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A review by gpettey19
In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo
3.0
This was less fictional narrative than it was non-fictional recounting of events and circumstances but without the actual facts and data to back it up. Not what I had hoped for, but I'll definitely try one of her Tadjo's other works.
It never used to be like that in my village, where death was always welcomed. Everyone accepted it, in the same way they knew that the earth must rest before it can bring forth a new harvest. To leave a deceased person alone, all by himself, was unthinkable. To keep him company was a sacred duty, and an opportunity for the villagers to come together to eat and drink, sing, weep, and dance around him. They would talk to him, reassuring him about the grave that awaited him. The words they would murmur to him came straight from the heart. They would ask the deceased to counsel them one last time. They would touch him, adjusting his ceremonial garments so that he would always look beautiful. They would celebrate his passage on earth. Death was a part of daily life; everyone addressed it in informal terms. It was familiar to them.
It never used to be like that in my village, where death was always welcomed. Everyone accepted it, in the same way they knew that the earth must rest before it can bring forth a new harvest. To leave a deceased person alone, all by himself, was unthinkable. To keep him company was a sacred duty, and an opportunity for the villagers to come together to eat and drink, sing, weep, and dance around him. They would talk to him, reassuring him about the grave that awaited him. The words they would murmur to him came straight from the heart. They would ask the deceased to counsel them one last time. They would touch him, adjusting his ceremonial garments so that he would always look beautiful. They would celebrate his passage on earth. Death was a part of daily life; everyone addressed it in informal terms. It was familiar to them.