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Abdu, the "garage man", is in fact Ibrahim ibn Musa, an illegal immigrant with a degree in economics from a benighted African country. Conscience-stricken Julie Summers seeks escape from the narrowed horizons of her privileged background in the newly democratic, non-racial South Africa. Julie and Ibrahim enter into an intense relationship--their sexual desire the only shared experience that mediates their cultural difference. When the authorities catch up with Ibrahim and his repatriation to his own economically ravaged desert country can no longer be avoided, Julie takes a step that amazes her friends, family and above all herself. Leaving the sheltered alternatives of her liberal background she follows Ibrahim.
In a small sand-swept town engulfed by desert, Julie struggles to fit in among the women of Ibrahim's Moslem family, negotiating the cultural minefield her presence produces. Working tirelessly to try and arrange their departure, Ibrahim wonders if Julie will ever come to learn the reality of the world that he has encountered in countless immigration offices--where he has had to "swallow the reflux of evidence that privilege can never be brought to understanding of reality, of what matters, the dignity of survival against principles".
The Pickup returns to Gordimer's familiar theme of the possibilities of personal redemption through immersion in the politically alien and culturally other. Perhaps more interesting than the oft-repeated Gordimer riff on white femininity at a loss as to what to do with itself is her (properly tentative) exploration of Ibrahim's own search for redemption and transformation through what he regards as the benefits of Westernised culture and the economic liberties of capitalism. Gordimer may seem to stray a long way from her familiar terrain of South Africa but the oblique topicality of The Pickup lies in the fact that it is a novel about the new relationships between South Africa and the rest of the vast continent of Africa to which it belongs, in both its similarities and differences. --Rachel Holmes
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. When Julie Summers' car breaks down in a sleazy street, a young Arab mechanic comes to her rescue. Out of this meeting develops a friendship that turns to love. But soon, despite his attempts to make the most of Julie's wealthy connections, Abdu is deported from South Africa and Julie insists on going too - but the couple must marry to make the relationship legitimate in the traditional village which is to be their home. Here, whilst Abdu is dedicated to escaping back to the different life he has discovered, Julie finds herself slowly drawn in by the charm of her surroundings and new family, creating an unexpected gulf between them. Stunning novel set in South Africa about forbidden love by the Nobel Prize-winning writer Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780747557951
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780747557951
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 288 pages. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0747557950
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Stunning novel set in South Africa about forbidden love by the Nobel Prize-winning writer. Seller Inventory # B9780747557951
Book Description Condition: New. pp. 288. Seller Inventory # 6444264
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Book Description Condition: New. 2002. New. Paperback. Stunning novel set in South Africa about forbidden love by the Nobel Prize-winning writer Num Pages: 288 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 196 x 129 x 19. Weight in Grams: 240. 288 pages. Stunning novel set in South Africa about forbidden love by the Nobel Prize-winning writer. Cateogry: (G) General (US: Trade). BIC Classification: FA. Dimension: 196 x 129 x 19. Weight: 198. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780747557951