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A review by kba76
Segu by Maryse Condé
3.0
Started in August, put down and picked up a number of times, then restarted in September. My star rating has to reflect my enjoyment/experience of reading, and this was quite a feat to finish. While I recognise its place within a body of literature, this was not a book I could say I enjoyed.
The setting of Segu and the historical period is a fascinating one. It’s not a period/time that will tend to be taught in history in British schools, and I was intrigued by the mention of Nanny de Maroon very late on. I would have liked to know more about this, but focusing on the personal lives of the characters made it quite hard to really understand the experiences faced by many.
Telling the tale of conflict through the character of Dousika and his children does allow us to invest time in their lives, but it led to a rather distanced sensation from my understanding of the historical element.
My biggest gripe with the book was, I thought, going to be the presentation of race. This fell into many of the stereotypes I expected, but as we moved into the latter stages and the character heading to England I thought the author started to tackle the way we perceive race. It was not quite the negative portrayal I was assuming we would get - at least in regards to race.
The off-putting element for me was the way women were presented throughout. Perhaps it’s a cultural difference, but I found myself wincing at the misogynistic attitudes to women that were prevalent. The women - though they seem integral to the lives of the families - are brutalised and dehumanised. Men take from them what they like and they are passed from brother to brother, mere possessions. The repeated rapes and the attempts to rationalise such behaviour left me open-mouthed. I don’t know enough about the author to know if this was a deliberate strategy.
This was chosen as our book club read…and I’m fairly sure I won’t be the only one hoping for something quite different next month.
The setting of Segu and the historical period is a fascinating one. It’s not a period/time that will tend to be taught in history in British schools, and I was intrigued by the mention of Nanny de Maroon very late on. I would have liked to know more about this, but focusing on the personal lives of the characters made it quite hard to really understand the experiences faced by many.
Telling the tale of conflict through the character of Dousika and his children does allow us to invest time in their lives, but it led to a rather distanced sensation from my understanding of the historical element.
My biggest gripe with the book was, I thought, going to be the presentation of race. This fell into many of the stereotypes I expected, but as we moved into the latter stages and the character heading to England I thought the author started to tackle the way we perceive race. It was not quite the negative portrayal I was assuming we would get - at least in regards to race.
The off-putting element for me was the way women were presented throughout. Perhaps it’s a cultural difference, but I found myself wincing at the misogynistic attitudes to women that were prevalent. The women - though they seem integral to the lives of the families - are brutalised and dehumanised. Men take from them what they like and they are passed from brother to brother, mere possessions. The repeated rapes and the attempts to rationalise such behaviour left me open-mouthed. I don’t know enough about the author to know if this was a deliberate strategy.
This was chosen as our book club read…and I’m fairly sure I won’t be the only one hoping for something quite different next month.