Name: Nadine Gordimer
Year Won: 1991
Read: My Son's Story
Original Language: English
Reason: "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity"
About: My Son's Story follows a South African family, in Aparthid, as they realize that their father is...gasp!...dating a white woman. The story veers between each of the family member's lives, as well as how race affects all of them.
What I liked: Beautiful writing, fantastic character building, and and an interesting backdrop. This novel made me think and it was actually pretty enjoyable to read. (I liked seeing how the characters wrapped their minds both around their father's betrayal as well as how it was, in many ways made worse, but the race of the woman he choose to cheat with.)
What I Disliked: Like most books on this list, the plot wasn't praticularly grabby. Also, I wished, at times, that they'd get out of their heads for a bit and do something. Anything. It was like, "argh, enough internal monologue!!!"
Should it have won a Nobel: Yes. It's well written and on an important, contemporary subject.
With that said, it's hard to imagine it winning now as the author is white and was writing about Blacks. I do wonder whether a similar topic would be better (or worse, or just very different) coming from a Black writer. Or maybe it would be exactly the same...
Next Up: "What the Twilight Says" by Derek Walcott
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