July's People

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Not all whites in South Africa are outright racists. Some, like Bam and Maureen Smales in Nadine Gordimer's thrilling and powerful novel July's People, are sensitive to the plights of blacks during the apartheid state. So imagine their quandary when the blacks stage a full-scale revolution that sends the Smaleses scampering into isolation. The premise of the book is expertly crafted; it speaks much about the confusing state of affairs of South Africa and serves as the backbone for a terrific adventure.

Customer Reviews:

boring ........... .......2007-09-24

stay well away from this book and the rest of Hofmeyrs books , this is probably the most boring and uneventful book i have ever read . I kept reading on thinking something would actually happen (most eventful thing in this book is when they arrive in the village , from here on its just downhill) before i knew it i had read the whole book , worst part is i will never get those 5 hours i spent reading this book back .

Not an Easy Read.......2007-08-19

I bought a copy of Nadine Gordimer's "July's People" shortly before my husband and I made our first trip to South Africa. I must confess I found the first chapter quite difficult to comprehend. I decided to put the book aside and read it after I had been in the country for a while, hoping I would find it easier to understand. And I did.
Though written during the apartheid period the book is valuable today not only as an historical document but also because sadly, in my opinion, things haven't changed much in South Africa since apartheid ended 12 years ago. Though the current government is black we found that descendants of Dutch and English settlers remain in the first world, while blacks are mainly living a third world life and working in subservient positions. True equality will take a few generations and education will play an important role in giving the majority population the skills they need for a comfortable life.
Now a bit about the book itself. July is a black servant until recently employed in a white household in Johannesburg. When rising conflict begins to threaten the lives of the family he serves, the Smales, July takes them to his home in the bush. The book concerns the adjustments that necessitates. It must be said that the elder Smales have always prided themselves in their treatment of July and their liberal politics. How to the Smales adapt to living in an insect infested hut? How do they relate to their former servant and their new neighbors, their subsistence diet and new levels of hygiene their relative status as male and female? The answers depend on which member of the Smales family you are talking about - male or female, parent or child? How does July react as the former servant, who is now above them in the social scale due to a mere change of location? What are the new relations between savior and saved?
Highly recommended to those who are more familiar with the history of South Africa than I intially was and to those with an abiding interest in the establishment of equal and harmonious conditions in the modern South Africa.

Nothing happens.......2006-09-21

There are no interesting events in the story. There is no ending. Nicely written, but nothing happens.

Turnabout.......2006-08-04

Turnabout is fair play South African style. The master's family is forced by circumstances to live with the help. Short, fast paced story from a Nobel Prize winner.

the hypnoptic sounds of chaos.......2006-05-22

A white liberal family is obliged to flee thir home and the city of Johannesburg as a consequence of hypothetic widespread rioting in South Africa. Their servant July takes them to his native village some 6 hundred miles away: a group of huts where they can feel safer. In such unlikely scenario, Maureen Smales feels herself to have inhabited a new kind of consciousness. The different world of the African village competes in her imagination with the novelistic world offered by the only novel she has broght with her: Manzoni's The Betrothed. The experience of emptiness in the village fills her mind. The mirrors inside the huts reflect nothing. Maureen is confronted with the soul-lessness of that kind of existence. The huts don't resemble homes, but the broken scenarios of some vanished existences.

Their actual experience of the village overturns Maureen's previous fancies of a summer trip to visit it with the children and the camping kit. Hers is the narration of a white family's trial at the unprobable home of an "apparently" honest servant. But everything is different not because the things in themselves have changed, but because the white family have become "affected". In the shock of the experience of leaving their home, they find themselved doing things that they would have never believed themselved capable of doing.

Yet this transformation is by no means a descent. It rather has to do with the enforced acquisition of a natural consciousness. Their centres of being are translated to the hearth-fire filling the huts with smoke. The apparent soul-lessness in black society is vicariously explained by means of rural architecture: "Not every community could affordthe tin steeple of peak-roofed porch entrance early missionaries had decreed." In this God-less world the Smaleses come to confront the nature of the relationship between master and servant for the first time. What is the nature of the link that binds them to July and hence to his people? The Smaleses seem for a moment to have fallen into the aura of black society's hypnoses.

July's chief brings them under the spell of moral superiority: "You mustné let the government make you kill each other. The whole black nation is your nation". It is under this spell that the Smaleses may catch a glimpse of a new natural order: "There is no music of the spheres, science killed that along with all other myths; there are only the sounds of chaos, roaring, rending, crackling out of which the order that is the world has been won."

I give it only 3 stars, despite the beautiful and engaging poetic prose, because of the matter of narrative content would have benefited a long short story or novella better.

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Out of the heart of darkness:
very dry

A History of the African People
Robert William July
Manufacturer: Waveland Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0881339806

Book Description

The fifth edition of Robert July's critically acclaimed work continues the tradition of excellence established in previous editions, providing a comprehensive history that both illuminates and clarifies events past and present. A History of the African People, 5/E surveys Africa's history from its earliest beginnings to the present day, exploring themes that cut across time and place to furnish their own unity and consistency: the migrations of peoples, the power of religion, the enduring impact of Africa's climate, and Africa's relationship with the wider world--that is, the invasion of foreign peoples, ideas, and institutions that has been a pervasive influence in shaping African political, economic, and social life. This volume addresses the role of Africa's women in Africa's history, includes additional sections on slavery and the slave trade, and discusses the persistent difficulties of African societies to gain the economic and social advantages hoped for from independence. July examines Africa's peoples and its cultures with a authority that has made this book the standard in the field and an indispensable guide to understanding the complexity of the African struggle for nationhood.

Customer Reviews:

Out of the heart of darkness:.......2000-06-04

This book, in my estimation, is one of the better books on the continent of Africa. A continent that has produced so much, yet it is still underated, being spoiled and plundered by outside intervention for many centuries. How far does one have to go back in order to find it`s beginnings, it`s origin, it`s roots? How long had Africa been a thriving, advanced civilization prior to the intervention of the Europeans? Who were the Olmec people, and how many centuries did the great kings of Mali rule their kingdoms, and should the Egyptians be called african, also. Why is modern day africa still reeling from the influence of colonialism and despotism.

very dry.......2000-01-22

while at times july loses his preachy "lessons of Africa as lessons of the world" lecture mode, mostly the book is dry preexisting generalizations about the continent. he fails to preempt the possibility that whoever may be reading his book has some basic knowledge of Africa and African History. You may find some of his insights helpful if you are the type person who refers to africa as the 'black continent.' Evem if this is required for a class, don't buy. your prof. couldn't concievably test you over the words of this quack.

The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. : Rediscovering Precious Values July 1951-November 1955 (Papers of Martin Luther King)

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The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. : Rediscovering Precious Values July 1951-November 1955 (Papers of Martin Luther King)
Martin Luther King Jr. , Peter H. Holloran , and Clayborne Carson
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0520079515

Book Description

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s ideas--his call for racial equality, his faith in the ultimate triumph of justice, his insistence on the power of nonviolence to bring about a major transformation of American society--are as vital and timely as ever. The wealth of his writings, both published and unpublished, are now preserved in this authoritative, chronologically arranged, multi-volume edition.
Volume Two begins with King's doctoral work at Boston University and ends with his first year as pastor of the historic Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. It includes papers from his graduate courses and a fully annotated text of his dissertation. There is correspondence with people King knew in his years prior to graduate school and a transcription of the first known recording of a King sermon. We learn, too, that Boston was where King met his future wife, Coretta Scott.
Accepting the call to serve Dexter, the young King followed the church's tradition of socially active pastors by becoming involved in voter registration and other social justice issues. In Montgomery he completed his doctoral work, and he and Coretta Scott began their marriage.
The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. represents a testament to a man whose life and teaching have had a profound influence, not only on Americans, but on people of all nations.
The Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers Project at Stanford University was established by the Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. in 1984.

Race Riot at East St. Louis, July 2, 1917 (Blacks in the New World)

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Race Riot at East St. Louis, July 2, 1917 (Blacks in the New World)
Elliott Rudwick
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Race Riot: Chicago in the Red Summer of 1919 (Blacks in the New World)

ASIN: 0252009517

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My memories in print!
Narrow view of small-town America

Happy Birthday, America!
Marsha Wilson Chall
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0688130518
Release Date: 2000-05-02

Book Description

A family reunion, a parade, a Jell-O mold in the shape of the United States, fireworks-- it must be the Fourth of July! From picnic preparations to the final starburst floating down through a midnight blue sky, Marsha Wilson Chall and Guy Porfirio serve up a happy, hometown Independence Day celebration with all the trimmings. So grab a sparkler and come join the fun!

Customer Reviews:

My memories in print!.......2000-08-08

This book was so evocative of my memories of Fourth of July celebrations in my hometown in Wisconsin. From sparklers to grand fireworks, from wagons to parades, from wiggling jello to yummy picnic fare, this book is populated by a never-ending family--it's wonderful, joyous reading. And the ending gives me shivers each time I read it--thank you Marsha Wilson Chall for putting my memories into words.

Narrow view of small-town America.......2000-07-04

As a librarian living and working in the midwest, I was thrilled to get a beautifully illustrated book celebrating July 4th. Not enough is published on this holiday. I was very disappointed, though, to see that the book lacks any depiction of people of color, who certainly inhabit many small towns throughout this country. Shame on all the powers that be who allowed this to go to print with such a narrow perspective. There is no excuse for not making this book truly representative of America, with all its hues, especially in the long shots, where dozens of townsfolk are depicted.

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4th of July is about Apple Pie!
Apple Pie review
Apple Pie + Egg Rolls = America
A fun (and tasty) multicultural story

Apple Pie Fourth of July
Janet S. Wong
Manufacturer: Voyager Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0152057080

Book Description

Shocked that her parents are cooking Chinese food to sell in the family store on an all-American holiday, a feisty Chinese American girl tries to tell her mother and father how things really are. But as the parade passes by and fireworks light the sky, she learns a surprising lesson.

Customer Reviews:

4th of July is about Apple Pie!.......2007-07-26

I did like the story. I read it to my 7 yearold son and we thought it was a good story to read. The little girl in the story did not think that her food that her parents prepared and sold would be something Americans ate on their holiday celebration of the 4th of July. How wonderful to be in America and have a place that makes oriental foods right down the street from whereever we live. The little girl is surprised that customers do start coming and her mother and father are quite busy preparing the food. The parents are not surprised, they seem to understand a little better than their daughter about the retaurant business in America. Americans love to eat!

Apple Pie review.......2007-05-16

I found the book great at identifying the problems Asian Americans face growing up in the American culture.

Apple Pie + Egg Rolls = America.......2003-03-20

This story is told by an Asian-American girl whose family owns a Chinese food restaurant. The narrator is frustrated and discouraged by the separation of American culture and her own culture. ("No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July, I say.") However, as five o'clock arrives, so do a few surprises.

Wong's simple tale and Chodos-Irvine's striking illustrations combine to form an endearing story about how the combination of different cultures forms the true culture of America.

Reading Level: Grades 1-2

A fun (and tasty) multicultural story.......2002-08-21

"Apple Pie 4th of July" combines a story by Janet S. Wong with pictures by Margaret Chodos-Irvine. The story is narrated by an Asian-American girl whose family runs a Chinese restaurant. She is annoyed at her folks for keeping the store open on July 4th: "No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July, I say." But is she right or wrong? Read the book to find out!

Book Description

Emerging from the shadows of a lonely childhood, where he found solace with his vast collection of toy soldiers, Robin Williams burst onto the stage and film scenes with his rare combination of insightful humor and zany characters. He parlayed a popular television character Mork from Ork into such a successful movie career that he eventually gained an Academy Award.

A Collection of Works by Nadine Gordimer: "July's People", "My Son's Story", and "Jump and Other Stories"

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A Collection of Works by Nadine Gordimer: "July's People", "My Son's Story", and "Jump and Other Stories"
Nadine Gordimer
Manufacturer: Quality Paperback Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Independence Day (Holidays, Festivals, & Celebrations)

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Independence Day (Holidays, Festivals, & Celebrations)
Ann Heinrichs
Manufacturer: Child's World
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 1592965776

Sediment Hosted Mineral Deposits: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, 30 July-4 August 1988 (Special Publication of ... Association of Sedimentologists)

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Sediment Hosted Mineral Deposits: Proceedings of a Symposium Held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, 30 July-4 August 1988 (Special Publication of ... Association of Sedimentologists)
John Parnell , and Ye Lianjun
Manufacturer: Blackwell Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Winner of the American Mystery Award for Best Novel of Romantic Suspense, and the Romantic Times BookClub Award for Best Historical MysteryMiss Irene Adler, the beautiful American opera singer who once outwitted Sherlock Holmes, is here given an unexpected talent: she is a superb detective, as Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker can attest. Even Holmes himself must admit--albeit grudgingly--that she acquits herself competently. But in matters of the heart she encounters difficulty. The Crown Prince of Bohemia--tall, blonde, and handsome--proves to be a cad. Will dashing barrister Godfrey Norton be able to convince Irene that not all handsome men are cut from the same broadcloth?

Customer Reviews:

For Women Who Hate Men.......2007-06-11

This book is among the genre of books with female leads who can only be strong by putting down the men around them, in this case including Sherlock Holmes homself. Irene outwits him easily (and arrogantly) at every meeting and since I bought this because I LIKE the Sherlock Holmes stories and the character of Irene Adler in A Scandal In Bohemia, I really did not care for this treatment of Holmes and Irene at all.

I researched Irene, her life and career in detail for a report a few months before reading this book, and saw an entirely different girl than this one. I dont think this portrayal meshes with the Irene seen in the Scandal in Bohemia either as she tends to the injured Holmes. Irene was a gifted singer, not a female version of Holmes (down to her sidekick Watson named Nell).

As far as I can tell the portrayal of Victorian life is accurate enough as far as it tries to be but of the life of an opera singer from New Jersey who had a brilliant if short career in Warsaw and Milan, not so much. During this time opera was undergoing a revolution of sorts, as opera Houses became much larger the voices of the singers had to fill a larger space, and many could not. To be a lead singer so young in the major opera company in Warsaw, I assume Irene had that ability.

The book is competently written with the plot moving along fluidly, if only the character's were given different names and unconnected with Sherlock Holmes. Other than Nell the other characters in the book are not fleshed out whatsoever. Irene is the star of the book by far and Nell only receives mention because she is the narrator and includes her reactions to Irene and her surroundings.

What an interesting premise to build a series on........2006-08-21

Irene Adler is mentioned in only one Sherlock Holmes story, but in that story "A Scandal in Bohemia", she manages to get the better of the great Holmes. Ms. Douglas has started to build a series around Irene Adler with this book. She takes the whole "Scandal in Bohemia" story and puts a whole new twist on it, as well as building up a history and a past for Ms. Adler. And she does this quite well. Holmes even appears in certain sections of the book, and references are made to the Dr. Watson story throughout. The book is a long one, but it kept me turning pages well into the night. And Miss Penelope Huxley is a grand narrator. I look forward to reading more of the mysterious Ms. Adler.

The Feminist Sherlock.......2006-02-09

Recently, or a few months ago, I selected a title off a Barnes and Noble shelf entitled "Good Night, Mr. Holmes". I've never read any of the short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but have always been intrigued by the detective who missed nothing, and his narrative companion.

Sherlock Holmes from a woman's perspective follows the narrative of a plain, law abiding, careful woman whose unfortunate bad luck leads to an encounter and solid friendship with Irene Adler. Much like Watson to Holmes, Penelope "Nell" Huxleigh chronicles throughout the Irene Adler series her adventures with the socially improper Irene, which add excitement and drama to her otherwise dull existence.

Carole Nelson Douglas proves to be a strong, likeable writer whose story telling and plots far surpass those of better known writers of the same genre. For those who find Holmes' view on women to be unacceptable, find comfort in the stories Douglas spins off from the timeless tales of Holmes and Watson.

Mildly (not Wildely) Entertaining . . . .......2006-01-05

As an avid reader of any and all things Sherlockian, I very happily picked up this book with all its great reviews; however, I was disappointed. The book was only mildly entertaining. The characters felt like paper cutouts. Irene was the shocking, emancipated woman; Godfrey was her dashing, good-natured suitor (In the back of my edition, the author explains that she cast Godfrey in the dull, decorative role usually occupied by women; thereby, creating a perfectly dull and purely decorative character herself. Congratulations?). The narrator, Nell (female Watson without a pistol), had a life-like spark about her; unfortunately, it was a dull one. I was also exasperated with the author's CONSTANT name dropping. Every five pages some character mentions having read Balzac or Dumas or Milton; it felt as though the author was nudging me and saying: "Aren't I clever to know who all these authors are? Aren't I well read? Haven't I done some cracking research?" Her historical characters are nothing short of laughable-her Oscar Wilde is a Punch cartoon brought to life, and Bram Stoker is in the story so little he might as well not be mentioned at all. Disappointingly, Holmes and Watson are also fringe characters.

To add insult to injury, the novel treads old ground in the world of Sherlockiana. I offer this short list of recommended reading to illustrate my point:
1) The West End Horror-Nicholas Meyer (a traditional pastiche featuring more historical figures than you can shake a stick at, including Wilde, Stoker, Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Bernard Shaw, etc. Part of a series of three.)
2) My Dearest Holmes - Rohase Piercy (Looking for an alternative view of the Holmes universe? Forget that old feminine twist-try a gay Watson. :) Also features Oscar Wilde.)
3) The Beekeeper's Apprentice-Laurie R. King (A Sherlockian pastiche featuring a great female narrator; the first book in strong series. I have really enjoyed most of these books. )
4) The Final Solution-Michael Chabon (Like Good Night, Mr. Holmes, this remarkable gem of a book prominently features a parrot with an unusual vocabulary. I can't recommend this one enough. Winner of the Paris Review's 2004 Aga Khan prize for fiction)

In short, there are too many good Holmes pastiches to waste time reading this one.

Sherlock Holmes meets his match.......2004-11-23

Carol Nelson Douglas has created a series of detective novels based on Irene Adler, a character from Arthur Conan Doyle's short story A Scandal In Bohemia. Adler is a feminist alternative to the pipe-smoking Sherlock Holmes, complete with a female sidekick, Penelope Huxleigh, who documents her exploits as Dr. Watson did for Holmes.

In Good Night, Mr. Holmes, the first novel of the series, Ms. Douglas has written a prequel to A Scandal In Bohemia in which we learn how Irene and Penelope met and how they got caught up in the scandal that introduces Sherlock Holmes to their lives.

The pairing of the ultra-respectable Penelope, the country parson's daughter, with Irene, the convention breaking American singer, provides for entertaining situations that liven up the investigative plot. Historic details are handled competently and many famous personages of the time make cameo appearances in the story. Overall, this is a delightful introduction to a great series of entertaining historic mystery novels.

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Good Night, Mr. Holmes
Carole Nelson Douglas
Manufacturer: Recorded Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 0788724894

Product Description

Recorded Books, 1998. Book Condition: AUDIO CASSETTES. 9 AUDIO CASSETTES----13.25 HOURS OF PLAYING TIME----UNABRIDGED

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Good Night Mr. Holmes
Carole Nelson Douglas
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OUYV4M

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Good Night Mr. Holmes
Carole Nelson Douglas
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O5RVDA

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Good Night, Mr. Holmes
Carole Nelson Douglas
Manufacturer: Tor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KU47I6

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