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adglass24's review against another edition
3.0
Doris Lessing is a fantastic writer and I got a lot out of reading this book. I did choose not to finish it because it was depressing (racism, white supremacy, extreme poverty) and because too many good (and easy to read) mystery novels came available on my local library holds shelf. Tant pis.
bucket's review against another edition
3.0
Doris Lessing grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). This book describes four trips she took to her former homeland in the 80s/early 90s. Each of the sections leans heavily on her impressions of the people and places she visits. There are numerous long quotations and descriptions of things she is seeing and hearing as she eavesdrops in cafes or interviews strangers.
Trip one describes visiting her brother and remembering her past. This is right when the white people have had to relinquish control and are not happy about it. This trip has a lot to say about Doris' upbringing in Africa. She paints a magical picture of her childhood 'in the bush' while still accurately discussing the environmental and political consequences of the way her family (and other families) lived. She also has lively, and sometimes angry, conversations with her brother who is angry about the loss of white control over Zimbabwe.
Trip two is more about the political situation in Zimbabwe - which is better than the rest of Africa but not great. It is also full of what I would call vignettes. Each very short section includes a long quotation or piece of an interview, followed by diary-style commentary from Doris that feels very authentic, but also spur-of-the-moment. Some vignettes were more interesting than other, but I missed the way the first section flowed and framed itself around interesting themes, like memory.
Trip three continues the political story but goes into more detail as things begin to fall apart for President Mugabe. Trip three also finds Doris spending a great deal of time with a very interesting group who are visiting villages all over Zimbabwe to put together books that will help the people. I found this trip more interesting. The vignettes became more interconnected, the political situation was more deeply described, and the trips with the book group were extremely interesting.
Trip four is extremely short and is a sort of "where are they now" of the figures in the book, from dogs to national leaders, and describes the state of Zimbabwe in 1992.
This was an interesting enough read, and an okay snapshot of Zimbabwe (but a great one of Doris!) in the 1980s. I was a little disappointed in the writing - I thought The Golden Notebook was much more polished.
Themes: Africa, Zimbabwe, history, politics, racism, economics, poverty, hunger, aid organizations, memory, disagreement, daily life, regular people, black/white divide, dictatorship
Trip one describes visiting her brother and remembering her past. This is right when the white people have had to relinquish control and are not happy about it. This trip has a lot to say about Doris' upbringing in Africa. She paints a magical picture of her childhood 'in the bush' while still accurately discussing the environmental and political consequences of the way her family (and other families) lived. She also has lively, and sometimes angry, conversations with her brother who is angry about the loss of white control over Zimbabwe.
Trip two is more about the political situation in Zimbabwe - which is better than the rest of Africa but not great. It is also full of what I would call vignettes. Each very short section includes a long quotation or piece of an interview, followed by diary-style commentary from Doris that feels very authentic, but also spur-of-the-moment. Some vignettes were more interesting than other, but I missed the way the first section flowed and framed itself around interesting themes, like memory.
Trip three continues the political story but goes into more detail as things begin to fall apart for President Mugabe. Trip three also finds Doris spending a great deal of time with a very interesting group who are visiting villages all over Zimbabwe to put together books that will help the people. I found this trip more interesting. The vignettes became more interconnected, the political situation was more deeply described, and the trips with the book group were extremely interesting.
Trip four is extremely short and is a sort of "where are they now" of the figures in the book, from dogs to national leaders, and describes the state of Zimbabwe in 1992.
This was an interesting enough read, and an okay snapshot of Zimbabwe (but a great one of Doris!) in the 1980s. I was a little disappointed in the writing - I thought The Golden Notebook was much more polished.
Themes: Africa, Zimbabwe, history, politics, racism, economics, poverty, hunger, aid organizations, memory, disagreement, daily life, regular people, black/white divide, dictatorship
rhodered's review
4.0
Marvelously written. I know very little about the topic, but it seems authoritative albeit from a particular point of view. I was truly fascinated by the story of one country's evolution.
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