Burger's Daughter

This is a masterful work for two specific reasons: 1. It very realistically displays the depths to which Apartheid pervaded South African society. It goes beyond the simplistic "Apartheid is bad" motif so easily turned out in Paton and Brink. 2. Gordimer is masterful--shame on those reviewrs who call it exclusive or pompous. This is a tremendous work that has blended polemic with prose. Had Mailer, Wolfe, or Brink written this, they would have been hailed genius: why should Gordimer face such scrutiny? A must read for anyone getting into South African lit.

I can't understand the reviewers who have downplayed this book. I think maybe they should stick to the thrillers and bodice-rippers in the bus station rack. Gordimer's book is a classic study of the conflicts between ones duty to ones country - in this case, the struggle for a non-racialist South Africa - and ones duty to ones family. The story is told through the eyes of the daughter of a pair of white, South African activists. We watch her as she grows up, hurt and bemused by, then running away from, and eventually coming to her own very personal terms with, the burdens she bears because of her parents commitment. It's a wonderful character study, often enigmatic, due to the ambivalent feelings Rosa Burger experiences, but ultimately very satisfying.

This is not light reading; if you're looking for something to graze over while you sit at the pool, look elsewhere. If, however, you're looking to be challenged, to learn, to have your ideas and opinions broadened, Nadine Gordimer's works, in general, and this book in particular, will fill you to brimming if you will take the time and energy to plumb its depths. Many have written about Apartheid, but Gordimer does so with such depth and gravity and coherence and novelty, it's hard to grasp just how ambitious an undertaking this book really is. My favorite element is the conceit she employs of the protagonist, Rosa Burger, and her connection, ambivalence to, and ultimate embracing of, being "Burger's Daughter." It's her story, most of all, of coming to terms with her individuality, her own self-determination, her own sense of justice and humanity, and discovery of her deepest beliefs; the luxury she has, as a white woman in her society, of being able to make these psychological, spiritual and physical journies. The arguments of apartheid, communism, social movements and injustices are all deep and involving, but play second fiddle to the real issue of the book, the right of self-determination for all people. Rosa ultimately capitulates to the same fate as did her father, but it is her choice, come upon by examining herself and what she values. You can't help but think that Gordimer is ruminating the odds of whether or not the rest of the populace of her native land will ever get the same chance in their lifetimes.

Until I read this novel, years ago, I had very simplistic views of South Africa. "Burger's Daughter" changed that.While telling the story of an individual young woman growing up in a well-known activist family and learning to discover her own identity, Gordimer also paints a broad and detailed picture of life in South Africa among those who fought apartheid while Mandela was still in prison. It is a rich cast of characters, black and white, who find their strength and their joy in their heroic resistance to the government and their civil disobedience. Through them you learn of the complexity of the problems created by apartheid and the range of social issues rooted in a system of racial separatism. You also learn a great deal about the mindset and courage of those who were free to leave South Africa during those dark days yet chose to stay and fight a well-armed and oppressive foe. And as modern-day South Africa has inherited the legacy of apartheid, the book is as fully relevant today as it was when it was written.Gordimer packs a lot into this novel; it's not a page turner, but a book that you soak up slowly and deliberately. It is a solid, important book, worthy of a world-class writer and Nobel Prize winner.

I think this book was pretty good. It tell the readers a lot about how the blacks live during the early years. I recommend this book to everything especially those who don't know much. SAF