Scan barcode
bookwomble's review
5.0
From the reviews of others, my initial reaction (as a Westerner) to this book seems a common one: WTF am I reading?! However, without wishing to uproot it from its African soil, the folklore motif of a person lost in the otherworldly realm of spirits is universal: the Faerie of the Celts and Britons, and the land of Xibalba of the Quichi Maya springing to mind. Actually, the adventures of the twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué from the Popol Vuh are probably the closest thing I've read to "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" in terms of atmosphere.
So, a seven-year-old boy escapes from soldiers and unknowingly wanders into the spirit world. His experiences are nightmarish, comical, disturbing and wonderful. There is little in the way of plot, other than the boy's desire to return to earthly life, but it is in the reader's exposure to the surreal world of non-conscious experience that the book's power lies.
So, a seven-year-old boy escapes from soldiers and unknowingly wanders into the spirit world. His experiences are nightmarish, comical, disturbing and wonderful. There is little in the way of plot, other than the boy's desire to return to earthly life, but it is in the reader's exposure to the surreal world of non-conscious experience that the book's power lies.
kara666's review against another edition
3.0
It's this weird bildungsroman about a boy who gets separated from his village and family and has to survive in the world of 'bush ghosts' on his own. It has a lot of folkloric and horror elements.
-"And it was that day I believed that if fear is overmuch, a person would not fear for anything again."
-good/sad/beautiful part about singing the sad song of his village
-so much sacrificing, dancing, and feasting
-get-togethers, conferences,
-'flash-eyed mother' chapter reads like adventure time
-surreal, dreamlike, nighmarish, but also kind of funny
-also, gross, lots of bodily descriptions of smells and ugly excretions
-"I shall not do any evil work throught my life-time in this Bush of Ghosts."
-"clean places are driving a dirty person away as if it will hurt him." in the nameless town chapter.
-several scenes of him in front of figures of authority having to answer for a misdeed or mistake he did not wilfully do. kings, gods, judges, wizardkings, etc.
The final statement is so jarring, but also makes a lot of sense.
-"And it was that day I believed that if fear is overmuch, a person would not fear for anything again."
-good/sad/beautiful part about singing the sad song of his village
-so much sacrificing, dancing, and feasting
-get-togethers, conferences,
-'flash-eyed mother' chapter reads like adventure time
-surreal, dreamlike, nighmarish, but also kind of funny
-also, gross, lots of bodily descriptions of smells and ugly excretions
-"I shall not do any evil work throught my life-time in this Bush of Ghosts."
-"clean places are driving a dirty person away as if it will hurt him." in the nameless town chapter.
-several scenes of him in front of figures of authority having to answer for a misdeed or mistake he did not wilfully do. kings, gods, judges, wizardkings, etc.
The final statement is so jarring, but also makes a lot of sense.
More...