Living in Hope and History: Notes from Our Century

By Nadine Gordimer

Book Overview

Internationally celebrated for her novels, Nadine Gordimer has devoted much of her life and fiction to the political struggles of the Third World, the New World, and her native South Africa. Living in Hope and History is an on-the-spot record of her years as a public figure--an observer of apartheid and its aftermath, a member of the ANC, and the champion of dissident writers everywhere.

In a letter to fellow Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, Nadine Gordimer describes Living in Hope and History as a "modest book of some of the nonfiction pieces I've written, a reflection of how I've looked at this century I've lived in." It is, in fact, an extraordinary collection of essays, articles, and addresses delivered over four decades, including her Nobel Prize Lecture of 1991.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374527520
• ISBN13: 9780374527525
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

When it gets dark enough, you can see the stars.

A compilation of essays by Ms. Gordimer not to be overlooked by those of us "burnt out" on societal issues...or even personal issues. A heartfull of optimism and honesty that I found refreshing. I read this while walking my daily treadmills at the gym after my daily treadmills at my job. Often feeling weary of life's struggles, I choose to look at others's woes for distraction (usually the newspaper). Reading her thoughts and essays I couldn't help but be inspired not only by her optimism and honesty and her unflagging belief and value in people, but also her analytic mind. She's obviously not afraid to think deeply about peoples and is not afraid to "get personal". I read the book late last year and will probably pick it up again or another of hers. I quit my 19 years of successful employment in the private sector and am now considering non-profit work, thanks to Ms. Gordimer and others like her.