Segu

Why was life no more than a bridge from disillusion to disillusion?

This story concentrates on the male members of the Traore family, beginning with Dousika the patriarch, and later his sons and grandsons. A noble family of the kingdom of Segu, their sons are scattered all over the world and it is through their lives coloured with promise, dreams and expectations in their younger years and tinged with disappointment, regret and sadness in their later years, that the story is based on.

I became interested in reading this book after coming across an interview between Maryse Condé and Francoise Pfaff. In the interview, Maryse Condé speaks of the high suicide rates among women in certain West African communities despite the misconception show more that suicide was basically non-existent in pre-colonial Africa.

The story itself is set in probably the most violent era in West African history. Community rising against community for territory, power and captives; a booming Transatlantic slave trade that uprooted millions and enslaved millions in hellish conditions in the Americas; christian missionaries laying the ground for European colonization; radical muslim leaders spreading their faith through violence; and an overall extremely violent and misogynistic period for women.

Condé stated in the interview that this book was meant to be a thesis at first and it shows. From the architecture, to the cuisines, to the weapons, to the rites and customs, this book is furnished brilliantly with historical detail. Like the other Maryse Condé books I've read, this story is set in multiple regions across different continents. The story begins and predominantly takes place in the kingdom of Segu which is in present-day Mali. The story is also set in Recife (Brazil), Fez (Morroco), Cape Coast (Ghana), London (Recife) among other locations. And this story shows Condé's range perfectly. show less

...I think this was the fourth time I've read this book and I still think it is an amazing read. It is one of the few novels I'm aware of that shows us an African society from the inside and succeeds in making it believable. Condé has obviously put in a lot of research into the history, culture and customs of Ségou and the result is a very good historical novel. It's a book that will make the reader a lot more aware of the fact that slave trade, religious fanaticism and colonialism left their scars on many local cultures and have sown the seeds of many of the post-colonial conflicts that still plague the continent. On the other hand it also shows this part of the world as vibrant, culturally rich and in some ways very resilient. I show more must admit that I knew very little of Mali before I read this book for the first time many years ago and that may have been the type or reader Condé was aiming for. It is a great introduction to a piece of Africa that does not show up in the history curriculum of the average western highschool student. Since that is not likely to change anytime soon, you should probably just go out and read this book.

Flull Random Comments review show less

L'esclavagisme est souvent raconté depuis les pays de destination ou depuis les côtés africaines. J'ai moins lu de roman qui parlent des pays de départ et de ce qui se vivait là, du fait des enlèvements par les blancs mais aussi d'autres mouvements, d'autres confrontations, notamment religieuses qui ont transformé ces pays, ici au 18e.

In this family saga, Segu, a Penguin Modern Classic by Maryse Condé (Author), Barbara Bray (Translator) we discover the life of a royal African dynasty deep in the heart of Segu where the power and glory is threatened with a new kind of fear - change. A new religion called Islam is on its way from the West and with it comes a cultural force to change history.

Spanning over several continents, and centuries, alternating between the lives of various characters, this is an amazing, historical story which explores African history like no other book I've read. We follow the noble, Traore family of the Bambara tribe who rule the kingdom of Segu, covering topics like the slave trade, different religions and races, and the invasion of the show more white man, through various time-periods. Admittedly this is not an easy read (for me at least) but it is an interesting one, just not my usual pick, however, I am glad to have read it. Once I got into the flow of how this story was written (it jumps around a bit) I enjoyed this eye-opening read. show less

This is a big ticket novel of breadth across several generations of a family (from Segu, natch) which tackles just about every experience of the late 18th early 19th century in the kingdom of Segu and points beyond. I had to get used to occasional "teaching" asides, and the fact that although there are many female characters they really are only important insofar as they are the lovers of males and the mothers of males, but it is really quite a gripping and interesting novel and it has a sequel (CHILDREN OF SEGU) that I need to track down.

An amazing, eye-opening novel about the Malian empire of Ségou (or Bamana Empire, or Bambara Empire; 1712-1861) that spans roughly from the 1790s to 1860, just before El Hajj Umar Tall, a Senegalese politician and founder of the Toucouleur Empire, conquered Ségou in 1861.

While there are no stand-out characters in this novel, my interest never flagged: the real protagonists are the empire of Ségou and the Bambara people. Due to the focus on the natives of West Africa, keeping track of the date as events unfold is problematic, but there is so much fascinating information that was new to me that I didn't mind.

Scottish explorer Mungo Park makes a brief cameo; little did the West African peoples realize that the importance of his show more explorations of the Niger River would prove to be far, far greater than they gave them credit at the time. show less

This is one of my all time favorite books. Fiction excels at letting us feel history. None does it better than Segu.

From Amazon.com:
"The year is 1797, and the kingdom of Segu is flourishing, fed by the wealth of its noblemen and the power of its warriors. The people of Segu, the Bambara, are guided by their griots and priests; their lives are ruled by the elements. But even their soothsayers can only hint at the changes to come, for the battle of the soul of Africa has begun. From the east comes a new religion, Islam, and from the West, the slave trade.
Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore, the king’s most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation. There is Tiekoro, who show more renounces his people’s religion and embraces Islam; Siga, who defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba, who is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali, who becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian.

Based on actual events, Segu transports the reader to a fascinating time in history, capturing the earthy spirituality, religious fervor, and violent nature of a people and a growing nation trying to cope with jihads, national rivalries, racism, amid the vagaries of commerce." show less