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A review by kuda
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
5.0
"We are careful not to touch the NGO people, though, because we can see that even though they are giving us things, they do not want to touch us or for us to touch them. They just like taking pictures, these NGO people, like maybe we are their real friends and relatives and they will look at the pictures later and point us out by name to other friends and relatives once they get back to their homes. They don't care that we are embarrassed by our dirt and torn clothing, that we would prefer they didn't do it; they just take the pictures anyway, take and take. We don't complain because we know that after the picture-taking comes the giving of gifts."
I first read this book while I was in high school and instantly loved the sparkling prose that almost sounded like poetry. The novel is written in the first person point of view from 10 year old Darling's perspective. It tackles various themes that include gender, childhood (where children living in situations of poverty or war often have to mature quickly), religion (which is shown with a critical and ironic tone with regard to Western religion's influence in Zimbabwe), social class and politics.
I first read this book while I was in high school and instantly loved the sparkling prose that almost sounded like poetry. The novel is written in the first person point of view from 10 year old Darling's perspective. It tackles various themes that include gender, childhood (where children living in situations of poverty or war often have to mature quickly), religion (which is shown with a critical and ironic tone with regard to Western religion's influence in Zimbabwe), social class and politics.