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katie_king's review
3.0
There are a few possible books here: Jackson's views on the place of the ethnographer who is always the outsider even after many years; the somewhat self-serving stories that S.B. Marah tells the to the anthropologist who, he hopes, will become his biographer (or apologist, or hagiographer); the tales of the survivors of civil war, and Jackson's personal recollections of his own experiences in Sierra Leone in more peaceful times.
I still, at the end of this book, feel that I don't really have enough historical or geographical context to understand why Jackson wrote the book that he did - instead of the book that he didn't.
I still, at the end of this book, feel that I don't really have enough historical or geographical context to understand why Jackson wrote the book that he did - instead of the book that he didn't.
gabojaiko's review
5.0
Having read Jackson's articles before, I can say that his books are an altogether different and better experience. His books off space for his subtle layering of memories, impressions, and time (that his articles tend to flatten). For me, His anthropological writing style borders on brilliance. In just 2-3 paragraphs he is capable of setting a scene- geographically, historically, politically, peopling it with characters, and calling up a sensory reading experience. This is before he begins in earnest to lay out his fragment- each chapter makes a single point, situates a single memory, moment or person. In sum, the book manages to convey not so much the story of a person (it mainly follows S.B), but Sierra Leone as a scene in the early 2000's.
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