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A review by nkei
The Undiscovered Country - Essays by Andre Bagoo
4.0
This collection of essays by Bagoo examines his past experiences with reference and critical analysis of Trinidad Tobago’s history, culture, music, etc...one common theme across these essays is this struggle of acceptance as a gay man and the benefits of not conforming to ethics as developed and sometimes forced by society. This book isn’t one to whisk quickly through, but rather at the end of each story you may cause you to stop to do additional research, highlight a quote or even verbalize….”oh, I didn’t know this….interesting.”
I have some favourites and they include:
1. Naipaul’s Nightmare: the author skillfully assesses Naipaul’s writing through analysis of his works and his references to namely homophobia, condescension and his misogynistic ways. Bagoo was very skillful in his analysis despite being a gay man to whom a jab is being directed to...he offered the reader to think critically whether we know the real Naipaul? Naipaul isn’t a favourite amongst Trinbagonians but it was a great read nevertheless….
2. Doubles: the author examines the history of each ingredient of doubles and the “argument” which is the main ingredient...I love the knowledge sharing of each ingredient heritage. If you are from T&T or ever visited you would appreciate this story as this is a street food enjoyed my most.
3. In Plato’s Cave: The short story references Bagoo recollection of the 1990 coup in Trinidad & Tobago. It refers to ignorance of humanity trapped in the conventional ethics formed by society. Bagoo makes reference to his life as a gay man
4. Romantics in Trinidad: in this essay, Bagoo examines the similarities to his life as a gay man and it’s analogy to the Romanticism period.
5. Snakes & Ladders: In this essay I learnt of the origin of the game Snake & Ladders. The author also made an analogy of the game to teaching of binary.
6. You Can See Venezuela From Trinidad: This essay looks at the irony that Trinis are complaining of the migration of Venezuelans from their homeland to Trinidad when we also did it to other places....Bagoo looks are our ties to Venezuela via their our similar food, love and support of the Ms. Universe competition,music...etc. I also learnt about Angostura bitters: it’s origin and its historical use.
7. Free Colony: Are we really free from British rule?
8. The Agony and Ecstasy of Eric Williams: this essay sort to assess the mystery behind the T&T’s 1st PM.
Additionally I wanted to really love this essay:
• Soca: I wanted to love Bagoo’s viewpoint in this short but the ending had some dissonance. I particularly loved his description of Kees’s “Savannah Grass” as “an unabashed poem to the land, the Queen’s Park Savannah”. What I didn’t like was his notion that race was a factor in “Famalay” sung by Machel, Bunji and Skinny Fabulous winning the Road March title over the former...simply put...Road March needs a fast we song and this what I think was the reason Famalay edged out Savannah Grass in this race together with it being collaboratively sung by two initially rival soca singers (Machel & Bunji) who for years were bitter competitors in the soca arena and as such it was a joy by the people to see them come together for the culture...otherwise, I love me some Kees
Though some of the essays may have not gel well with others, this well-researched book of essays is definitely worth a read at a. slow pace which would allow you to assimilate each story.
I have some favourites and they include:
1. Naipaul’s Nightmare: the author skillfully assesses Naipaul’s writing through analysis of his works and his references to namely homophobia, condescension and his misogynistic ways. Bagoo was very skillful in his analysis despite being a gay man to whom a jab is being directed to...he offered the reader to think critically whether we know the real Naipaul? Naipaul isn’t a favourite amongst Trinbagonians but it was a great read nevertheless….
2. Doubles: the author examines the history of each ingredient of doubles and the “argument” which is the main ingredient...I love the knowledge sharing of each ingredient heritage. If you are from T&T or ever visited you would appreciate this story as this is a street food enjoyed my most.
3. In Plato’s Cave: The short story references Bagoo recollection of the 1990 coup in Trinidad & Tobago. It refers to ignorance of humanity trapped in the conventional ethics formed by society. Bagoo makes reference to his life as a gay man
4. Romantics in Trinidad: in this essay, Bagoo examines the similarities to his life as a gay man and it’s analogy to the Romanticism period.
5. Snakes & Ladders: In this essay I learnt of the origin of the game Snake & Ladders. The author also made an analogy of the game to teaching of binary.
6. You Can See Venezuela From Trinidad: This essay looks at the irony that Trinis are complaining of the migration of Venezuelans from their homeland to Trinidad when we also did it to other places....Bagoo looks are our ties to Venezuela via their our similar food, love and support of the Ms. Universe competition,music...etc. I also learnt about Angostura bitters: it’s origin and its historical use.
7. Free Colony: Are we really free from British rule?
8. The Agony and Ecstasy of Eric Williams: this essay sort to assess the mystery behind the T&T’s 1st PM.
Additionally I wanted to really love this essay:
• Soca: I wanted to love Bagoo’s viewpoint in this short but the ending had some dissonance. I particularly loved his description of Kees’s “Savannah Grass” as “an unabashed poem to the land, the Queen’s Park Savannah”. What I didn’t like was his notion that race was a factor in “Famalay” sung by Machel, Bunji and Skinny Fabulous winning the Road March title over the former...simply put...Road March needs a fast we song and this what I think was the reason Famalay edged out Savannah Grass in this race together with it being collaboratively sung by two initially rival soca singers (Machel & Bunji) who for years were bitter competitors in the soca arena and as such it was a joy by the people to see them come together for the culture...otherwise, I love me some Kees
Though some of the essays may have not gel well with others, this well-researched book of essays is definitely worth a read at a. slow pace which would allow you to assimilate each story.