Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black: And Other Stories-Nadine Gordimer

Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black: And Other Stories
Nadine Gordimer
FSG, Nov 27 2007, $21.00
ISBN: 9780374109820

This thirteen short story anthology focuses on the theme of how people identify themselves; more from a need to belong today than from heritage and family history especially if the backdrop is horrific like the Holocaust; as the past vanishes like an “etchosketch”. Each of the fascinating entries will leave the audience pondering what it means to be a third generation living in a “foreign” land that is home in every connotation; even if it is the same land your ancestors occupied. What occurred to one’s ancestors in the mother country a few generations ago only matters if the present makes it matter as roots are irrelevant unless today’s descendents make it otherwise. All the contributions are well written and adhere to the basic concept. The most mesmerizing is “Alternate Ending” in which Nadine Gordimer tells the same tale from the “First Sense”, “Second Sense” and “Third Sense”; perspective is everything. The title track is also terrific as a Londoner goes to Kimberly, South Africa pondering who he is related to as race is irrelevant. This is a thought provoking winner as never forget atrocities may be significant, but the present conditions rule.

Harriet Klausner