January to March 2014 -- Literature from Sub-Saharan Africa

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January to March 2014 -- Literature from Sub-Saharan Africa

1banjo123
Editado: Jan 18, 2014, 11:27 pm

Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara Desert. Politically, it consists of all African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara (excluding Sudan). It contrasts with North Africa, which is considered a part of the Arab world. Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and Mauritania are geographically part of Sub-Saharan Africa, but also part of the Arab world.



List of Sub-Saharan African Countries
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo (Brazzaville)
Congo (Democratic Republic) Côte d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
The Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Réunion
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sudan
South Sudan
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Western Sahara
Zambia
Zimbabwe

2banjo123
Editado: Dez 24, 2013, 1:22 am

National boundaries in Africa were usually established by colonial powers, and often do not reflect the pre-existing ethnic groups. There are thousands of ethnic groups in Subsaharan Africa. The following groups have 10 million members or more.

Hausa in Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Chad, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire and Sudan (ca. 30 million)
Yoruba in Nigeria and Benin (ca. 30 million)
Oromo in Ethiopia and Kenya (ca. 30 million)
Igbo in Nigeria and Cameroon (ca. 30 million)2
Akan in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire (ca. 20 million)
Amhara in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti (ca. 20 million)
Somali in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya (ca. 15-17 million)
Ijaw in Nigeria (ca. 14 million)
Kongo in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Republic of the Congo (ca. 10 million)
Fula in Guinea, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Sierra Leone Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Benin, 
Niger, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Chad, Sudan, Togo and Côte d'Ivoire (ca. 10 million)
Shona in Zimbabwe and Mozambique (ca. 10 million)
Zulu in South Africa (ca. 10 million)

3banjo123
Dez 24, 2013, 12:36 am

SUGGESTED WRITERS:

I wanted to make some recommendations of especially influential African writers. I am hoping that it will enhance the discussions in this group if more participants read books from the same authors. I don’t want to limit our reading and discussion, but if you are looking for something to read, any of the following authors would be a great choice.

4banjo123
Editado: Dez 24, 2013, 3:35 pm

CHINUA ACHEBE



“When old people speak it is not because of the sweetness of words in our mouths; it is because we see something which you do not see.”

Chinua Achebe (November 1930 to March 2013) Achebe has been called "the father of modern African writing". He was a Nigerian writer from an Igbo town in Southeastern Nigeria. Achebe’s first novel Things Fall Apart was published in 1958 and is the most widely read modern African Novel.
Achebe’s style draws on the oral traditions of the Igbo people. He was innovative in advocating that African literary works should not judged on European tradition and standards.
In 1962 Achebe was chosen to be General Editor of the African Writers Series, which became a significant force in bringing postcolonial literature from Africa to the rest of the worldm, and he continued in that role until 1972.
During the Nigerian civil war, Achebe supported Biafran independence. He later lived mostly in the US.
In 1975, Achebe gave a lecture in which he criticized Joseph Conrad as being a “bloody racist.” There is some thought that his vocal critique of Conrad, and also of Albert Schweitzer, as racist, may have been one of the reasons Achebe was never awarded the Nobel prize. Achebe’s comment on this "My position is that the Nobel Prize is important. But it is a European prize. It's not an African prize.... Literature is not a heavyweight championship.”

Recommended Reading:
Things Fall Apart; No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God
Anthills of the Savannah

5banjo123
Editado: Dez 24, 2013, 3:39 pm

WOLE SOYINKA



“Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth”

Soyinka , a Yoruba Nigerian writer, is known especially as a playwright and poet. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1986—the first African to be so honored. hereis a link to Soyinka’s acceptance speech.

Soyinka was active in the Nigerian struggle for independence. Soyinka was critical of Nigeria’s military dictator’s and imprisoned in solitary confinement for two years (1967-69)

RECOMMENDED READING:
Death and the King's Horseman
The Interpreters
Ake: The years of childhood (Memoir)

6banjo123
Dez 24, 2013, 12:41 am

Chimamanda Adichie



“Because of writers like Chinua Achebe and Camara Laye … I realized that people like me, girls with skin the color of chocolate, whose kinky hair could not form ponytails, could also exist in literature.”
Adichie was born in 1977 in Nigeria. Her family is Igbo and her parents were both academics. She currently divides her time between the US and Nigeria.
Adichie has been very positively reviewed and one the Orange prize in 1977. She discusses her perspective on African literature in a TED talk which you can find here. Another Adichie TED talk, on feminism, was recently sampled by Beyonce for her song “Flawless.”

Adichie’s works are:
Purple Hibiscus, 2003, Half of a Yellow Sun, 2006, The Thing Around Your Neck, 2009 and Americanah, 2013,.

7banjo123
Editado: Dez 24, 2013, 3:44 pm

Ngugi wa Thiong’o



“Why did Africa let Europe cart away millions of Africa's souls from the continent to the four corners of the wind? How could Europe lord it over a continent ten times its size? Why does needy Africa continue to let its wealth meet the needs of those outside its borders and then follow behind with hands outstretched for a loan of the very wealth it let go? How did we arrive at this, that the best leader is the one that knows how to beg for a share of what he has already given away at the price of a broken tool? Where is the future of Africa?”

Ngugi wa Thiong’o, then known as James Ngugi, was a student of Chinua Achebe. Achebe selected Ngugi’s first novel, Weep Not Child for publication. This was the first novel in English published by an East African writer.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o a was born in 1938 in Kenya. He originally wrote in English, and now writes in Gikuyu. He was imprisoned by the Kenyan regime in 1977. He later fled to the US where he teaches at NYU.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o has been regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel prize.

Recommended Reading:

Wizard of the Crow
A Grain of Wheat
Petals of Blood
The River Between
Weep Not Child
In the House of the Interpreter (memoir)

8banjo123
Editado: Dez 24, 2013, 3:50 pm

Other Nobel Winners:

Three white African writers have been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. These are Nadine Gordimer (1991); JM Coetzee (2003); and Doris Lessing (2007). Both Gordimer and Coetzee are from South Africa, Lessing was from Zimbabwe (Rhodesia).

Recommended:

Gordimer's July's People; The Burgher's Daughter
Coetzee's Disgrace; The Life and Times of Michael K; Boyhood: Scenes from a Provincial Life (memoir)
Lessing's The Grass is Singing; Martha Quest

9banjo123
Editado: Dez 25, 2013, 6:33 pm

NELSON MANDELA



For those who want to add some non-fiction to this reading, I would recommend Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom

10banjo123
Editado: Dez 24, 2013, 1:06 am

AFRICA’s 100 BEST BOOKS

The list of Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century was compiled for the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in 2002. The list honors books of creative writing, scholarship and non-fiction, and children's literature by African writers. here is a link to the list.

12banjo123
Dez 24, 2013, 1:10 am

QUESTIONS TO ASK/THEMES TO LOOK FOR:

It was suggested that some ideas of themes to look for could help us get more from our reading. I would suggest that we ask ourselves about the following issues:

What are the roles of culture and colonialism in this book?

How do oral storytelling traditions influence the writing style?

What are the roles of the individual and of the community?

How are gender roles important in this book?

Is this book written in a European or non-European language?

13banjo123
Dez 24, 2013, 1:17 am

Hi Reading Globally Friends! I haven't really had enough time to put together this thread for the first quarter of 2014. I want to add in more book recommendations, etc. But, as 2013 is drawing to a close, I thought I would put this out, as a working document. In the next few days I hope to be able to add in specific book recommendations for the selected authors; and some more recommendations for contemporary African literature.

Also, I want to put in a really cool picture of Nelson Mandela. I couldn't get the link to work and am too tired to try anymore. But I am thinking of one of him as a really buff young man.

14RidgewayGirl
Dez 24, 2013, 4:43 am

Thanks for setting this up. I'm considering a few books for this -- The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini, A Blade of Grass by Lewis DeSoto or The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut.

15rebeccanyc
Dez 24, 2013, 7:31 am

Thanks, Rhonda. This is a great start so we can all start thinking about what books we'd like to read. I've read a lot of African literature, but I also have a lot on the TBR, and I will post some of that later this week to add some ideas to the discussion.

16ELiz_M
Dez 24, 2013, 11:05 am

Thanks! This thread is a really good start and I love the link to Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century!

Hopefully I will read at least one of these books from my tbr: A Dry White Season, The Dark Child, Chaka, A Grain of Wheat, Down Second Avenue, or The Grass Is Singing.

17banjo123
Dez 24, 2013, 3:55 pm

Happy Reading Everybody! I have added in some more reading suggestions, and am looking forward to seeing what other people suggest. For myself, I plan to start with Wizard of the Crow.

18Settings
Dez 24, 2013, 4:54 pm

Here is a list of a bunch of books by African writers on the 1001 Books to Read before you Die list. Apologies if there are any mistakes.

Chaka by Thomas Mofolo (Lesotho)
The Dark Child: An Autobiography of an African Boy by Camara Laye (Guinae)
Down Second Avenue by Es'kia Mphahlele (South Africa)
God’s Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembene (Senegal)
The River Between, by Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (Sudan)
Dusklands by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
A Question of Power by Bessie Head (Botswana)
In the Heart of the Country by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
A Dry White Season by Andre Brink (South Africa)
So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba (Senegal)
Burger’s Daughter by Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
July’s People by Nadine Gordimer (South Africa)
The Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Ancestral Voices by Etienne van Heerden (South Africa)
Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong'o (Kenya)
Foe by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
The Master of Petersburg J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Boyhood by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda (South Africa)
Youth by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
Summertime by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)

19rebeccanyc
Dez 25, 2013, 11:32 am

I've read quite a bit of African literature already, including most of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, more than one book by Alain Mabanckou, Sembene Ousmane, Sony Lab'ou Tansi, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Ferdinand Oyono, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, as well as books by Nathacha Appanah, Brian Chikwava, Helon Habila, Mia Couto, Abdourahman A. Waberi, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Cheikh Hamidou Kane, among others.

I highly recommend most of Ngugi, Mababanckou's Memoirs of a Porcupine and Broken Glass, Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions, Appanah's The Last Brother, Oyono's Houseboy, Gurnah's By the Sea, and Sembene's God's Bits of Wood.

Needless to say, I also have a lot of African literature on my TBR. Here are some of the books I hope to get to this quarter.

A Bit of Difference by Sefi Atta
Forest of a Thousand Demons by D. O. Fagunwa
Of Africa by Wole Soyinka
The African Trilogy by Chinua Achebe
The Radiance of the King by Camara Laye
The Amputated Memory by Werewere Liking
The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner

and possibly more works by Abdulrazak Gurnah and Helon Habila, among others.

Of course, I will probably be intrigued by books others of you are reading and ending up getting them too!

20nased
Dez 25, 2013, 6:30 pm

I am looking forward to learning more about these authors and their works. Thank you for listing so many resources. I had enjoyed a video of Chimamanda Adichie's speech for TED talks and recently read Linda Sue Park's "A Long Walk to Water". I am now working on some research to add this into my curriculum as a teacher.

21banjo123
Dez 25, 2013, 7:48 pm

I have read a number of these books, but nothing by Ngugi wa Thiong's; so that's something I want to rectify. I also have a few books, like The Palm Wine Drunkard that I read 30 + years ago, and would like to re-read. I am planning to read as many of these authors as I can in the next couple of months, but I don't have a list..I will just play it by ear.

Anoplophora, thanks for the list! That's very interesting--8 books by Coetzee!

22Settings
Dez 26, 2013, 8:34 am

Banjo, there are actually 10 books by Coetzee on the list. If you consider Boyhood and Summertime on the list because Youth is (it's a trilogy), then there are 12. Someone really likes Coetzee.

Slow Man, Elizabeth Costello, Youth, Disgrace, The Master of Petersburg, Foe, The Life and Times of Michael K, Waiting for the Barbarians, In the Heart of the Country, and Dusklands

I've only read Disgrace. I thought it was good, but I only remember the feeling of it and a vague outline. I'll be reading The Lives of Animals and Elizabeth Costello pretty soon.

23Samantha_kathy
Dez 27, 2013, 7:51 am

For this theme read I'll be reading either The Book of Chameleons by José Eduarda Agualusa from Angola or The Amputated Memory by Werewere Liking. As far as I know, Werewere Liking is from Cameroon, not Senegal as is said in post 11, but I could be wrong.

24rebeccanyc
Dez 27, 2013, 8:01 am

I believe she is from Cameroon too.

25banjo123
Dez 27, 2013, 11:45 am

She is from Cameroon--sorry about that! I don't know how I made that mistake, because I read the book for the Francophone quarter. I will be interested to see what you think, Samantha_Kathy, if you do read the book. One interesting thing about Liking is that she was self-educated, not a product of colonial education, and raised in a fairly traditional home by her grandparents. So I think that her writing is very 'African."

26fathirhakim
Dez 27, 2013, 11:48 am

Este utilizador foi removido como sendo spam.

27whymaggiemay
Editado: Dez 27, 2013, 1:02 pm

I can recommend works by Aminatta Forna. I've read both Ancestor Stones and The Memory of Love and thought both were excellent. Ancestor Stones is set in Sierra Leone and though I don't believe the second book says where it is set, I think it too is set in Sierra Leone.

28anisoara
Dez 28, 2013, 1:41 pm

I know that Archipelago will be publishing titles by the Rwandan writer Scholastique Mukasonga, although I do not know if anything will be available before the end of 2014. I'll keep watch and report back!

29legxleg
Dez 29, 2013, 9:26 am

I've been meaning to read Americanah, so this challenge seems like a good excuse! Of course, I've been meaning to reread Things Fall Apart as well...choices, choices.

For people who are still looking, I remember really enjoying The Boy Next Door, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Wizard of the Crow, so I would recommend all three.

30SassyLassy
Dez 29, 2013, 2:51 pm

From South Africa, I would add Breyten Breytenbach and the somewhat controversial Rian Malan.

31Samantha_kathy
Dez 29, 2013, 3:17 pm

I read Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie back in 2008. It's a very good book, powerful and highly recommended.

32banjo123
Editado: Dez 29, 2013, 4:10 pm

Great book suggestions! I am excited to get started. I just got Achebe's African Trilogy out of the library. I re-read Things Fall Apart in 2012, so it looks like I will start with No Longer At Ease

33Dilara86
Dez 30, 2013, 11:05 am

>28 anisoara: So glad Scholastique Mukasonga is being translated at last! I loved her autobiography La femme aux pieds nus, and cheered when she received the Prix Renaudot - a famous French book award - for Notre-Dame du Nil in 2012. She's in good company: previous African winners include Tierno Monénembo, Alain Mabanckou, Ahmadou Kourouma and Yambo Ouologuem.

I'll have to track down Ouologuem's Bound to Violence. It sounds intriguing, and I must admit I'd never heard of this author. He seems to have been a one-novel wonder. I'm definitely reading Wizard of the Crow (got it for Christmas). I'd also like to read Inyenzi ou les Cafards by Scholastique Mukasonga if possible. Unfortunately, it's not available at my local public library. I might pick up Tierno Monénembo's Un rêve utile (the touchstone fairy did not oblige) again. I'd left it because the writing got on my nerves, but you never know, I might get on better with it the second time round... I also have L'anté-peuple by Sony Labou Tansi and Le Zéhéros n'est pas n'importe qui (no touchstone) by Williams Sassine on my to-read pile. And I've been meaning to read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Aminatta Forna for years, as well as more Mabanckou and Nathacha Appanah...

34banjo123
Dez 31, 2013, 12:20 am

Dilara, it sounds like you will be a busy reader! Scholastique Mukasonga sounds very interesting--I will look forward to the translation coming out.

35labfs39
Jan 5, 2014, 10:16 pm

I was wondering if you would like us to post reviews of the books we read, or just mention that we have read them. I'm asking because I just finished Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih of Sudan, who writes in Arabic. I would highly recommend it and the collection of three of his shorter works, also published by NYRB, called The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories.

36banjo123
Jan 5, 2014, 11:08 pm

Yes, definitely post reviews. I will be looking forward to reading about it.
I have finished my first book for this read as well, No Longer At Ease by Achebe. I am hoping to put together a review tomorrow.

37Settings
Jan 5, 2014, 11:19 pm

I finished Season of Migration to the North too, and it was just as good as labfs says it is. So much ambiguity and so many layers of meaning.

I found this review from Words Without Borders that was interesting, if spoilery.

38labfs39
Jan 5, 2014, 11:57 pm

Ok. Here goes!



Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies

Tayeb Salih was born in a village in Sudan, but left the country at the age of 24 to pursue higher education. Despite never returning to Sudan permanently, or perhaps because of it, he writes with extreme insight about post-colonialism and the schisms between the Self and Other caused by the remains of colonial influence. Generally accepted as his masterpiece, Season of Migration to the North combines oral storytelling traditions with European literary forms. Moving back and forth through time and conversations, a story unfolds that is as gripping as a sexual thriller, yet is beautifully written and as full of ideas as an essay on North African identity in the 1960s.

The book opens with an unnamed narrator arriving back in his village along the Nile after spending seven years in England earning a doctorate in poetry. His return is both a long-sought reintegration with his community and a chance to be a man of importance to his friends and family. He is surprised to find a stranger among them, Mustafa, a man without a past who has settled in the village as a farmer and married a local woman. Our narrator is a bit jealous of a stranger who knows more about current village affairs than he and is determined to learn more, especially after one night when Mustafa gets drunk and begins to recite English poetry with a perfect accent.

Mustafa, perhaps to pacify the narrator or perhaps recognizing a similarity between them, invites the narrator to his house and tells the story of his life. Mustafa’s story is also told in first person narrative and is occasionally broken by returns to the present. Tantalizing hints are dropped about a tragic love affair and murder, but it is not until the end of the book, years later, that the narrator is able to piece the entire story together. By this time, the narrator himself has suffered a horrific loss, but one caused by the inability or unwillingness to act, not by passion.

The entire book is based on imagery of the cold North and tropical South, the intellectual European and the passionate African, civilizing colonialism and superstitious natives. Yet, Salih repeatedly tells us that this is all a lie. Mustafa manipulates images and stereotypes of Africa for sexual conquest, yet he is the cold, imperious intellectual, and not the Othello he imputes himself to be. Colonialism is referred to as a disease that spreads and can never be cured, because it leaves behind a way of thinking and a language that influences post-colonial society.

Salih was lauded by a group of Arabic critics in 1976 as “the genius of the Arabic novel.” Writing in Arabic, he says, is “a matter of principle.” Fortunately, he worked extensively with the translator, Denys Johnson-Davies, to create an English translation that is lyrical and authentic. I have also read some of Salih’s shorter works, collected in the NYRB Classic The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories, which are set in the same village. They too are beautifully written with an undercurrent of tension created by the idea of the Other and the stereotypes of the dominant sexual male and powerless, asexual (circumcised) female. With the erosion of traditions and polarization of religious ideology, Salih’s characters are adrift in a landscape that looks familiar but is studded with artifacts of colonization and the failures of post-colonial political policies. Between the beautiful language and the underlying ideas, it is no surprise to me that Season of Migration to the North was selected by a panel of Arab writers and critics in 2001 as the most important Arab novel of the twentieth century.

39banjo123
Jan 6, 2014, 4:54 pm

No Longer At Ease is the second book in Chinua Achebe’s Africal Trilogy. It focuses on Obi Okonkwo, the grandson of Okonkwo, the protagonist of Things Fall Apart. The three novels of the African Trilogy are interconnected, but can be read separately.

No Longer At Ease was published in 1960, the year that Nigeria gained independence from England. It centers on Obi Okonkwo, a bright young man who was sent from his village, to university in England, and returns to a civil service job in Nigeria. Throughout the novel we see him reacting to corruption in the civil service. He is initially very determined not to take any bribes, but circumstances test his resolve. Obi is a sympathetic character, and I felt that I liked and understood him, even though at times I wanted to shake him. The novel is well written, cleverly structured, and reads smoothly.

This book is set towards the end of colonialism in Nigeria and several themes emerge. Obi is in an awkward position as a representative of his village and also of the colonial government. He is torn between his obligations to family and village, and his desire for the lifestyle that is expected for an educated Nigerian.

I felt that this book used oral story telling traditions much less than the previous book in the series. In Things fall Apart the focus is really on the community. In this book, the focus is on Obi as an individual, although this alternates with the voice of his community.

The book is written in English, and at this point in time Achebe was defending English as the appropriate language for African writers. (For more information on this see Achebe’s essay “The African Writer and the English Language” in his book of essays Morning Yet on Creation Day.

In this book, Obi uses mostly English in his conversations in the workplace and with peers. However, there are several points in the book where conversations are in his native Igbo, and these conversations tend to be emotionally fraught for Obi.

40labfs39
Jan 6, 2014, 6:25 pm

I'm interested in learning more about Achebe's stance on using English. It seems to have been (is?) such a controversial subject: more exposure/common language vs what Achebe calls "the master's tools". Salih definitely came down on the side of using his native Arabic, but that is a much more widely spoken language than Igbo. For Salih, using English meant thinking within an European framework, whereas Achebe would have said, yes, so expand English to allow for African thinking. Hmm.

41rebeccanyc
Jan 6, 2014, 6:50 pm

Yes, it's an interesting topic. Ngugi wa Thiong'o originally wrote in English but then started writing in Gikuyu (and translating his own novels into English). He talks about this some in Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature, where he says he started writing in Gikuyu to make his work accessible to peasants and others unschooled in the western literary tradition.

42banjo123
Editado: Jan 6, 2014, 7:11 pm

I can recommend Achebe's essays in Morning Yet on Creation Day which give his arguments. I think that he did soften his stance in later years, as these essays were mostly written in the 60's. He points out that without English, Nigeria does not have a common language. Here is an excerpt:

"I have indicated somewhat offhandedly that the national literature of Nigeria and of many other countries of Africa is, or will be, written in English. This may sound like a controversial statement, but it isn't. All I have done has been to look at the reality of present-day Africa. This "reality" may change as a result of deliberate, e.g., political, action. If it does, an entirely new situation will arise, and there will be plenty of time to examine it. At present it may be more profitable to look at the scene as it is.

What are the factors which have conspired to place English in the position of national language in many parts of Africa? Quite simply the reason is that these nations were created in the first place by the intervention of the British, which, I hasten to add, is not saying that the peoples comprising these nations were invented by the British.

The country which we know as Nigeria today began not so very long ago as the arbitrary creation of the British. It is true, as William Fagg says in his excellent new book, Nigerian Images, that this arbitrary action has proved as lucky in terms of African art history as any enterprise of the fortunate Princess of Serendip. And I believe that in political and economic terms too this arbitrary creation called Nigeria holds out great prospects. Yet the fact remains that Nigeria was created by the British—for their own ends. Let us give the devil his due: colonialism in Africa disrupted many things, but it did create big political units where there were small, scattered ones before. Nigeria had hundreds of autonomous communities ranging in size from the vast Fulani Empire founded by Usman dan Fodio in the north to tiny village entities in the east. Today it is one country.

Of course there are areas of Africa where colonialism divided up a single ethnic group among two or even three powers. But on the whole it did bring together many peoples that had hitherto gone their several ways. And it gave them a language with which to talk to one another. If it failed to give them a song, it at least gave them a tongue, for sighing. There are not many countries in Africa today where you could abolish the language of the erstwhile colonial powers and still retain the facility for mutual communication. Therefore those African writers who have chosen to write in English or French are not unpatriotic smart alecks with an eye on the main chance—outside their own countries. They are by-products of the same process that made the new nation-states of Africa."

I found the entire article about the use of English on the web, so you can probably google it. I tried to put in a link but without success.

43banjo123
Jan 10, 2014, 3:06 pm

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This is Adichie’s first novel. I had previously read and loved her second novel, Half of A Yellow Sun. This book was very good and super-readable, but I didn’t like it quite as much. What I like about Adichie is that her novels are character driven stories within a political landscape. Purple Hibiscus is set in the political turmoil, violence and corruption of post-colonial Nigeria. But it is very much the story of one teen-age girl, Kambili, who is living with family violence.

The two things that I did not like in this book. One is Kambili’s character. She is supposed to be 15-16, but reads much younger, like a 10-11 year old. And then all of a sudden, she is supposed to be more mature. It didn’t seem realistic to me, as the parent of a teenager. I do think that the immaturity of Kambili is a result of her father’s controlling-ness; and I can see that happening, but it seemed extreme. The over thing that I didn’t like was how heavy-handed Adichie was with the domestic violence. Sure, some families really are that violent, but lots aren’t, and I think she could have made the point more subtly.

In this book, Kambili and her nuclear family are isolated from extended family and traditional Igbo culture by her father’s control issues and violence. Her father is estranged from his own father, who follows traditional religion, while Kambili’s father is Catholic. This estrangement is reminiscent of father-son relationships in Chinua Achebe’s writing and highlights the way that colonialism can fracture families.

Things change when Kambili and her brother, Jaja, become close to their aunt and cousins who, while also Catholic, are more liberal and warmer. The reader sees Kambili yearning for a connection to her traditions.

This is written in English (which is, after all the national-language of Nigeria). The characters switch back and forth between English and Igbo. Adichie is well educated in the US, her writing style is easy for the Western reader to relate to. I did not see many aspects of oral story-telling tradition, except for the grandfather’s storytelling.

Gender roles are interesting. Kambili’s mother is a traditional, passive wife. Her aunt is more lively and independent.


44Samantha_kathy
Jan 10, 2014, 3:48 pm

When I read Purple Hibiscus I liked it, but felt the ending was a bit rushed. I haven't read Half of a Yellow Sun so I can't comment on whether it's better or not than Purple Hibiscus. What I particularly liked about Purple Hibiscus was in how vivid the setting was, without it taking over the story.

45banjo123
Jan 10, 2014, 4:42 pm

Yes--I would agree about the vividness of the setting. I've talked to other people who preferred Purple Hibiscus to Half a Yellow Sun, so that's probably a matter of taste. I am looking forward to reading Americanah. But I think I am going to read Achebe's Arrow of God next.

46rebeccanyc
Jan 10, 2014, 5:01 pm

I too read Purple Hibiscus after Half of a Yellow Sun and I thought it was impressive for a first novel but that Adichie's writing definitely improved -- always a nice thing to see in an author!

47Samantha_kathy
Jan 10, 2014, 5:05 pm

46 > It's better than being disappointed in the second book because it's not as good as the first one!

48rebeccanyc
Jan 10, 2014, 5:46 pm

Definitely!

49ELiz_M
Editado: Fev 1, 2014, 8:24 am

LESOTHO

Chaka by Thomas Mofolo, pub. 1925.

Thomas Mofolo was born in Lesotho (the small African country surrounded by South Africa) and educated in Missionary schools. He was encouraged by the missionaries to write and Chaka, written in 1910, was his third novel. It was his first novel to portray per-Christian life and circumstances surrounding it's production seem to indicate he was discouraged from publication. (Apparently, there is a whole book about this: Thomas Mofolo and the Emergence of Written Sesotho Prose) In any case, shortly after submitting Chaka for publication, Mofolo left a secure position at the mission for South Africa and never wrote another novel.

Chaka tells the story of the legendary warrior that created the Zulu nation, with events taking place in what is now a province of South Africa. Its unusual style makes the narrative both difficult and oddly compelling. The novel is written in third person, objective perspective. The narrator tells us about events and Chaka's actions, but there is little to no attempt to portray Chaka's thoughts or feelings. It reads very much like a legend from an oral story telling tradition when describing battles, but it also reads very much like a Wikipedia article when summarizing events.

The most literary and fascinating components of the novel are the incoporation of supernatural elements. In the novel, Chaka is greatly assisted on his road to domination by a diviner, Isanusi, and his two assistants, Ndlebe and Malunga. These three characters personify the aspects of Chaka's nature that lead him to obtain great power.

It is a fascinating read even with the unusual structure that does not quite cohere into narrative with a complete story arc.

50rebeccanyc
Jan 12, 2014, 12:35 pm

NIGERIA

Forest of a Thousand Daemons: A Hunter's Saga by D. O. Fagunwa



How varied are the daemons that inhabit this forest! Supernatural beings that are part human and part animal, some that are tiny and some that are enormous, some with diverse numbers of body parts, some that are truly vile, and some that can carry out all sorts of magic, for both good and evil. The first novel written in Yoruban, this book is said to have had a great influence on later Nigerian writers; it was translated into English by Wole Soyinka who wrote a very interesting Translator's Note at the beginning of the edition I read.

The novel is in two parts, but both are told by the hunter Akara-ogun to an audience that includes the "author" and that grows with each installment. In the first part, Akara-ogun, whose name means Compound-of-Spells and whose father was also a hunter and "a great one for medicine and spells" and whose mother was a witch, tells the tale of his two trips to the Irunmale Forest, the forest of a thousand daemons, and the adventures and misadventures that he encountered there as he met the varied denizens of the forest. He often had to confront dangerous and magical opponents, and several times was rescued by magical spells. While horrifying and nightmarish at times, Fagunwa's descriptions of the daemons in their infinite variety is utterly compelling, as are some of the characters Akara-ogun meets.

In the second part, Akara-ogun, tells the tale of how he, along with other hunters of his kingdom, is sent by the king on a dangerous mission to Mount Langbodo. Here too they encounter dangers along the route, including more daemons and wild beasts, but when they arrive the nature of the book changes and the hunters listen to lectures on how to be a moral person, told largely through illustrative tales.

I found it hard to understand the two parts of this book as a whole, but I can see in a metaphorical way that it is looking at how people confront what it means to be a human being, both literally and psychologically. The book was originally published in 1939 when Nigeria was still very much a British colony, so I think Fagunwa is also obliquely commenting on what it means to be an African in a world controlled by others. As noted above, his use of the Yoruban language, and of Yoruban folk tales and cosmology, was hugely influential.

My City Lights edition was enhanced by illustrations by Bruce Onobrakepya; one of them is on the cover.

51banjo123
Jan 12, 2014, 1:19 pm

Thanks for the reviews Eliz_M and Rebecca! It's great that you both have explored a more traditional storytelling. And interesting the way that there is no separation between the real and the spirit world. I am reminded of The Famished Road by Ben Okri, a more contemporary Yoruba writer.

52OshoOsho
Jan 18, 2014, 2:25 pm

Not to nitpick, but South Sudan needs to be added to the country list.

53banjo123
Jan 18, 2014, 11:29 pm

South Sudan, added! Now we just need someone to read a book from the country.

54rebeccanyc
Jan 24, 2014, 12:17 pm

GUINEA

The Radiance of the King by Camara Laye



In this book, Camara Laye turns the story of the white man visiting Africa on its head, because the experiences of the somewhat hapless white protagonist are seen not only through his eyes but through the reality of African landscapes and people. Clarence has been shipwrecked in Africa, lost all his money gambling with other white people, been kicked out of the white hotel, and is on the verge of also being kicked out of a dirty and decrepit African inn for nonpayment when, in the midst of a celebration linked to the king's arrival in town, he meets a beggar and a pair of teenage rascals. They take him in hand, help him out of a jam when he gets arrested, and allow him to accompany him to the south where, eventually, the king will probably show up, as Clarence believes that, largely because he is white, he can get a job working for the king. Thus begins the tale of Clarence's travels through the forests and his experiences in the town in the south where he winds up and where he is given a job that he doesn't understand.

And much of this book is really about Clarence's lack of understanding or, more accurately, his inability to see what is readily apparent to the Africans around him. From the original town, where buildings seem to fade away, to the forest, where he feels walled in by the trees and thinks he's being led around in circles, to the town hew winds up in, where he has difficulty distinguishing women from each other, Clarence simply can't see what's in front of his eyes. He also can't hear the music and drumming and thinks it's all the same, and is overwhelmed by smells. He thinks people are making fun of his inability to understand their perspective. While the African landscape and town come alive in Camara's writing, as do some vivid characters, much of the book is also symbolic, for example Clarence's inability to stay awake as he his traveling through the forest and his need to be supported by the teenagers (who turn out to be the grandsons of the ruler of the town they end up in) -- Clarence is literally sleep-walking. Towards the end of the book, Clarence starts having dreams and visions in which what is really going on becomes clear to him although he still believes he is dreaming.

This book is more complex than I can really convey. On the surface, it is the story of Clarence's adventures and misadventures, but there is a lot more depth to it in terms of the nature of perception and openness to experience. A lot of it is very funny too, as there is a satiric aspect to it as well. I gained some insight into this book from the introduction by Toni Morrison to my NYRB edition.

55labfs39
Jan 24, 2014, 12:53 pm

That sounds interesting, Rebecca. What do you think the sleepwalking symbolizes? His inability to "see" or his lack of desire to? Is it because he is white or because he is Clarence? I'm intrigued!

56rebeccanyc
Jan 24, 2014, 1:13 pm

I think it symbolizes both, Lisa, and I think it is for both reasons; he is kind of a passive person.

57banjo123
Jan 27, 2014, 7:28 pm

Just a quick review of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which I think a lot of people have already read:

In Adichie’s most recent book, the setting is modern Nigeria, the US, and England. Issues include political corruption, military dictatorship, immigration, tribal and family issues. Also hair. But what makes the book compulsively readable is the romantic angle. Adichhie’s strength is in showing how political and cultural events play out on an intensely personal level, as they do for Ifemelu, who leaves Nigeria, and the boyfriend that she is completely smitten with, in order to pursue an education in the US.

This is an awesome book. At points, I felt that the series of events got a little too convoluted, but I believe that Adichie is making a comment about how dramatic life for Nigerians is. This book is also interesting in exploring cross-cultural relationships—between Africans and Europeans, White Americans and African Americans.

58banjo123
Jan 29, 2014, 10:39 pm

Arrow of God is the third novel in Achebe’s African Trilogy. It takes place prior during colonialization, and focuses on the clash of cultures, between Igbo culture and British culture. There is a large focus on the ways in which Christianity starts to edge out traditional religion.

As in Things Fall Apart; gender roles are traditional, and rigid. I personally have trouble with this, although I know it’s realistic. (and, in fact, gender roles were also pretty rigid in the US during that period of time)

59ELiz_M
Editado: Fev 5, 2014, 4:24 pm

GUINEA



The Dark Child by Camara Laye

This was a delightful read. It is a memoir of the author's childhood in Guinea, written while he was attending school in France. As such, it is an idealistic memoir and casts a golden glow over his childhood. His parents are wonderful, his childhood was easy and mostly untroubled. Even when describing the vicious bullying he experienced at one of his childhood schools, the events seem glossed over. It was fascinating to read about a foreign life and culture as imagined by one who both experienced it and was distanced from it.

It was written in a very different style than Chaka, the other book I read recently. This felt much more contemporary and conventional. The Dark Child felt as if it was written much more from an European tradition. The story arc was continuous and complete. As a memoir, it was obviously a personal, first person account, rather than an objective third person account. In comparison, Chaka felt much more as if it was born out of an oral-storytelling tradition, both in content and in execution.

I am left wonder if the differences are more due to the content, to the author's differing educational backgrounds, the time in which they were published, or (more likely) a combination of all of the above.

60labfs39
Fev 2, 2014, 7:27 pm

Interesting review, Eliz. I especially like how you compare the two books.

61rebeccanyc
Fev 3, 2014, 10:44 am

Very interesting about The Dark Child, as I just read and really liked Camara's The Radiance of the King. I know from the introduction to that that it was his only fictional work.

62banjo123
Fev 7, 2014, 2:27 pm

Nice review--I just started The Dark Child myself,.

63banjo123
Fev 10, 2014, 12:04 pm

The Dark Child by Camara Laye

Originally published in 1954, and written in French, this is a memoir of the author’s childhood in the village of Koroussa, in French Guinea. Laye was a cherished child and his memories are sweet and poignant. Laye’s up-bringing was traditional, but he was sent away to school, and in the end, goes to school in France. This is bittersweet for Laye and his family; he and his father are well aware that a European education is the best hope of advancement, but this takes Laye away from his family and culture. Laye’s mother is just devastated and feels that she has lost her favorite son.

This is an easy book to read, as the style is simple and direct. One of the chief values of the book is the preservation of memories of a traditional African childhood. I recently read an essay by Chimamanda Adichie in which she mentions both Chinua Achebe and Camara Layes’s works as giving her a window into what the lives of her grandparents and great-grandparents were like; information that otherwise would have been lost to her due to colonialism, civil violence, and famine.

Throughout the book I was aware of how much is lost through colonialism. For example Laye writes:

“On the day of the harvest, the head of each family went at dawn to cut the first swath in his field. As soon as the first fruits had been gathered, the tom-tom signaled that the harvest had begun. This was the custom; I could not have said then why it was kept and why the signal was only given after the cutting of a swath from each field. I knew that it was customary and inquired no further. Yet, like all our customs, this one had its significance, which I could have discovered by asking the old villagers who retained this kind of knowledge deep in their hearts and memories. But I was not old enough nor curious enough to inquire, not did I become so until I was no longer in Africa.”

Laye discusses the role of women in his village. His mother was a strong character and notes that “the women’s role in our country is one of fundamental independence, of great inner pride. “ Laye’s father was clearly a gentle and loving man, and I don’t doubt that his own mother’s role in the family was one of considerable power. However, I suspect that there were layers of oppression fo women that Laye chooses to ignore, or was unaware of. The religion was Islamic, layered with animism. Polygamy and female genital mutilation were practiced.

64ELiz_M
Fev 10, 2014, 1:49 pm

>63 banjo123:. I wish I had noted the page, but somewhere early on in the book when specifically relating an anecdote about his mother, Laye comments on how her independent role was unusual, and then says something along the lines of Africa is a big place and customs vary.

65banjo123
Fev 10, 2014, 2:07 pm

Oh, yes, I marked that passage myself. It's on page 69 of my edition. "I realize that my mother's authoritarian attitudes may appear surprising; generally the role of the African woman is thought to be a ridiculously humble one, and indeed there are parts of the continent where it is insignificant; but Africa is vast, with a diversity equal to its vastness. "

I was struck by the difference between Achebe and Camara Laye in the way that they depict family relationships; relationships between genders, and indeed relations in general. Achebe puts a lot more focus on conflicts, Laye presents a more idealized picture of traditional life. I suspect that Achebe's view is more realistic. Of course, they are from different countries and tribes, so maybe it's not fair to compare.

66LauraDuncan
Editado: Fev 11, 2014, 8:20 pm

I tried to scan through and see if this author was mentioned but since I didn't see her let me add that I would highly recommend Helen Oyeyemi. I've only read two of her novels, The Icarus Girl and White is for Witching but they are both wonderful. She is often cited as a British author but she was born in Nigeria. Beautiful sentences and a very unique style of storytelling. If you enjoy magical realism or postmodern styled writings she will be right up your alley.

67banjo123
Fev 14, 2014, 2:54 pm

Thanks, Laura, she sounds like a really interesting writer.

68rebeccanyc
Fev 17, 2014, 7:56 am

#66 I enjoyed Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi, a novel in which, among other things, she mixes English and African folklore.

69banjo123
Fev 20, 2014, 10:47 am

Today's Poem of the day was from a poet from Ghana:

On the Gallows Once

by Kofi Awoonor

I crossed quite a few
of your rivers, my gods,
into this plain where thirst reigns
I heard the cry of mourners

the long cooing of the African wren at dusk
the laughter of the children at dawn
had long ceased

night comes fast in our land

where indeed are the promised vistas
the open fields, blue skies, the singing birds
and abiding love?

History records acts
of heroism, barbarism
of some who had power
and abused it massively
of some whose progenitors
planned for them
the secure state of madness
from which no storm can shake them;
of some who took the last ships
disembarked on some far-off shores and forgot
of some who simply laid down the load
and went home to the ancestors

70StevenTX
Fev 21, 2014, 11:18 pm

Adding my review to one that's already been posted:

Chaka the Zulu by Thomas Mofolo
First published in Sesotho 1925
English translation by Daniel P. Kunene 1981

 

Chaka, or "Shaka" as his name is more commonly written, was the greatest king of the Zulu nation, reigning from approximately 1816 to his death in 1828. Thomas Mofolo's novel presents Chaka as a tragic and semi-mythical hero who owed much of his military success to a Faustian deal with a sorcerer. From being a brave and virtuous youth, Chaka is corrupted by his unlimited ambition, becoming a cruel and ruthless conqueror who bases his power on the awe and fear he instills in his followers by arbitrarily killing friends and enemies alike, even members of his own family. Eventually he find himself hemmed in by his own web of fear and distrust.

The basic facts in the novel are true to the historical record. Chaka is a king's oldest but illegitimate son, and he and his mother are banished from their homes because of his illegitimacy. His remarkable bravery and prowess in combat, however, earn Chaka the patronage of another king, Dingiswayo, to whom Chaka's father owes tribute. Through a mixture of violence and charisma, Chaka first succeeds his father, killing his younger brother in the process, then Dingiswayo himself. As king among kings, he revolutionizes the Zulu army by developing new weapons, tactics, organization and training regimens. He literally restructures Zulu society around his military aims, subordinating everything to conquest. The results are remarkably successful but devastating to the countryside and the people of southern Africa.

The novel's Chaka gradually goes from being a sympathetic character, to a tragic hero, to a heinous villain. Chaka ceases to rely upon his own merits and depends on the magical aid of his mentor. This sends him into a spiral self-delusion and moral decay. This is a sophisticated and entertaining novel that teaches us much about Zulu culture and history, but whether it is a fair portrayal of Chaka is open to conjecture.

71rebeccanyc
Editado: Fev 23, 2014, 11:57 am

The African Trilogy: Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe



This trilogy has cast such a spell on me that I can't decide what to read next! I will discuss each novel in turn, but first I want to write more generally about Achebe's accomplishments. For in these books he has combined compelling characters, clever plotting, and deep insight into the strengths and weaknesses of traditional Igbo culture, religion, and government with a piercing look at how British colonialism managed to devastate these traditions and how these traditions in some cases adapted to colonialism. His key characters are flawed, often tragically, and he reveals their flaws with compassion. In her introduction to the Everyman's Library edition I read, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses her debt to Achebe, but also describes his writing as "a Nigerian English and often, more specifically, an Igbo English." I am not entirely sure what she means by this, as nothing jumped out at me as not the English I am used to, unless she is referring to the many proverbs which fill the conversation of the characters and which are used to illustrate the points they wish to make without expressing them directly.

Things Fall Apart
The most famous of Achebe's works, this novel focuses on Okonkwo, a farmer in a precolonial Igbo village who, reacting to what he perceived as his father's failure and weakness, rules his household of several wives with a heavy hand and always takes an aggressive stand when the elders of the village meet to determine, by conversation and consensus, what the village should do to meet the challenges it faces. He was a famous wrestler in his youth, and longs for the warlike times of old. After one of these meetings of the elders, a young boy from a neighboring village is brought to live in Okonkwu's compound as partial payment from the village for the murder of the wife of a man in Okonkwu's village (the other payment is a young virgin from the neighboring village to replace the man's wife). This boy becomes part of the family, but then the spirits that rule the village demand a further penalty that becomes part of Okonkwu's psychological burden. The spirits and the gods definitely rule the village, through their priests and priestesses (who are more or less ordinary villagers the rest of the time), and the scenes with them, along with the scenes of the elders meeting and reaching decisions, together create a vivid portrait of what traditional Igbo life was like. Okonkwu's inability to control his aggression eventually leads him to be exiled from the village for seven years, and when he finally returns things have changed, because the British have arrived, first exerting their influence through religion, with missionaries building churches and attempting to convert the Africans. Indeed, one of Okonkwu's sons, to his dismay, becomes a Christian convert. Later, the administrators, backed up by the army, arrive; too late, the villagers try to rebel, and tragedy ensues.

This is just a broad outline of what is an endlessly fascinating novel. Achebe has deep compassion for Okonkwu's flaws, and for both the beauty and the flaws of Igbo culture. (In her introduction, Adichie remarks that one of Achebe's accomplishments was to demonstrate just how inaccurate and racist European portrayals of Africa were.) It was, of course, a patriarchal society, and if I have one complaint it is how secondary the female characters are in this novel.

No Longer at Ease
In this novel, Okonkwu's grandson Obi -- the son of the son who became a Christian and then an official in the church -- has studied in England and returned to take up a post as a senior clerk in the Lagos government just slightly before independence. The elders of his town, through an organization they have in Lagos, financed Obi's studies in England (although he is supposed to pay them back from his earnings); in fact he is the first person from the town to have this opportunity and, as such, he is expected to return to the village occasionally and act as a returning hero. But the reader knows from the first pages of the novel that Obi is on trial for bribery (while his British bosses wonder how a young man of "such promise" could fall so low); the rest of the book fills in how he got to that point. For Obi is betwixt and between in many ways. He was expected to study law, but studied English instead. He receives various perks (like a car!) along with what seems like a good salary, but has expenses that eat it up: familial and traditional ones like repaying his scholarship, paying for doctors for his mother, and supporting a brother's school expenses, but also those related to living in a city including, unexpectedly, insurance for his car. He falls in love with a girl, but there are traditional constraints to his ability to marry her and, despite the almost always good advice of a friend from his village, Obi is surprised when his father, who after all is a Christian, still believes in some Igbo religious traditions. For me, this was the weakest of the three novels, but I still felt sorry for Obi who, although weak in some ways, is caught between the present and the past, the traditions and the colonial bureaucracy.

Arrow of God
For me, this was the most remarkable of the three novels, capturing the meaning of Igbo religious practices and the strength of village and personal relationships while at the same time illustrating the rift that white colonial rule created in those traditional structures. It takes place in the period between the first two novels, when British political administration had been established in Nigeria, and focuses on Ezeulu, half man, half spirit, the Chief Priest of Ulu, who is the chief god of a loose alliance of six villages. Ezeulu takes his religious obligations very seriously, and is mostly respected in his village, but several people are opposed to him because, during a prior dispute with another village, he told the truth to the local British administrator, Captain Winterbottom, who then praised him, and thus he is accused of having a friend who is a white man. In addition, he has various issues with his wives and his children, one of whom he sent to study with the British. The novel, which includes sections told from the perspective of Winterbottom and his colleagues, dramatically and insightfully illustrates the clash between two completely different civilizations which completely fail to understand each other. To the British, Africa is hot and uncomfortable and the people are stupid if not savages; to the Africans, the British have no awareness of the importance of family relationships, traditional customs, and spiritual obligations. Of course, the British have the army behind them so the clash is unequal.

Ezeulo is a complex, thoughtful man who can ever so slightly see that perhaps some accommodation to the white man would be useful; however, he draws the line by refusing to accept a position they want him to take. Ultimately, the weight of his spiritual beliefs leads to a conflict with the people that ends in a loss of power, and tragedy. I found this novel utterly compelling in its portrayal of a man, his deeply held beliefs, and the impact of colonialism on a traditional culture.

72labfs39
Fev 23, 2014, 2:12 pm

Wonderful reviews, Rebecca! I was assigned Things Fall Apart as my freshman all-class read in college, but I think I was too young and inexperienced in African literature to really understand all it has to say. I have been meaning to reread it, and, after reading your review of the trilogy, I think I should plan to read it in its entirety. I am curious, does the introduction mention why the books were written, or published, out of chronological order?

73rebeccanyc
Fev 23, 2014, 2:50 pm

Thanks, Lisa. I don't think I would have appreciated Things Fall Apart when I was in college either, and judging by some of the reviews on the book page a lot of people who had to read it didn't get it at all. Adichie's introduction says that Achebe originally intended to write one novel that would cover three generations: Okonkwo, his son who becomes Christian, and his grandson, but then decided against this. I guess he thought the stories of the grandfather and grandson were more compelling so he wrote those first. Arrow of God doesn't deal with the father but does deal with that generation; apparently (per Adichie) he heard of an Igbo priest who delayed a traditional religious ceremony and developed the idea of the novel from that.

74hemlokgang
Fev 23, 2014, 3:04 pm

I finished listening to the audio version of Americanah. I am impressed again by Adichie's ability to tell a multi-layered tale in which each layer is so well developed that it almost stands alone. Almost, because without Ifemelu, the protagonist, there is nothing! Ifemelu moves from Nigeria to America and then back 15 years later. She maintains a blog about racism, which illuminates subtle and not so subtle forms of racism in and around her everyday life. She learns about the cross-cultural assumptions made in any country and how to weed through them. She lives her life and in the end comes full circle to find her true home, which is where she is loved and she loves. A lovely story, rich with humor, thought provoking moments, occasional moments of discomfort for the reader, at least this reader, and a deep understanding of the threads that bind us to other human beings.

75labfs39
Fev 23, 2014, 6:14 pm

Thank you for providing that background information, Rebecca. If I don't get to read the trilogy, I think I will at least reread Things Fall Apart and look for Arrow of God, which I thought I owned, but don't see in LT.

76whymaggiemay
Mar 9, 2014, 3:15 pm

I finished Purple Hibiscus a couple of weeks ago. It was very powerful, in a different way than Half a Yellow Sun. There was only a small portion of it that really related to Nigeria and the coup and resulting unrest that happened there. One thing keeps resonating with me about that time, though. One character said that all of the wealthy and educated were leaving the country because they could, and were leaving the country to be run/protected by those less educated or wealthy. Her suggestion was that no one who was educated was going to be left to help the country. I'd never thought about that before, but I'm sure that it's happened over and over in so many countries. Do that return afterward and help or go on with their lives in a new country?

77banjo123
Mar 9, 2014, 11:19 pm

Interesting thoughts, Maggie. I think that brain drain is a problem in many African countries. Americanah explores what happens with youth who leave for education and return.

78RidgewayGirl
Mar 10, 2014, 4:36 am

I read A Blade of Grass by Lewis DeSoto. Set near the border of South Africa during a period (unspecified) of unrest, it's a hard book to read. DeSoto does a good job at portraying all sides in a nuanced manner.

79Dilara86
Mar 10, 2014, 5:32 am

I've just finished No Longer at Ease. By a huge stroke of luck, I found the old African Writers Series English paperback in a car boot sale in France :-) If No Longer at Ease is the "weakest link" in the trilogy I really need to reread the other two novels, like labfs39...

80synecdouche
Mar 10, 2014, 12:12 pm

I am curious about Adventures of a Breath by Hayam Abbas Al-Homi. Looked at the Africa Book Centre's website and could not find it there. How does one go about obtaining some of these hard-to-find titles?

81whymaggiemay
Mar 10, 2014, 1:10 pm

>77 banjo123: Americanah is on my 'to get' list along with The Thing Around Your Neck.

82LauraDuncan
Editado: Mar 13, 2014, 7:44 pm

#67 She also has a new novel out called Boy Snow Bird. I haven't read it yet but I've heard encouraging things.

83LauraDuncan
Editado: Mar 13, 2014, 7:44 pm

#68 This is definitely one on my TBR. Her writing is so fascinating I will probably read everything she has and will write.

84rebeccanyc
Mar 14, 2014, 7:28 am

>82 LauraDuncan: I recently finished Boy Snow Bird and was disappointed/frustrated by it. I didn't post my review here since I don't entirely consider her an African writer since she grew up in England, but if anyone is interested my review is on the book page (and on my Club Read reading thread). I liked Oyeyemi's Mr. Fox much better and that's why I was eager to read this one when it came out.

85LauraDuncan
Mar 14, 2014, 7:00 pm

#84 rebeccanyc - Well that's disappointing to hear. I'll probably give it a chance anyway just because I'm pretty smitten with her style so far. But I guess its rare to like everything from a single author. I'll keep my fingers crossed and read your review after I've given the novel a shot. Thanks for the info!

86banjo123
Mar 14, 2014, 7:47 pm

Wizard of the Crow is a 700 + page book about tyranny in an imaginary African country, which is a lot like Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s native Kenya. It’s also hilariously funny and romantic. In the novel Kamiti, an educated, unemployed homeless man, meets Nyamira, a beautiful and very intelligent member of the underground resistance. Through a series of misadventures, Kamiti is transformed to the sorcerer “Wizard of the Crow” and becomes central to the country’s political transformation, despite his own tendency to be apolitical.

Gender roles are a central part of the plot. The book spends a lot of time exploring male domination and domestic violence. Throughout the book Kamiti and Nyamira share the role of “Wizard of the Crow”; thus seeming to illuminate the female and male aspects of power.

87rebeccanyc
Mar 16, 2014, 1:06 pm

NIGERIA
The Interpreters by Wole Soyinka
Originally published 1965.



The interpreters are a group of friends in newly independent Nigeria who have returned from study abroad (in England and the US) to take up positions in the new environment: one is a journalist, one a descendent of village chiefs, one a sculptor, one a painter, one (the only woman in the group) some kind of minor government worker). There isn't much plot; in Soyinka's dense, often allusive prose, the reader learns about the individuals in turn, often returning to their pasts before coming back to the present. Soyinka introduces other characters to give a fuller picture of life in the new country, and thoroughly satirizes many of them, including those who are corrupt and those who are still imbued with British traditions. Religion plays a part in the novel as well, both the traditional Yoruban gods and Christianity. In addition, parts of the novel are quite funny, and parts are quite scatological, including a theory held by the journalist character.

I had a hard time knowing what to make of this novel, which I read thanks to a suggestion by janeajones. Clearly Soyinka is trying to paint a broad picture of both the challenges of a postcolonial society and the conflicts encountered by young men eager to find their way in a changing world. I found the women not as well developed as the male characters, and when a character reveals his homosexuality (a character who is already "confused" because he is an American in Nigeria and because, although he appears white, he is a quarter black and yearns to be thought of as black), other characters are disgusted. A lot that happens in this novel is symbolic in some way, especially the appearance in the second part of a strange church leader and his "apostles," including a young former thief re-named Noah. I would probably have to read this book again to make more sense of it, but it remains an interesting portrait of a time and place, including a vivid feeling for the waterways around Lagos before the environmental and cultural disaster caused by oil drilling.

Soyinka was the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for literature and is mostly known for his plays and memoirs; this is one of only two novels he wrote.

88banjo123
Mar 16, 2014, 1:24 pm

Thanks for the review, Rebecca. I have been wanting to read The Interpreters; but after your review I am not so sure. I read Soyinka's play, Death and the King's Horseman which I thought really good. I would really like to see it performed. I also read Ake which I wasn't as crazy about.

And just a reminder to everyone, that there are only two weeks left in the quarter! It seems that there has been a lot of good reading and discussion here, but I am hoping to squeeze in one more book before the end of the month.

89PaperbackPirate
Mar 23, 2014, 1:26 pm

I am going to start reading The Granta Book of the African Short Story by Helon Habila today. It's an anthology of short stories by many of the authors mentioned in this thread. Can't wait to get started!

90rebeccanyc
Mar 23, 2014, 1:33 pm

>89 PaperbackPirate: That sounds like a great anthology! Helon Habila wrote a fascinating book I read last year, Oil on Water.

91banjo123
Mar 30, 2014, 4:20 pm

Life & Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee

My last book for the African theme was a little different that the other reads; probably because it was written by a white guy. The race of our protagonist, Michael K, is never specified, but one sort of assumes he’s black, as he is definitely in the under-class. Michael K was born with a hare-lip, no father, and is somewhat simple-minded. He is rejected by his mother (until she needs him) and grows up in an institution.

During the course of the book, we see how war and oppression shape K’s life, even though he has no interest in these. He tries to make a life for himself apart from these, but it’s not possible.

Coetzee’s use of language is spare and magical. There is a lot packed into less than 200 pages.

92whymaggiemay
Mar 31, 2014, 3:22 pm

>91 banjo123: Thank you, a reminder that I have that on Mt. TBR and need to get to it.

93alans
Mar 31, 2014, 4:34 pm

There seems to be an explosion of new writers originally born in Africa in the United States now. Just last weekend the New York Times book review had a cover review and a review in the pages on two new books, one about the Sudan.Then on NPR I heard a fantastic interview with Teju Cole who I is from..now I can't remember. Have other people noticed all of this new attention to AFrican writing. Ghanna Must Go, etc. So many great books that I want to read.
Dinew Mingetsu (sp?).There seems to be a great deal of new writing coming from people who
originated in Nigeria but now split their time between AFrica and the U.S.

94banjo123
Mar 31, 2014, 10:37 pm

Thanks to everyone for participating in this quarterly read! I have enjoyed reading all of your comments and reviews, and enjoyed the books from Africa that I've read this quarter.

The quarter is over, although it's fine to continue posting here if you have a book you haven't finished yet. Time for Travel Reading in the second quarter!

95Samantha_kathy
Abr 27, 2014, 9:47 am

I'm a little late, but not at all sorry for reading this book anyway!

The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa



The Book of Chameleons is a difficult book to describe, as it touches on many different elements. On the one hand, it’s a book set in present-day Angola – or present-day when the book was published, which is now almost a decade ago. So it gives a very good, realistic image of what the country is like. On the other hand, it’s a satire that enlarges the issues Angola struggles with to bring attention to it. Add in the fact that the book tells the story in a magical realism way and you’ve got a very unique piece of literature.

I do not want to spoil the story of this book by saying too much about it. It’s not a very long book, but it has quite an impact. The story flows very well and despite the sometimes abrupt shifts from chapter to chapter in events there was never a moment I felt lost as to what was happening. But what I love most of all is the main storyteller in this book. Absolutely brilliant choice. The only reason I did not give this book five stars is because of the ending. I was left with a few questions and I personally don’t like that. I understand this is how the author meant to end it, but I’m not convinced it was the best place to stop. If he’d stopped just one chapter before it would have been a better ending for me. But that’s a personal opinion and others may disagree. Either way, I highly recommend this book.

96rebeccanyc
Abr 27, 2014, 11:01 am

I enjoyed The Book of Chameleons too, especially the way it played with the idea of identity.

97Samantha_kathy
Abr 27, 2014, 11:17 am

There was a part in the book about fabricated memories - that we have a lot of false memories, things we think happened to us which we can't actually remember, we just remember the stories people told us about it. How often do our memories abandon us? How often do we believe someone when they tell us they met us before - whether it's true or not? I found that very fascinating.

In the end, the entire book brings up the question: are we who we are because of what really happened in the past and can we thus not change, or can we become someone else simply by believing in a different past?

98banjo123
Abr 27, 2014, 6:56 pm

>95 Samantha_kathy: Thanks for the review! It sounds great--I have wishlisted it.

99edwinbcn
Maio 9, 2014, 8:02 am

The late bourgeois world
Finished reading: 15 march 2014



The late bourgeois world by Nadine Gordimer is a short, brave novel that reads like an entirely sincere and authentic chronicle of Apartheid in South Africa. The novel explores the theme of courage, and taking a (moral) stand in a political and dangerous situation.

Liz lives with Graham. They are both opposed to Apartheid, but their resistance is passive. Max, Liz's former husband, was a militant and radical freedom fighter, who spent time in prison, as he was caught with self-fabricated explosives. After his release, Max committed suicide. Liz has difficulty convincing her son that his father was not a loser, and that in fact, he was a hero, who fought on the right side.

Liz loyalty to the cause is put to the test when she is asked to help the movement. What she is asked to do seems easy, a means to make a contribution to the movement. The risk is small, but the risk is there.

The title of the novel, The late bourgeois world, is explained through a reference to a book, that postulates that one world must necessarily exist in relation to another world: "Defining one, you assume the existence of the other. So both are part of a total historical phenomenon." (p. 101)

In 1966, the title of the book, and indeed its content, must have had quite a world of significance added to it. The book itself could be considered a self-fabricated explosive. For it's unmistakable political message, it was banned in South Africa for more than a decade.

The power of The late bourgeois world can still be felt, even though Apartheid ended in South Africa. However, the books theme of moral courage, is timeless.



Other books I have read by Nadine Gordimer:
Beethoven was one-sixteenth black. And other stories

100edwinbcn
Fev 25, 2016, 6:07 am

The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat
Finished reading: 16 February 2016



Ryszard Kapuściński (1932 – 2007) was a Polish journalist and writer. He published many works on history and politics, based on his journalistic work, and was considered an authority particularly with regard to African nations. The German journalist Claus Christian Malzahn described Kapuściński as "one of the most credible journalists the world has ever seen", and he has been attributed with a "penetrating intelligence" and a "crystallised descriptive" writing style. Kapuściński was a serious contender for the Nobel Prize.

The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a literary work describing the final years of the reign of Haile Selassie I, the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, and the revolution that deposed him. Despite the fact that Kapuściński had earned the epithet of being a most credible journalist, readers would be ill advised to take the content of the book at face value. Many peculiar statements in the book rather suggest that The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a fictionalized account of the events, and should perhaps rather be read as a piece of fiction, rather than non-fiction. Although the book is presented as a veritable account of the decline and fall or the empire, it has been suggested that the book makes little more sense than Samuel Johnson’s The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia. Instead of journalistics writing, the account has characteristics of an allegory.

Explanations for the allegorical, fictional nature of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat can be sought in two areas, namely the political and the literary. During the 1970s, when Ryszard Kapuściński was active as a reporter in Africa, foreign travel for people from socalled "East-block" countries was not at all self-evident. Most people from East-European communist countries could not travel to foreign countries other than those encompassed within the sphere of countries under communist rule, such as the Soviet Union or other "red" East-European countries. It has been suggested that The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat has meaning at a deeper level, and that it can be read as a criticism of the Communist leadership of Poland at that time. However, this interpretation, 25 years after the end of communism in Europe and the end of the Cold War is obscure, and unlikely to be part of the reception of contemporary readers. The edition of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat published in 2006, in the series of Penguin Modern Classics, is preceded by a introduction, written by Neal Ascherson, who is an expert on Poland. However, the introduction does convincingly support this interpretation.

On the other hand, the author seems to have given in to working the material in such a way to create a wholly new genre of writing, within the domain of literary fiction. The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat could well be read as a piece of creative non-fiction or fictionalized realism. In 1994, the term magic journalism was coined, as a pendant to magic realism. Narrative technique, including absurdism, distortion, exaggeration and hyperbole would then feature in a narrative account that relates the history of the reign of an emperor in a faraway country. It has been pointed out, also see above, that Polish readers had very little exposure to the outside world and even less experience of travelling, themselves. As a piece of fiction, The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat could offer Polish readers an escape into an exotic realm. The absurdistics character of the description of Haile Selassie's despotism, with all the typical characteristics of feudalism or an arbitrary, absolute monarch would much appeal to readers with a firm Marxist indoctrination. (NB.: feudalism here in the marxist interpretation.) The story would then carry all kinds of connotations to readers with a firm background in Marxism, such as the backwardness of a Western country, the wickedness of an aristocratic society, headed by a monarch. In the literary sense, The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat shares some characterists with Evelyn Waugh's novel Black Mischief.

Ryszard Kapuściński was admired by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez and Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda, who, writing in the same style of magic realism, accorded him the title "Maestro". In fact, the narrative style of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat shares some characteristics with the baroque style of the great novels of the magic realism of these Latin-American authors. To write the book, Kapuściński claimed to have relied on informers, who were former servants or officials at the imperial court. To protect their identity, their names are concealed, and only their initials are given. Doubt has been cast on whether all these informers truly existed. Thoughout the book, Kapuściński makes various claims and statements which can be proved to be untrue, for example that the emperor did not read. The honorific titles, used to refer to the emperor are almost certainly invented, and offices and positions described as the court never actually existed. The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is de facto a mixture of fact and fiction.

The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is a relatively short book, at 164 pages, divided into three sections: "The Throne", describing the court of Haile Selassie I, "It's Coming, It's Coming" describing the beginnings of unrest and a first attempted coup in the 1960s, and part 3, "The Collapse" which describes the revolution and the aftermath.

Ryszard Kapuściński died in 2007. The Penguin Modern Classics edition reprints the original 1983 translation of The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat. The introduction in this edition, written by Neal Ascherson is of little use. For a better understanding of the African works of Kapuściński, I would suggest to read the Review of Kapuściński by John Ryle for the Times Literary Supplement (27 July 2001): "At play in the bush of ghosts: Tales of Mythical Africa" Extended with post publication note, 2001 and 2007.

The emperor. Downfall of an autocrat is an ambivalent work of literature. Whether it should be read as a piece of literary non-fiction, or fictionalized journalism, and to which genre or sub-genre it belongs is undecided. Clearly, the literary reception of the book can benefit from further analysis. This could perhaps best be achieved with a new translation, and comprehensive annotation by experts or a critical reading of the Polish edition. Till then, readers in English have free reign to explore and appreciate this highly curious work of prose.

101thorold
Mar 2, 2018, 6:20 am

For the Travelling the TBR Road theme of 2018 Q1, I read four African books that have been on my TBR for a long time:

African laughter : four visits to Zimbabwe (1992) by Doris Lessing (UK, 1919-2013)
- Lessing's account of four visits to post-independence Zimbabwe (the country where she had spent the first part of her life)
The interpreters (1965) by Wole Soyinka (Nigeria, 1934- )
- Soyinka novel about a group of young professionals in post-independence Nigeria (cf. >87 rebeccanyc: above)
Ìsarà: a voyage around "Essay" (1990) by Wole Soyinka (Nigeria, 1934- )
- Soyinka's fictionalised memoir about his father and friends in Nigeria of the 30s and 40s
Mr. Myombekere and his wife Bugonoka, their son Ntulanalwo and daughter Bulihwali : the story of an ancient African community (Kikerewe 1945; English 2002) by Aniceti Kitereza (Tanzania, 1896-1981)
- A fantastically detailed account of daily life in pre-colonial Ukerewe (an island in Lake Victoria), thinly disguised as a novel, and originally written in Kikerewe, a language with fewer than 50000 speakers

102spiralsheep
Dez 2, 2020, 6:21 am

(Note: I used the term "African" below because Aidoo, like many Black intellectuals of her generation and especially sub-Saharan Africans who have lived in exile, has pan-Africanist tendencies.)

Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo (most famous for Our Sister Killjoy) is a social realist novel about a middle class urban Ghanaian woman who falls out of marriage and into love, with all the consequences for herself and her extended family, told from an African feminist perspective. The author manages to be both sharply perceptive and amusingly witty without sacrificing realistic portrayal. It's also freer in form than traditional European novels, with more influence from oral culture and West African conversational style. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Quotes

I'm laughing so hard: "years of having a clever woman in his home and an unbroken chain of rather stupid heads of department at his place of work had taught him not to take anything for granted in a discussion."

LMAO: "Indeed the only opinion Musa Musa could possibly have shared with African heads of state is that any discussion of mortality is treason and punishable, by death of course, if the circumstances are right."

Grandma on marriage and society: "... remember a man always gained in stature through any way he chose to associate with a woman. And that included adultery. Especially adultery. Esi, a woman has always been diminished in her association with a man. A good woman was she who quickened the pace of her own destruction. To refuse, as a woman, to be destroyed, was a crime that society spotted very quickly and punished swiftly and severely."
...
"Life on this earth need not always be some humans being gods and others being sacrificial animals. Indeed, that can be changed."

On adaptive traditions: "All the spirits should have been appeased: ancient coastal and Christian, ancient northern and Islamic, the ghost of the colonisers."

103kidzdoc
Jan 11, 2021, 4:48 am

KENYA

The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o



My rating:

This epic is the first work of fiction by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o since his acclaimed novel Wizard of the Crow (2004), and it describes the creation of the Gĩkũyũ people in the area surrounding Mount Kenya. Gĩkũyũ (Man) and Mũmbi (Woman) met there, and had 10 daughters, one of whom, Warigia, was born lame, and the young women came to be known as The Perfect Nine. Their beauty, prowess and deeds were made known throughout the surrounding lands, and 99 young men came from different tribes to see the women, and seek their hands in marriage. After they arrived they were informed by Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi that their daughters would not agree to accompanying their new husbands to their villages; instead, they would choose which of the 99 men they would marry, and after doing so they would create a matriarchal society where they lived, which was to be led by their parents. The men who agreed to this challenge were also told that they, and the Perfect Nine, would have to embark on a mission to find Mwengeca, the king of human-eating ogres, wrestle him, and capture the hair in the middle of his tongue, a cure all which will grant Warigia the ability to walk.

Ngũgĩ puts down on paper the long and oft told story of the Gĩkũyũ people, of which he is a member, in an tale that does not compare with his best novels, but it is an interesting and informative read.

104spiralsheep
Jan 23, 2021, 6:39 am

I read The Desert and the Drum by Mbarek Ould Beyrouk, set in Mauritania, which is about a young, high caste, Bedouin woman, Rayhana, who becomes disillusioned with her nomadic tribe, and their traditions, and leaves alone for the unknown in a nearby city to search for her only urban social contact, her mother's escaped slave (note: slavery is illegal in Mauritania but some high caste Arabs and Bedouin still hold lower caste and generally darker-skinned people as slaves), and her child born outside marriage, stealing her tribe's sacred drum as vengeance on her way out. Anyone who knows how hostile societies can be to an inexperienced woman without a back-up network will understand that the protagonist's life isn't likely to improve under these circumstances.

Before reading, I had qualms about a middle aged man from a traditionally gender-segregated society writing in the first person from the point of view of a teenage girl but the author is either keenly imaginatively empathetic or has spent a significant amount of time actually listening to young women or both, perhaps due to his experience as a journalist. I found the protagonist and her reactions realistic, complete with her youthful tendency to self-dramatise and her limited perspective on life because of her sheltered upbringing. The text doesn't shy away from depicting Mauritania's caste system, including illegal slavery, or mentioning other systemic problems such as corruption, although this brutal honesty is balanced by the humane decency of a few individual characters. However, anyone expecting an unlikely happy ending will be disappointed.

I won't spoiler the ending, because this is one of those rare stories that I think truly deserves to be read along with the protagonist as a journey into the unknown, but I will mention that the whole book works as both a contemporary style novel and a nuanced political allegory, and anyone who thinks the point of the story is that the high caste protagonist should have stayed at home without straying needs to ask themselves how any of the high caste women anywhere in this scenario would survive if their slaves escaped to live their own lives, for themselves, and their high caste dependents had to actually work for their own keep.

The prose is simple but effective, and Rachel McGill's translation seems sympathetic to Mbarek Ould Beyrouk's original.

I also love the cover art by ReeM Al-Rawi (and you can find more on her website).

Quotes

"I didn't sleep that night. I worried about what the next day might have in store, in this city I'd been told was merciless, where life could slap you down and no one would even bother to look. I was afraid of what might befall me in such an enormous camp of stone and cement, where nothing was quiet yet nothing ever spoke to me. I trembled to think that my lost love could be hidden somewhere in this chaos of soulless dwellings and lives, that the sneers of heartless city people might have wiped away his smile."

105spiralsheep
Jan 31, 2021, 4:33 pm

I read Tropical Fish : Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana, which is a suite of short stories revolving around a Banyankole family of three young women growing up in Entebbe in Uganda in the 1980s. This book has all the usual middle class Middle Africa stories but better written than average: childhood nostalgia for grand/parents' material possessions, boarding school, university, emigration, and return. It also has the inevitable AIDS story but from a young female and very middle class point of view. All the stories are told from an individualist perspective, with only a limited sense of family or community life. Intelligent, interesting, and very much of its time / place / class. 4*