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impla77's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I have mixed feelings on this book. I liked the stories of the grandmothers and mothers much more than those of the children, which is really when the story becomes more intertwined. Its defo very ambitious, perhaps too much so. Just some aspects don’t really work. Also perplexed why this was even categorised as a sci fi book, let alone won awards for being a sci fi book, when the sci fi element is clumsily incorporated and almost tacked on towards the end. I would be interested in reading more books from this author, but perhaps would like a smaller scale story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Grief, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, and Kidnapping
Minor: Vomit
aegagrus's review against another edition
4.75
The Old Drift is a story about Zambia, deeply infused with a sense of place, but always approaches that place (and the project of telling its history) somewhat askance. The essential details feel almost incidental. We meander through genres, through literary voices, through moments in time, and though we are given much cause to reflect along the way (even explicitly enjoined to), the narrative is riverine, bearing us with its current and arresting reflection. Though the emplotment is in some sense intricate, and the overarching structure of the book clear and intentional, the experience of moving through this book is one of meandering: drifting.
Serpell takes us in many directions with this book. Some readers will not connect as readily to some of its themes. This is hardly a disadvantage. In the end, The Old Drift has one key virtue: for a book which could spawn endless rumination and analysis, its most essential lesson is laid out clearly, elegantly, and even explicitly. In some ways, this is a book which demands a great deal from its reader. In other ways, it is shockingly direct. The reader can -- and should -- approach the book on both levels.
Narratives about the global south, and about Africa in particular, are often strikingly deterministic. Places are the way they are for Reasons, many of those reasons located in intentional acts -- of colonialists, politicians, soldiers. The Old Drift has quite a lot to say about such people, their actions, and their reasons. But at its most essential, this book is a rejoinder to such a determinism. It is a vehicle for imaginative reinvention and critical analysis, both evoked through Serpell's beautiful and painstaking writing.
Serpell takes us in many directions with this book. Some readers will not connect as readily to some of its themes. This is hardly a disadvantage. In the end, The Old Drift has one key virtue: for a book which could spawn endless rumination and analysis, its most essential lesson is laid out clearly, elegantly, and even explicitly. In some ways, this is a book which demands a great deal from its reader. In other ways, it is shockingly direct. The reader can -- and should -- approach the book on both levels.
Narratives about the global south, and about Africa in particular, are often strikingly deterministic. Places are the way they are for Reasons, many of those reasons located in intentional acts -- of colonialists, politicians, soldiers. The Old Drift has quite a lot to say about such people, their actions, and their reasons. But at its most essential, this book is a rejoinder to such a determinism. It is a vehicle for imaginative reinvention and critical analysis, both evoked through Serpell's beautiful and painstaking writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
kelseyland's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An epic, generations-spanning story about three families whose fates are intertwined, from the colonization of Northern Rhodesia by the British to the present and future of Zambia. The prose is sharp and so artful that it's easy to miss the extraordinary way that Serpell depicts the ripple effects of seemingly insignificant moments or actions on the course of people's lives. Definitely not an easy read but one that I will be thinking about for a long time to come.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Pedophilia, and Medical trauma
ege's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book describes the lives of three generations of women in Zambia. We start in the perspective of a European colonizer, and I found his characterization refreshingly believable, but I'd avoid this book if you don't like reading from the perspective of racist characters. This book feels very gritty and real, but as a result, it is exhausting to read. For example, starting at about a quarter of the way through the book, I started feeling dread in the pit of my stomach every time a new male character is introduced, for fear of what sexual/domestic violence is going to happen this time. I'm pretty sure basically every way that a man can mistreat a woman or girl happens in the course of this book. In summary, I think this is one of those times where the star system does the author a disservice; this book is very well written, and is effective in what the author's goal was, but boy, was it just a lot to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape and Pedophilia
the_literarylinguist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual content
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia
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