Gordimer's reputation as a short story writer is difficult to pin down. Especially since Robert Haugh's study privileged the ‘poetic intensity’ of the short stories above the novels, which he regarded as relative failures, the stories have often been seen as examples of a kind of technical perfection, or aesthetic completeness, which some critics deem to be a feature of fully realized short stories. My view of the Gordimer stories is that they work ironically with this notion of ‘aesthetic completeness’ in the tradition of key modernist innovators such as Joyce and Mansfield. The importance of Gordimer's contribution to the short story genre is not in doubt, even if the nature of this contribution (and, consequently, the nature of short story poetics) is a matter for debate. The major problem with the Gordimer stories, however, is manifested through the inevitable comparison with the novels.

Establishing an overview of a writer's short story oeuvre is always a difficult venture, particularly if clear stages of development are sought, and this is especially the case with a writer like Gordimer who has produced a series of major novels: the short stories may appear as a more occasional means of expression. This does make it difficult to trace lines of development, and, if such lines are found, one has to consider carefully how much significance should be attached to them.