Reviews

The Collector of Treasures and Other Botswana Village Tales by Bessie Head

shatterlings's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

remigves's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

joy_s's review

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Murder, Car accident, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexism

snufflesxx's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

something about the happiest ending of a woman still will be her unhappy


even when one kills their abuser, they still have to suffer and leave behind the good in their lives

in a society made for men by men, there might never be a true happy ending for a woman

(only read the collector of treasures)

unfetteredfiction's review

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“And so the woman Dikeledi began phase three of a life that has been ashen in its loneliness and unhappiness. And yet she has always found golf amidst the ash, deep loves that had joined her heart to the heart of others. She smiled tenderly at Kebonye because she knew already that she had found another such love. She was the collector of such treasures.” 

- Bessie Head, The Collector of Treasures

Bessie Head paints a rich and compelling picture of complex life in Botswana, the country of her exile. 

Within these pages we meet characters navigating happiness tainted by colonialism, struggle bound up with custom and heritage. Moments of conflict amidst broken families and strength in actions, both loud and quiet. 

This collection is one I’ll surely visit again. It’s contents were bold and extraordinary. The vision is broad. 

tavleen_words's review

5.0

Read "The Collector of Treasures"

nwhyte's review

3.0

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1797605.html

An excellent collection of short stories set in Botswana shortly after independence, mostly about women affected by the changes in a colonised and modernising (but pre-AIDS) society: Christianity, traditional religion, education and especially marriage rites and expectations all get critical attention from Head in a set of sharp vignettes, of which the most memorable is perhaps the title piece, about a woman who murders her husband. It is a more gritty, sexy and brutal Botswana than is to be found in the works of Alexander McCall Smith, and feels more realistic too.

pavel_nedelcu's review

4.0

This collection of stories tells the life of the African rural society in Botswana, which is not an easy task for the writer, since she has to culturaly translate and/or adapt a totally different way of thinking and perceiving the world (i.e., from the Western, dominant one).

Nevertheless, Bessie Head is a skilled writer and has choosen the right way to describe the everyday difficulties of the village life. But the human dramma is more visible when she descrbes the condition of women who are abused, despised and/or not understood.

A very accurate inside vision, which would hardly be easier to grasp if crafted otherwise.

secretbookcase's review

emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

 A wonderful collection of short stories reflecting on life in rural, post-independence Botswana. There is a quiet tone and calm rhythm to the stories, which belies the harrowing nature of many of the stories told. There is also a sense of fatality which permeates many of them. I found, for instance, that ‘The Wind and a Boy’ and ‘Looking for a Rain God’ were devastatingly sad in their portrayal of death, loss and struggles for survival. The common thread running through the collection is the position of women in society and the injustices and abuse they suffer. The collection shows all the big and small ways in which women are pushed to the sidelines, denigrated and reminded of their (inferior) position in society. But at the same time, the stories also portray the deep kindness that infuses some people – both women and men – and the place of female friendship. So, I felt there was an overall bittersweet atmosphere to the collection. But what I enjoyed most is how the stories are told: they feel like they were meant to be read out loud rather than read on paper. Or rather, they feel like old oral tales which have been put to paper. 

literaryinfatuation's review

informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0