Scan barcode
mlholland987's review against another edition
5.0
I came across The Old Drift completely by chance and couldn’t be happier that I had the chance to read it. It was and incredible read and not at all what I had expected out of it, not that I’m complaining about that at all.
It wasn’t really what I was expecting out of a science fiction novel because of its start in the 1900s, but I thoroughly enjoyed what Namwali Serpell did with the novel’s time line. It started there but then ended with the last character being born in 2024. And though this isn’t too far into the future, I think the novels time period says something interesting about the genre of science fiction as a whole.
The novel outlines the stories of three different family trees that all become interconnected as the generations pass. It starts with the oldest generation, Sibilla, Agnes, and Matha, and then moves onto their children and grandchildren which is where the three families become connected through children and location.
I was completely fascinated by Sibilla, as she was a character that is completely covered in hair that grows back soon after it is cut off and seems to have magical qualities to it. I thought it was really interesting to have such an exaggeration of the hair and its meaning, making me think of the Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor. Okorafor places a large importance on the hair of her main character Binti, making it have a large connection with her family and culture through her hair. But in The Old Drift, Sibilla’s hair seems to have an opposite meaning to her as it makes her an outcast to her family and other people as a young girl and an outlet for entertainment as she becomes older. I thought it was cool to see a contrast between the two authors perspective on hair through their different characters/novels.
The next story focuses on Agnes who is a former tennis player that had to stop competing when she became blind. However, with her blindness, she also seems to have this supernatural element to her disability, her husband at one point claiming to see eyes covering her body. I thought that it was interesting to have her blindness allow her to make choices and change as a person. When she firsts meets Ronald, she is already blind and has no idea what he looks like. She falls in love with him without knowing that he is from Africa and without knowing that their relationship would be frowned upon by her family and society as a whole.
There are also a lot of political and historical references throughout the whole novel. I was able to recognize a lot of the main historical events that I have learned in my African literature class in college.
One of the things that I thought was really unique about the novel was the intersection in between each character of a hive like character that represents a swarm of mosquitos. I though the concept of having an insect that no one really thinks of as anything but a pest one of the main things that moves the storyline along throughout the novel. The concept that mosquitos are one of the only things that don’t see race is also brought up in the first couple pages which I also really liked. I had never really thought about a mosquito that way before, but its really true. They don’t care what you look like or where you are from, they just want your blood.
Location was another thing that I noticed being really important in the novel. All of the characters have some sort of interaction with Zambia or the colonial settlement the old drift. All of the family trees begin there, and they return there in some way or form. Percy, the beginning of Agnes’ family tree, is a photographer and businessman in The Old Drift that begins the story having travelled there to make a living. N’gulube lived in the Old Drift and encountered Percy, he was actually shot by Percy in a competition. Percy having mistaken him for a wild hog. Pietro, Sibilla’s grandfather was the founder of the main hotel in the old drift that she ends up staying in at the end of the chapter titled after her name. All of their stories begin at this location and then they end up back there in a cyclical way, connecting the families together in even more ways than by blood and interaction.
Through these many characters you get to see how messed up people can be, but you also get to see the other side of the spectrum because of the contrast between the two types of people. However, the main thing I got out of the book was that no one is perfect. Even if they seem so from the outside, some of those people can be just as messed up or worse than those that are outwardly imperfect.
It wasn’t really what I was expecting out of a science fiction novel because of its start in the 1900s, but I thoroughly enjoyed what Namwali Serpell did with the novel’s time line. It started there but then ended with the last character being born in 2024. And though this isn’t too far into the future, I think the novels time period says something interesting about the genre of science fiction as a whole.
The novel outlines the stories of three different family trees that all become interconnected as the generations pass. It starts with the oldest generation, Sibilla, Agnes, and Matha, and then moves onto their children and grandchildren which is where the three families become connected through children and location.
I was completely fascinated by Sibilla, as she was a character that is completely covered in hair that grows back soon after it is cut off and seems to have magical qualities to it. I thought it was really interesting to have such an exaggeration of the hair and its meaning, making me think of the Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor. Okorafor places a large importance on the hair of her main character Binti, making it have a large connection with her family and culture through her hair. But in The Old Drift, Sibilla’s hair seems to have an opposite meaning to her as it makes her an outcast to her family and other people as a young girl and an outlet for entertainment as she becomes older. I thought it was cool to see a contrast between the two authors perspective on hair through their different characters/novels.
The next story focuses on Agnes who is a former tennis player that had to stop competing when she became blind. However, with her blindness, she also seems to have this supernatural element to her disability, her husband at one point claiming to see eyes covering her body. I thought that it was interesting to have her blindness allow her to make choices and change as a person. When she firsts meets Ronald, she is already blind and has no idea what he looks like. She falls in love with him without knowing that he is from Africa and without knowing that their relationship would be frowned upon by her family and society as a whole.
There are also a lot of political and historical references throughout the whole novel. I was able to recognize a lot of the main historical events that I have learned in my African literature class in college.
One of the things that I thought was really unique about the novel was the intersection in between each character of a hive like character that represents a swarm of mosquitos. I though the concept of having an insect that no one really thinks of as anything but a pest one of the main things that moves the storyline along throughout the novel. The concept that mosquitos are one of the only things that don’t see race is also brought up in the first couple pages which I also really liked. I had never really thought about a mosquito that way before, but its really true. They don’t care what you look like or where you are from, they just want your blood.
Location was another thing that I noticed being really important in the novel. All of the characters have some sort of interaction with Zambia or the colonial settlement the old drift. All of the family trees begin there, and they return there in some way or form. Percy, the beginning of Agnes’ family tree, is a photographer and businessman in The Old Drift that begins the story having travelled there to make a living. N’gulube lived in the Old Drift and encountered Percy, he was actually shot by Percy in a competition. Percy having mistaken him for a wild hog. Pietro, Sibilla’s grandfather was the founder of the main hotel in the old drift that she ends up staying in at the end of the chapter titled after her name. All of their stories begin at this location and then they end up back there in a cyclical way, connecting the families together in even more ways than by blood and interaction.
Through these many characters you get to see how messed up people can be, but you also get to see the other side of the spectrum because of the contrast between the two types of people. However, the main thing I got out of the book was that no one is perfect. Even if they seem so from the outside, some of those people can be just as messed up or worse than those that are outwardly imperfect.
indy_oc's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
alicemotion's review against another edition
4.0
Absorbing tale but difficult to follow at times- I frequently had to go back to the family tree at the front to place where a character fit into the different generations/families.
taylorbarnes's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
fuzzyhebrew's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The writing in this book is superb and kept me interested until the last third of the book. I think I was missing the connection between all the stories. I know they are parts of the same family but I felt like each generation did not have a resolution. Except matha who stopped crying. I wanted more from the grandmothers. I liked the twist at the end. I also enjoyed seeing some real characters like Nkoloso. I was amazed that he really tried to create a space program with zero funding and with a plan to send two cats to mars.
erboe501's review against another edition
4.0
This took absolutely forever to complete on audio, but the plot was compelling enough to keep you invested. I wouldn't necessarily recommend others listen to the book, as the family trees are hard to keep track of when you don't have any physical reference pages. What was sad to read was how many characters had the spark of excitement, energy, passion, love in their youth, and once they become periphery characters in adulthood or old age in another character's chapter, they're disillusioned and disgruntled. Few love matches remain harmonious.
I chose this book at the recommendation of a book group based on my interest in magical realism. I don't know if I'd classify this as necessarily magical realist. The Italians in the beginning chapters come the closest with Nonna's hair that grows wildly long. We also move slightly into the future into something almost dystopic with the "bead" technology implanted into everyone's hands that serve as a mini computer projected onto the skin. Zambia is becoming a surveillance state, with forced vaccinations of experimental drugs. A magical, dystopic family epic.
I chose this book at the recommendation of a book group based on my interest in magical realism. I don't know if I'd classify this as necessarily magical realist. The Italians in the beginning chapters come the closest with Nonna's hair that grows wildly long. We also move slightly into the future into something almost dystopic with the "bead" technology implanted into everyone's hands that serve as a mini computer projected onto the skin. Zambia is becoming a surveillance state, with forced vaccinations of experimental drugs. A magical, dystopic family epic.