Burger's Daughter [Hardcover]

Nadine Gordimer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1979

A depiction of South Africa today, this audiobook is more revealing than a thousand news dispatches as it tells the story of a young woman cast in the role of a young revolutionary, trying to uphold a heritage handed on by martyred parents while carving out a sense of self. 9 cassettes.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Rosa Burger grew up in a home under constant surveillance by the South African government. Her parents were detained for their political beliefs; her father died in prison, and her mother, whose health suffered from her time in jail, eventually dies. Rosa, a white South African in her early twenties, is left the only surviving member of her family. Yet even after her parents' deaths, the history of their anti-apartheid beliefs and practices have a daily impact on her life: it seems everyone has expectations of her and the government is still watching. A quiet, private person, Rosa constantly searches her memories to find herself, to grasp this heritage that weighs her down. Over a period of several years Rosa comes to understand the impact of the South African political climate on her and how she became who she is. Take time to read this novel; the political realities it describes are complicated. The narrative style varies from straightforward storytelling to Rosa's most personal thoughts. In Burger's Daughter, Nobel Prize-winner Nadine Gordimer takes a situation most read about in newspapers and makes it real, creating a memorable story of coming to terms with circumstances over which we have little control, yet which directly affect our lives. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Nadine Gordimer is the author of eleven previous novels, as well as collections of stories and essays. She has received many awards, including the Booker Prize (for The Conservationist in 1974) and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991. She lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 361 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (October 1, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670194751
• ISBN-13: 978-0670194759
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,948,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > African > Central & South African

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finding one's own voice, September 12, 2000

By 

EriKa "E" (Iceland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burger's Daughter (Paperback)

I have probably by now read almost everything Gordimer has written in her long and prolific career. I have defended her writing to those who have only dabbled in one or two works and form opinions. Gordimer's works are much more complex than one can dissect in one reading of a particularly book or in a reading of only one of her books.

Burger's Daughter was surprising, as all of Gordimer's works are. Gordimer has mastered the art of voice and gives her characters complex lives and thoughts without resorting to or relying on cliché or expectation. In Burger's Daughter, the protagonist lives a life that was created for her before she was even born. Her father's political activism created circumstances into which she would be born and in which she would be expected to live, much as royalty is born and expected to follow in the monarchy's traditions.

The book traces Burger's daughter through her literal and figurative explorations to find her own voice, which can be the most difficult thing one can do in life, particularly when overshadowed by the voices of everyone around you. This work is quite subtle and although surprising (only because I am always amazed that someone has such talent for breathing life into a page) it is very typical Gordimer. Well worth the time to read it.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A challenging but ultimately rewarding novel, April 24, 2000

By 

"mattbeckett" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Burger's Daughter (Paperback)

Nadine Gordimer's prose can be difficult to follow at the initial read, but is full of thought-provoking allusions and is a book you will definitely think about for a long time. In this tale, Burger represents the man who was Nelson Mandela's lawyer in apartheid South Africa. Gordimer follows Burger's daughter as she copes with ties to her homeland, the complicated issue of white and black in South Africa, and with both the persecution and expectations she faces because of her name. Highly recommended!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richly rewarding novel by Nobel Prize Winner, August 10, 2002

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Burger's Daughter (Paperback)

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.