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ariel937's review against another edition
this was an interesting collection of short stories from two prominent African writers. if i didn’t read this for a class on post-colonialism, i wouldn’t have ever read this and i’m glad i did - i would highly recommend this!
lakerss12's review against another edition
3.0
Quick stories. Solid entires but have not stick with me
vuvuvena_reads's review against another edition
3.0
This was my first introduction to Bessie Head. I absolutely fell in love. Short stories, at their best, I believe, are a tease to seek out full manuscripts by authors. In the case of Bessie and this particular book, I cannot wait to find more of her literature. Ngungi Wa Thiong'o on the other hand I had heard about and once sat in a talk he was giving, his talent I was long aware of and this book didn't disappoint.
A full review should be up on my site: www.vuvuvenareads.com, soon.
A full review should be up on my site: www.vuvuvenareads.com, soon.
vasha's review against another edition
4.0
In her two stories, Bessie Head pleads in favor of a life ruled by love and kindness instead of by other factors such as tradition, social status, or hedonism. The first, "The Deep River", is an imaginary origin story for an ethnic group -- wouldn't it be nice if they got started by a man leaving his home for the love of one woman, in the face of all pragmatic decision-making where women were of no account, nor individual emotions. She imagines, among the river of people without faces, a momentary awakening of positive individuality. The second, "The Collector of Treasures", has a strong woman as its hero, one whose hands can do anything, and who knows good people when she meets them, compared to the many egotistical, power-obsessed men who are "hollow" compared to those who know how to love, and who make the world a bad place. Such a phallocrat "who imagined that he was the only penis in the world" was her husband; she dealt with that problem in the usual (though extreme) way.
"Wedding at the Cross", by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, is a love story too, but here the enemy of happiness is the pursuit of the symbols of high status in colonial society: money and the missionary church and Rev. Clive Schomberg's British Manners for Africans. This is contrasted with a distinctively indigenous form of spirituality, as practiced by the poor members of the "Brotherhood of Sorrow". The story makes interesting use of the hymn "At the Cross", with its wedding imagery. Evidently, Christianity has resources that can be living and satisfying, but Miriamu has to know to give herself to the right bridegroom (represented by Wariuki "who is dead", though the analogy to Jesus is not very exact I don't think), and does she have the spiritual resources stored up, like the wise virgins, to do so?
"Minutes of Glory": What is freedom in a society where nothing matters but money and "connections"? Beatrice and Nyagūthiī are dissatisfied with this state of affairs but can't live without it either; the only happiness they know is being admired and desired by powerful men. Beatrice achieves this briefly by robbing a man who seems to her to be the worst because though a "fellow victim", he doesn't have her sense of discontent, instead thinking power is his by right -- indeed, as a man, it's much more within his grasp than within any woman's. Ngũgĩ was perceptive to tell this story from a woman's perspective.
"Wedding at the Cross", by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, is a love story too, but here the enemy of happiness is the pursuit of the symbols of high status in colonial society: money and the missionary church and Rev. Clive Schomberg's British Manners for Africans. This is contrasted with a distinctively indigenous form of spirituality, as practiced by the poor members of the "Brotherhood of Sorrow". The story makes interesting use of the hymn "At the Cross", with its wedding imagery. Evidently, Christianity has resources that can be living and satisfying, but Miriamu has to know to give herself to the right bridegroom (represented by Wariuki "who is dead", though the analogy to Jesus is not very exact I don't think), and does she have the spiritual resources stored up, like the wise virgins, to do so?
"Minutes of Glory": What is freedom in a society where nothing matters but money and "connections"? Beatrice and Nyagūthiī are dissatisfied with this state of affairs but can't live without it either; the only happiness they know is being admired and desired by powerful men. Beatrice achieves this briefly by robbing a man who seems to her to be the worst because though a "fellow victim", he doesn't have her sense of discontent, instead thinking power is his by right -- indeed, as a man, it's much more within his grasp than within any woman's. Ngũgĩ was perceptive to tell this story from a woman's perspective.
lunabats13's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for a class and truly enjoyed it. It's made me very interested in both of the author's other works and I'm excited to read more soon. I really enjoyed all four stories and I thought the introduction was insightful and interesting as well.
arielreads's review
this was an interesting collection of short stories from two prominent African writers. if i didn’t read this for a class on post-colonialism, i wouldn’t have ever read this and i’m glad i did - i would highly recommend this!
daveroche's review
The infoshop has sold off its old fiction selection when it switched to a radical library and the thrift store at 63rd and Troost is getting a little V.C. Andrews and Sue Grafton heavy, things are getting rough for used book shoppers in Kansas City. The two choices I know of are Prospero's -- which is local but is a while ago had a totally jackassy publicity stunt of holding a book burning -- and Half Priced Books. I had been relying solely on the library, but I accompanied my sister on a trip to Half Priced Books today and was lucky enough to find this. I've read the two Ngugi We Thiong'o stories elsewhere but they're totally worth reading again. The Bessie Head stories are new to me and I'm excited to get into them.
P.S. While waiting for my sister I read a third of a collection of Marmaduke comics published in 1968. Marmaduke was more of a dick back in the day.
P.S. While waiting for my sister I read a third of a collection of Marmaduke comics published in 1968. Marmaduke was more of a dick back in the day.
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