AFRICAN NOVEL CHALLENGE AUGUST 2023 - FRANCOPHONE BOOKS

Fairly straightforward - books written by African authors originally in French.

What will I read?

I have four books slated for the challenge :

So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba
Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou
Children of the New World by Assia Djebar
Standing Heavy by Gauz

My reading so far:

Central African Republic: African Tales: Folklore of the Central African Republic collected and translated by Polly Strong, illustrated by Rodney Wimer

The stories themselves are entertaining and worth a read even though Strong's very literal translation leaves much to be desired. I also wasn't impressed by her preface and afterword, as her thoughts came off as naive and amateurish.

Côte d’Ivoire: Aya, Aya of Yop City, and Aya: The Secrets Come Out by Marguerite Abouet, translated by Helge Dascher

Slice of life graphic novels set in late 1970s Côte d'Ivoire, when the country was booming. Mildly entertaining, and, as Abouet intended, a very different view of African life than we're used to seeing in media.

Côte d’Ivoire: Lord of the Dance: An African Retelling by Véronique Tadjo

This is subtitled as a retelling of the English hymn Lord of the Dance, but I think "inspired by" would be more accurate. Not bad, but not very memorable, either.

Senegal: The Beggars' Strike, or, The Dregs of Society by Aminata Sow Fall, translated by Dorothy S. Blair

A satirical novel about a city that schemes to remove beggars from the streets, only to see the plan backfire as the citizens no longer have anyone to bestow charity upon, and thus can't receive divine blessings. Entertaining, but it needed to be a bit tighter for the satire to really work.

Burkina Faso: The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo, translated by Christopher Wise

A picaresque story of a deposed dictator. It took me a little while to get into the groove, but I wound up really liking this one.

>3 amanda4242: Wowzer!

I have so long a letter and looking at Co-Wives, Co-Widows, the civilized world, and an african in greenland

I'm going sideways (again!) and reading a memoir from Burkina Faso called Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some. I've had a copy of it on MT TBR since 2008, so it's definitely time to get it down and dust it off.

Les bouts de bois de Dieu by Ousmane Sembène. On my shelf for a while but needed this nudge to get it read.

well into the civilized world and loving it!

finished the civilized world which I rated 4.5 so long a letter and co-wives, co-widows Its fun reading them in tandem; a little confusing but enjoyable

this is off topic, but I happened upon this book shadows of the sun Had read his book about Herodutos and liked it.Liking it thus far tho I am noting some troubling generalizations here and there. has anyone read it? comments?

>10 cindydavid4: No, but thanks for drawing my attention to it. Greatly enjoyed The Emperor, his book about Haile Selassie.

Id been meaning to read that as well

Just finished so long a letter and of the three I have read, this one is my fav. I loved her writing, her heartbreaking stories of women being abandoned and the choices thy have to make. 5*

Co wives,Co widows I like this review " A playful, bittersweet, story full of dry wit and local colour, set against a backdrop of political instability, corruption and the friction between the old and the new in Bangui in the Central African Republic." Im giving it 5*

"the civilized world was an interesting look at five women who interact, Regardless of the differences that kept Adjoa and Janice separate, their bonds — the need for love; the searching for acceptance; the grief for things that were and are not now — was palpable. Though the extraneous characters didn’t mesh as well for me, I loved Ophelia’s obsession with offbeat, nonsequitor African names (like “Nobody” and “Comfort”). By turns deeply sad and uplifting, the common threads that bind these characters were fascinating.

Fans of literary fiction and those interested in Africa, female relationships, race relations and other dynamics will find a memorable, lyrical story in The Civilized World". very much an original way of telling their stories. I felt tho that they really were too much alike, they things they worry about, the way they address problems, their lack of confidence but it was still good"

4,5*

interesting reading these three together. They helped me learn about the different cultures in that part of Africa, and the issues all of the women have to deal with

>10 cindydavid4: I have it on the shelves but haven't read it yet either. I did read one of the Polish author's books last year though and it was pretty interesting.

I read his book Imperium which was about the Soviet empire.

Have belatedly started Les bouts de bois de Dieu. Interestingly, starts out with interaction between an old woman and a little girl. I see from the reviews on LT that the role of women in this society is a major theme.

It now appears, a third of the way into Les bouts de bois de Dieu, that the role of women is *the* major theme. The starving children make this a painful read so far.

>13 PaulCranswick: thanks Its interesting but slowgoing. may not finish in time but I know you dont mind :)

Buzzer-beater; finished my Francophone novel for this month’s African Novel Challenge today, the last day of August. Found Les bouts de bois de Dieu one of the best novels I have read for this Challenge, despite its many dark moments of starvation and violent death. The complex role of women in this society is explored in depth; one of the big issues in the strike is that the African workers, unlike their white counterparts, do not receive a family allocation, a distinction which the company defends on the basis that the Africans, for the most part, have more than one wife. Bakayoko, the leader of the strikers, who is for most of the novel a distant, mythic figure, eschews this as a feudal custom from the past that must disappear in a modern independent Africa. Yet the resilience of these women and the strength of their community life is very sympathetically portrayed. Their march to company headquarters in solidarity with the strikers is a key factor in the eventual victory. A rich, textured book.

I did well this month on the challenge managing six books :

Told by Starlight in Chad by Joseph Brahim Said (Chad)
The Shameful State by Sony Labou Tansi (DRC)
Blue White Red by Alain Mabanckou (Congo)
Bound to Violence by Yambo Ouologuem (Mali)
So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba (Senegal) and
Standing Heavy by Gauz

I think the last named was probably my favourite.

sept link pls

>19 cindydavid4: https://www.librarything.com/topic/353344

I did manage to squeeze in Blue White Red!

Read Tribal Scars and Other Stories, since I have owned the book for a long time but never got around to reading it. Two of the stories set in France—-predictably the gravest of let-downs for ex-pat Africans. Further exploration of women’s lot in a polygamous culture.

Very behind in doing my reviews. Here is my review for Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidoma Patrice Some.

https://www.librarything.com/topic/353013#8260071