Once Upon a Time

by Nadine Gordimer, Alex Kingston (Narrator)

Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer is anything but a fairy tale. It’s more of a dystopian fantasy - with overtones of the racial inequality in Gordimer’s native South Africa. Read by Alex Kingston.

Genres: Short Stories, School, Fiction, Classics, Literature, Africa, Historical Fiction

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1991

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.

Reviews

[Ilse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frolicking sarcastically with the conventions of the fairy tale (the title, the reiterated living happily ever after), Nadine Gordimer tells a sarcastic tale how privileged people cherish the illusion they can fence themselves off from social-economic and racial reality and violence in Apartheid South-Africa and continue to live their lives pleasantly and served by others. A harrowing, wry and barbed story how fear of life and of change and the desire to cling on to one’s privileged position might generate an insidious tunnel vision.



The story can be read here.

(Photograph John Greim).

[Janelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very powerful short story about apartheid, the fear of the other, the building of the wealth of a society on the work and hardship of others and probably much more. So much in a 3 page story!
Link to the story: https://www.napavalley.edu/people/LYa...

[Melanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today's the day for disturbing audiobooks, apparently.

An adult's fairy tale during racial unrest in South Africa.


And like some fairy tales - there's no happy ending.

So, ultimately, what's the point? Is this the narrator's background? Is this a servant talking about a former employer? Is this the narrator's way of comforting herself for not being able to wall herself off like more well-to-do families can?

[Rabbia Riaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Once upon a time" is a story that the writer wants to writer as a children's story but behind it we see ironic situations that how the inner and outer life contrast.
How one is afraid of outside world and what he is doing to save himself from, causes the very destruction.
Oh Oh Pathetic!

[Vivian Chen (Vivian's Book Pavilion)]

In this short story, the implied author had denied the function of fairy tales and refused to write a story for children, as readers can read from the first paragraph.

“I don’t write children’s stories”

“ said by the author. However, during the later paragraph, the author told himself a bedtime story to ease his nerve. What is the function of fairy tales? Personally, I believe that fairy tales are used as a way to release the children’s uneasiness during their sleep, and a way for parents to educate their children the good and evil in the world.

““I couldn’t find a position in which my mind would let go of my body—release me to sleep again. So I began to tell myself a story, a bedtime story.”

“ From this quote, readers can see that the author mentioned the point how fairy tales release the children into their sleep. However, the later part of the story was denying the part that “fairy tales educate the children.” In Once Upon a Time, the couple built their wall higher and higher, and the protection became stricter as well, and eventually, those protections caused their son’s death. If the story was meant to be a fairy tale, then shouldn’t it has a “happily ever after” ending? If not, then what was the author implying? The story contained all the themes to be a fairy tale; however, the ending was twisted and unexpected. The possible explanation is that the author believed that all those fairy tales and protections will be a danger to the children since the fairy tales are mostly with the theme of good always wins and evil always lose. Yet in reality, that can’t be true all the time, and if parents give their children those ideas all the time, it might cause the children’s ignorance. But it also comes to my mind that isn’t fairy tale designed as a way for children to recognize the danger in the world by a tactful way? At the same time, it’s a way for children not to lose their faith in people. Imagine all the fairy tales written as the way Once Upon a Time did, won’t children stop believing the possibilities of kindness and good in life? Besides, if the author denied the function of fairy tales, what about fables? Fairy tales and fables serve the same moral, don’t they?

This is post originally on Vivian's Book Pavilion Literature Page

[Lennie Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing is better than a story I can read/listen to and enjoy dozens of times. Really, I've probably listened to the audio at least 20 times now. And each time is just as good as the last. :)

Highly recommend for fans of audiobooks and short stories.

[laszczaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

#GGIBookClubReading
If this one doesn't scream "I'm pissed" then I don't know what is. Very powerful & beautifully written.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This very short story gives you a lot to think about!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting in the sense that it is an anti-fairy tale, but in the grand scheme of things I didn't find it very original or poignant. Its themes hit you over the head instead of letting you figure it out by yourself, possibly because it's so short, and in addition the ending is completely predictable (if you've read enough of this type of literature). Everything the author discusses is not inaccurate, but it is only a brief overview of the interplay between socioeconomic classes.

Reading this after "Interpreter of Maladies," I am intrigued by the difference in perspective between the two authors; one merely analyzes differences between different cultures without maligning either one, while the other paints the wealthy as stark villains. Her style reminds me a bit of Jamaica Kincaid--it's certainly well-written, if not memorable in this case.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a similar style to Guin's Omelas, this text is one which offers a warning to readers and integrates a moral into something which is rather 3d. It is always fun to read something which challenges and breaks down the fourth wall. The name of it especially was what caught my eye and it did not disappoint. Alongside it's moral questioning of capitalism and the segregation of people to ensure 'safety', so much of this echoed the work of Angela Carter in the Bloody Chamber. I am looking forward to studying this further.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first encounter with Nadine Gordimer's work, and it was psychologically thrilling. If Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt" met and melded with Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas", it would be this anti-fairy-tale. Very smart, snappy, and troubling. An excellent parable of what too much security can do in the backfiring stages.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intense. Not for those with a weak stomach. An interesting take on the author's home country's issues of race and class. 3.5 out of 5.

[Patricia (Irishcharmer) Yarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful!
Happily ever after? Oh I think not! If you must always think of ways to hide what you have , ways to protect material things, well buttercup...you ain't living!! Greed has a way of just rotting a soul from the inside out...it's not pretty to behold...And think about it-if you have to devise ways to protect your hordeings, how can you live, breathe and/or be happy? To what expence? In the story, apparently it seems the young boy pays a heavy price!
Nice story, nice (?) Lesson. Starts out with a fairy tale telling then the true demon raises its ugly head....as I said Powerful!!
Yes, this is a quick read, but a good one! I will be reading more of her work...so go grab a copy, get a cuppa something hot (or cold) a small snack, and be entertained for a hot minute or so!----P/

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

[Endless · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice piece of work.

[ally douglas? · Rating 5 out of 5]

First read this in AP Lit, and I am so happy to have rediscovered this. The historical context of this "fairytale" is the South African apartheid system, in which the minority White Europeans restricted Black Africans to shantytowns and barred them from high-ranking jobs. This ironic allusion to the traditional fairytale touches on humans' tendency to over-protect themselves, resulting in unintentional harm. Read in the historical context, the short story exposes the worst of a nation, while also presenting a perverse sense of justice as the characters' prejudice comes back to bite them in the ass. The setting of the story shows the delicate lines between palaces and prisons in a masterful way.

[hibsta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constructed as a fairytale, Nadine Gordimer's "Once Upon a Time" begins to take un-fairytale-like turns shortly after it opens, until it arrives at its gruesome end. The writer portrays a harrowing image of the stark contrast of black and white lives during the apartheid, with the blacks "quarantined" in the dingier outskirts of the quaint, picturesque suburbs populated by the white colonisers. Fascinating to see how as the story progresses, the happy white family, in its fear of the other, further imprisons itself.

[Caitlin Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earlier today I read The Dualitists, and it reminded me of this story. So of course I had to go find and and re-read it to make sure it was the right story. This one scarred me for life after reading it the first time. So of course it's one of my favorites, and one I never forgot.

[Reagan Shook · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Read for AP Literature)

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

... Well damn.

[Ma · Rating 5 out of 5]

luv it <3 i love the writing technique, especially a narrative technique. There’s so much to talk about it. As for the theme ummm I mean it is acceptable for me, not that ‘wow’ but still ‘good.’

[Lizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nah, not my favorite. It was beautifully written with just a touch of subtlety with its theme.

[William VanderWoude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect short story, I loved it.

[Caleb Stog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for class, I liked the ending.

[patrycja ◡̈ · Rating 3 out of 5]

fujka. razy dwa if you know what i mean.

[Maddie Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Also read this for my English class. I appreciate the symbolism and genre used to convey her message about apartheid.

[ella ;) · Rating 5 out of 5]

an unbelievably great short story

[Ky · Rating 4 out of 5]

raising an eyebrow at the beginning

[Filipa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curto e assustador, sobre as alturas e aprofundar do medo e suas implicações.

[Hiba · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't bad at all, it questions a lot of things, but it's certainly not a fairy tale, even though it contained all of its components but the end was absolutely unexpected