''The Pickup'' is a 2001 novel by South African writer
Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
. It tells the story of a couple: Julie Summers, a white woman from a financially secure family, and Abdu, an illegal Arab immigrant in South Africa. After Abdu's visa is refused, the couple returns to his unnamed homeland, where she is the alien. Her experiences and growth as an alien in another culture form the heart of the work. ''The Pickup'' considers the issues of displacement, alienation, and immigration, class and economic power, religious faith, and the ability of people to see and love across these divides.
This novel won the 2002
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...
for the Best Book from Africa.
Plot
The events in part one of the novel all take place in South Africa. In a busy South African street, Julie Summers' car breaks down. She goes asking for the nearest garage, where she meets Abdu. He accompanies her to where she left the car. The events in part two of the novel all take place in Abdu's homeland. In the airport of an unnamed Arab country Julie and Abdu pass through the usual paper work.
Further reading
Bowles,Paul.(1949).''
The Sheltering Sky
''The Sheltering Sky'' is a 1949 novel of alienation and existential despair by American writer and composer Paul Bowles.
Plot
The story centers on Port Moresby and his wife Kit, a married couple originally from New York who travel to the Nor ...
''.London.Lehmann.
External links
* The Pickup was the selected reading for the 200
Cornell University New Student Reading Project
* The Pickup was on the Longlist for the 200
Man Booker Prize for Fiction
2001 novels
21st-century South African novels
Novels by Nadine Gordimer
Novels set in South Africa
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