Word: pickup
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...forum to speak against the now-defunct apartheid in her native South Africa. Her attacks were so controversial that some of her books were banned by South African authorities. As opposed to many of Gordimer’s earlier works, race is not a central issue in The Pickup. Instead, the importance of social class distinctions is threaded throughout the novel...
...life from the materialistic world of her father. When Abdu, a “grease-monkey” (mechanic) from an unnamed third world country, appears in her life, she cannot resist the foreign uniqueness and social incorrectness that he represents. This strange man is her “pickup,” and she is excited that her father and his friends obviously disapprove...
...major crisis occurs when Julie’s “pickup,” who happens to be an illegal immigrant, is ordered out of the country. Abdu’s real name is Ibrahim ibn Musa. He, like her, is escaping the life he was born into. He deals with his restless nature by picking up and moving to whatever country will take him; he is constantly on the move to find something better. He looks toward the future, disregarding the all-important present. Julie, on the other hand, thrusts herself into the moment. Gordimer emphasizes Julie?...
...Pickup is enjoyable, but has loose edges. Gordimer composes beautiful sentences with masterful images, but they can be baffling. The novel’s harmonious, liquid style, which weaves a simple love story, doesn’t quite make up for its length or melodramatic mood. Still, it is worth the effort of climbing through the elongated drama and elusive passages just to experience the beauty that is the prose. In The Pickup, Gordimer shows that love does not always transcend the physical and emotional needs of individuals. Julie’s “pickup” changes...
...PICKUP...