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timbooksin's review against another edition
2.0
Nope. Hard pass. Extremely difficult to get into. There was seemingly lots happening yet nothing happening. I'm not even sure the racism, sexism, and inappropriate sexual behavior is done well enough to make it seem like a commentary or a problematization. Nope. No.
apollonium's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alicemalaika's review against another edition
2.0
I don't really know why I just didn't enjoy this book. I usually like long winded internal monologues of unlikeable characters - and the setting of apartheid South Africa is interesting, especially as the book deals with race and class relations - again things I usually enjoy. I'm not sure what was missing, or whether the unnecessary constant sexualisation out me off, but I finished this book feeling unfulfilled by the reading experience.
marciag's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
meowrilena's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
zeinm1980's review against another edition
5.0
Set during the Apartheid era, this is a book about Mehring, a white South African of British decent who is a successful business man in the mining industry. The story tracks his process of feeling more connected to the land in South Africa through his purchase of a farm and the time he spends there. When an African man is found dead on the farm, the police come to investigate, but simply bury him on site because the death of a Black man isn't important to them. After a series of vignettes, all told from an omniscient perspective in which the reader can sense the disconnect between how Mehring sees his actions and the disgust the reader can discern (for example, he has a sexual encounter with a 15 year old girl on a plane; he hits on the daughter of his friend only to learn that afternoon the friend is dead -- the funereal for whom he avoids; he pretends to run over his farm manager, which he sees as a joke), the body of the dead man is flooded out by the rain. Shortly after learning this during a visit to the farm, Mehring is returning to Johannesburg when he gives a ride to a prostitute and stops near an abandoned mine site, presumably to have sex with her. He is shaken when he detects that they are being watched, and he has what reads like a psychotic break. His life, and death, all play out before him and he realizes that he does not belong the beauty of the land that is his farm because he is responsible for making the abject condition of the abandoned mine site possible. The novel ends with a phone call from his farm manager asking for money to build a casket so they can give the dead man who has resurfaced a proper burial. We do not hear from Mehring, but we learn through his manager, Jacobus, that he gives permission for the funds. The ending confirms that Mehring does not belong to the land as he once thought, and he will never belong to it.
The Conservationist does not read easily and I wondered how much of the obtuseness of the language was because Gordimer wrote the book in 1974 during the height of political oppression in South Africa. But in the end, the difficulty is worth it as the book leaves you with a feeling of having experienced the events, rather than just read the straight-forward narration of them. The various characters are also worth paying attention to closely. There is an Afrikaner family, a Coloured family, Portuguese travelers, and Mehring's presumably gay son, all of whom are as foils to illustrate the mind-set of what the reader assumes is the typical, wealthy, white South African during the 1970s.
The Conservationist does not read easily and I wondered how much of the obtuseness of the language was because Gordimer wrote the book in 1974 during the height of political oppression in South Africa. But in the end, the difficulty is worth it as the book leaves you with a feeling of having experienced the events, rather than just read the straight-forward narration of them. The various characters are also worth paying attention to closely. There is an Afrikaner family, a Coloured family, Portuguese travelers, and Mehring's presumably gay son, all of whom are as foils to illustrate the mind-set of what the reader assumes is the typical, wealthy, white South African during the 1970s.
barbarabarbara's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
sira's review against another edition
Another Booker prize winner. Very poetic and subtle, plot-wise.
juliechristinejohnson's review against another edition
4.0
This is a novel to admire, to tremble in sheer awe at the power of Gordimer's language, her mastery of sensuality, and the importance of its themes: the skewering of apartheid during a time when the anti-apartheid movement floundered, leaderless and without much will (early-mid 1970s). It is a tough novel to love. I felt alienated by the dense language and the stream-of-consciousness writing and frustration at being trapped inside Mehring's morally bankrupt brain. Which of course is the paradox of this brilliant, difficult novel: Mehring represents white South Africa and to see the world through his eyes, as we do in The Conservationist, is to trap the other characters--black, Indian, women--in a kind of subordinate, pitiful stasis. Nadine Gordimer deliberately holds us at arm's length as Mehring considers the human world around him, but draws us in close when showing us the land.
Shortly after book opens on Mehring's country farm, twenty-five miles outside Johannesburg, the corpse of a black man is discovered by the river. No one knows who he is or how he died. The local authorities simply bury the man where he is, promising to collect the body later and investigate. Mehring is a bit put out at first, thinking of that dead body on his property, but after a while, the man troubles him much less than the hippos who abort their fetuses in the river, signs of a worsening drought.
Mehring purchased this farm as a tax write-off and as a weekend fancy. It isn't terribly productive, but he doesn't need the income--he's a mining executive. The land and its cattle are tended by a collection of black families and undocumented workers who drift over from nearby shanty towns. Mehring holds dominion over so much land-conquering its underground during his day job; plucking at its veldt on the weekends. He is apolitical, bored, lonely, a beneficiary of a society built on the backs of the oppressed. His wife has left him, as has his mistress. His son flees to Namibia--a nation-state seeking independence from South Africa-- to escape compulsory military service. To keep himself company, Mehring flirts with sexual predation, all the while imagining himself above the cocktails-and-flirtations of South Africa's smart set. He really is despicable. God. But again, the genius of Gordimer is that you are inside Mehring's head, and of course he sees himself as enlightened and obliging--even a young girl sitting next to him on the plane opens her legs and allows his fingers inside. What was he supposed to do? Opportunity for the white man is everywhere, just for the taking.
The land has the final say. Biblical rains and flood end Mehring's farm fancies. The flood returns the body of a slain man to the surface, to be buried properly. But it would take another twenty years after the publication of The Conservationist for the flood of public opinion and political will to end the shame of apartheid.
The Conservationist won the Booker prize; it was also banned in South Africa. Rich in allegory, description, nuance, and psychology, it makes for disturbing, difficult reading.
Shortly after book opens on Mehring's country farm, twenty-five miles outside Johannesburg, the corpse of a black man is discovered by the river. No one knows who he is or how he died. The local authorities simply bury the man where he is, promising to collect the body later and investigate. Mehring is a bit put out at first, thinking of that dead body on his property, but after a while, the man troubles him much less than the hippos who abort their fetuses in the river, signs of a worsening drought.
Mehring purchased this farm as a tax write-off and as a weekend fancy. It isn't terribly productive, but he doesn't need the income--he's a mining executive. The land and its cattle are tended by a collection of black families and undocumented workers who drift over from nearby shanty towns. Mehring holds dominion over so much land-conquering its underground during his day job; plucking at its veldt on the weekends. He is apolitical, bored, lonely, a beneficiary of a society built on the backs of the oppressed. His wife has left him, as has his mistress. His son flees to Namibia--a nation-state seeking independence from South Africa-- to escape compulsory military service. To keep himself company, Mehring flirts with sexual predation, all the while imagining himself above the cocktails-and-flirtations of South Africa's smart set. He really is despicable. God. But again, the genius of Gordimer is that you are inside Mehring's head, and of course he sees himself as enlightened and obliging--even a young girl sitting next to him on the plane opens her legs and allows his fingers inside. What was he supposed to do? Opportunity for the white man is everywhere, just for the taking.
The land has the final say. Biblical rains and flood end Mehring's farm fancies. The flood returns the body of a slain man to the surface, to be buried properly. But it would take another twenty years after the publication of The Conservationist for the flood of public opinion and political will to end the shame of apartheid.
The Conservationist won the Booker prize; it was also banned in South Africa. Rich in allegory, description, nuance, and psychology, it makes for disturbing, difficult reading.
mlytylr's review against another edition
3.0
is this a "good" book?
yes
is this book a subtle and detailed commentary on modern-day south africa?
yes, it says so on the cover
is this the kind of book you would reread for fun?
no
are you maybe just sick of reading about randy (south africa currency pun) middle-aged, middle-class men?
THAT TOO
even if it's a kind of a satire/commentary on that whole annoying genre?
EVEN IF IT'S COMMENTARY
SICK
OF
IT
yes
is this book a subtle and detailed commentary on modern-day south africa?
yes, it says so on the cover
is this the kind of book you would reread for fun?
no
are you maybe just sick of reading about randy (south africa currency pun) middle-aged, middle-class men?
THAT TOO
even if it's a kind of a satire/commentary on that whole annoying genre?
EVEN IF IT'S COMMENTARY
SICK
OF
IT
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