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Get a Life (Hardcover)

by Nadine Gordimer (Author)
2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Price: £16.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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  • This item: Get a Life by Nadine Gordimer

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 208 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; First Edition edition (7 Nov 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747581754
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747581758
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.6 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 626,464 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #29 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > G > Gordimer, Nadine

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Product Description

Review

'Absorbing and impressive a beautifully written meditation on marriage and solitude' Daily Mail 'Get a Life is about all of our fears: of destruction, but also of contamination, alienation and enforced solitude A brave story about the fragility and the dangers of intimacy' Daily Telegraph 'Gordimer has undoubtedly become one of the World's Great Writers her rootedness in a political time, place and faith has never dimmed her complex gifts as an artist' Independent 'Gordimer's stark sentences and emotional depth make most modern fiction seem trivial' The Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.


Daily Telegraph

`A brave story about the fragility and the dangers of intimacy' --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
See all Product Description

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:    (0)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
2.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging little book, 1 Mar 2006
By pseudopanax (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
There’s a very ordinary domestic story at the heart of Get A Life; there’s illness, adultery, birth, adoption and balancing work life with home life. But this being Gordimer, it also brings in the wider issues of conservation and race relations in contemporary South Africa. The opening pages are a marvel; few writers can set the scene so economically yet so precisely as Gordimer. The landscape of the characters is drawn without sentimentality or judgement, and through it all Gordimer is in complete control of the narrative, showing the reader these characters with all their ambiguities intact. This is a short novel, a mediation almost on the ongoing destruction and reconstruction of aspects of the characters’ lives that they had thought were set in stone and impervious to change. Get A Life is not an easy book for the casual reader, but for those who have enjoyed Gordimer’s previous work or for those new to her and up for a bit of a challenge it is a provocative piece of fiction.
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10 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Lacks focus, 30 Aug 2006
By Mister Hobgoblin (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
I'm afraid I would have to agree with some of the less complimentary comments on this novel. I felt that it had a couple of rather serious shortcomings.

Firstly, the novel lacked focus. It started out as one man's battle against illness whilst isolated from the rest of the world. This had potential to explore the nature of the pariah and the effect on friends and family of not being able to comfort the man they loved.

Then it moved into the relationship between private and personal life with the conflict between eco-warrioring and having family who represented big corporations in the law courts. And although I understood the device of splitting Benni and Berenice, I didn't think the differentiation was clear from behaviour - and also I couldn't tell Berenice/Benni appart from the grandmother (Lyndsay?)

Then it had the break up of the grandparents.

In all this, there was no obvious progression - just a feeling of drift. There was no celebration of recovery, no reason why the grandparents should become important, no exploration of friends and extended family.

Then there was the language. I found the prose hard to read. I kept stumbling over sentences which did not have a clear sense - or even a verb! I have nothing against arty writing, but when it is done well, it should read smoothly and naturally. If the reader keeps tripping up, the writing is failing in what it is trying to be.

And finally, there was the incessant political correctness. Every so often, the plot turned into a rather one sided portrayal of imminent environmental disaster. That might have been balanced better with an exploration of the economic reasons whi communities felt they should exploit the natural resources. Just showing the downside felt like preaching.

I'm afraid I thought this was quite a weak book - as evidenced by the fact that, one day later, I can barely remember the names of more than two characters.
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
4 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Lacks focus, 1 Nov 2006
By Mister Hobgoblin (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Get a Life (Paperback)
I'm afraid I would have to agree with some of the less complimentary comments on this novel. I felt that it had a couple of rather serious shortcomings.

Firstly, the novel lacked focus. It started out as one man's battle against illness whilst isolated from the rest of the world. This had potential to explore the nature of the pariah and the effect on friends and family of not being able to comfort the man they loved.

Then it moved into the relationship between private and personal life with the conflict between eco-warrioring and having family who represented big corporations in the law courts. And although I understood the device of splitting Benni and Berenice, I didn't think the differentiation was clear from behaviour - and also I couldn't tell Berenice/Benni appart from the grandmother (Lyndsay?)

Then it had the break up of the grandparents.

In all this, there was no obvious progression - just a feeling of drift. There was no celebration of recovery, no reason why the grandparents should become important, no exploration of friends and extended family.

Then there was the language. I found the prose hard to read. I kept stumbling over sentences which did not have a clear sense - or even a verb! I have nothing against arty writing, but when it is done well, it should read smoothly and naturally. If the reader keeps tripping up, the writing is failing in what it is trying to be.

And finally, there was the incessant political correctness. Every so often, the plot turned into a rather one sided portrayal of imminent environmental disaster. That might have been balanced better with an exploration of the economic reasons whi communities felt they should exploit the natural resources. Just showing the downside felt like preaching.

I'm afraid I thought this was quite a weak book - as evidenced by the fact that, one day later, I can barely remember the names of more than two characters.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I expected an insider's story about South African life. Instead, found 3 main themes: adultery; radiation; ecology. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2006 by Dr. Pik Wai Chin

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