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Fired from her job as editor of a national newspaper because of government disapproval of her editorial policies, Medina tries to give her daughter, Ubax, a sense of dignity and self-worth.Tags
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A difficult read this one, mostly because it is dark, grey, very internal, with an oppressive government just looming behind everyone. Sardines follows the lives of Medina, who loses her job as the editor of the national newspaper of Somalia. She struggles to bring up her young daughter Ubax, as her friend Sagal is herself trying to figure out whether she wants to flee Somalia or take part in some subversive political action, and discovering that she might be pregnant. Farah tends towards metaphors and lyrical, but meandering prose, but Sardines was in the end an interesting, complex read. Sardines is part two of Farah’s Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship trilogy which also includes Sweet and Sour Milk and Close show more Sesame, which, judging from Sardines, can be read independently. show less
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23+ Works 1,948 Members
MAPS, Nuruddin Farah, 0-14-029643-3 The 1998 laureate of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, Nuruddin Farah has been described as "one of the finest contemporary African novelists" (Salman Rushdie). Farah was born in 1945, in what is now Somalia (what was then the Italian Somaliland), in Baidoa, and grew up in Kallafo, under Ethiopian show more rule in Ogaden. The ethnically and linguistically mixed area of his childhood contributred to his early fascination with literature. He spoke Somali at his home but at school learned Amharic, Italian, Arabic, and English. Farah worked for the Ministry of Education in Somalia before leaving for India to study philosophy and literature. His first novel, From a "Crooked Rib", was published in 1970; it has since achieved worldwide cult status, admired for its empathetic portrait of a Somali woman struggling with the restraints of traditional Somali society. It was followed by "A Naked Needle" (1976). Farah's next three novels, "Sweet and Sour Milk" (1979), "Sardines" (1981) and "Close Sesame" (1983), form the trilogy collectively known as "Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship". Upon the publication of "Sweet and Sour Milk", which won the English Speaking Union Literary Award, Farah became persona non grata in his native Somalia. In exile, Farah began what has become a lifelong literary project: "to keep my country alive by writing about it." The "Variations" trilogy was followed by the "Blood in the Sun" trilogy, which consists of "Maps" (1986), "Gifts" (1992), and "Secrets" (1998). Farah lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with his wife and two children. show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Sardines
- Original title
- Sardines; Close sesame
- Original publication date
- 1981; 1983
- Important places*
- Somalië
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Languages
- Dutch, English, French, German
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- Paper
- ISBNs
- 10
