The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer

First, as far as plot goes, nothing much happens here. Mehring is a rich, white industrialist in South Africa in the 1970s. His wife has left him, his son is filled with youthful rebellion against his father's way of life, his liberal-minded mistress has fled the country to avoid arrest, and he has bought a farm that he visits on the weekends, providing instructions for the black overseer, persuading himself that he is necessary for the success of the farm. No great and dramatic events occur--rather a series of small encounters and happenings which hint that his control is gradually slipping away.

However, it becomes apparent that the entirety of the novel is metaphorical, symbolic of the troubled state of South Africa under apartheid. When viewed in this light, every event, every detail becomes significant, beginning with the novel's title. Mehring is not a conservationist in the sense of preserving the land in its original state; he is rather a conservationist of the political and social status quo.

Gordimer's skill in conveying the metaphorical level of the novel is no less than brilliant. This is a book to read more than once, to catch all the nuances. A great many of the novel's events are related in Mehring's stream of consciousness thoughts, revealing a great deal about the perceptions and repressed unease of a member of a society's ruling class.

I was constantly reminded while reading this of the writings J.M. Coetzee, a fellow South African. He, too, addressed the problems of his country indirectly, particularly in The Life and Times of Michael K and Waiting for the Barbarians.

Even though the book is powerful when backed by a knowledge of an actual situation and the writing is flawless, I am not sure that a novel addressing such a specific time and place will remain pertinent as time passes and people forget. But perhaps books like this will help ensure that people don't forget.

This novel was a co-winner for England's Booker Prize and Gordimer has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.