House Gun

by Nadine Gordimer

Book Overview

"With the scaffolding of a courtroom drama and the moral underpinnings of the state's responsibility, the novel infuses an isolated crime of passion with the atmospheric pressure of a country reeling from its own past." --The Boston Sunday Globe

A house gun, like a house cat: a fact of ordinary daily life. How else can you defend yourself against intruders and thieves in post-apartheid South Africa? The respected executive director...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250007720
• ISBN13: 9781250007728
• Release Date: July 2012
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A jewel of a book!

Fans of thriller-a-minute, page-turners will find this book a drag! But readers who enjoy good prose and appreciate a talented wordsmiths intricate tapestry will find 'The House Gun' a jewel of a book. The story involves an upper-middle class family who must suddenly confront the fact that their son could be a murderer. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to hold the readers' interest but it is not so much the story as Nadine Gordimer's prose that makes this novel such a compelling read. Nadine manages to convey the complex human emotions associated with murder and it's defense with a rare, almost stunning clarity. The deliberately-slow narrative and the delineation of the main characters gradually creates, for the reader, what is almost a first-person familiarity with the characters. The novel is a page-turner alright but not of the who-dun-it variety. Rather one turns the pages of 'The House Gun' spell-bound by the author's artistry.

The House Gun is No Misfire

I'm baffled by the negative reviews this book has garnered here; I suppose it's more of a reaction to Gordimer's subject matter than to her style or content. People are more comfortable with a revolutionary spouting rhetoric that they agree with: if you, as a reader, are still wrapping your brain around the reality of South Africa as it was, Gordimer's earlier works will ring more true with you. If, however, you are interested in the legacy of Apartheid as it is, The House Gun will resonate more. The House Gun, so to speak, will only fire in the direction in which you point it.As with all Gordimer works, the pace is slow and deliberately so, the words carefully chosen not to describe action but to allow the reader into the minds and souls of people who have lived in circumstances of which the majority of us can hardly conceive. The plot, intriguing though it is, is really secondary to the introspection taken on by each of the accused murderer's parents; the most pressing question, that of choosing to support your child with whatever means you have at your disposal (financial, spiritual, intellectual, emotional)in the face of your indecision as to whether or not you believe his version of events (or if any version of events would be acceptable). If your child murdered someone else, how would you feel? What would you do? Is the social legacy of apartheid going to color your beliefs; what happens when you are "open-minded" (no one ever really is), and your child commits a race crime? Do you use the race card to exonerate him, even when you are repulsed by his choice and behavior? And while the stress of saving your child from what he or she deserves in the course of law taps all of your inner resources, what happens to your marriage, your career, your friendships, your faith? Do you question all of your motives, all of your beliefs, all of your emotions? I believe that you do. Every crisis, by nature, requires self-examination. It is not always pretty, or easy to accept, what you find at the end of your questioning. Gordimer, here, takes this family's condition, in microcosm, to expose South Africa's current quandary, many years after the abolition of Apartheid. Where do they stand as a society? What do they believe? What is excusable, what is justifiable? Who pays for what has been done, and how? Where will they go? What will be possible? No one knows, and maybe that's too unsettling for most.

so hard to read

it is not worth the try... i am not going to write anything more nor am i going to argue with pseudo intellectuals who find it intriguing because of a new? writing style... It is a completely inhuman book. Scepanovic wrote differently and hardly maybe for some people but in the end what emerged was pure brilliance not the void that dominates this book. The characters are totally boring. sorry

A book for the Literary

If you are a "best seller" reader, this book is not for you, and definitely not for the casual reading one does at the gym. The book has a style that captures the art of a good literary piece, perhaps similar to Faulkner. It makes the reader work a little bit. Gordimer's style also lends itself to the incredible understanding of the human psyche of the characters, which is, in my opinion, the strength of the book.

Fine writing on difficult subjects

This is the first Gordimer novel I have read in the past decade. Of course the world is a different place and the story she tells crosses many boundaries. The writing is crisp but allows the reader to reflect. The last page captures the whole story.