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dynamo170's review against another edition
4.0
A good story and interesting historical stuff about Africa in the Second World War we should all know more about.
lindseyshannon34's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad. super interesting look at Somalia before WWII...lots of insight into how colonialism made a mess of everything.
theoneana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
katheastman's review against another edition
3.0
This debut novel is a fictionalised account of a real journey from Africa to Europe that the author's father set out on, while he was still a boy.
It is an incredible story about a remarkable person and I had to keep reminding myself that it had actually happened, as I was reading. I found the first 100+ pages rich in descriptive prose but overly sentimental, although I understand that this might have been due to the author grafting the griot tradition, which is that of a praise-singer and bardic in nature, onto the narrative.
Once the boy's journey gets underway, I noticed this aspect less and was drawn into his story more and more. It is shocking, brutal and gruesome in places and makes for a disturbing read, but there are also acts of kindness throughout, mostly from members of the boy's scattered nomadic tribe. It's an important story about displacement and the ugliest face of colonialism in East Africa. One that needed to be told, and deserves to be read.
This is another book that I read as part of a book group run by the Guardian on Twitter (#FBAchat). It discussed the shortlist for the 2010 Guardian First Book Award Prize leading up to the winner (Alexandra Harris for her book, Romantic Moderns) being announced on 1st December 2010.
It is an incredible story about a remarkable person and I had to keep reminding myself that it had actually happened, as I was reading. I found the first 100+ pages rich in descriptive prose but overly sentimental, although I understand that this might have been due to the author grafting the griot tradition, which is that of a praise-singer and bardic in nature, onto the narrative.
Once the boy's journey gets underway, I noticed this aspect less and was drawn into his story more and more. It is shocking, brutal and gruesome in places and makes for a disturbing read, but there are also acts of kindness throughout, mostly from members of the boy's scattered nomadic tribe. It's an important story about displacement and the ugliest face of colonialism in East Africa. One that needed to be told, and deserves to be read.
This is another book that I read as part of a book group run by the Guardian on Twitter (#FBAchat). It discussed the shortlist for the 2010 Guardian First Book Award Prize leading up to the winner (Alexandra Harris for her book, Romantic Moderns) being announced on 1st December 2010.
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Black Mamba Boy is based on the author’s father’ journey as a young boy in the 1930s and 40s. It provides some interesting insights into the realities of life for a child alone and to some of the impacts of World War II on Africa and its people. Parallels to The Odyssey were obvious.
secretbookcase's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
jw2869's review against another edition
3.0
It was a little bit challenging for me to get into the book at first - i'm not sure if it was the unfamiliar terminology or the writing style but I stuck with it. The book definitely gets in a groove after awhile and it exposed me to Somalia in the 30s and 40s from the perspective of a child. Definitely not my useful read but I liked it (didn't love it) but it was a good read.
onerodeahorse's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful and powerful novel about a boy's journey across northeastern Africa, to find first his father and then himself during the 30s and 40s, taking in Yemen, Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt, Palestine and more, and which deals pretty unflinchingly with the cruelty of the European colonization of Africa. Despite some weird inconsistencies in voice and some occasionally clumsy writing, the book is by turns graceful and brutal and definitely worth your time.