Get A Life
by Nadine Gordimer
Award: Nobel Prize Winner 2006
Nominations: Booker Longlist 2006, Dublin Longlist 2007
Date Read: May 14, 2023
Get A Life is my first introduction to Nobel laureate Gordimer. This novel follows Paul Bannerman and his family as he navigates thyroid cancer and the irradiation treatment that causes him to be quarantined from his wife and child. Knowing the risks, his parents decide to host him during his convalescence.
Gordimer seems to want to address illness head-on and she makes some very insightful observations. What spoke to me more than illness, however, was the observation that life can change regardless of how old one is or how established their life. This point was driven home by Paul’s parents, Adrian and Lindsay. Both parents are accomplished in their own right. While Adrian is retired and hoping for Lindsay to join him, she is at an apex of her career as an attorney and nearing a promotion to a judgeship.
To entice Lindsay towards retirement and the future they could have together as world travelers, they head to Mexico, a destination that is exotic for a South African but not so much for a Californian. Adrian is instantly taken in by the archaeology, a profession he always wished he’d had. Lindsay needs to return for work and Adrian decides to stay behind to continue his exploration of the ruins.
Out of the blue, Lindsay receives a letter from Adrian stating that he has fallen in love with their Norwegian guide and isn’t sure how to proceed with life. He is mystified by his own behavior yet can’t deny the love he feels for this woman. In their past, Lindsay had had an affair with a man for four years, an indiscretion that Adrian had seemed to forgive her for. She knows this is not in retaliation or revenge. Adrian is the kind of man that mates for life.
While Adrian is off living and loving, Lindsay embarks on her own kind of reckless future: adopting a black HIV-positive child who had been abandoned and raped. She is also unsure of her motives but feels drawn to this little 3-year-old girl. Klara becomes almost like a sister to Paul’s son, Lindsay’s grandson. In the midst of all this, Lindsay also meets a fellow judge and he falls in love with her. Gordimer never quite explores Lindsay’s feelings for him.
Before any resolution to their marriage can be agreed upon, Lindsay receives a letter from her husband’s paramour informing her that he passed away in his sleep.
Gordimer is clearly a gifted writer and a keen observer of human beings. I wished, however, that I understood her characters on a deeper level. She never delves into Lindsay’s feelings about being betrayed, becoming widowed, or even being pursued by her fellow judge. I have no idea if love entered into her relationship with Klara. While her observations are deep and insightful, I felt there was a lack of soul to her writing. Is it just me?
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