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blanchreads 's review for:
Glory
by NoViolet Bulawayo
I was kind of hesitant to read this at first knowing that the characters are animals. I was about to return the copy but then the Booker Prize announced it as one of the short lists. I knew I have to read it and glad I did! My third Booker Prize in the list and love all of them.
Even if the characters are all animals, while I am reading it, I sort of feel like all the characters, events, actions are real. Haven’t read George Orwell’s Animal Farm so I don’t have a comparison but Bulawayo makes the story so relatable to many of us. This story reminds me of my own country, Philippines, during the time we ousted our dictator president in 1986. The atrocities, hardship, struggles, killings, injustices mentioned are all the same as ours. And to think, the same family came back into power now when the son of the dictator became the current president. Oh well, that’s for another story.
Going back to Glory, it is a political satire inspired by the ousted Robert Mugabe in November 2017, Zimbabwe’s president for almost forty years. The story centers on the fall of Old Horse, the long serving leader of the fictional country Jidada, who rules the nation of animals for forty years. There are chorus of voices of animals that tell the ruthlessness of the government. After being ousted, another self-serving leader takes office leaving Jidada in a much bad state as when left by the Old Horse. And there is Destiny, who returned to Jidada from exile and bears witness to the injustices before and during that pave way to the revolution by her countrymen. As with all stories, the end signifies there is a future to be seen, hope and peace are possibilities and within reach.
The author use of animals to convey her message without being rebellious is ingenious. She uses humor, irony and exaggeration in telling hard truths. You don’t have to experience these to emphatize with them. Though I am not familiar with what happened to Zimbabwe, this resonates more with me more as I imagine my country while reading this. It’s a much needed reminder that history can repeat itself if only we allow them and we become complacent.
Recommend you read this one. Truly deserving to be in the Booker Prize short list.
Even if the characters are all animals, while I am reading it, I sort of feel like all the characters, events, actions are real. Haven’t read George Orwell’s Animal Farm so I don’t have a comparison but Bulawayo makes the story so relatable to many of us. This story reminds me of my own country, Philippines, during the time we ousted our dictator president in 1986. The atrocities, hardship, struggles, killings, injustices mentioned are all the same as ours. And to think, the same family came back into power now when the son of the dictator became the current president. Oh well, that’s for another story.
Going back to Glory, it is a political satire inspired by the ousted Robert Mugabe in November 2017, Zimbabwe’s president for almost forty years. The story centers on the fall of Old Horse, the long serving leader of the fictional country Jidada, who rules the nation of animals for forty years. There are chorus of voices of animals that tell the ruthlessness of the government. After being ousted, another self-serving leader takes office leaving Jidada in a much bad state as when left by the Old Horse. And there is Destiny, who returned to Jidada from exile and bears witness to the injustices before and during that pave way to the revolution by her countrymen. As with all stories, the end signifies there is a future to be seen, hope and peace are possibilities and within reach.
The author use of animals to convey her message without being rebellious is ingenious. She uses humor, irony and exaggeration in telling hard truths. You don’t have to experience these to emphatize with them. Though I am not familiar with what happened to Zimbabwe, this resonates more with me more as I imagine my country while reading this. It’s a much needed reminder that history can repeat itself if only we allow them and we become complacent.
Recommend you read this one. Truly deserving to be in the Booker Prize short list.