxtaposition to the heinous crimes he describes. I feel that Capote could have created an absolute masterpiece had he been more biased. He had an opportunity to write about an occurrence that was worthy of the strongest, most powerful words. Instead, his lack of emotion is almost chilling. The reader is drawn to make judgments based on morality, not active language. Some say that Capote evoked empathy for Perry Smith, one of the murderers, through the tragic life experiences he endured before committing these monstrous murders. Much of the novel focused on the aspects of Perry’s life that created the monster he became. The mere fact that a person could interpret Capote’s words as empathetic towards such an atrocious human being suggests that Capote did not put enough emphasis on the brutality of the crimes. Adding a negative tone could have evoked a more emotional reaction from the reader. If the meticulous details of the novel were joined by an opposing rage, readers would be not only more captivated, but more intrigued in the actual case. Like Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the novel In Cold Blood could inspire young readers to aspire to be lawyers or judges, had it more emotionally grabbed a reader’s attention with negative descriptions. While the novel may have “chilled the blood and exercised the intelligence”, as stated by the New York Review of Books, I believe that these emotions are caused more by the substantial facts than the neutral writing. On account of Truman Capote, In Cold Blood is a fantastically well -written novel, but a more forceful writing style with negative energy would have better captured the true response of the people in Kansas after the appalling murder of four members of the Clutter family.
4.
In his novel [non-fiction fiction] In Cold Blood, Truman Capote recounts the event in which a peaceful family is brutally murdered, creating confusion, uproar and terror within Holcomb, Kansas, and later reaching throughout the whole United States. Truman Capote was a journalist covering the story in 1959 who personally interviewed the murderers on death row. This novel is based on a true story consisting of both facts and fiction.
The book starts off describing the Clutter family, as a lovely, heartwarming family that almost everyone in Kansas knew and respected. Capote draws a great picture of an almost perfect family that no one would ever think to hurt. This information is important to understand how truly devastating this was to the community and the state of Kansas.
“Feeling wouldn’t run so high if this happened to anyone except the Clutters. Anyone less admired. Prosperous. Secure. But the family represented everything people hereabouts really value and respect, that such a thing could happen to them-well, it’s like being told there is no God” (88). This is an account from a citizen of Holcomb.
Since Truman Capote is a journalist who covered this story, his book reads as a news article (he sometimes gives background information or even quotes in parenthesis). This makes the book very easy to read and understand. Though what must be understood is that this book is not completely factual creating a haziness of truth for the reader. The book is written in third person giving the stories and backgrounds to all of the key players of the event. Capote provides a variety of perspectives including the family, their close friends, common citizens of Holcomb, detectives working on the case and even the murderers. This provides for the reader a fuller understanding of the event and in part creates a better insight on all the characters but more interestingly on the murderers themselves.
Overall, In Cold Blood is a great read. It’s fun, serious and entertaining. Capote does a great job building the suspense by going through all aspects of the event from the day before the murder to the murderers’ arrest and execution. It is a great murder mystery story that really holds the readers’ attention.
5. IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote is a truly bone-chilling novel. In a way it is much scarier than most of the horror movies and books published today. Most scary movies and books try to invent situations and characters and that are starkly different from what people are accustomed to, and this frightens readers. For instance, THE BODY FARM by Patricia Cornwell depicts a psychopathic mother who drowns her own daughter in a bathtub. Most people do not know mothers like that, so although it is frightening, it does not seem realistic.
Not only is IN COLD BLOOD realistic, it is completely true. It portrays two shockingly normal young men who, with almost no motive, kill a family of four. However, instead of writing these men off as ‘psychopaths’ or ‘evil’, Capote tries to help us relate to Dick and Perry. After befriending them during prison visits, Capote wrote about their family lives, childhood, emotions, and thoughts. He includes a psychiatrist’s analysis of the killers. Both were concluded to be sane. However, Dick’s “self-esteem is very low, and he secretly feels inferior to others”(295), while Perry “feels that others are unfair to him and do not understand him”(297). These emotions are not those of a crazy, evil person. They are feelings that most rational, sane people feel.
This is why the reader is astounded by the total lack of empathy these individuals possess. This contrast between Dick and Perry’s rational minds and empty hearts is accentuated when Perry tells the police, “I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat”(302). When asked if he felt remorse or regret about his actions, Perry responded, “Nothing about it bothers me a bit. Half an hour after it happened, Dick was making jokes and I was laughing at them. Maybe we’re not human. I’m human enough to feel sorry for myself. Sorry I can’t walk out of here when you walk out. But that’s all”(291).
After reading this novel ["non-fiction fiction"], I think about murderers in a completely different way. Instead of just condemning what they did, I always have to consider what the criminals felt. Are they sorry? Do they have human emotions? I wondered if any of my friends could kill without feeling remorse. I wondered if I could murder someone and feel nothing.
6. In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote, tells the story of a family, who were savagely murdered by two men. Readers know the outcome of the murder, but Truman Capote is still able to build the suspense. Capote is able to write about the horrors of the murder, but at the same time expresses sympathy for the murderers. Truman does a great job picking apart the murder, and captures every moment from every perspective. Truman Capote is able to expand far beyond just the murder scene, but goes into great detail about what other people were thinking of the novel. Truman Capote gathered information from his investigation as well as other peoples’ investigation. This is very important because it keeps the book on a factual basis.
One of the things I like in the book is Capote expresses sympathy even though it is an uncomfortable topic to discuss. It’s hard to believe that any type of murder can be sympathized. It’s extremely hard to have any sympathy for a motiveless murder of an innocent family. The Family is not only victims of murder, but victims of pity, which is what makes the murder all the more emotional. The father was a hard working farmer that provided all of the family’s income. The mother had physical limitations because she had been ill for two years prior the murder. Their daughter Nancy was a friendly girl, who was not spoiled and had aspirations to go to university to study music and art. Their son Kenyon was just fifteen years old at the time of the murder and loved two things: carpentry and machinery. Capote’s sympathy doesn’t end there, but extends to one of the killer’s. Perry Smith gets deep sympathy from Capote throughout the novel. We learn that Perry had a hard life before the murder. He was kicked out of his father’s house in Alaska and Perry’s sister eliminated all contact with him.
There are some people that will read this book and think that Capote gave the reader too much detail, and it is too gory. Of course the story is horrific, painful, and yet truthful. People who do not like horrific murders are not recommended to read this book. People cannot criticize Capote for his viewpoint of the murder because this topic is of unusual nature. The bottom line is truth hurts. Truman Capote told the story of a vicious murder, and the details that go along with it. Truman Capote does a great job using realism in this novel, which is my favorite aspect of Capote.
The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
1.
Nicole Krauss’s The History of Love is a significant novel, which genuinely delves into the lives of two individuals. When a long lost book reappears into the lives of these two people, there is a mysterious reconnection between them. Leo Gursky, a World War II survivor, fell in love years ago in his childhood Polish village. Leo proceeded to write a book about his love and called it “The History of Love”. Unknowingly, the book has persevered and still remains to this very day. Today, Leo’s day mostly consists of tapping his radiator every evening just to reassure his above neighbors that he is still alive.
Fourteen-year-old Alma was named by her widowed mother after the book “The History of Love”. While Alma has her hands tied up with taking care of her brother, Bird, and taking innumerable notes on surviving the wild, she chooses to journey throughout her city in hopes of finding the true meaning behind her name. Alma is also on search to cure the loneliness in her mother’s life.
Krauss’ brilliant writing filled with substantial amounts of detail, is a magnetic story gradually bringing one side of the story closer to the next. Not only does the novel serve as a magnet between the characters but also between the readers’ hands and the book. Her remarkable masterpiece truly proves perfection in many ways. Instead of running back and forth constantly and losing breath between stories, the two tie together magnificently. When the book unites the two characters, a true feeling of satisfaction is given off for both the fictional characters and the reader.
While the final product of The History of Love may seem realistically absurd, it can also be viewed as the revival and truth behind an illogical novel. As the reader cuts the ribbon to the finish line, the sensational and inspirational verity is spilled, revealing and patching together the thrill behind the whole novel.
2.
Nicole Krauss', The History of Love, is the biography of a man who has lost two loved ones from his life. Leo Gursky lost the love of his life, Alma, to America. Leo was a writer and his last novel, "The History of Love," was about her. He sent passages of the novel to her not intending for anything to come from the book. In Poland, Leo was hiding from the Nazis and before he left for the United States he gave the book to his friend, Zvi Litvinoff. Without knowing, his book was published and had been preserved up until today.
After suffering a heart attack, Leo does not believe that he will be alive for much longer, but every night he taps on the radiator to let his neighbors know that he is very much alive.
Charlotte Singer is a translator of books and is asked to translate Litvinoff’s novel, "The History of Love." After the inspiration she receives from the novel she names her daughter Alma. Alma is now 14 years old and is busy with her younger brother, Bird, and her widowed mother. Alma decides to take a trip and find out what the true meaning of her name is and why her mother is so lonely. Krauss writes with extraordinary detail and manages to grab the attention of the reader. She finds a way to attract the reader to the relationships in the novel despite the flip-flopping of the different stories. When she finally brings together the two stories and its characters the reader feels a real sense of relief.
3.
Nicole Krauss’s The History of Love, is an intricate novel that equally confuses and captivates every reader with its complexity. The novel brilliantly weaves its way through two main narrators, each very different in voice and perspective, but with one commonality - both have a strong connection to an old book titled The "History of Love." Written originally in Yiddish, the book is nearly lost; however, through an unexpected turn of events, it is preserved and then translated into Spanish and published – only to be translated yet again into English. As the reader progresses through Krauss’s compelling novel, more is revealed about the origin and author of this impacting book, "The History of Love." Krauss’s most imaginative and truly original writing is found on the pages of this book-within-a-book, inspired by one young man’s feelings toward his childhood love. This man is Leo Gursky, whom the reader first encounters as a lonely old man living, or rather surviving, in New York. He lives everyday, expecting it to be the last, but don’t get ahead of yourself. Everyday, Leo makes every attempt to be noticed, dropping coins at the cash register or even sitting as a nude model for an art class. This is his way to pass each day, and to ensure that he will avoid his fear that he will die on a day he goes unseen. Leo painfully shares his memories of his childhood in Slonim, before the Holocaust wiped out his small Polish village. His family and friends are taken in the war, but he survives by hiding in forests with the dream of joining his young lover who previously fled to America. Before the war took hold, Leo sent her chapters of his book about a girl called Alma Mereminski, the very same Alma for whom Alma Singer is named. Alma Singer is the daughter of an English mother and Israeli father, who is struggling to find… well, she doesn’t quite know just what it is she’s looking for. Alma’s father has died, and what begins as her attempts to find someone to make her widowed mother happy again evolves into something more. Krauss’s ability to engage the reader in the lives of her characters is intensified as the connections between the chapters and narrators become clear. The process of piecing together the elements of this elaborate plot makes for an active read and an unexpected ending.
4. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss focuses on two main characters. Leo Gursky, an older Jewish man, and a survivor of World War Two, lived in Poland before he immigrated to New York City. Leo is a lonely man who missed out on his ideal life, and ideal wife. Everyday Leo would do what ever it took for him to get noticed by just about anyone. He would tap on the radiator every night to let his friend know that he is still alive. While he lived in Poland, he wrote 3 books. His last book was called "The History of Love"; it was about a girl named Alma, and she was his childhood girlfriend. After Alma left Poland and went to the United States, Leo would send sections of the book to her. When Leo finally went to the United States he finds Alma, she tells him that she was pregnant with his baby when she left and went to America, and she married some man that felt bad for her. His name was Mordecai Moritz. Alma and Mordecai Moritz also had a son of their own. Alma explains that she had written to Leo and was devoted and willing to wait for him, but Leo never answered her letters. Leo did not answer because he never received them. Leo's mother had told him to hide in the forest during the Nazi invasions and she would meet him later, but for some reason she never came. Leo spent three years avoiding the Nazis before he come to America. His cousin that was a locksmith taught him how to trade. He wanted Alma to come live with him, but she would not agree.
The characters are convincing and genuine, and the reader feels as though a connection is formed with them. This is a story filled with laughter, irony, excitement, Pleasure, and thrill, that causes your mind to really imagine.
The other main character is a fourteen-year-old girl named Alma Singer, named after Leo's character Alma.
July's People, by Nadine Gordimer
1.
Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People is a fictional novel that is difficult to understand without previous knowledge about South Africa, and is hard to enjoy with a sufficient understanding of the country's struggle. It takes place during a fictional civil war, where the black South Africans have violently overturned the apartheid government. Airports are being bombed, and whites cannot leave. The tables have turned and the life of the Smales - liberal whites - was turned upside-down. Maureen and Bamford Smale no longer begin the day with tea served by their black manservant July. Total revolution and violent rioting has forced Bam and Maureen, with their three young children, to flee to July's isolated village. The Smales hastily packed their bags with necessities also including a tool for removing dry cleaners tags without ruining ones fingernails, are forced to adapt to a life of weed gathering, mealie cooking, and cockroaches living with them in their new clay hut. A complete shift in roles takes place between the Smales and July. Now living in July’s village the Smales rely on July to teach them how to survive. It takes a while for Bam to realize he no longer has the authority of his and July’s former relationship; by the end of the book he has come to terms his new life.
On a superficial level, July’s People is a well written adventure story. The transformation of the Smales that Gordimer writes about is inspirational at times; however it completely misses the dynamics of the struggle apartheid South Africa. It is true that blacks were violently oppressed. Nonetheless the apartheid regime was not overthrown by violent civil war. Based on the reality of what happened I do not think it is correct to say that every event in the book “seems chillingly, ominously possible”.
2,
Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People takes place in the heart of South Africa, amidst a fictional civil war between the insurgent Blacks and the subjugated Whites. The country’s struggle surrounds the racial conflict in which the Black South Africans have aggressively overthrown the apartheid government. As the rioting blacks have stormed the country with force and violence, the “whites cannot leave” (Anne Tyler). With no other choice, the Smales family, white liberals from Johannesburg, must flee to the remote village of July, their African servant. July must provide safety and protection for them during the turmoil.
Amid the chaos in South Africa, this story represents extremes in which traditional roles are overturned, and new ones are shaped. This idea is expressed through July’s shift in importance. Back in Johannesburg, July relied on the protection and support of the Smales family. However, since the anarchy struck South Africa, July is morally obligated to find safety for the Smales family and guide them in their survival. He must protect and shelter them, support the family’s children, and explain his actions to the chief, who questions the sudden arrival of this white family to their village. The survival of the Smales family relies entirely on July and his loyalty to his former master. A level of equality and a change in dynamics begins to occur between the Smales family and July, as July begins to call his masters by their first names and begins to assist in their survival.
This story was written before the end of apartheid, and describes what will be a revolution in South Africa. This future change is the basis for Nadine Gordimer’s novel. She writes with strong knowledge of South Africa and its struggles.
I recommend Nadine Gordimer’s novel to anyone interested in understanding the struggles of a conflicted South Africa.
Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
July's People, by Nadine Gordimer
The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
1.
This is the kind of book that makes you doubt everything. And be happy that you are alive so you can know what all of that feels like and discover more, beyond questions.
Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer is a novel and a Holocaust book. It is humorous and yes, illuminating. This book is a brilliant mix of different worlds: modern-day Ukraine, modern-day America, and Ukrainian shtetel life pre-World War II. Through several different voices, similar to the style of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Foer tells the story of a young Ukrainian translator and an American man whose journey he guides. The lives of the characters are portrayed in understandable and often humorous ways, even when the message itself is very serious: “If you want to know who protects you from the people that take without asking, it is the police. If you want to know who protects you from the police, it is the people who take without asking. And very often they are the same people” (64).
If a predictable book can be enjoying to read, then this is it. Everything Is Illuminated gets so engrossing at certain points that you can just feel where the plot is going to turn next. But figuring it out is fun, and there are many surprises about how the story unfolds.
Everything Is Illuminated is subtly effective, and many deep themes find their own ways amidst the plot. “But isn’t there something strange about the picture, the closeness between them, even though they’re not looking at each other? The way that they aren’t looking at each other. The distance. It’s very powerful, don’t you think?” (61) Somehow, Foer captures the intangible and puts wise observations in the mouths of his characters. These well-articulated ideas are simple truths in the lives of the characters and fascinating to the reader.
Foer mentions “intimacy, that closeness attainable only with distance” (134). Everything Is Illuminated combines bits of philosophical wisdom, another perspective on the Holocaust and search years later, and humorous insight into the uses and struggles of language.
2.
Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated is a story about a boy and the journey to his past, the past of his ancestors. It depicts the story of not only the Jews during the Holocaust but also the gentiles. Safran write his book with three different narrators, the Ukrainian guide (Alex), Safran portrays the story of his grandfather, and the guide’s grandfather. Just as in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Safran incorporates many different sides of the story which is what makes it a good book; it is not biased. Yet after reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close I had high expectations for this book, my mind set was that it would be very similar, humorous, and intriguing. This book had a very similar writing style, yet was not as eye capturing. While the tale keeps you wondering what is going to happen, it is very confusing with so many different stories from different times and narrators.
Though there are many different stories, they keep you in anticipation, and you cannot stop reading it, even up to the last sentence of the book, you do not want it to end. Having never really heard about the Ukraine during the war or even knowing about the shtetels during the Holocaust, this book gave me about a lot of information. The book tells of the separation of Jews (Slouchers and Uprights) and how war can bring everyone back together, even if it is to die. The book reveals the struggle of survival and how through so much terror and destruction of Safran’s ancestor’s homeland and people; there are still remnants, items, and even some survivors from there. This book made me want to take a trip to my ancestor’s homeland; it was inspiring and made me want to learn more about my family. Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, Everything Is Illuminated, is an inspiring, suspenseful story that I would have kept reading for another hundred pages.
3.
Everything is Illuminated, but in this case, Jonathan’s goal in the book in to illuminate his family history. With multiple narrators, this book gives us not only a story about a man trying to discover his ancestor’s origin and history, but a history of the Holocaust and life in Ukraine from multiple perspectives. As you read about the life of Jonathan’s ancestors such as Safran, you also meet other characters such as Lista who are burdened with the destruction of Trachimbrod. Lista considers herself to be the keeper of the memory of Trachimbrod. While some people call memories blessings, Lista calls her memories burdens that she must keep with her forever, which immobilizes her from being able to start over and reach for new opportunities. Aside from the impact of memory, one-third of this book is told through saved letters alone. The people of Trachimbrod also consider writing as a way to cement memories into place for future, past, and present generations. The third narrator is Alex, Jonathan’s guide in Ukraine. Alex writes to Jonathan and at first brags about how many women he sleeps with and the nightclubs he pays for. But eventually as Jonathan and Alex keep writing to each other, Alex becomes closer and more honest with Jonathan, revealing that he likes to spend his time at the beach instead of a nightclub and is a virgin. This book teaches you about destruction and the brink of situations vs. love and the beginning of new lives. Once you begin to read Everything is Illuminated, you won’t stop until you are done to the last page. This book kept me thinking about how lucky I am to live a life without war and tragedies. At the same time it gave me a profound view of life in Ukraine and the aftermath of the Nazi invasions. The Impact of this book not only enlightened me with knowledge, but it illuminated me with multiple lessons on love, the importance of memories, and responsibility.
4.
In Jonathan Safran Foer’s first novel, Everything is Illuminated, three different narratives combine to create a delightful and amusing story. The story of an 18th century shtetl, the letters and life of a modern young Ukranian hoping to improve himself, and the escapades of a tourist searching for survivors of the Holocaust combine to weave a tale full of meaning and hope. The three perspectives each bring totally different understandings to the reader.
In the first thread, Alex, the young Ukranian tour guide, writes letters to Foer about a novel he is writing and his hope to move to America. In the second thread, Alex tells the story of how he was assigned as a tour guide to take Foer to find his relatives. Readers will find themselves laughing constantly, even during the serious moments of discovery of the past. In the third thread, perhaps the strangest, the story of a young girl growing up in the 18th century is told. She is raised in the strangest village, and she herself defies all customs and assumptions of the times.
The story is creative like Extremly Loud and Incredibly Close in that it combines different story lines to lead the reader to the larger picture, but it is different in that the different story lines parallel each other in that the characters are each searching for the same thing. Beneath the humor, wacky customs and odd incidents, the story is ultimately about searching. Searching for love, searching for hope, searching for meaning, all are pursued during the novel.
The book was impossible to put down. The plot is heavy and thick, making this book a real page-turner. Complex questions are raised, human behavior is ridiculed, and in the end the reader is left with more questions than answers. That is the reason this book is so great; it is entertaining and it encourages the reader to think in new and different ways.
5.
Jonathon Safran Foer’s breakthrough novel Everything is Illuminated is the poignant yet fresh Holocaust story that stands out from all others written before it.
The story takes place in multiple time periods, settings, and styles. The first we are introduced to is a narration by Alexander, the Ukrainian translator who is assigned along with his grandfather to travel with Jonathon Safron Foer (whom Foer has made a character in his own novel). Alexander tells the story of the three traveling to the apparently disappeared shtetl, Trachimbrod, to search for the past of Foer’s deceased ancestors. The second narration is Foer writing the story of his ancestors, recalling their experiences of love, confusion, and death. Finally, the third narration is again that of Alexander, writing honest and often philosophical letters to Foer, who has returned to the United States.
While the first fifty pages of the novel are hard to get into, the outcome of the stories as a whole proves to be captivating and moving. With multiple stories to follow, one does not tire from any one storyline, but rather enjoys the one they are reading presently while at the same time eagerly anticipating the next section. Another important factor of the book is that it does not just describe the happenings of the Jews during the Holocaust, but Gentiles as well, as we come to learn from Alexander’s grandfather. We see before us as a society that has thrived for hundreds of years is demolished with one swift blow, without the simple facts of history books blocking emotion.
Finally, Foer proves to have mastered the art of weaving multiple tales into one story, doing so in a way that keeps each very distinct as its own, but obviously part of the larger picture as well. Through these three storylines, Foer is able to add a depth to his story, that could not have been achieved otherwise. Everything is Illuminated certainly lives up to its outstanding reviews!
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
1,
The book In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote is a captivating, well written, and suspenseful true story following the brutal murder of a family living in a quiet, Kansas town. Through the interviews conducted while writing this book, Capote became friendly with both murderers. By interviewing these men, he could truthfully recount what happened the night of the murders in addition to the time following it, which results in the book having a very personal feel. In the novel ["non-fiction fiction"], Capote approaches the situation from all angles, giving expansive detail about the people directly involved with the murders, their friends, family, and even manages to describe encounters with random, seemingly unimportant people. Clearly, Capote’s detail becomes somewhat excessive; however I do not believe that it takes away from the book itself.
Truman Capote does a great job of keeping the book entertaining and suspenseful, which is a difficult task because the outcome is presented at the beginning. However, one has to wonder if every conversation recorded, and every event mentioned is entirely true, for who remembers exactly what they had said on a certain day at a specific time. The book also contains gory descriptions of the murders of all four family members, which makes it all the more similar to a juicy Law and Order; entertaining to watch, but unrealistic. This however, was real, yet Capote’s writing style makes the book seem more of a fictional story, rather than the true tragedy that was.
Overall, In Cold Blood was a very compelling and extremely creepy story that I enjoyed reading. However, I began to doubt the evidence offered by Capote because of his empathy towards and obviously biased perception of the murderers. Still, the novel provides insight into the minds of two killers, which is rarely seen, and very interesting to read. Just be prepared- you may feel queasy and somewhat disturbed upon reading this novel.
2.
Truman Capote’s 1966 release, In Cold Blood, is a strangely fascinating read, giving the reader an interesting view into the mindset of two murderers one would not normally receive. In the novel ["non-fiction fiction"], the result is known all along, but Capote keeps the book interesting and fun to read. Although the story is slow-paced, unusual for a murder novel, it is still very entertaining.
The insights into Perry Smith and Dick Hickock’s minds are excellent and fascinating, and Capote really gives the reader lots of detail into the characters’ lives, unlike TV reports or newspaper articles. Capote does a particularly fine job writing about Smith, detailing his troubled past and giving off a general feeling of pity, even to the point where one feels sorry for his perfectly justified arrest. The juxtaposition between Smith’s quiet cautiousness and Hickock’s wild crudity works to perfection, and, of course, is completely realistic, seeing as the book’s events are truthful. The fact that the novel is true is the most impressive detail of all, seeing as the events seem like a documentary, but still keeps one’s attention and manages to be suspenseful.
One negative aspect of this book, however, is the beginning. The book is divided into four relatively equal sections. The first, “The Last to See Them Alive”, spans roughly 75 pages, nearly entirely of extremely detailed background on the four murder victims. While some background is necessary for any good historical work, in this case the amount of setting seems somewhat excessive, and gets boring.
In conclusion, In Cold Blood is a very intriguing read. It is unlike any book I had ever read before, and at first, it was tough to really get excited about it. But when Capote describes the murders and the two outlaws’ fleeing from police, one cannot help but feel attracted to the novel. As Capote describes Smith and Hickock, readers often begin feeling empathy towards them, a boggling and confusing feeling considering the book’s circumstances. But that shows just how well Capote described the murderers, and how well written this novel is.
3,
The novel ["non-fiction fiction] In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a surprisingly impartial recitation of the story of two vicious killers who invaded the sanctity of a family home, bound four innocent people and methodically executed each of them. Capote’s writing throughout the novel is simple and eloquent, which creates an odd juxtaposition to the heinous crimes he describes. I feel that Capote could have created an absolute masterpiece had he been more biased. He had an opportunity to write about an occurrence that was worthy of the strongest, most powerful words. Instead, his lack of emotion is almost chilling. The reader is drawn to make judgments based on morality, not active language. Some say that Capote evoked empathy for Perry Smith, one of the murderers, through the tragic life experiences he endured before committing these monstrous murders. Much of the novel focused on the aspects of Perry’s life that created the monster he became. The mere fact that a person could interpret Capote’s words as empathetic towards such an atrocious human being suggests that Capote did not put enough emphasis on the brutality of the crimes. Adding a negative tone could have evoked a more emotional reaction from the reader. If the meticulous details of the novel were joined by an opposing rage, readers would be not only more captivated, but more intrigued in the actual case. Like Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the novel In Cold Blood could inspire young readers to aspire to be lawyers or judges, had it more emotionally grabbed a reader’s attention with negative descriptions. While the novel may have “chilled the blood and exercised the intelligence”, as stated by the New York Review of Books, I believe that these emotions are caused more by the substantial facts than the neutral writing. On account of Truman Capote, In Cold Blood is a fantastically well -written novel, but a more forceful writing style with negative energy would have better captured the true response of the people in Kansas after the appalling murder of four members of the Clutter family.
4.
In his novel [non-fiction fiction] In Cold Blood, Truman Capote recounts the event in which a peaceful family is brutally murdered, creating confusion, uproar and terror within Holcomb, Kansas, and later reaching throughout the whole United States. Truman Capote was a journalist covering the story in 1959 who personally interviewed the murderers on death row. This novel is based on a true story consisting of both facts and fiction.
The book starts off describing the Clutter family, as a lovely, heartwarming family that almost everyone in Kansas knew and respected. Capote draws a great picture of an almost perfect family that no one would ever think to hurt. This information is important to understand how truly devastating this was to the community and the state of Kansas.
“Feeling wouldn’t run so high if this happened to anyone except the Clutters. Anyone less admired. Prosperous. Secure. But the family represented everything people hereabouts really value and respect, that such a thing could happen to them-well, it’s like being told there is no God” (88). This is an account from a citizen of Holcomb.
Since Truman Capote is a journalist who covered this story, his book reads as a news article (he sometimes gives background information or even quotes in parenthesis). This makes the book very easy to read and understand. Though what must be understood is that this book is not completely factual creating a haziness of truth for the reader. The book is written in third person giving the stories and backgrounds to all of the key players of the event. Capote provides a variety of perspectives including the family, their close friends, common citizens of Holcomb, detectives working on the case and even the murderers. This provides for the reader a fuller understanding of the event and in part creates a better insight on all the characters but more interestingly on the murderers themselves.
Overall, In Cold Blood is a great read. It’s fun, serious and entertaining. Capote does a great job building the suspense by going through all aspects of the event from the day before the murder to the murderers’ arrest and execution. It is a great murder mystery story that really holds the readers’ attention.
5.
IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote is a truly bone-chilling novel. In a way it is much scarier than most of the horror movies and books published today. Most scary movies and books try to invent situations and characters and that are starkly different from what people are accustomed to, and this frightens readers. For instance, THE BODY FARM by Patricia Cornwell depicts a psychopathic mother who drowns her own daughter in a bathtub. Most people do not know mothers like that, so although it is frightening, it does not seem realistic.
Not only is IN COLD BLOOD realistic, it is completely true. It portrays two shockingly normal young men who, with almost no motive, kill a family of four. However, instead of writing these men off as ‘psychopaths’ or ‘evil’, Capote tries to help us relate to Dick and Perry. After befriending them during prison visits, Capote wrote about their family lives, childhood, emotions, and thoughts. He includes a psychiatrist’s analysis of the killers. Both were concluded to be sane. However, Dick’s “self-esteem is very low, and he secretly feels inferior to others”(295), while Perry “feels that others are unfair to him and do not understand him”(297). These emotions are not those of a crazy, evil person. They are feelings that most rational, sane people feel.
This is why the reader is astounded by the total lack of empathy these individuals possess. This contrast between Dick and Perry’s rational minds and empty hearts is accentuated when Perry tells the police, “I didn’t want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat”(302). When asked if he felt remorse or regret about his actions, Perry responded, “Nothing about it bothers me a bit. Half an hour after it happened, Dick was making jokes and I was laughing at them. Maybe we’re not human. I’m human enough to feel sorry for myself. Sorry I can’t walk out of here when you walk out. But that’s all”(291).
After reading this novel ["non-fiction fiction"], I think about murderers in a completely different way. Instead of just condemning what they did, I always have to consider what the criminals felt. Are they sorry? Do they have human emotions? I wondered if any of my friends could kill without feeling remorse. I wondered if I could murder someone and feel nothing.
6.
In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote, tells the story of a family, who were savagely murdered by two men. Readers know the outcome of the murder, but Truman Capote is still able to build the suspense. Capote is able to write about the horrors of the murder, but at the same time expresses sympathy for the murderers. Truman does a great job picking apart the murder, and captures every moment from every perspective. Truman Capote is able to expand far beyond just the murder scene, but goes into great detail about what other people were thinking of the novel. Truman Capote gathered information from his investigation as well as other peoples’ investigation. This is very important because it keeps the book on a factual basis.
One of the things I like in the book is Capote expresses sympathy even though it is an uncomfortable topic to discuss. It’s hard to believe that any type of murder can be sympathized. It’s extremely hard to have any sympathy for a motiveless murder of an innocent family. The Family is not only victims of murder, but victims of pity, which is what makes the murder all the more emotional. The father was a hard working farmer that provided all of the family’s income. The mother had physical limitations because she had been ill for two years prior the murder. Their daughter Nancy was a friendly girl, who was not spoiled and had aspirations to go to university to study music and art. Their son Kenyon was just fifteen years old at the time of the murder and loved two things: carpentry and machinery. Capote’s sympathy doesn’t end there, but extends to one of the killer’s. Perry Smith gets deep sympathy from Capote throughout the novel. We learn that Perry had a hard life before the murder. He was kicked out of his father’s house in Alaska and Perry’s sister eliminated all contact with him.
There are some people that will read this book and think that Capote gave the reader too much detail, and it is too gory. Of course the story is horrific, painful, and yet truthful. People who do not like horrific murders are not recommended to read this book. People cannot criticize Capote for his viewpoint of the murder because this topic is of unusual nature. The bottom line is truth hurts. Truman Capote told the story of a vicious murder, and the details that go along with it. Truman Capote does a great job using realism in this novel, which is my favorite aspect of Capote.
The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
1.
Nicole Krauss’s The History of Love is a significant novel, which genuinely delves into the lives of two individuals. When a long lost book reappears into the lives of these two people, there is a mysterious reconnection between them. Leo Gursky, a World War II survivor, fell in love years ago in his childhood Polish village. Leo proceeded to write a book about his love and called it “The History of Love”. Unknowingly, the book has persevered and still remains to this very day. Today, Leo’s day mostly consists of tapping his radiator every evening just to reassure his above neighbors that he is still alive.
Fourteen-year-old Alma was named by her widowed mother after the book “The History of Love”. While Alma has her hands tied up with taking care of her brother, Bird, and taking innumerable notes on surviving the wild, she chooses to journey throughout her city in hopes of finding the true meaning behind her name. Alma is also on search to cure the loneliness in her mother’s life.
Krauss’ brilliant writing filled with substantial amounts of detail, is a magnetic story gradually bringing one side of the story closer to the next. Not only does the novel serve as a magnet between the characters but also between the readers’ hands and the book. Her remarkable masterpiece truly proves perfection in many ways. Instead of running back and forth constantly and losing breath between stories, the two tie together magnificently. When the book unites the two characters, a true feeling of satisfaction is given off for both the fictional characters and the reader.
While the final product of The History of Love may seem realistically absurd, it can also be viewed as the revival and truth behind an illogical novel. As the reader cuts the ribbon to the finish line, the sensational and inspirational verity is spilled, revealing and patching together the thrill behind the whole novel.
2.
Nicole Krauss', The History of Love, is the biography of a man who has lost two loved ones from his life. Leo Gursky lost the love of his life, Alma, to America. Leo was a writer and his last novel, "The History of Love," was about her. He sent passages of the novel to her not intending for anything to come from the book. In Poland, Leo was hiding from the Nazis and before he left for the United States he gave the book to his friend, Zvi Litvinoff. Without knowing, his book was published and had been preserved up until today.
After suffering a heart attack, Leo does not believe that he will be alive for much longer, but every night he taps on the radiator to let his neighbors know that he is very much alive.
Charlotte Singer is a translator of books and is asked to translate Litvinoff’s novel, "The History of Love." After the inspiration she receives from the novel she names her daughter Alma. Alma is now 14 years old and is busy with her younger brother, Bird, and her widowed mother. Alma decides to take a trip and find out what the true meaning of her name is and why her mother is so lonely. Krauss writes with extraordinary detail and manages to grab the attention of the reader. She finds a way to attract the reader to the relationships in the novel despite the flip-flopping of the different stories. When she finally brings together the two stories and its characters the reader feels a real sense of relief.
3.
Nicole Krauss’s The History of Love, is an intricate novel that equally confuses and captivates every reader with its complexity. The novel brilliantly weaves its way through two main narrators, each very different in voice and perspective, but with one commonality - both have a strong connection to an old book titled The "History of Love." Written originally in Yiddish, the book is nearly lost; however, through an unexpected turn of events, it is preserved and then translated into Spanish and published – only to be translated yet again into English. As the reader progresses through Krauss’s compelling novel, more is revealed about the origin and author of this impacting book, "The History of Love." Krauss’s most imaginative and truly original writing is found on the pages of this book-within-a-book, inspired by one young man’s feelings toward his childhood love. This man is Leo Gursky, whom the reader first encounters as a lonely old man living, or rather surviving, in New York. He lives everyday, expecting it to be the last, but don’t get ahead of yourself. Everyday, Leo makes every attempt to be noticed, dropping coins at the cash register or even sitting as a nude model for an art class. This is his way to pass each day, and to ensure that he will avoid his fear that he will die on a day he goes unseen. Leo painfully shares his memories of his childhood in Slonim, before the Holocaust wiped out his small Polish village. His family and friends are taken in the war, but he survives by hiding in forests with the dream of joining his young lover who previously fled to America. Before the war took hold, Leo sent her chapters of his book about a girl called Alma Mereminski, the very same Alma for whom Alma Singer is named. Alma Singer is the daughter of an English mother and Israeli father, who is struggling to find… well, she doesn’t quite know just what it is she’s looking for. Alma’s father has died, and what begins as her attempts to find someone to make her widowed mother happy again evolves into something more. Krauss’s ability to engage the reader in the lives of her characters is intensified as the connections between the chapters and narrators become clear. The process of piecing together the elements of this elaborate plot makes for an active read and an unexpected ending.
4.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss focuses on two main characters. Leo Gursky, an older Jewish man, and a survivor of World War Two, lived in Poland before he immigrated to New York City. Leo is a lonely man who missed out on his ideal life, and ideal wife. Everyday Leo would do what ever it took for him to get noticed by just about anyone. He would tap on the radiator every night to let his friend know that he is still alive. While he lived in Poland, he wrote 3 books. His last book was called "The History of Love"; it was about a girl named Alma, and she was his childhood girlfriend. After Alma left Poland and went to the United States, Leo would send sections of the book to her. When Leo finally went to the United States he finds Alma, she tells him that she was pregnant with his baby when she left and went to America, and she married some man that felt bad for her. His name was Mordecai Moritz. Alma and Mordecai Moritz also had a son of their own. Alma explains that she had written to Leo and was devoted and willing to wait for him, but Leo never answered her letters. Leo did not answer because he never received them. Leo's mother had told him to hide in the forest during the Nazi invasions and she would meet him later, but for some reason she never came. Leo spent three years avoiding the Nazis before he come to America. His cousin that was a locksmith taught him how to trade. He wanted Alma to come live with him, but she would not agree.
The characters are convincing and genuine, and the reader feels as though a connection is formed with them. This is a story filled with laughter, irony, excitement, Pleasure, and thrill, that causes your mind to really imagine.
The other main character is a fourteen-year-old girl named Alma Singer, named after Leo's character Alma.
July's People, by Nadine Gordimer
1.
Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People is a fictional novel that is difficult to understand without previous knowledge about South Africa, and is hard to enjoy with a sufficient understanding of the country's struggle. It takes place during a fictional civil war, where the black South Africans have violently overturned the apartheid government. Airports are being bombed, and whites cannot leave. The tables have turned and the life of the Smales - liberal whites - was turned upside-down. Maureen and Bamford Smale no longer begin the day with tea served by their black manservant July. Total revolution and violent rioting has forced Bam and Maureen, with their three young children, to flee to July's isolated village. The Smales hastily packed their bags with necessities also including a tool for removing dry cleaners tags without ruining ones fingernails, are forced to adapt to a life of weed gathering, mealie cooking, and cockroaches living with them in their new clay hut. A complete shift in roles takes place between the Smales and July. Now living in July’s village the Smales rely on July to teach them how to survive. It takes a while for Bam to realize he no longer has the authority of his and July’s former relationship; by the end of the book he has come to terms his new life.
On a superficial level, July’s People is a well written adventure story. The transformation of the Smales that Gordimer writes about is inspirational at times; however it completely misses the dynamics of the struggle apartheid South Africa. It is true that blacks were violently oppressed. Nonetheless the apartheid regime was not overthrown by violent civil war. Based on the reality of what happened I do not think it is correct to say that every event in the book “seems chillingly, ominously possible”.
2,
Nadine Gordimer’s July’s People takes place in the heart of South Africa, amidst a fictional civil war between the insurgent Blacks and the subjugated Whites. The country’s struggle surrounds the racial conflict in which the Black South Africans have aggressively overthrown the apartheid government. As the rioting blacks have stormed the country with force and violence, the “whites cannot leave” (Anne Tyler). With no other choice, the Smales family, white liberals from Johannesburg, must flee to the remote village of July, their African servant. July must provide safety and protection for them during the turmoil.
Amid the chaos in South Africa, this story represents extremes in which traditional roles are overturned, and new ones are shaped. This idea is expressed through July’s shift in importance. Back in Johannesburg, July relied on the protection and support of the Smales family. However, since the anarchy struck South Africa, July is morally obligated to find safety for the Smales family and guide them in their survival. He must protect and shelter them, support the family’s children, and explain his actions to the chief, who questions the sudden arrival of this white family to their village. The survival of the Smales family relies entirely on July and his loyalty to his former master. A level of equality and a change in dynamics begins to occur between the Smales family and July, as July begins to call his masters by their first names and begins to assist in their survival.
This story was written before the end of apartheid, and describes what will be a revolution in South Africa. This future change is the basis for Nadine Gordimer’s novel. She writes with strong knowledge of South Africa and its struggles.
I recommend Nadine Gordimer’s novel to anyone interested in understanding the struggles of a conflicted South Africa.