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July's People
July's People
Author: Nadine Gordimer
Bam and Maureen Smales, a South African couple who pride themselves on their liberal views on apartheid, find their lives turned around when a revolution puts their servant, July, in charge of their lives and their fates. How they confront this challenge provides the plot in Gordimer's tough take on the appalling realities of apartheid, and on t...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780140061406
ISBN-10: 0140061401
Publication Date: 7/29/1982
Pages: 176
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 29

3.3 stars, based on 29 ratings
Publisher: Penguin Books
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Leigh avatar reviewed July's People on + 378 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I was disappointed with this book for several reasons. The stream-of-consciousness-eque writing is especially confusing when you're referring to a place or a style of language unfamiliar to the audience. The ending left much to be desired. Ms. Gordimer only made the situation more and more edgy, then kind of left it off. What she does well, though, is chronicle the evolution of relationships in a severely changed environment. What role do you take when your "boy" becomes your only means of survival? Recommended only for fans of Gordimer.
reviewed July's People on
Helpful Score: 2
Fascinating, but depressing. A liberal white couple in South Africa are helped by one of their long-term black servants to escape to his village during the upheaval at the end of apartheid. Their children quickly adapt to "native" life and are happy, but the parents are another story. I thought the writing very good and perceptive. Didn't like the fact that the story ends up in the air, but then again, plot was not the point.
reviewed July's People on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Ms Gordimer never disappoints. Fine writing about a complex subject.
reviewed July's People on + 813 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The narrative is often choppy and abstract. In many ways, the authors style and structure remind me of that of Alan Paton. Crisp, sentences. Often merely phrases. No quotation marks. Who is speaking? Is someone speaking? Often up to a page of narrative expires before, by assumption, the reader becomes aware of which character it concerns. A South African trait, or style? Prose imitating poetry! July is a native servant who rescues his white family from the riots and hides them in his native village. Gradually, their roles reverse. A sort of cliff-hanger ending that leaves far too much to the reader to fill in.
reviewed July's People on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
An enigmatic but fascinating study of human relationshps and global concerns. Beautiful prose with haunting images and themes.
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reviewed July's People on
When race war breaks out in apartheid South Africa, a liberal white family are taken by their servant July to his native village. How the village and the family respond to the ensuing strains and pressures is the subject of this renowned short novel by Nadine Gordimer.


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