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astralvirgo25's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
cottonquilts's review against another edition
5.0
To me, the Middle East is a true crossroad of the world and this really comes to light in Black Mamba Boy. In the book, it seems Jama’s quest takes him throughout the entire region where he is exposed to so many languages, foods, colors and vistas that they can’t help but enrich and educate him. His survival depends upon him learning to know when to trust people and situations because he thinks he has no one but himself to rely upon.
It’s hard to remember how young Jama actually is when he loses his parents because he spends so much of his life hustling to stay alive. Jama shifts from place to place, first to find his father, then I think because he’s just unable to stay in one place because he never has. He wonders throughout lands in Africa and in the Middle East learning what it’s like to be a foreigner in his own land because he has no family and because the British and the Italians are claiming and redefining the territory. His wondering is not aimless, he does have purpose in his adventure.
There is a mystical nature to the book reference in the title. Also, Jama’s parents appear to him in visions to provide guidance and comfort. In fact, there’s a lot to this book. It is steeped with the history of the beginnings of WWII, colored with the geography and spiced with food and language. There are a few clunky passages but it is a well told story. This is one of the few books recently that I didn’t try to skim through passages and finish quickly. I actually let myself savor each word so that I could create a movie in my head while reading.
It’s hard to remember how young Jama actually is when he loses his parents because he spends so much of his life hustling to stay alive. Jama shifts from place to place, first to find his father, then I think because he’s just unable to stay in one place because he never has. He wonders throughout lands in Africa and in the Middle East learning what it’s like to be a foreigner in his own land because he has no family and because the British and the Italians are claiming and redefining the territory. His wondering is not aimless, he does have purpose in his adventure.
There is a mystical nature to the book reference in the title. Also, Jama’s parents appear to him in visions to provide guidance and comfort. In fact, there’s a lot to this book. It is steeped with the history of the beginnings of WWII, colored with the geography and spiced with food and language. There are a few clunky passages but it is a well told story. This is one of the few books recently that I didn’t try to skim through passages and finish quickly. I actually let myself savor each word so that I could create a movie in my head while reading.
readingnomad's review against another edition
3.0
Black Mamba Boy is a semi-autobiography of the life of Nadifa’s father, Jama. The story starts with him growing up in Aden, Yemen, where he lives with his mother, who fled Somalia, on her quest to find a job and better life after his father left them. Jama is stripped of everything after life on the tough streets of Aden got the best of him and is determined by any means to find his estranged father.
His determination takes him on a tumultuous journey through various cities across the Middle East and East Africa, as the story focuses on him. .
Nadifa’s writing gives a striking image of Jama’s experience throughout his journey, walking across the desert and carrying out labour intensive jobs in order to survive. The vivid scenes convey emotion, making the reader sympathise with Jama.
An important part of Jama’s journey happens in Eritrea where much of the book takes place, during the 1930’s Italian occupation. Nadifa’s skillful writing is on display in describing the colonial daily life in Eritrea through segregation and the less than kind treatment of Africans. This is a story of resilience and unrelentingly chasing one’s fate as none of the challenges deterred Jama. .
Thanks to Twitter a couple of years ago, I learnt of the involvement of Africans in the Second World War who were recruited to fight for their colonizers. This is my first read on the subject and it is a enlightening introduction. In Black Mamba Boy, Nadifa highlights the impact the war had on African soldiers. I feel this is a story that had to be told and I’m glad Nadifa did. A part of me wishes it was non-fiction as i kept wondering to myself which parts of this important story is fiction.
His determination takes him on a tumultuous journey through various cities across the Middle East and East Africa, as the story focuses on him. .
Nadifa’s writing gives a striking image of Jama’s experience throughout his journey, walking across the desert and carrying out labour intensive jobs in order to survive. The vivid scenes convey emotion, making the reader sympathise with Jama.
An important part of Jama’s journey happens in Eritrea where much of the book takes place, during the 1930’s Italian occupation. Nadifa’s skillful writing is on display in describing the colonial daily life in Eritrea through segregation and the less than kind treatment of Africans. This is a story of resilience and unrelentingly chasing one’s fate as none of the challenges deterred Jama. .
Thanks to Twitter a couple of years ago, I learnt of the involvement of Africans in the Second World War who were recruited to fight for their colonizers. This is my first read on the subject and it is a enlightening introduction. In Black Mamba Boy, Nadifa highlights the impact the war had on African soldiers. I feel this is a story that had to be told and I’m glad Nadifa did. A part of me wishes it was non-fiction as i kept wondering to myself which parts of this important story is fiction.
iced_mochas's review against another edition
4.0
Black Mamba Boy (350-word review with comment from writer):
“One by one, the planets Jama’s life orbited around had spun away and left him in a universe where he was just debris floating in a starless obscurity.”
Jama’s treacherous journey as a child is heart-wrenchingly painful, set off only by light moments of relief and small morsels of hope. Nadifa Mohamed serenades the reader through beautifully vivid metaphors, colourful dialogue and scenes of nauseating unmasked brutality (she doesn’t hold back) to retrace her own father’s footsteps.
As a principled and determined street child, Jama flees poverty and war to reach some kind of notion of a family. His masculinity is gently shaped by inner turmoil and emotional vulnerability — characteristics which we recognise in the courageous Shidane and the sweet fatherly Idea. Strokes of luck and tribal nuances facilitate Jama’s continued survival — but, oh boy, it’s remarkable that he makes it.
Most pertinently, and perhaps inadvertently, Black Mamba Boy triumphs as a history lesson. Set from 1935 to 1947, the novel takes us through the streets of a hunger-ridden, but charmingly cosmopolitan Aden in Yemen; it carries us in lorries and buses to Somaliland and Djibouti; it allows us to witness both the idyllic prosperity and the fierce barrenness of isolated villages in Eritrea; it enables us to cross deserts into Sudan, Egypt and Palestine; and sets us sailing in a prison ship full of Jewish refugees to Europe.
Above all, we are introduced to the merciless dehumanisation of African bodies in the Second World War, as the author paints a picture of the ugly, gluttonous face of Italian fascism and senseless British imperialism that pervade Jama’s teens.
I wondered if Nadifa Mohamed had visited the places that her father struggled through. She told me: “Yes, I went to Eritrea, Somaliland and Djibouti, but not Yemen or Egypt. Going to East Africa brought the texture and sensual details of the book to life.”
To better understand where we are, and, quite frankly, to learn about African countries that rarely enter our popular consciousness, Black Mamba Boy is an essential read. Brace yourselves.
https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007315772/black-mamba-boy
“One by one, the planets Jama’s life orbited around had spun away and left him in a universe where he was just debris floating in a starless obscurity.”
Jama’s treacherous journey as a child is heart-wrenchingly painful, set off only by light moments of relief and small morsels of hope. Nadifa Mohamed serenades the reader through beautifully vivid metaphors, colourful dialogue and scenes of nauseating unmasked brutality (she doesn’t hold back) to retrace her own father’s footsteps.
As a principled and determined street child, Jama flees poverty and war to reach some kind of notion of a family. His masculinity is gently shaped by inner turmoil and emotional vulnerability — characteristics which we recognise in the courageous Shidane and the sweet fatherly Idea. Strokes of luck and tribal nuances facilitate Jama’s continued survival — but, oh boy, it’s remarkable that he makes it.
Most pertinently, and perhaps inadvertently, Black Mamba Boy triumphs as a history lesson. Set from 1935 to 1947, the novel takes us through the streets of a hunger-ridden, but charmingly cosmopolitan Aden in Yemen; it carries us in lorries and buses to Somaliland and Djibouti; it allows us to witness both the idyllic prosperity and the fierce barrenness of isolated villages in Eritrea; it enables us to cross deserts into Sudan, Egypt and Palestine; and sets us sailing in a prison ship full of Jewish refugees to Europe.
Above all, we are introduced to the merciless dehumanisation of African bodies in the Second World War, as the author paints a picture of the ugly, gluttonous face of Italian fascism and senseless British imperialism that pervade Jama’s teens.
I wondered if Nadifa Mohamed had visited the places that her father struggled through. She told me: “Yes, I went to Eritrea, Somaliland and Djibouti, but not Yemen or Egypt. Going to East Africa brought the texture and sensual details of the book to life.”
To better understand where we are, and, quite frankly, to learn about African countries that rarely enter our popular consciousness, Black Mamba Boy is an essential read. Brace yourselves.
https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780007315772/black-mamba-boy
keeganrb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Racism
Moderate: Torture, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Antisemitism and Genocide
novellenovels's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hisdarkmaterials's review against another edition
3.0
Beautiful descriptions and an interesting story but at times it felt a bit all over the place like I was following someone's dream rather than a structured story.
anabfleal's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.25