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r_eva's review against another edition
2.0
I loved this book and it's great to finally get to read what Ngugi went through while in prison. I enjoyed the book up until the middle where he launched into a history of white occupation of Kenya while comparing the situation to the political leaders of his time. I honestly struggled to get past that part of the book, and if it had not been included or been so long winded, this book would have gotten 5 stars from me.
logbook's review against another edition
5.0
While I volunteer with a prison abolitionist organization and have worked on a legal prison rights case, I had zero knowledge about Kenya's prison system, let alone its history or politics, before reading this book. The chapters flit between Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's thoughts in prison and the study of the past. He is exceptional at marrying all this information, so it was a captivating and educational read. I learned so much about the effects of [neo-]colonialism in Kenya and highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the resistance of capitalism and cultural imperialism.
Note: I received an advance copy from The New Press through an Instagram giveaway.
Note: I received an advance copy from The New Press through an Instagram giveaway.
jeninmotion's review against another edition
4.0
This was hard to get through because I don't know nearly enough colonial and postcolonial Kenyan history and the sheer injustice hit close to home. Beautifully written, amazing amount of anti-colonial theory and practice in the thing while also being this straightforward memoir of prison. Just fantastic.
mad_taylh's review against another edition
4.0
"The act of imprisoning Democrats, progressive intellectuals, and militant workers reveals many things. It is first an admission by the authorities that they know they have been seen. By signing the detention orders, they acknowledge that the people have seen through their official lies labeled as a new philosophy, their pretensions wrapped in three-piece suits and gold chains, their propaganda packed as religious truth, their plastic smiles ordered from abroad, their nationally televised charitable handouts and breast-beatings before the high altar, their high-sounding phrases and ready-to-shed tears at the site of naked children fighting cats and dogs for a trash heap, that all have seen these performances of benign benevolence for what they truly are: a calculated sugar-coating of the immoral sale and mortgage of a whole country, it's people and resources, to Euro-American and Japanese capital for a few million dollars in Swiss banks and a few token shares in foreign companies."
jacob_wren's review against another edition
5.0
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o writes:
Indeed, the right to strike was a worker’s basic human right: it was only the enslaved, because it has been taken away from them, who had no right to bargain for what they should be given for the use of their labor power. If a worker is unable to strike, then he is in the position of the enslaved.
Indeed, the right to strike was a worker’s basic human right: it was only the enslaved, because it has been taken away from them, who had no right to bargain for what they should be given for the use of their labor power. If a worker is unable to strike, then he is in the position of the enslaved.
lilcoppertop's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
queraltsaula's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I liked it very much even though it explains a hard true story of a political prisoner that had to suffer extremely cruel conditions which included being inside his cell for 23 hours straight every single day, all because he had written a play in one of Kenya's languages.
The first half of the book is a summary of Kenya's history during the XX century: from the british colonialism, to independence and the rising of neocolonialism. A very complex and hard topic that I personally knew very little from.
Although this book is dense and sometimes a little disorganized I think it's a must read if you want to learn more about the consequences of colonialism from a politic, social, but most important, from a human point of view.
The first half of the book is a summary of Kenya's history during the XX century: from the british colonialism, to independence and the rising of neocolonialism. A very complex and hard topic that I personally knew very little from.
Although this book is dense and sometimes a little disorganized I think it's a must read if you want to learn more about the consequences of colonialism from a politic, social, but most important, from a human point of view.
skitch41's review
3.0
Colonialism has cast a long shadow over the history of modern Africa. The injustice many Africans endured under colonial oppression is hard to imagine or stomach. And the legacy that it left behind is one that Africans still struggle with into the present. In this edited reprint of his prison memoirs from the 1980s, Mr. Thiong’o not only retells his political imprisonments, but reflects on how British colonialism and its legacy played a major role in his and others’ political imprisonment.
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o is one of the most famous East African authors writing today. In the late 1970s. His plays, written in a local language about the people, landed him in political prison. During that time, he wrote his novel, Devil on the Cross, on toilet paper during his time in jail. The first chapters and the second half of this book deal with his time in prison, how he hid his writings from his jailers, and the constant struggles he and the other political prisoners faced to keep hope alive. This part of the book is fascinating and for anyone interested in freedom, you’ll enjoy it.
However, after the first chapters, most of the first half of the book is Thiong’o’s reflections on Kenya’s colonial and post-colonial past, drawing the connection between British imperialism and the repressive political tactics Kenya’s leader at the time engaged in. As someone who is rather unfamiliar with the history of colonialism in Africa and its legacy, this book was a bit of a slog. While he made the connections pretty clearly, my unfamiliarity with what he was talking about made it difficult to understand what he was saying. Perhaps, after learning more about European colonialism in Africa, I will better understand and appreciate what Mr. Thiong’o is saying.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I will need to learn more about Africa’s colonial past to truly appreciate this book.
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o is one of the most famous East African authors writing today. In the late 1970s. His plays, written in a local language about the people, landed him in political prison. During that time, he wrote his novel, Devil on the Cross, on toilet paper during his time in jail. The first chapters and the second half of this book deal with his time in prison, how he hid his writings from his jailers, and the constant struggles he and the other political prisoners faced to keep hope alive. This part of the book is fascinating and for anyone interested in freedom, you’ll enjoy it.
However, after the first chapters, most of the first half of the book is Thiong’o’s reflections on Kenya’s colonial and post-colonial past, drawing the connection between British imperialism and the repressive political tactics Kenya’s leader at the time engaged in. As someone who is rather unfamiliar with the history of colonialism in Africa and its legacy, this book was a bit of a slog. While he made the connections pretty clearly, my unfamiliarity with what he was talking about made it difficult to understand what he was saying. Perhaps, after learning more about European colonialism in Africa, I will better understand and appreciate what Mr. Thiong’o is saying.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I will need to learn more about Africa’s colonial past to truly appreciate this book.