Group Read - February, 2009 - Africa

Introduction:
Welcome Global Readers!

For the month of February, we will be trying something a little different. In lieu of choosing one country, we will be doing an entire continent! I am choosing AFRICA because that's the continent of which I personally know the least. I am hoping that others are as eager as I am to learn more about the cultures of the various nations that comprise Africa.

In order to make this topic not so overwhelming, I am setting up some guidelines. Please review these before making recommendations or choosing your book.

Guidelines:
1. Recommend a few (preferably no more than 3-5) books for others to read.
2. For your recommendations, choose books that are written by native Africans (or ex-patriots). Be sure each book has some insight to offer about the culture of a particular African country.
3. The books should be FICTION ONLY. They may be in any narrative style (novel, short stories, graphic novel, poem, play, etc.)
4. In your recommendations, indicate the main country addressed by each book. You are encouraged to include a small blurb to entice others to read your choice of books.
5. You may choose your book to read from the list of recommendations or you may choose a book that was not recommended but that does follow our Africa group read guidelines.
5. Keep this thread for book recommendations only. Post discussions on this thread.

List YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS below:

SqueakChu's recommendations

1. Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz

This is the story of relationships between members of an Egyptian family. It takes place between the years of 1917 to 1919. The author won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Er, I have no other recommendations as my reading about Africa has been limited to books by non-Africans or has been non-fiction. I am therefore looking to looking to others for suggestions of some good reads.

I am going to read a book by Ben Okri, a Nigerian writer now living in London.
The Famished Road -the 1991 Booker Award for Fiction.
Okri has been called a " magic realist".

There are so many great books by African authors to recommend, but I've chosen three from African women authors:

1. Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe/Rhodesia) A young woman comes of age in 1960s/70s Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.

2. Children of the New World by Assia Djebar (Algeria). One day in one village during the Algerian war.

3. Tropical Fish : Tales From Entebbe by Doreen Baingana (Uganda) Connected stories of three teens growing up in 1990s Uganda.

ooo, my finger is just itching to type more in...but I'll be good!

I've read a lot of stuff by African writers in the last few years, but, like avaland, I'll behave myself by sticking to three. These are all (imo) very good, and perhaps a little bit overlooked:

1) Allah is Not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma (Cote d'Ivoire) - fictionalised account of boy soldiers in Sierra Leone. Brutal and moving in equal measure.

2) Chaka by Thomas Mofolo (Lesotho). The rise of the Zulus and their messiah/leader Chaka, told as a dark fable about the dangers of power.

3) A Life Full of Holes by Driss ben Hamed Charhadi (Morrocco). An illiterate moghreb's life story as told to Paul Bowles. Incredibly moving.

Two I can recommend:

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about the rise and fall of Biafra (Nigeria).

Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee about South Africa.

These are three African books that have moved me:

Burger's Daughter by the incredible Nadine Gordimer about a young white woman, daughter of social activists, growing up in South Africa during apartheid.

Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali translated by D.T. Niane -- a very approachable translation of the medieval Malian epic as told by a griot.

The Interpreters by Wole Soyinka -- as far as I know this is the only novel by the Nobel-winning playwright -- but it is a fascinating look at life in Nigeria for a group of young professionals in the the 1960s. One of the interesting aspects of the novel is its use of Yoruba mythology.

I loved the Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, would happily read it again, and am looking forward to reading his biography. It does seem more like a story about the Middle-East than Africa, though, as much of it is about the contrasting lives, and limited roles, of the women shuttered within the home versus the men's lives. Two of my favorite books are Ake: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka (I think he won the Nobel Prize for literature as well) and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe It's been years since I've read either. Ake is a biography but has such beautiful descriptions/imagery that it feels like a novel. And Things Fall Apart was the topic of one of the best book group discussions I've ever participated in. I really liked Burgher's Daughter too and was planning on either rereading that, or another by this Nadine Gordimer, for my 999-Challenge.

posting edited to correct title

For something rather different I'd recommend the author Christopher Hope. I don't know much about him, but he was exiled from South Africa during the 1970s after some of his poetry was banned. He writes with wry humour about Africa (mainly South Africa I think); his satire is biting and his stories engaging. His Me, the Moon and Elvis Presley is delicious - but with what an edge! His My Mother's Lovers offers (to me) frightening observation of S.African society both during and post apartheid. A very subtle writer.
Much more to his writing than I could ever hope to convey.

I can heartily recommend both Wizard of the Crow and Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o and, thanks to Avaland, By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah.

Here are my three recommendations:

1) Gifts by Nuruddin Farah (Somalia) - A divorced woman struggles to raise her children in mid-1990s Mogadishu. All of Farah's books are good, he writes in thematically-linked trilogies and frequently highlights the situation of women in society.

2) Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala (Nigeria) - A young boy becomes a child soldier in the civil war of an unnamed African country. Written in first person in the kind of grammatically incorrect, pidgin English the main character would have used. It's short but graphic.

3) Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (South Africa) - The classic about a country minister who goes into the city to find his son and is confronted by the realities of Apartheid. Paton was a leader in the anti-Apartheid movement and eventually had his passport revoked for ten years.

>10 rebeccanyc: oh good, you named Gurnah! I have yet to read his Paradise, so February might be a good time:-)

I have loved Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's books. Purple Hibiscus was my favorite. I also read Things Fall Apart last year and thought it was good.

I'll probably read Disgrace and perhaps So Long a Letter.

My three recommendations are as follows:

1) So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba (Senegal) - An epistolary novel written by a woman whose husband has taken a second wife.

2) Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee (South Africa) - My favorite of Coetzee's novels, it is a fable bearing some resembalnce to Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

3) Bitter Fruit by Achmat Dangor (South Africa) - This novel follows the lives of several characters in the aftermath of South Africa's emergence from apartheid. Each of the characters has secrets to hide.

I'm currently reading So Long a Letter and hope to post some thoughts in February on the discussion thread. I will look for Dangor's Bitter Fruit - it should be quite easy to find. Thanks, Urania.

One of my favorite reads for 2008 was the beautifully written and compelling The Seasons of the Beento Blackbird by Akosua Busia from Ghana. It will take you to a village in Ghana where you will be exposed to the rich and resonant African culture. It's an excellent book for discussion as it brings up lots of issues around love, marriage, and even the power of books to move and uplift people, amongst other things.

I just came across a book which sounds good. It is Tropical Fish by Doreen Baingana. I have NOT read it, but the blurbs are good:

"Her stories, like those of Jhumpa Lahiri and Monica Ali, dwell less in the history and politics of the homeland, and more in the modern, messy, intimate politics of home life." Vanity Fair

"Prose rich in specifics unknown to most of us, but what is truly dazzling is the way this brilliance of detail mounts into rare, subtle, surprising drama." Joan Silber

Doreen Baingana follows a Ugandan girl as she navigates the uncertain terrain of adolescence. Set mostly in pastoral Entebbe with stops in Kampala and Los Angeles, Tropical Fish depicts the reality of life for Christine Mugisha and her family after Idi Amin's dictatorship. ...themes of family cohesion, sex and relationships, disease, betrayal and spirituality.

And another which seems good:

Red Dust, Red Sky by Paul S. Sunga.

"In Lesotho's uncertain refuge, a young girl, Kokoanyana, comes of age in a world of concealment, obscure events, and phenomena only explicable in terms of 'the ancestors', the god Shiva and the sinister South Afriacn Defence Force....The language is beautiful, the plot tense and riveting, the characters edgy and humorous...a visceral tale of family and identity in a raw continent, told from the perspective of an African Indian."

I'll definitely be reading Cry the Beloved Country because it's the February selection for my RL book group. In addition I have both Bitter Fruit, recommended by urania1, which was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize but, like CTBC is about South Africa, and Ancestor Stones which is about four women in West Africa. I'm leaning toward Ancestor Stones both because it's about another area of Africa and because it highlights the plight of women there. Decisions, decisions.

I'll probably indulge my Ngugi wa Thiong'o fixation and read A Grain of Wheat, which I recently bought, although I'd like to branch out some . . .

Better later than never (haven't been able to spend much time on LT recently). I'm planning to read A River Called Time by Mia Couto (Mozambique). Actually I'd better get on and read it, hadn't I? How is it late January already?
Should I not manage it, I hope to be able to chip in on the basis of several things I read last year, works by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Moses Isegawa, Assia Djebar, Fatou Diome, for example.

>16 polutropos: I thought Tropical Fish quite good, polutropos!

I will definitely read Slow Man by J M Coetzee because I have this already, but I don't know how much it fits with the Africa theme, beyond having a South African author. I'll probably try to pick another book from somewhere else in Africa (it is a big place!) to read as well, although what it is will depend on my library.

I've waited to the last minute, but I've finally decided on The Plague by Albert Camus. I wasn't very fond of L'étranger, but I hear that this one is somewhat less detached.

I'm goingto read The Belly of the Atlantic by Fatou Diome based on another LT member's recommendation. My copy just arrived in the mail the other day.

An easy decision for my first Reading Globally pick: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda N. Adichie. It's been in my TBRs for two years but I've kind of been saving it, having loved her debut, Purple Hibiscus.

I might get to Heart of Darkness during February, too.

I thought this might be of use as we read. This map shows Africa and part of the Middle East.

Wow...great map, avaland; thanks! That will be helpful.

I think I'll start with The Pillar of Salt by Albert Memmi, and read The Famished Road by Ben Okri as my second African novel, and maybe The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer after that. My nonfiction reading will be Frantz Fanon: A Biography by David Macey, and, if I have time, Toward the African Revolution: Political Essays by Frantz Fanon.

I haven't forgotten about the Gurnah and Ngugi books I've recently acquired; I'll read them throughout the year.

I just finished reading The Cobra's Heart by Ryszard Kapuscinski This slim volume is part of a series called Great Journeys from Penguin Books. The author writes of his experiences travelling as a journalist in various countries in Africa. This book is a good introduction for readers who are going to explore African literature. My fiction read this Feb is author Ben Okri.

Thanks, Avaland. I'm still travellling from country to country in my mind trying to decide which book I'll actually read! As each of you picks your book, you can use Google maps to center in on your particular location.

See: Google Maps. Type in Africa (or the name of your country) and press "enter". that will start you on your trip to Africa!

Be sure to use the plus and minus feature which lets you travel closer to you country, thereby zeroing in on your city, community, or perhaps even a particular house! Also - use the More, Map, Satellite, and Terrain features of this map. It will make your reading so much more exciting and really bring your book to life!

If you've never used Google Maps before, I hope I've introduced you to a valuable internet resource to enhance your future reading .. especially with our global reads.

@ sanddancer
@ detailmuse

on request of my friend sanddancer to share my experiences : i surely recommend Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Read my review

Great review Lunar18.
Would totally back up any recommendation of this book - I thought it was brilliant and it was one of my top 5 reads of 2008.

@ jbeast
thanks for the compliment, it is certainly a great book.

I'm thinking of reading Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass by Isak Dinesen. Walking through the book store it's what caught my interest the most out of all the other books on the shelves.

*screeching of tires* My plans for Half of a Yellow Sun are on hold for now ... since I opened Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, an arc that's due for review. It's set in Addis Ababa and written by an Ethiopian (now Californian) physician ... I'm 10% in (60pp) and it's flat-out fabulous; I do not want to hurry through it.

>34 detailmuse: I read a review in the NY Times yesterday for Cutting for Stone and thought I'd make the same substitution then remembered I vowed to halt the buying of more books until I get through the 30 TBR's waiting to be read. Darn! Well, I'm glad you're getting to enjoy it! :-)

I'm not sure whether I've already mentioned this, but I've been watching the National Geographic/Nature DVD series on Africa. It was a holiday gift, but I'm sure it's available on Netflix and other rental places (4 volumes/dvds, 120 minutes each, I think). It's wonderfully done, very informative - great mix of cinematography, story and history about the people and cultures in Africa. It's a nice companion to any reading of African lit.