Nega Mezlekia

"The main difference between war and peace used to be that in war the fathers buried their sons, while in peace the sons buried their fathers. The revolution redefined war and peace. I buried my father while I watched the Grim Reaper over my shoulder, making the roll call. "

This book follows the author's life growing up in Ethiopia. From a relatively happy childhood to school to imprisonment to revolution to imprisonment and torture to an attempt to escape the suffering to university and show more trying to support his family. All interweaved with beautiful folk tales which I loved and I definitely feel contributed to the book greatly.

This is not an easy book to read. Not because of the writing style - the author is very talented and the words are easy to follow- but because of what the book contains. A lot of content warnings related to torture, abuse, imprisonment, war, etc.. The author went through a lot, including being tortured in prison for speaking up for his beliefs (and he wasn't the only one swept up in this time of his life). There was preventable famine with people dying because of the government's greed. Teenage forced to fight a war against invaders. And yet, the love he feels from his country still shines through all the pain. He had hope for a better future with less fear and pain and violence.

This is definitely not a book I would recommend to everyone. It is a heartbreaking and difficult read. But if you can stomach the pain and sadness, you are in for a (rather depressing) treat. This is beautiful in the saddest way and is definitely a book that will touch you and stay with you after you turn the final page. show less

There is a lot to this book. At the heart of the story is Count Ashenafi; his daughter Aster and the society they live in. Aster is unusual and is cloistered away by her father. When she falls in love with one of her guards (a family slave) trouble follows. In the late 18th century Ethiopia was a mess of feuding warlords; religious conflict and the serfs and slaves were questioning the status quo. Mezlekia takes all this and creates an epic of forbidden love; civil conflict; touches of the show more supernatural and good story telling. I really enjoyed this book, I liked the characters and the setting. Sometimes the story seems a bit sprawling but overall a good read. show less

Notes from the Hyena's Belly is a memoir that often reads like a novel. It depicts Nega's relatively calm childhood in sharp contrast to the growing unrest, civil strife and government corruption that dominated his adolescence and early adulthood. The book gives insight into a piece of Ethiopia's history, which is peppered with scenes from Nega's growing up years and folk tales that his mother told. Nega successfully speaks to the impact of civil war, government corruption and the too show more frequent global indifference to such issues in Africa, while at the same time maintaining a wry sense of humor that makes his story all the more human and real. This combination gives it a unique flavor and certainly makes it memorable. show less

I know it's his history, there are some interesting pieces of info in there. But, when he's 9yo, his mom & a medicine doctor think he's got two bad spirits in him, so that needs to remedied. First remedy seemed pretty harsh, then led into a couple of pages worth of (very weird) hallucinations. Same with the later second remedy (alongside details of a goat sacrificing that I didn't really want to read & wish I could erase from my mind). That, along with his really brutal beatings at school show more (at the hands of the teacher), etc. makes it hard to read, imo. And that's before I know he joins (or is forced to join?) a militia as a teen, having many in his family killed during political unrest in the country. I know his story is important, but I just can't take reading it. The animal stuff is not comfortable to me (I cannot easily read animal-related stuff), though it might not bother others as much. Overall, what I've read is not happy (obviously). I just need to stop reading at this point (due to my own discomfort). show less