The Pickup

Picking up Cornell

As a partial answer to the most asked question of the summer, we are reading this particular book because so many of the concerns described in it continue to resonate in our daily news headlines. Globalization, immigration, and economic and social inequality are not merely topical issues; they are among the world’s largest unresolved problems.

Cornell is striving to be a part of their solutions.

Last month President Skorton testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology about Cornell’s efforts to increase its global presence.  He told them: “any cooperation across borders can play an important role in promoting cross-cultural understanding, and that real and substantial benefits accrue to the U.S. and to the process of innovation -- the driver of our global economic competitiveness."

Cornell has a long history of "internationalization."  Thousands of international students study in Ithaca every year. Review the International Students & Scholars Office Annual Statistical Reports to see where they come from, and look at Cornell Abroad to see where Cornell students are studying around the world. There is also The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies with its descriptions of numerous interdisciplinary programs, projects, institutes and initiatives. To get a sense of just how much is happening; check out the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development’s list of Related International Resources at Cornell.

Cornell is a transnational university. Cornell is committed to cross-cultural understanding, social engagement, and diversity. Ezra Cornell’s famous words are not just the university’s motto. They are a call to action. He did found an institution where any student could find instruction in any subject. Or read a book on any subject--and this year, this book.

You’ve read it. You're thinking about it. Now do something with that knowledge.

Film of The Pickup, coming 2009?

Another posting from Ariela Rutkin-Becker:

A portion of you probably just got excited, thinking that you could get
away with watching the movie instead of reading the NSRP book- until you saw the expected release date, when you will, most likely, be a junior. A bit too late to start the New Student Reading Project.

A portion of you probably called my bluff immediately.  After all,
Gordimer’s writing style in and of itself is enough to make converting The Pickup into a screenplay, into a Herculean feat. And would the plot work to create a full-length film? I’m not sure.

But- they seem to turn everything into movies these days. Hypothetically, if The Pickup were to become a movie, who could we see playing Julie? Ibrahim? What would their theme songs be- different for each one?

I imagine The Table at the EL-AY cafe having its own theme song, an avant garde creation penned by “the poet laureate.” And I bet that, due to Gordimer’s anti-apartheid activism in her country, she would be sure to suggest native, socially-conscious groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and the solo singer/poet Abdullah Ibrahim-  coincidentally enough, a combination of Abdu’s two names in the novel.

If this music provides you with your very own theme music as you journey through Gordimer’s world, then be sure to check out the ever-popular Dave Matthews Band and Paul Simon- both of whom have been influenced by (or, in the former’s case, is a native of) South Africa.

You Are What You Read

And presently more than 8 million readers in the United States and countless more worldwide are young wizards.  (I am the designated second reader of our household copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so please, let's not talk about the details of the book just yet.)  For now I remain in the desert with Julie and Ibrahim, and with the photographer, Edward Curtis, in Marianne Wiggins' new novel, The Shadow Catcher.

Last week the New York Times ran a story about what some of our corporate leaders are reading, C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success.  (Remember you will need to acquire a free registration from the Times to access this article from their website.) It was fascinating to learn that Steven Jobs recently sold his collection of William Blake books.  (Gordimer quotes from Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience on p.66 of The Pickup.) And the venture capitalist, Michael Moritz, occasionally re-reads T. E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom for inspiration. (That's Lawrence of Arabia. Julie refers to him dismissively on p. 198.)

At Harry Potter in translation we learn that many of the Potter books have been translated into multiple languages, including Afrikaans and Arabic. I don't believe Ibrahim would read Harry Potter.  We are told that, "he is a reader of newspapers" (p. 35). Perhaps Cornell professor, Robert Frank's new book, The Economic Naturalist would interest our former economics major? Maybe not.

However, I'm fairly certain that Julie has put down her Dostoievsky and is reading Harry Potter along with us this summer.

Nelson Mandela

He is not mentioned in The Pickup, nor is the word apartheid to be found there. Yet the post-apartheid South Africa that we are reading about came to be because of this man.  And because of our author. Nelson Mandela turns 89 today. Many events are scheduled this week to celebrate and honor this anti-apartheid activist who lead the African National Congress (ANC) and later became the President of South Africa.  To read more about his extraordinary life and accomplishments, see the ANC biographies, or go to the PBS Frontline site for The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela.

When Mandela was freed from prison in 1990, Nadine Gordimer was one of the first persons that he wished to see. You simply must have a look at Nadine Gordimer and the South African Experience and read how these two Nobel Prize winners have shaped the destiny of the country that they share. It is truly inspirational reading. Individuals can change the world.  (The picture of the two of them together is from November 2006 when Gordimer presented Mandela with an Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience award.)

"Mr. Mandela, all of us at Cornell want to wish you a very Happy Birthday."

“I go where they’ll let me in.”

In our narrative Abdu has not been able to secure a permanent residence permit and he has been ordered to leave the country or be deported.

But surveying the Types of Immigration that would have been available to him and looking through the South African Department of Home Affairs official documents, it looks like this deportation is more of a plot device used by Gordimer to develop her story than it is a reflection of actual law. While being married to a South African citizen or permanent resident does not automatically guarantee permanent residence status, it would seem that Julie’s background and economic status—no matter how much she would wish to deny it—would likely have allowed Abdu to stay in the country if she married him.

Nevertheless, immigration is a major issue in today’s South Africa.  The Migration Policy Institute provides a profile of the country’s complex immigration history and The Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) offers assessments of the economic and social impact of international migration on development in the region.

Where is Abdu from?

Gordimer never tells us exactly.  We are given hints to his identity, but not his nationality. There is sand, there are oil fields over a border where a brother works, and his village has a small mosque.  We are told that he is an Arab, but only indirectly at first. ("Are you a Buddhist?" "--I'm not Indian.--")

So he is from an Islamic country in a desert. 

When Julie asks him:

“He named a country she had barely heard of. One of those partitioned by colonial powers on their departure, or seceded from federations cobbled together to fill vacuums of powerlessness against the regrouping of those old colonial powers under acronyms that still brand-name the world for themselves.” (p. 12)

That essentially describes most of northern Africa and the Middle East. But “nationality” is not how Abdu identifies himself. When Julie’s café friends pry his story from him, he says:

“--I can’t say that--‘my country’--because somebody else made a line and said that is it. In my father’s time they gave it to the rich who run it for themselves.  So whose country I should say, it’s mine.--" (p. 15)

If you look at the various maps and images assembled for a Survey of the Political History of the Modern Middle East, you will see just how contentious and controversial these lines in the sand have been. And our current headlines are a daily reminder of how unsettled these issues are. 

Why is a young Arab man with a university degree in economics living in South Africa as an illegal alien and migrant worker?  Is he a refugee from poverty? Or an ambitious dreamer with a plan for success?

For more information and maps of the region, you can go to the Library's Maps & Geospatial Information site, Cornell's Department of Near Eastern Studies, or the Africana Studies & Research Center.

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Our author is literally everywhere these days.  The May 21st issue of The New Yorker magazine reminds us that Nadine Gordimer "a Nobel laureate, has a short-story collection, "Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black," coming out in November."  Her story, "A Beneficiary" appeared in that issue and is currently available to be read online from their web site.  While you are there, check out their new 10-second cartoon animations.

Ms. Gordimer also has a story included on the National Public Radio Selected Shorts three-CD compilation, Travel Tales.  Click here to listen to the beginning of "The Ultimate Safari."

She also shows up in an NPR piece from April 24th, Music and History with Vusi Mahlasela. Listen to the interview and hear some great new music from Africa. In the segment, Gordimer is quoted, saying that this South African musician "sings as a bird does in total response to being alive."  (With your Cornell NetID you can read the transcript of this segment on Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, one of the thousands of databases available through the Cornell University Library Gateway.)

In other news, it is snowing in South Africa this week.  And just in case you hadn't heard, that new reading device, the Apple IPhone, goes on sale tomorrow.

In the News

The July 2007 issue of Vanity Fair magazine is a special issue on Africa. Included there is an article that surveys African literature and offers profiles of 19 writers, including our author, Nadine Gordimer, who is referred to as a "literary giant."  As is Chinua Achebe.

Elissa Schappell and Rob Spillman write:

"With her long-cool-drink-of-water demeanor and serious street cred, Nadine Gordimer, a founding member of the once banned African National Congress and "the conscience of South Africa," earns the title of Grande Dame of South African Literature.  For more than a  half a century, her short stories and epic novels have articulated the real-life ramifications of apartheid in the lives of ordinary men and women. A master of employing multiple viewpoints--often those of the oppressed--she also has the chops to authentically paint the psychological nuances of apartheid's supporters, revealing the panoramic range of human experience under repression. Despite Gordimer's international fame, her novels Burger's Daughter and July's People were once banned in her own country.  Ironically, when Gordimer received the Nobel Prize, in 1991, Nelson Mandela still did not have the right to vote."

The Africa issue is guest-edited by Bono.  Check out the online slideshow of the 20 different versions of the cover. You may want to add this magazine to your summer reading list. There are many great articles on topics and issues found in The Pickup.