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Read A Sport Of Nature (1988)

A Sport of Nature (1988)

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Rating
3.84 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
0140103295 (ISBN13: 9780140103298)
Language
English
Publisher
penguin

A Sport Of Nature (1988) - Plot & Excerpts

tA Sport of Nature by Nadine Gordimer recounts the life a white Jewish girl named Hillela whose mother abandoned her as a child, who was raised by two aunts, who ran away from a middle-class South African life and became, through sundry love affairs, the widow of a black South African revolutionary and the wife of a successful president in a country (not named) neighboring South Africa.tThe concept here is that a “sport of nature” is an aberration, perhaps a felicitous aberration, and that Hillela mysteriously adapts to mysterious circumstances, becoming a political force in her own right--well-versed in international affairs as well as in romantic affairs.tIn a sense, she is a natural blank slate upon which many different individuals are permitted to write. Her cousin, Sasha, is one. A South African informer, pretending to be a journalist in sympathy with anti-apartheid forces, is another. Then comes the love of her life, the high-ranking black South African who is assassinated on the threshold of their temporary home in exile, where he is planning and executing military actions against the white South African government.tAll this makes for colorful, interesting reading. Hillela never resolves into what Gordimer claims for her--a personage who really understands her own purposes and is obscure simply because she keeps her own counsel--but she gets caught up in the spirit of the times and is willing to cross boundaries few white women would cross in the apartheid days of South Africa.tThe peculiar quality of the novel’s heroine is matched in some ways by Gordimer’s curious style. She writes as if she’s taking notes, jumping here and there, starting sentences she doesn’t quite know how to finish, all in the service of exploring the intimacy of life under oppression and in revolt. I’ve read other novels and stories written by Gordimer that were not so distractingly expressed. In the end, I can’t help but feel that her inability to really get at Hillela (as Henry James got at Isabel Archer, for instance) made her stumble.tHaving said that, A Sport of Nature has fascinating scope, many fine passages, and historical value. Here we encounter the conscience of anti-apartheid whites, their frustrations, the risks they took, and the limits of what they could contribute to the cause.tGordimer takes some pains at one point to almost marry Hillela off to a New Republic-style American liberal who lives in a fine brownstone and knows all the right people. Given Hillela’s exotic past and taste in men, these passages read like a lame attempt to work in some anti-Americanism. Naturally Hillela breaks off their engagement when she falls in love with the revolutionary who would become president (for the second time) of the aforementioned neighboring country. This fellow is a lion of a man who is tough to take, or believe in: he’s shrewd, tenacious, brave, and wise. With Hillela as his mate, he does a hell of a lot of good for his country. I spent some time trying to determine what country Gordimer had in mind because I’m not aware of many countries in Southern Africa where things have turned out well.tAt novel’s end, Mandela takes the stage and the overthrow of the whites is complete. Structurally, this is odd. Gordimer clearly is determined to focus on the politics of South Africa per se rather than on the psychology and personal life of Hillela the presidential consort who has, by this time, not that much to contribute to what her assassinated first husband helped bring about. She lives elsewhere, after all. By way of compensation, Gordimer focuses on the miserable fate of the one cousin (Sasha) who stayed behind and really suffered (and was imprisoned) as a result of his anti-apartheid efforts.tFor about two-thirds of this almost 19th century novel, I thought I was reading something exceptionally good, and I’m still sure I was reading something interesting. But what I now think is that the conclusion devolves into a kind of sloganeering posing as a novel. In different contexts, Solzhenitsyn and Dos Passos actually used journalistic excerpts from the times about which they wrote as a way of penetrating further into their stories. That wouldn’t work here because, despite Gordimer’s themes, she really doesn’t seem to have been a deeply political writer. This isn’t to question the staunchness of her beliefs--it’s to suggest she wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. Her strong literary personality leaves the stage at the end of A Sport of Nature and it’s just too late in the book to bow down before History and serve as its rapporteur.

A Sport of Nature is a fictional history of the end of Apartheid . It is the story of a white Jewish privileged girl who is abandoned by her parents and brought up by her aunts. She doesn't fit in with her her up tight Aunt Olga or her liberal do gooder ,Aunt, Pauline. At about age 16 or 17 Hillela is discovered in her cousin's bed. From this point, she uproots herself totally from her family and becomes "The Sport of Nature," a spontaneous mutation.It is the 60's,70's even the 80's Hillella is true to herself. She finds comfort and gives comfort to the people she meets. Both men and women find her bright , charming, innocent and wise. Though she accepts aid from many, I can't think of a character who admits to feeling used. She is tremendously loyal to her friends and lovers, though sexual fidelity is not a concept to her.The novel starts in South Africa and travels through many emerging countries in Africa, England and the U.S. The reader is taken through the unimproved homes of black Africans and the luxurious suites and manor like homes of the ambassadors, the affluent whites and the affluent blacks. Hillella, a high school drop out, manages to be integrally involved in Ivy League College lecturing,the inner sanctum in the revolution of South Africa and a mother. I think she might be the muse for Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In. This is not an easy or quick read. Nadine Gordimer Is always insightful and challenging.

What do You think about A Sport Of Nature (1988)?

This book was pretty excellent, even though I didn't really like the main character all that much. I had a really hard time really sympathizing with a woman who was, essentially, defined by the men she slept with or, in the case of Leonie, with the stronger women she associated with. Her final role as the wife of a revolutionary president was exemplary of this - she was defined by her role as wife to someone impressive, not as someone impressive in and of herself. I also got a bit annoyed with the constant references to her massive breasts. I know it was to emphasize that her sexuality was her one tangible characteristic, but come on. But, despite these complaints, an excellent book that wove the African anti-colonialism movement with a compelling storyt.
—Erika

I wanted to like this more than I did. It tells the story of a white South African woman, Hillela, coming of age in the 60's in S.A., and follows her life journey through other African nations and Europe. The first third of the book was great, the middle third was all narrative and by the end I didn't care anymore about Hillela or what happened to her.The beauty of the book was the way Gordimer presented South Africa and made more clear the context- a time of tremendous social change throughout the continent. What frustrated me was Hillela's happenstance presence in the midst of very influential people and how she ends up being a celebrated person. She seemed to garner more attention for the famous people she knew and her "deep breasts" rather than contributing anything of substance, including her heart. Perhaps this was the point. I don't know- it didn't seem to be. I didn't like Hillela and I felt very empty after finishing the book. I've read one other Gordimer which I thought was incredible, so I'm going to keep on with her.
—Julie

Hillela wurde als kleines Mädchen einfach zurückgelassen. Ihre Mutter verließ Südafrika auf der Suche nach einem neuen Leben; ihr Vater, von Beruf Vertreter, interessierte sich nicht für seine Tochter. Tante Olga, die sich zu ihren drei Söhnen immer eine Tochter gewünscht hatte, finanziert Hillelas Internatsbesuch in Rhodesien. Liberale Familien in Südafrika schicken ihre Kinder gern in den Nachbarstaaten in Schulen ohne Rassentrennung. Hillela, nach ihrem jüdischen Urgroßvater genannt, hat schon immer gern Grenzen ausgetestet. Als sie eine zu enge Freundschaft zu einem farbigen Mitschüler knüpft, muss sie die Schule verlassen. Pauline, Hillelas zweite Tante, springt für die überforderte Ziehmutter Olga ein und zieht das Mädchen wie ein eigenes Kind auf. Hillela wird in der Familie weitergereicht wie ein abgelegtes Kleidungsstück. Nur Weiße werden sich darüber ereifern, in schwarzen Familien ist es gang und gäbe, Kinder von Verwandten aufziehen zu lassen.Joe, der Onkel, vertritt als Anwalt Schwarze kostenlos vor Gericht. In einer mit dem damals verbotenen ANC sympathisierenden Familie gehören für alle drei Kinder Regimegegner zum Alltag, die unter absoluter Geheimhaltung von den Eltern versteckt und aus dem Land geschleust werden. Wie groß die Gefahr ist, in der die Familie schwebt, wird den Kindern erst klar, als Joes Anwalts-Kollege verhaftet wird. Persönlicher Luxus entfällt in Paulines und Joes Familie, Geld wird gespendet, ihre schulfreien Samstage verbringen Hillela und Caroline mit Nachhilfe für schwarze Schulkinder. Hillela überschreitet wie unter Zwang wieder die Grenze, die für sie als weißes jüdisches Mädchen gilt. Sie hat Sex mit ihrem Cousin, mit dem sie wie ein Bruder aufgewachsen ist. Auch Pauline scheitert an ihrer Pflegetochter; sie findet das Mädchen a-moralisch - für das Land, in dem sie leben. Hillela verlässt das Land - bindungslos und mittellos. Sie findet sich schon bald in einer Subkultur dubioser Gestalten wieder, die über mehrere Identitäten verfügen und selten ihre Hotelrechnung zahlen. Zeitzeugen wird die weiße Südafrikanerin als das Mädchen in Erinnerung bleiben, das bei Weggenossen unter dem Küchentisch übernachtete und nur besaß, was sie auf dem Leib trug.Ein Job als Kindermädchen in einem Botschafterhaushalt wird für Hillela das Sprungbrett zu einer verblüffenden Karriere. Am Ende wird sie die dritte Frau eines afrikanischen Staatsoberhaupts sein, mächtig und dabei perfekt vernetzt. Zu Beginn der Geschichte mag sich noch mancher um Hillela sorgen (hoffentlich wird sie bei ihren Eskapaden nicht vergewaltigt oder ausgeraubt!). Die Sorge schlägt jedoch um in Verblüffung, wie diese Frau es schafft, in jeder Situation auf die eigenen Füße zu fallen. Erzählt wird ihr Schicksal wie der zusammengeschnittene Bericht verschiedener Gewährsleute, dem man als Leser Lücken und Subjektivität bereitwillig zubilligt. Erst im letzten Kapitel schlägt der neutrale Ton der Berichterstatterin um in einen ironischen Abgesang auf schwarze Staatsoberhäupter und ihre Unterstützung durch die NGOs westlicher Staaten - als sei Nadine Gordimer in diesem Moment erst auf die Idee gekommen, diese Machtverhältnisse zu kritisieren.Hillela wurde in ihrer Jugend immer erst beachtet, wenn sie ihren Pflegeeltern Scherereien machte. Mit bemerkenswerter Anpassungsfähigkeit fand sie stets eine Quelle, die sie finanziell unterstützte und war schon als Kind instinktsicher genug, bei ihren Abenteuern nicht unter die Räder zu geraten. Obwohl sie selbst nie politisch verfolgt wurde und Südafrika freiwillig verlassen hat, nimmt sie als Afrika-Expertin in den USA Menschenmassen für sich ein. Das ehemals verlassene Kind ist nun geadelt als Witwe eines ANC-Aktivisten und Mutter eines schwarzen Kindes. Hillela lebt nicht schlecht in der Subkultur des Widerstands gegen den Apartheids-Staat und sitzt an der Quelle, an der Fördermittel und Stipendien vergeben werden. Sie speist inzwischen mit den Mächtigen, während Sascha, in dessen Bett sie als Jugendliche erwischt wurde, es nicht weiter als bis auf die Galeerenbank eines südafrikanischen Gefängnisses bringt. Nadine Gordimer lässt ihr Portrait einer bemerkenswert anpassungsfähigen Frau vor den politischen Ereignissen der 60er Jahre spielen; aus der Distanz unserer Zeit wirkt "Ein Spiel der Natur" erstaunlich zeitlos.
—Buchdoktor

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