The House Gun; Nadine Gordimer

How else can you defend yourself against losing your hi-fi equipment, your tv set and computer, your watch and rings a house gun, like a house cat; that is a fact of ordinary life in many cities of the world as we come to the end of the twentieth century, especially in south africa at this time the successful, respected executive director of an insurance company, harold, and his doctor wife, claudia, for whom violence could never be a means of solving personal conflict, are faced with something that could never happen to their son has committed murder what kind of loyalty do a mother and a father owe a son who has committed this unimaginable horror what have they done, in influencing his character; more ominously, where is it they have failed him the house gun is a passionate narrative of love being particularly complex between parents and their children it moves with the restless pace of living itself, from the intimate to the general condition; if it is a parable of present violence, it is also an affirmation of the will to human reconciliation that starts where it must, between individuals.

January 1, 1997

About the Author

Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer, political activist, and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was recognized as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".

Gordimer's writing dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. Under that regime, works such as Burger's Daughter and July's People were banned. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days when the organization was banned. She was also active in HIV/AIDS causes.