Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
This book by V. S. Naipaul perfectly captures the soul of post-colonial Africa. It takes you through the landscapes, African people and how they saw themselves in the world, religion, different tribes and the civil wars, freedom and the role of newly found government.
In many ways trajectory of post-colonial Africa is similar to that of India. There were elites who studied in England, European languages which people adopted up to some extent, there is no mention of any economic advisers to the president instead policies are what president alone wants which results in blunders which again can be compared with Nehru's 5 year 'planning' socialist policies, attempt at modernizing Africa or becoming like western developed world while keeping age old African wisdom intact. All through the eyes of Indian origin merchant - Terrific.
In many ways trajectory of post-colonial Africa is similar to that of India. There were elites who studied in England, European languages which people adopted up to some extent, there is no mention of any economic advisers to the president instead policies are what president alone wants which results in blunders which again can be compared with Nehru's 5 year 'planning' socialist policies, attempt at modernizing Africa or becoming like western developed world while keeping age old African wisdom intact. All through the eyes of Indian origin merchant - Terrific.
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Would have been rated higher if not for that weak, rushed ending. :(
challenging
dark
medium-paced
An inward facing novel about the end of colonialism in Africa. The story is told from an interesting perspective that highlights the layer cake of society that is Africa during this time period- I didn't even realize there were all these business-minded Indian/Arabic transplants hanging around before those pesky Europeans. But they were. And it's so complicated- there's a clear hierarchy based on race/wealth/tribe and who knows what else, the dissolution of which is completely terrifying and the content of much of this book. The jail experience at the end of the book sums up exactly how disorienting this slow process of the unraveling of the social fabric is for those living it. For a non-African to be jailed is frightening and novel enough, but they are not yet quite at the point of beating the living tar out of him like the Africans they drag in from the bush. It is clearly the next step, however.
It can be frustrating, too, this middle perspective. The "Africans" blend into the background, mostly relegated to the marketplace, greedy bureaucrats, and the rubbish heaps dotting the streets in between (unnamed)'s apartment and the squash players at the Hellenic Club. There's a sense that the "real Africa" is unknowable, even to this guy living there all his life. One foot on the continent, another on the almost imaginary place his family originally comes from.
A couple interesting exceptions were Zabeth and Ferdinand. Ferdinand in particular becomes a symbol of the "New African," a young boy growing up during the transition who keeps trying on different identity caps. I'm using a whole lotta quotes here but it feels necessary, so many Concepts and People Standing in For Concepts. Anyway, he's got the Western education and all the alleged advantages that the end of the colonial period offered, but also a nagging sense of burden that he must Define His Country but first decide what, exactly, that country is.
It's such a strange mix of highflown ideals and greedy self-interest. I was holding my breath to see which won out in the end, which I won't spoil here. But I found it strangely unputdownable for a book in which not much really...happens.
It can be frustrating, too, this middle perspective. The "Africans" blend into the background, mostly relegated to the marketplace, greedy bureaucrats, and the rubbish heaps dotting the streets in between (unnamed)'s apartment and the squash players at the Hellenic Club. There's a sense that the "real Africa" is unknowable, even to this guy living there all his life. One foot on the continent, another on the almost imaginary place his family originally comes from.
A couple interesting exceptions were Zabeth and Ferdinand. Ferdinand in particular becomes a symbol of the "New African," a young boy growing up during the transition who keeps trying on different identity caps. I'm using a whole lotta quotes here but it feels necessary, so many Concepts and People Standing in For Concepts. Anyway, he's got the Western education and all the alleged advantages that the end of the colonial period offered, but also a nagging sense of burden that he must Define His Country but first decide what, exactly, that country is.
It's such a strange mix of highflown ideals and greedy self-interest. I was holding my breath to see which won out in the end, which I won't spoil here. But I found it strangely unputdownable for a book in which not much really...happens.
No real plot, but more the study of continent in transition. As Africa becomes more global and more modern it was fascinating to see how it looked to an outsider 35 years ago, when the footprints of colonialism were still fresh.
Originally published on my blog here in November 1999.
Many parts of Africa in the seventies must have been bewildering, terrifying places to live. The driving forces for instability were very strong, based partly on the conflicting feelings of the recently independent nations towards the former colonial powers: hatred of what they had stood for, jealousy of their wealth, and a desperate desire to be as "advanced". The need for the West to provide the status symbols the new nations desperately wanted combined with hatred for those who provided them, together with corruption on a vast scale caused massive instability socially and economically, as the influence of foreign corporations fought the new feelings of nationalism.
Naipaul dramatises this conflict through the story of Salim, a member of one of the trading families of Arab descent from Africa's east coast. When nationalism in his home country destroys the family business, he travels into the interior of the continent to an unnamed town on a bend of an unnamed river flowing through an unnamed country. There, he takes over one of the businesses of a family friend, the man whose daughter everyone expects him to eventually marry.
Through Salim, Naipaul has a character who is both an insider and an outsider: African rather than European, yet still foreign. This means he can be more involved in African society than any European, yet still observe it from the outside. He can stand back from anti-colonial antagonism and also sympathise with it.
With this carefully chosen central character, Napaul tries to convey something of what Africa was like in the mid seventies (the book being written at the end of that decade). He manages to show the reader the Africa behind the corrupt politics, the self-glorifying dictators, the poverty that are the common images of the continent.
Many parts of Africa in the seventies must have been bewildering, terrifying places to live. The driving forces for instability were very strong, based partly on the conflicting feelings of the recently independent nations towards the former colonial powers: hatred of what they had stood for, jealousy of their wealth, and a desperate desire to be as "advanced". The need for the West to provide the status symbols the new nations desperately wanted combined with hatred for those who provided them, together with corruption on a vast scale caused massive instability socially and economically, as the influence of foreign corporations fought the new feelings of nationalism.
Naipaul dramatises this conflict through the story of Salim, a member of one of the trading families of Arab descent from Africa's east coast. When nationalism in his home country destroys the family business, he travels into the interior of the continent to an unnamed town on a bend of an unnamed river flowing through an unnamed country. There, he takes over one of the businesses of a family friend, the man whose daughter everyone expects him to eventually marry.
Through Salim, Naipaul has a character who is both an insider and an outsider: African rather than European, yet still foreign. This means he can be more involved in African society than any European, yet still observe it from the outside. He can stand back from anti-colonial antagonism and also sympathise with it.
With this carefully chosen central character, Napaul tries to convey something of what Africa was like in the mid seventies (the book being written at the end of that decade). He manages to show the reader the Africa behind the corrupt politics, the self-glorifying dictators, the poverty that are the common images of the continent.
Salim, an ethnic Indian living in Africa, buys a business from a friend and tries to make a go of it in a spot on an African river, a prime spot for commerce, during a bad time in Africa’s history.
He struggles to keep going with his business while things in Africa deteriorate from bad to worse.
Salim, in the meantime, struggles within himself to figure out what is right and what is wrong in a very confusing world.
He struggles to keep going with his business while things in Africa deteriorate from bad to worse.
Salim, in the meantime, struggles within himself to figure out what is right and what is wrong in a very confusing world.
I first read this book years ago when I was in college and was buring through post-colonial works at the recommendation of a friend. I went back to it last month for my book club and it was even better on second read (listen? I used audio books). Themes: post colonialism, displacement, economic cycles, dictators, immigrant self-doubt and psyche, migration, economic migration, new world vs old world/ globalization, intellectual missionaries. It's really dark and good.