Told by Starlight in Chad

The history of a people is indeed unbroken; it cannot be distorted, it cannot be truncated, much less extinguished, by an ill-conceived act or by a policy tending to the cult of personality. It constitutes the only guarantee of a people's progress.

An excellent collection of short myths, legends, and folk tales from Chad. This book deserves to be far better known than it is, and I'm half tempted to shell out fifteen bucks to Amazon to have my own copy.

The book presents a collection of fourteen traditional folk tales and legends gathered by Joseph Brahim Seid from across the territory of present-day Chad. As part of the oral tradition of every culture, these legends recount stories of the nation’s greatness, its history, and the universal human virtues shared by its people. They teach children to distinguish good from evil, cultivate moral values, and convey the belief that good ultimately prevails, while evil does not go unpunished.

The final, fourteenth tale in the collection stands in dramatic contrast to the others. And although its roots draw on folk legends about the misanthropic king Choua, the author’s voice in this story is strikingly clear and carries a modern social show more message—one that is well worth quoting, namely: “The history of a people is indeed unbroken; it cannot be distorted, it cannot be truncated, much less extinguished, by an ill-conceived act or by a policy tending to the cult of personality. It constitutes the only guarantee of a people's progress”. show less

This compact book tells traditional stories and folk tales from the African nation of Chad. This is a translation done in 2006, published in 2007, of a much older book written originally in French. (The translator engaged with the author's daughter in Chad during the translation process.) The book includes 14 tales the author describes as traditional stories that are recounted during nights by the fire during village celebrations. Directionally similar to A Thousand Nights and a Night, the stories are often archetypal, but they are much shorter and geographically specific to Chad. Sometime quaint and clever but more often laden with artificially erudite and unnecessary adjectives, the book leaves one wishing they could experience the show more stories orally around a fire in the African savanna. show less

A slim collection of stories—some folk tales, some origin stories, some tales of rulers from as recently as the 18th century—from the central African nation of Chad. There's a clear emphasis on both the ancient continuity and legitimacy of the various ethnic groups/peoples which have populated the region since long before the emergence of the modern nation state, and on the influence of Islam in Chad.

Chad.

Seid recreates fables--some religious, some moral, some just stories--from his native Chad. They were pleasant to read, and gave some background of the Chadian people. They are probably better heard than read. I wasn't especially engaged by this, but it was a nice change of pace.