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卮賷胤丕賳 毓賱賶 丕賱氐賱賷亘
賲爻乇丨賷丞 賴丕賲丞 鬲購毓賳賶 亘丕賱賰卮賮 賵 丕賱亘丨孬 賵 丕賱鬲丨賱賷賱貙 賵 賳氐乇丞 丕賱囟毓賮丕亍 賵 丕賱賲馗賱賵賲賷賳貙 賵 鬲乇氐丿 丕賱馗賱賲 丕賱匕賷 賵賯毓 毓賱賶 丕賱兀賮丕乇賯丞 賮賷 賰賷賳賷丕 兀孬賳丕亍 丕賱丕丨鬲賱丕賱 丕賱亘乇賷胤丕賳賷貙 賵 賲丕 鬲亘毓 匕賱賰 賲賳 兀丨丿丕孬.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o
108听books1,853听followersKenyan teacher, novelist, essayist, and playwright, whose works function as an important link between the pioneers of African writing and the younger generation of postcolonial writers. After imprisonment in 1978, Ng农g末 abandoned using English as the primary language of his work in favor of Gikuyu, his native tongue. The transition from colonialism to postcoloniality and the crisis of modernity has been a central issues in a great deal of Ng农g末's writings.
Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o was born in Kamiriithu, near Limuru, Kiambu District, as the fifth child of the third of his father's four wives. At that time Kenya was under British rule, which ended in 1963. Ng农g末's family belonged to the Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Gikuyu. His father, Thiong'o wa Nducu, was a peasant farmer, who was forced to become a squatter after the British Imperial Act of 1915. Ng农g末 attended the mission-run school at Kamaandura in Limuru, Karinga school in Maanguu, and Alliance High School in Kikuyu. During these years Ng农g末 became a devout Christian. However, at school he also learned about the Gikuyu values and history and underwent the Gikuyu rite of passage ceremony. Later he rejected Christianity, and changed his original name in 1976 from James Ng农g末, which he saw as a sign of colonialism, to Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o in honor of his Gikuyu heritage.
After receiving a B.A. in English at Makerere University College in Kampala (Uganda) in 1963, Ng农g末 worked briefly as a journalist in Nairobi. He married in 1961. Over the next seventeen years his wife, Nyambura, gave birth to six children. In 1962 Ng农g末's play THE BLACK HERMIT was produced in Kampala. In 1964 he left for England to pursue graduate studies at the Leeds University in England.
The most prominent theme in Ng农g末's early work was the conflict between the individual and the community. As a novelist Ng农g末 made his debut with WEEP NOT, CHILD (1964), which he started to write while he was at school in England. It was the first novel in English to be published by an East African author. Ng农g末 used the Bildungsroman form to tell the story of a young man, Njoroge. He loses his opportunity for further education when he is caught between idealistic dreams and the violent reality of the colonial exploitation. THE RIVER BETWEEN (1965) had as its background the Mau Mau Rebellion (1952-1956). The story was set in the late 1920s and 1930s and depicted an unhappy love affair in a rural community divided between Christian converts and non-Christians.
A GRAIN OF WHEAT (1967) marked Ng农g末's break with cultural nationalism and his embracing of Fanonist Marxism. Ng农g末 refers in the title to the biblical theme of self-sacrifice, a part of the new birth: "unless a grain of wheat die." The allegorical story of one man's mistaken heroism and a search for the betrayer of a Mau Mau leader is set in a village, which has been destroyed in the war. The author's family was involved in the Mau Mau uprising. Ng农g末's older brother had joined the movement, his stepbrother was killed, and his mother was arrested and tortured. Ng农g末's village suffered in a campaign.
In the 1960s Ng农g末 was a reporter for the Nairobi Daily Nation and editor of Zuka from 1965 to 1970. He worked as a lecturer at several universities - at the University College in Nairobi (1967-69), at the Makerere University in Kampala (1969-70), and at the Northwestern University in Evanston in the United States (1970-71). Ng农g末 had resigned from his post at Nairobi University as a protest against government interference in the university, be he joined the faculty in 1973, becoming an associate professor and chairman of the department of literature. It had been formed in response to his and his colleagues' criticism of English - the British government had made in the 1950s instruction in English mandatory. Ng农g末 had asked in an article, written with Taban lo Liyong and Henry Owuor-Anyumba, "If there is need for a 's
Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o was born in Kamiriithu, near Limuru, Kiambu District, as the fifth child of the third of his father's four wives. At that time Kenya was under British rule, which ended in 1963. Ng农g末's family belonged to the Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Gikuyu. His father, Thiong'o wa Nducu, was a peasant farmer, who was forced to become a squatter after the British Imperial Act of 1915. Ng农g末 attended the mission-run school at Kamaandura in Limuru, Karinga school in Maanguu, and Alliance High School in Kikuyu. During these years Ng农g末 became a devout Christian. However, at school he also learned about the Gikuyu values and history and underwent the Gikuyu rite of passage ceremony. Later he rejected Christianity, and changed his original name in 1976 from James Ng农g末, which he saw as a sign of colonialism, to Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o in honor of his Gikuyu heritage.
After receiving a B.A. in English at Makerere University College in Kampala (Uganda) in 1963, Ng农g末 worked briefly as a journalist in Nairobi. He married in 1961. Over the next seventeen years his wife, Nyambura, gave birth to six children. In 1962 Ng农g末's play THE BLACK HERMIT was produced in Kampala. In 1964 he left for England to pursue graduate studies at the Leeds University in England.
The most prominent theme in Ng农g末's early work was the conflict between the individual and the community. As a novelist Ng农g末 made his debut with WEEP NOT, CHILD (1964), which he started to write while he was at school in England. It was the first novel in English to be published by an East African author. Ng农g末 used the Bildungsroman form to tell the story of a young man, Njoroge. He loses his opportunity for further education when he is caught between idealistic dreams and the violent reality of the colonial exploitation. THE RIVER BETWEEN (1965) had as its background the Mau Mau Rebellion (1952-1956). The story was set in the late 1920s and 1930s and depicted an unhappy love affair in a rural community divided between Christian converts and non-Christians.
A GRAIN OF WHEAT (1967) marked Ng农g末's break with cultural nationalism and his embracing of Fanonist Marxism. Ng农g末 refers in the title to the biblical theme of self-sacrifice, a part of the new birth: "unless a grain of wheat die." The allegorical story of one man's mistaken heroism and a search for the betrayer of a Mau Mau leader is set in a village, which has been destroyed in the war. The author's family was involved in the Mau Mau uprising. Ng农g末's older brother had joined the movement, his stepbrother was killed, and his mother was arrested and tortured. Ng农g末's village suffered in a campaign.
In the 1960s Ng农g末 was a reporter for the Nairobi Daily Nation and editor of Zuka from 1965 to 1970. He worked as a lecturer at several universities - at the University College in Nairobi (1967-69), at the Makerere University in Kampala (1969-70), and at the Northwestern University in Evanston in the United States (1970-71). Ng农g末 had resigned from his post at Nairobi University as a protest against government interference in the university, be he joined the faculty in 1973, becoming an associate professor and chairman of the department of literature. It had been formed in response to his and his colleagues' criticism of English - the British government had made in the 1950s instruction in English mandatory. Ng农g末 had asked in an article, written with Taban lo Liyong and Henry Owuor-Anyumba, "If there is need for a 's
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April 6, 2019
Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o's Devil on the Cross is a fascinating work of political literature, a call for Kenyans to wake up to what neocolonial capitalism had done to their supposedly independent country. Devil on the Cross is a deceptively complex, yet clear novel with one political goal: the true independence of Kenya from Western economic and cultural domination.
Many sensible readers don't seem to like this novel. A common critique goes like this: Devil on the Cross is a simple novel with an obvious goal, so it shouldn't be lauded as groundbreaking literature.
1. Most of main characters are archetypes: the evil and horny capitalist big bosses, the virtuous worker sparking revolution, the small thief with bigger nefarious aspirations, the international white capitalist kingpins, the soft scholar, the virtuous woman who believes that good will triumph.
2. The allegories are obvious: Rich men host a national competition to crown seven "Experts in Theft and Robbery". Several men give speeches extolling how they exploit workers, rural people, and women to the raucous applause of the audience. A young man searches to find the right mix of Kenyan instruments to compose a tune that will unite all Kenyans in one struggle. A young, studious poor woman is led astray by a rich old man, who turns her off her studies and then abandons her when she becomes pregnant. It's a novel of dichotomies, of good vs. evil and rich vs. poor.
3. The lessons are clear: Kenyan independence was shallow. As Frantz Fanon put it, the new leaders of many African states wore white masks over their black skin to reassure the colonial powers that their citizens' assets were safe. Kenyans must break free from this new, less obvious, but just as harmful form of colonial oppression. By joining together, the oppressed can throw off the yoke of the new Kenyan capitalists and their international backers. But the path forward won't be easy.
But these supposed critiques are exactly what makes Devil on the Cross a fantastic political novel. The goal of a political novel is to take a stand, to expose evildoers, to point out what is Good. Its goal is to convince the reader that there must be change and that it can't wait. Devil on the Cross is obvious, clear, and entertaining, and that's why it's great 鈥� and effective.
Ng农g末, the master behind Decolonizing the Mind and The River Between, is a brilliant political writer. He understands the power of simple, direct words. Almost the entire book is a series of speeches and parables told from various perspectives. Ng农g末 guides the reader through complex topics like international capitalism and gender inequality by letting the characters tell their own stories. These stories are grounded in experiences that everyday Kenyans (and readers in the West) can understand and analyze without too much difficulty. What's a better way to highlight sexual harassment in the workplace than listening to a survivor tell her story and then connect it to a wider, global problem? Through Ng农g末, ordinary people talk to ordinary people.
Throughout his works, Ng农g末 has consistently made the point that literature can be used to dismantle oppression. But to realize this lofty goal, literature has to be clear and written with the target audience in mind. That's why he wrote this novel (and all of his subsequent works) in Gikuyu, the vernacular language of the people he wanted to reach, his people.
Ng农g末 was a playwright, and Devil on the Cross also borrows from a strong oral tradition. Songs, parables, and repetition, classic hallmarks of oral literature, are found everywhere, reflecting an oral tradition that is familiar to his Gikuyu audience. Ng农g末 recognizes that the political awakening of a people is only possible through using speech and argument well. Content is not enough; form matters.
Devil on the Cross should be handed out as a companion to every textbook on postcolonial Africa. Because of its clarity, Ng农g末's novel is an excellent introduction to the horrors of unrestrained capitalism for an intelligent lay audience. That's why it's a classic of Kenyan literature and why it should be a classic of world literature, too.
Many sensible readers don't seem to like this novel. A common critique goes like this: Devil on the Cross is a simple novel with an obvious goal, so it shouldn't be lauded as groundbreaking literature.
1. Most of main characters are archetypes: the evil and horny capitalist big bosses, the virtuous worker sparking revolution, the small thief with bigger nefarious aspirations, the international white capitalist kingpins, the soft scholar, the virtuous woman who believes that good will triumph.
2. The allegories are obvious: Rich men host a national competition to crown seven "Experts in Theft and Robbery". Several men give speeches extolling how they exploit workers, rural people, and women to the raucous applause of the audience. A young man searches to find the right mix of Kenyan instruments to compose a tune that will unite all Kenyans in one struggle. A young, studious poor woman is led astray by a rich old man, who turns her off her studies and then abandons her when she becomes pregnant. It's a novel of dichotomies, of good vs. evil and rich vs. poor.
3. The lessons are clear: Kenyan independence was shallow. As Frantz Fanon put it, the new leaders of many African states wore white masks over their black skin to reassure the colonial powers that their citizens' assets were safe. Kenyans must break free from this new, less obvious, but just as harmful form of colonial oppression. By joining together, the oppressed can throw off the yoke of the new Kenyan capitalists and their international backers. But the path forward won't be easy.
But these supposed critiques are exactly what makes Devil on the Cross a fantastic political novel. The goal of a political novel is to take a stand, to expose evildoers, to point out what is Good. Its goal is to convince the reader that there must be change and that it can't wait. Devil on the Cross is obvious, clear, and entertaining, and that's why it's great 鈥� and effective.
Ng农g末, the master behind Decolonizing the Mind and The River Between, is a brilliant political writer. He understands the power of simple, direct words. Almost the entire book is a series of speeches and parables told from various perspectives. Ng农g末 guides the reader through complex topics like international capitalism and gender inequality by letting the characters tell their own stories. These stories are grounded in experiences that everyday Kenyans (and readers in the West) can understand and analyze without too much difficulty. What's a better way to highlight sexual harassment in the workplace than listening to a survivor tell her story and then connect it to a wider, global problem? Through Ng农g末, ordinary people talk to ordinary people.
Throughout his works, Ng农g末 has consistently made the point that literature can be used to dismantle oppression. But to realize this lofty goal, literature has to be clear and written with the target audience in mind. That's why he wrote this novel (and all of his subsequent works) in Gikuyu, the vernacular language of the people he wanted to reach, his people.
Ng农g末 was a playwright, and Devil on the Cross also borrows from a strong oral tradition. Songs, parables, and repetition, classic hallmarks of oral literature, are found everywhere, reflecting an oral tradition that is familiar to his Gikuyu audience. Ng农g末 recognizes that the political awakening of a people is only possible through using speech and argument well. Content is not enough; form matters.
Devil on the Cross should be handed out as a companion to every textbook on postcolonial Africa. Because of its clarity, Ng农g末's novel is an excellent introduction to the horrors of unrestrained capitalism for an intelligent lay audience. That's why it's a classic of Kenyan literature and why it should be a classic of world literature, too.
April 9, 2009
January: Novel number two for my African Lit class. This one is my favorite so far- politically enraged and theatrical, it utilizes magical realist-esque shifts in character and context, jumping in and out of reality and all over the African map. Written on toilet paper while Ngugi was in jail.
April: Ok- a few months an two research projects on Ngugi later, I can say that this book now holds a place in my personal canon of radical literature. Devil on the Cross is just incredible. Form and style interact with context and intent to create a world in which Western capitalism and religion are dissected and rejected and traditional Gikuyu language and belief systems slowly enter the mind like rainwater seeping through the wall of a tent. What Ngugi does to halt the Kenyan slide into Western-style greed is genius. It's no wonder that this book helped contribute to his eternal exile and political rejection. Devil on the Cross is too powerful an indictment and too thrilling a spiritual call to arms- it incites a disobliging defensiveness in the moneyed classes and a mania of dutiful resistance in the rest of us. Totally brilliant!
April: Ok- a few months an two research projects on Ngugi later, I can say that this book now holds a place in my personal canon of radical literature. Devil on the Cross is just incredible. Form and style interact with context and intent to create a world in which Western capitalism and religion are dissected and rejected and traditional Gikuyu language and belief systems slowly enter the mind like rainwater seeping through the wall of a tent. What Ngugi does to halt the Kenyan slide into Western-style greed is genius. It's no wonder that this book helped contribute to his eternal exile and political rejection. Devil on the Cross is too powerful an indictment and too thrilling a spiritual call to arms- it incites a disobliging defensiveness in the moneyed classes and a mania of dutiful resistance in the rest of us. Totally brilliant!
March 10, 2013
Overall, very interesting read. My only complaint is probably that it seemed reaaaaaaaaaaaally straightforward in its analogies, so much so that it could be predictable; at the same time, I'm not sure that this isn't just my perception as someone who 1) isn't a Gikuyu speaker, 2) is reading it after it's been translated to English, and 3) isn't watching it being acted out (as it's written in a way that very heavily lends itself to being acted out).
All that said, I still found it very enjoyable and thought-provoking. The most valuable piece for me was seeing neo-colonial capitalism artistically depicted using human characters: a few chapters in, you get testimonies from a number of characters that help the reader understand Wariinga's (and a good number of other characters') predicament. Ngugi also did a surprisingly nice job of conveying the experience of a WOMAN in the midst of the neo-colonial imperialists: he managed to include some of the more salient (and I'd say unifying) experiences of women within global capitalism (I'm not going to mention exact examples because it would give too much away). Toward the end, we even were given a little bit to think about regarding the impact of global capitalism on romantic relationships between people by considering Wariinga's example. I was also VERY shocked by the final chapter because the plot takes a very interesting (and hard to predict turn).
Overall, an excellent read with tons of quotable moments seeing as the artistic value of Ngugi's writing and excellent depiction of intersectionality is probably what makes this so worthwhile to read. I disagree with the reviews that suggested that this was a book that made sexism something that's simply subordinate to class struggle, as well. The last few chapters of the book make clear that Kenyan Black women's oppression wasn't solely a matter of capitalism, but instead had was a tool that facilitated class oppression (e.g. pointing out that Kenyan men's sexist views of women had contributed to rich men being able to treat women as objects as well). I think to construe this as dismissive of the seriousness of sexism requires one to assume that every woman's most salient experiences with gendered oppression are ones that have nothing to do with class and race. Further, it is assuming that women actually can work AROUND class, when (as this book points out) poor women regularly are available targets for gendered violence BECAUSE of class (e.g. prostitution out of economic necessity creates opportunities for sexual exploitation that don't exist for well-off women; poor women's experience of gendered violence is often treated as consensual because women may stay with abusive men out of economic necessity or may not gain legal protection due to racialized sexist assumptions about who can be a victim).
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't grasp how global capitalism impacts people of color (specifically Black people) to reinforce worldwide systems of dominance through seemingly benign means and creates the illusion of consent on the part of the oppressed. I also strongly recommend this book to people who already get it, but maybe don't have the words to describe the experience. Lastly, the book also has some interesting points to think about for those of us coming from less privileged backgrounds who have suddenly gained access to new and hard-to-understand class privilege. This book offers lots of attention-grabbing examples of how it all plays out, even today. I'd also go so far as to say this book has added relevance in the Obama presidential years.
All that said, I still found it very enjoyable and thought-provoking. The most valuable piece for me was seeing neo-colonial capitalism artistically depicted using human characters: a few chapters in, you get testimonies from a number of characters that help the reader understand Wariinga's (and a good number of other characters') predicament. Ngugi also did a surprisingly nice job of conveying the experience of a WOMAN in the midst of the neo-colonial imperialists: he managed to include some of the more salient (and I'd say unifying) experiences of women within global capitalism (I'm not going to mention exact examples because it would give too much away). Toward the end, we even were given a little bit to think about regarding the impact of global capitalism on romantic relationships between people by considering Wariinga's example. I was also VERY shocked by the final chapter because the plot takes a very interesting (and hard to predict turn).
Overall, an excellent read with tons of quotable moments seeing as the artistic value of Ngugi's writing and excellent depiction of intersectionality is probably what makes this so worthwhile to read. I disagree with the reviews that suggested that this was a book that made sexism something that's simply subordinate to class struggle, as well. The last few chapters of the book make clear that Kenyan Black women's oppression wasn't solely a matter of capitalism, but instead had was a tool that facilitated class oppression (e.g. pointing out that Kenyan men's sexist views of women had contributed to rich men being able to treat women as objects as well). I think to construe this as dismissive of the seriousness of sexism requires one to assume that every woman's most salient experiences with gendered oppression are ones that have nothing to do with class and race. Further, it is assuming that women actually can work AROUND class, when (as this book points out) poor women regularly are available targets for gendered violence BECAUSE of class (e.g. prostitution out of economic necessity creates opportunities for sexual exploitation that don't exist for well-off women; poor women's experience of gendered violence is often treated as consensual because women may stay with abusive men out of economic necessity or may not gain legal protection due to racialized sexist assumptions about who can be a victim).
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't grasp how global capitalism impacts people of color (specifically Black people) to reinforce worldwide systems of dominance through seemingly benign means and creates the illusion of consent on the part of the oppressed. I also strongly recommend this book to people who already get it, but maybe don't have the words to describe the experience. Lastly, the book also has some interesting points to think about for those of us coming from less privileged backgrounds who have suddenly gained access to new and hard-to-understand class privilege. This book offers lots of attention-grabbing examples of how it all plays out, even today. I'd also go so far as to say this book has added relevance in the Obama presidential years.
December 31, 2019
Devil on the cross is many things to different people. To the feminist, it is a story about a woman who refused to be used and trampled upon and reclaimed her dreams and dignity. To the Marxists it is a fictionalised treatise against capitalism. To the student of politics it is a story of corruption, oppression and mis-governance in post colonial Kenya. To the Pan Africanist it is a story against western cultural domination and a struggle against colonialism betrayed.
It is a simple and yet complex polemic on the quadruplet evils of colonialism, post independence oppression, capitalism and patriarchy. Ngugi wrote and smuggled Devil on the cross out of prison on a roll of toilet paper, after he had been arrested by the government for writing political plays deemed subversive to the state.
I was a tiny bit sceptical in the beginning before I knew where the story was going but in the end, I enjoyed the book, although I did not like the ending.
It is a simple and yet complex polemic on the quadruplet evils of colonialism, post independence oppression, capitalism and patriarchy. Ngugi wrote and smuggled Devil on the cross out of prison on a roll of toilet paper, after he had been arrested by the government for writing political plays deemed subversive to the state.
I was a tiny bit sceptical in the beginning before I knew where the story was going but in the end, I enjoyed the book, although I did not like the ending.
November 6, 2020
What a story. What an ending. But most importantly - what a message (鈥淎s far as we peasants are concerned, all our labor goes to fatten Nairobi and the big towns.鈥�).
I confess I knew nothing about our colonial past in Kenya, and next to nothing (only BBC propaganda) about the Mau-Mau revolution. This story of post-colonial exploitation by the same people who perpetrated colonial oppression and brutal repression has opened my eyes to how things go for all victims / members of empires (British, French, Belgian etc). Instead of flooding the minds of our children at school with all that 鈥楾udors and Stuart鈥檚鈥� crap, we should be teaching them about the reality of 鈥榚mpire鈥� and how 500 million people in Africa live in extreme poverty to this day because the exploitation never stopped.
Beautiful writing by an amazing African writer. I will be reading a lot more of this ilk.
I confess I knew nothing about our colonial past in Kenya, and next to nothing (only BBC propaganda) about the Mau-Mau revolution. This story of post-colonial exploitation by the same people who perpetrated colonial oppression and brutal repression has opened my eyes to how things go for all victims / members of empires (British, French, Belgian etc). Instead of flooding the minds of our children at school with all that 鈥楾udors and Stuart鈥檚鈥� crap, we should be teaching them about the reality of 鈥榚mpire鈥� and how 500 million people in Africa live in extreme poverty to this day because the exploitation never stopped.
Beautiful writing by an amazing African writer. I will be reading a lot more of this ilk.
March 14, 2019
Termin茅, luego de una lectura lenta, accidentada (si se me permite el melodramatismo) con esta novela hoy en la tarde. Al final no dejo de sentir que estuve frente a una f谩bula, un panfleto. Cuando cualquiera de esas dos cosas se ejecuta, debe uno hacerlo con mucha habilidad. Aqu铆 siento una intencionalidad superior al resultado. Un gran prop贸sito, entorpecido por su forma de llevarse a cabo.
Me alegra, pese a ello, haberla le铆do. Creo que tiene un pu帽ado de buenos momentos, y volver茅 a pensar en ella cuando se me plantee aquello de la funci贸n social del arte.
Me alegra, pese a ello, haberla le铆do. Creo que tiene un pu帽ado de buenos momentos, y volver茅 a pensar en ella cuando se me plantee aquello de la funci贸n social del arte.
February 7, 2019
Generalmente, las obras que se fundamentan en una tesis ideol贸gica me desagradan por cuanto todo est谩 al servicio de dicha tesis y los personajes se convierten en tipos. En este caso, esta misma sensaci贸n de desagrado me ha acompa帽ado a trav茅s de la mayor铆a de las p谩ginas de esta alegor铆a, pero estaba contrastada por la potencia de las im谩genes, la belleza del lenguaje y la presencia de una protagonista femenina que observa para finalmente actuar, con ese final abrupto y sensacional .
August 6, 2022
賲賳 乇賵丕卅毓 丕賱兀丿亘 丕賱丕賮乇賷賯賷貙 鬲丨賮丞 爻賷丕爻賷丞 賵 廿賳爻丕賳賷丞 賱丕 賲孬賷賱 賱賴丕
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丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 鬲賮氐丨 亘卮賰賱 氐乇賷丨 毓賳 兀賵噩賴 丕賱丕爻鬲睾賱丕賱 丕賱鬲賷 鬲毓丕賳賷 賲賳賴 丿賵賱 丕賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱孬丕賱孬貙 丨賷孬 丕賱睾賳賷 賷兀賰賱 賱丨賲 丕賱賮賯賷乇 賵 賷鬲亘賳賳 亘賴
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丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 鬲匕乇賮 丿賲賵毓 廿賮乇賷賯賷丕 丕賱賲乇丞貙 賴賷 鬲噩爻賷丿 丨賷 賱賲丕 噩乇賶 賵賷噩乇賷 賴賳丕賰 賲賳 噩乇丕卅賲 囟丿 丕賱廿賳爻丕賳賷丞
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賴賷 兀賷囟丕 鬲噩爻賷丿 賱賲毓丕賳丕丞 丕賱賲孬賯賮 丕賱廿賮乇賷賯賷 賵爻胤 兀賲賵丕噩 丕賱噩賴賱 賵丕爻鬲丨丕賱丞 賲賴賲鬲賴貙 鬲噩爻丿 賰賷賮 賷鬲賳丕賮爻 丕賱禺賵賳丞 賲賳 兀賰賱賷 賱丨賵賲 卮毓賵亘賴賲 毓賱賶 丕賱賲賳丕氐亘 廿乇囟丕亍賸 賱丕爻賷丕丿賴賲 丕賱兀賵乇賵亘賷賷賳貙 賰賷賮 毓賲賱 丕賱睾乇亘賷賵賳 毓賱賶 廿禺鬲賷丕乇 賲賲孬賱賷賴賲 賲賳 丕賱卮毓亘 亘毓賳丕賷丞貙 賱鬲賲賰賷賳賴賲 賲賳 丕賱丕爻鬲丨賵丕匕 毓賱賶 丕賱禺賷乇丕鬲 丿賵賳 賲賯丕賵賲丞 賲賳 丕賱卮毓亘貙 賵賰賷賮 賷賱賯賵賳 賱賴丐賱丕亍 丕賱禺賵賳丞 亘賮鬲丕鬲 禺賷乇丕鬲賴賲 賱賷胤睾賵 亘賴 毓賱賶 亘賳賷 噩賱丿鬲賴賲貙 賵賷爻鬲亘賷丨賵賳 賰賱 賲丨乇賲丕鬲賴賲
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賰賷賮 賷毓賲賱 丕賱賮賯乇 毓賱賶 鬲卮賵賷賴 丕賱丨亘 賵 鬲丿賳賷爻賴貙 賵賰賷賮 賷賮乇囟 丕賱丨亘 賳賮爻賴 賮賷 噩賲賷毓 丕賱馗乇賵賮貙 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賷賵丿 兀賳 賷賯賵賱 兀賳 丕賱丨亘 賴賵 賲賱鬲賯賶 丕賱胤賷亘賷賳 賮賷 賰賱 丕賱毓丕賱賲 賵賲賳 賰賱 丕賱賮卅丕鬲 賵丕賱孬賯丕賮丕鬲貙 孬賲 賷噩毓賱賳丕 賳賱鬲賲爻 賲毓丕賳丕丞 丕賱胤賷亘賷賳 賮賷 賯亘囟丞 丕賱丕卮乇丕乇
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賴賳丕 爻鬲丿乇賰 賰賷賮 禺乇噩 丕賱丕爻鬲毓賲丕乇 賲賳 丕賱亘丕亘 兀賲丕賲 兀毓賷賳 丕賱噩賲賷毓 孬賲 鬲爻賱賱 毓丕卅丿丕 禺賮賷丞 賲賳 丕賱賳丕賮匕丞 丕賱禺賱賮賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 賮鬲丨賴丕 賱賴 丕賱禺賵賳丞 爻鬲丿乇賰 兀賳 卮賷胤丕賳丕 賵丕丨丿丕 賷毓賷卮 亘賴匕丕 丕賱毓丕賱賲貙 賴賵 丕賱睾乇亘 賵賳馗丕賲賴 丕賱乇兀爻 賲丕賱賷貙 爻鬲睾賳賷 孬賯丕賮鬲賰 丨賵賱 丕賱賯丕乇丞 丕賱爻賲乇丕亍 亘卮賰賱 賲亘賴乇
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賯乇兀鬲賴丕 賲亘丕卮乇丞 亘毓丿 乇賵丕賷丞 丕賱丕卮賷丕亍 鬲鬲丿丕毓賶貙 賮亘丿鬲 賰兀賳賴丕 鬲鬲賲丞 兀賵 噩夭亍 孬丕賳賷 賱賴丕貙 丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 亘賰賱 亘爻丕胤丞 鬲亘乇夭 兀賵噩賴 丕賱毓賳氐乇賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 賷毓賷卮賴丕 丕賱兀賮丕乇賯丞 丿丕禺賱 亘賱丿丕賳賴賲貙 賰賷賮 毓賲賱 丕賱睾乇亘 毓賱賶 鬲噩賴賷賱賴賲 賵 鬲賵賴賷賲賴賲 亘賯丿爻賷丞 丕賱噩賳爻 丕賱兀亘賷囟
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丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 鬲賮氐丨 亘卮賰賱 氐乇賷丨 毓賳 兀賵噩賴 丕賱丕爻鬲睾賱丕賱 丕賱鬲賷 鬲毓丕賳賷 賲賳賴 丿賵賱 丕賱毓丕賱賲 丕賱孬丕賱孬貙 丨賷孬 丕賱睾賳賷 賷兀賰賱 賱丨賲 丕賱賮賯賷乇 賵 賷鬲亘賳賳 亘賴
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丕賱乇賵丕賷丞 鬲匕乇賮 丿賲賵毓 廿賮乇賷賯賷丕 丕賱賲乇丞貙 賴賷 鬲噩爻賷丿 丨賷 賱賲丕 噩乇賶 賵賷噩乇賷 賴賳丕賰 賲賳 噩乇丕卅賲 囟丿 丕賱廿賳爻丕賳賷丞
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賴賷 兀賷囟丕 鬲噩爻賷丿 賱賲毓丕賳丕丞 丕賱賲孬賯賮 丕賱廿賮乇賷賯賷 賵爻胤 兀賲賵丕噩 丕賱噩賴賱 賵丕爻鬲丨丕賱丞 賲賴賲鬲賴貙 鬲噩爻丿 賰賷賮 賷鬲賳丕賮爻 丕賱禺賵賳丞 賲賳 兀賰賱賷 賱丨賵賲 卮毓賵亘賴賲 毓賱賶 丕賱賲賳丕氐亘 廿乇囟丕亍賸 賱丕爻賷丕丿賴賲 丕賱兀賵乇賵亘賷賷賳貙 賰賷賮 毓賲賱 丕賱睾乇亘賷賵賳 毓賱賶 廿禺鬲賷丕乇 賲賲孬賱賷賴賲 賲賳 丕賱卮毓亘 亘毓賳丕賷丞貙 賱鬲賲賰賷賳賴賲 賲賳 丕賱丕爻鬲丨賵丕匕 毓賱賶 丕賱禺賷乇丕鬲 丿賵賳 賲賯丕賵賲丞 賲賳 丕賱卮毓亘貙 賵賰賷賮 賷賱賯賵賳 賱賴丐賱丕亍 丕賱禺賵賳丞 亘賮鬲丕鬲 禺賷乇丕鬲賴賲 賱賷胤睾賵 亘賴 毓賱賶 亘賳賷 噩賱丿鬲賴賲貙 賵賷爻鬲亘賷丨賵賳 賰賱 賲丨乇賲丕鬲賴賲
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賰賷賮 賷毓賲賱 丕賱賮賯乇 毓賱賶 鬲卮賵賷賴 丕賱丨亘 賵 鬲丿賳賷爻賴貙 賵賰賷賮 賷賮乇囟 丕賱丨亘 賳賮爻賴 賮賷 噩賲賷毓 丕賱馗乇賵賮貙 丕賱賰丕鬲亘 賷賵丿 兀賳 賷賯賵賱 兀賳 丕賱丨亘 賴賵 賲賱鬲賯賶 丕賱胤賷亘賷賳 賮賷 賰賱 丕賱毓丕賱賲 賵賲賳 賰賱 丕賱賮卅丕鬲 賵丕賱孬賯丕賮丕鬲貙 孬賲 賷噩毓賱賳丕 賳賱鬲賲爻 賲毓丕賳丕丞 丕賱胤賷亘賷賳 賮賷 賯亘囟丞 丕賱丕卮乇丕乇
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賴賳丕 爻鬲丿乇賰 賰賷賮 禺乇噩 丕賱丕爻鬲毓賲丕乇 賲賳 丕賱亘丕亘 兀賲丕賲 兀毓賷賳 丕賱噩賲賷毓 孬賲 鬲爻賱賱 毓丕卅丿丕 禺賮賷丞 賲賳 丕賱賳丕賮匕丞 丕賱禺賱賮賷丞 丕賱鬲賷 賮鬲丨賴丕 賱賴 丕賱禺賵賳丞 爻鬲丿乇賰 兀賳 卮賷胤丕賳丕 賵丕丨丿丕 賷毓賷卮 亘賴匕丕 丕賱毓丕賱賲貙 賴賵 丕賱睾乇亘 賵賳馗丕賲賴 丕賱乇兀爻 賲丕賱賷貙 爻鬲睾賳賷 孬賯丕賮鬲賰 丨賵賱 丕賱賯丕乇丞 丕賱爻賲乇丕亍 亘卮賰賱 賲亘賴乇
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February 1, 2019A polemic parable about the evils wreaked on Kenya by colonialism and capitalism, written in Thiong'o鈥檚 native tongue and smuggled out of prison on sheets of toilet paper. A fascinating back story but it is doggedly didactic, and even agreeing with all the major points I still can鈥檛 imagine many readers actually enjoying the work itself.
February 24, 2025
Devil on the Cross by Ng农g末 wa Thiong鈥檕 (1938) is one of the most staggering novels I have read. While it reminded me of John Steinbeck鈥檚 social activism (
), George Orwell鈥檚 dystopian world-building (
), and Mikhail Bulgakov鈥檚 play with the devil (
), it is first and foremost a thought-provoking reflection on postcolonial Kenyan society.
Written on toilet paper
The novel鈥檚 background is as interesting as its content. It is regarded as the first modern novel written in G末g末k农y农, a language spoken in the area around Nairobi, after Wa Thiong鈥檕 decided to write in his native tongue. Since he was imprisoned due to a politically motivated theatre play, the author wrote the story on toilet paper. The main character is War末末nga, a young woman traveling from the capital to her parents in Ilmorog. She shares a bus (尘补迟补迟农) ride with five remarkable people, each with their own thoughts on the political state of their country. During the ride, their conversation shifts to a mysterious Devil鈥檚 Feast for Thieves and Robbers happening in Ilmorog. As it soon turns out, each of them has their own reason for joining the feast.
Kenyan key developments
In less than 300 pages, Wa Thiong鈥檕 explores key developments in Kenya, from capitalist imperialism, corruption, and poverty to gender inequality and the loss of culture due to the continued dominance of European languages and values. I enjoyed the way the author integrates different forms of oppression into a thrilling (yet bizarre) narrative. Finally, his words are sharp and well-chosen. Novels like Devil on the Cross and Chinua Achebe鈥檚 make me realise that I must regularly reserve space for authors from the African continent.
Certain people in Ilmorog, our Ilmorog, told me that this story was too disgraceful, too shameful, that it should be concealed in the depths of everlasting darkness.
There were others who claimed that it was a matter for tears and sorrow, that it should be suppressed so that we should not shed tears a second time.
I asked them: How can we cover up pits in our courtyard with leaves or grass, saying to ourselves that because our eyes cannot now see the holes, our children can prance about the yard as they like?
Written on toilet paper
The novel鈥檚 background is as interesting as its content. It is regarded as the first modern novel written in G末g末k农y农, a language spoken in the area around Nairobi, after Wa Thiong鈥檕 decided to write in his native tongue. Since he was imprisoned due to a politically motivated theatre play, the author wrote the story on toilet paper. The main character is War末末nga, a young woman traveling from the capital to her parents in Ilmorog. She shares a bus (尘补迟补迟农) ride with five remarkable people, each with their own thoughts on the political state of their country. During the ride, their conversation shifts to a mysterious Devil鈥檚 Feast for Thieves and Robbers happening in Ilmorog. As it soon turns out, each of them has their own reason for joining the feast.
Kenyan key developments
In less than 300 pages, Wa Thiong鈥檕 explores key developments in Kenya, from capitalist imperialism, corruption, and poverty to gender inequality and the loss of culture due to the continued dominance of European languages and values. I enjoyed the way the author integrates different forms of oppression into a thrilling (yet bizarre) narrative. Finally, his words are sharp and well-chosen. Novels like Devil on the Cross and Chinua Achebe鈥檚 make me realise that I must regularly reserve space for authors from the African continent.
January 3, 2011
have recently started reading about Africa and have to admit to being fairly ignorant about most African history and literature. Therefor, this review will be somewhat limited since I believe that the characters in this book are all based on cultural and social ideals and thoughts instead of actual 鈥減eople鈥� like many novels. This book was also written while Thiong鈥� o was in jail because of a play he wrote about the government. The then vice president of Kenya ordered his arrest. While imprisoned, Thiong鈥� o wrote this book on toilet paper guards gave him because he had no paper. Thiong鈥� o writes in his native Kikuyu language and translates it into English himself.
The book is built around a 鈥淒evil鈥檚 Feast鈥� where the best robbers and thieves from all around the world will meet in Ilmorog, a fictional city in Kenya, and tell their stories. After the stories are told, the robbers and thieves will then decide who is the greatest of them all. The main character, Wariinga, is a Kenyan woman in her mid 20s who has just been fired by Boss Kihara for not sleeping with him. She also has a child by The Rich Old Man who dumped her after finding out she was pregnant with his child and went back to his wife. This sets the premise of women being used and abused by men in Kenya but also, Warringa seems to the redemptive power of women and the poor of Kenya while most of the men are metaphors for capitalism and western culture, raping and destroying Kenya for its own needs and desires.
Wariinga decides to return to her hometown, Illmorog. She rides in a bus with 5 other characters that seem to represent other parts of Kenya鈥檚 culture: The students who want equality. The professors who are trying to educate and help the poor. The wealthy who are part of the Devil鈥檚 Feast, proud of their raping of Kenya and the poor, and another woman who is much like Warringa and fights for rights and equality after being used by men.
They watch and listen to the Devil鈥檚 Feast and hear pride filled stories from the robbers and thieves about how they are using and destroying Kenya. They disregard the native intelligence and culture, seeing it as 鈥減rimitive鈥� and worthless, justifying their own desire to make money and rule the world. Thiong鈥� o obivously had a great disdain of the willingness of capitalism and western ideology to sell and use with little regard to what the west can learn from these cultures. This also includes Christianity and western religions which tend to ignore the Earth and destroy the beauty of the world instead of caring for and respecting it. It seems many of the most corrupt characters are the ones that claim they are from 鈥淭he Church鈥� and therefore have a ready excuse to ruin other people鈥檚 lives. The Feast goes on until two of the characters get the students, workers and the police to come and take them into custody. The police are paid off and actually arrest all the students and workers and put them in jail while the rich foreigners and Kenyans who advocate destroying the Kenyan culture go free.
The end of the story is not one that I want to give away because it is such a powerful book. I have yet to read anyone that has characters who are so dense and soliloquies that are so eloquent and angry at the same time. This book is a difficult read if one is not willing to take the time to pay attention to the language and logic of each. It reminds me of As I lay Dying by Faulkner in that there are quick changes between characters who are narrating and each character is so different . That being said, Thiong鈥檕's style is entirely different than Faulkner鈥檚 so please don鈥檛 expect that kind of prose. It is much more dense and yet lush at the same time.
This is definitely a book that I will reread a few times in my life because I can only imagine how much I have missed while still enjoying it thoroughly. Also, Ngugi wa Thiong鈥� o will be coming to Mills College to speak in March. I look forward to reading his other novels before I hear him in person
The book is built around a 鈥淒evil鈥檚 Feast鈥� where the best robbers and thieves from all around the world will meet in Ilmorog, a fictional city in Kenya, and tell their stories. After the stories are told, the robbers and thieves will then decide who is the greatest of them all. The main character, Wariinga, is a Kenyan woman in her mid 20s who has just been fired by Boss Kihara for not sleeping with him. She also has a child by The Rich Old Man who dumped her after finding out she was pregnant with his child and went back to his wife. This sets the premise of women being used and abused by men in Kenya but also, Warringa seems to the redemptive power of women and the poor of Kenya while most of the men are metaphors for capitalism and western culture, raping and destroying Kenya for its own needs and desires.
Wariinga decides to return to her hometown, Illmorog. She rides in a bus with 5 other characters that seem to represent other parts of Kenya鈥檚 culture: The students who want equality. The professors who are trying to educate and help the poor. The wealthy who are part of the Devil鈥檚 Feast, proud of their raping of Kenya and the poor, and another woman who is much like Warringa and fights for rights and equality after being used by men.
They watch and listen to the Devil鈥檚 Feast and hear pride filled stories from the robbers and thieves about how they are using and destroying Kenya. They disregard the native intelligence and culture, seeing it as 鈥減rimitive鈥� and worthless, justifying their own desire to make money and rule the world. Thiong鈥� o obivously had a great disdain of the willingness of capitalism and western ideology to sell and use with little regard to what the west can learn from these cultures. This also includes Christianity and western religions which tend to ignore the Earth and destroy the beauty of the world instead of caring for and respecting it. It seems many of the most corrupt characters are the ones that claim they are from 鈥淭he Church鈥� and therefore have a ready excuse to ruin other people鈥檚 lives. The Feast goes on until two of the characters get the students, workers and the police to come and take them into custody. The police are paid off and actually arrest all the students and workers and put them in jail while the rich foreigners and Kenyans who advocate destroying the Kenyan culture go free.
The end of the story is not one that I want to give away because it is such a powerful book. I have yet to read anyone that has characters who are so dense and soliloquies that are so eloquent and angry at the same time. This book is a difficult read if one is not willing to take the time to pay attention to the language and logic of each. It reminds me of As I lay Dying by Faulkner in that there are quick changes between characters who are narrating and each character is so different . That being said, Thiong鈥檕's style is entirely different than Faulkner鈥檚 so please don鈥檛 expect that kind of prose. It is much more dense and yet lush at the same time.
This is definitely a book that I will reread a few times in my life because I can only imagine how much I have missed while still enjoying it thoroughly. Also, Ngugi wa Thiong鈥� o will be coming to Mills College to speak in March. I look forward to reading his other novels before I hear him in person
November 11, 2019
Imperialism + Neo-colonialism + Corruption Held to Account
If you can compare the early poster artwork of the Russian Revolution with say, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, or Jackson Pollock, then probably you won鈥檛 flinch from comparing this work with say, Turgenev, Faulkner, or Ismail Kadare. As for me, I found it hard. The present book is no doubt powerful and unique, a work from the heart, a cry against the evils of this world, written on toilet paper in a Kenyan prison where the author languished for political reasons. But is it a book I would recommend you to read? That鈥檚 another question. Reviews here on 欧宝娱乐 by Will A, Mary Emily O鈥橦ara, Claudia and SalsaArum (to name a few good ones) will tell you what the book is about, so I won鈥檛 repeat their excellent comments. Suffice to say that if you want to know what a talented, anguished African author has to say about his country鈥檚 trajectory, about corruption, exploitation, poverty, and the prospects for change, you have come to the right place. If you want to know about Kenya beyond game parks and facile Hollywood movies, this could be an eye-opener. If you are interested in African literature written first in a local language (Gikuyu) and translated into English by the author himself, literature full of the proverbs and sayings of Kenyan oral tradition, then you will find this excellent. However, if you are looking for a 鈥渟tandard鈥� novel in any sense of the word, one in which political color and political aims take second place to a story, then this may not prove so satisfactory. This is a political allegory, and a statement of where the author stands vis-脿-vis the people who jailed him. Politically it should be given five stars, as an allegory too, but in the class of 鈥渓iterature as literature鈥�, I can鈥檛 give it more than three. We may be 鈥渨ith鈥� him, but he was the one who had to take the punishment for speaking out. He earned the right to say whatever he felt. I don鈥檛 put him down, but as a reviewer, I have to say what I think.
The injustices dealt with in Ngugi鈥檚 book still remain. And we are only reading while he spoke out.
If you can compare the early poster artwork of the Russian Revolution with say, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, or Jackson Pollock, then probably you won鈥檛 flinch from comparing this work with say, Turgenev, Faulkner, or Ismail Kadare. As for me, I found it hard. The present book is no doubt powerful and unique, a work from the heart, a cry against the evils of this world, written on toilet paper in a Kenyan prison where the author languished for political reasons. But is it a book I would recommend you to read? That鈥檚 another question. Reviews here on 欧宝娱乐 by Will A, Mary Emily O鈥橦ara, Claudia and SalsaArum (to name a few good ones) will tell you what the book is about, so I won鈥檛 repeat their excellent comments. Suffice to say that if you want to know what a talented, anguished African author has to say about his country鈥檚 trajectory, about corruption, exploitation, poverty, and the prospects for change, you have come to the right place. If you want to know about Kenya beyond game parks and facile Hollywood movies, this could be an eye-opener. If you are interested in African literature written first in a local language (Gikuyu) and translated into English by the author himself, literature full of the proverbs and sayings of Kenyan oral tradition, then you will find this excellent. However, if you are looking for a 鈥渟tandard鈥� novel in any sense of the word, one in which political color and political aims take second place to a story, then this may not prove so satisfactory. This is a political allegory, and a statement of where the author stands vis-脿-vis the people who jailed him. Politically it should be given five stars, as an allegory too, but in the class of 鈥渓iterature as literature鈥�, I can鈥檛 give it more than three. We may be 鈥渨ith鈥� him, but he was the one who had to take the punishment for speaking out. He earned the right to say whatever he felt. I don鈥檛 put him down, but as a reviewer, I have to say what I think.
The injustices dealt with in Ngugi鈥檚 book still remain. And we are only reading while he spoke out.
September 19, 2016
The master of ceremonies leaped on to the platform and called for silence. He addressed the audience and told them that this was a competition for thieves and robbers, real ones - that is, those who had reached international standards. Stories of people breaking padlocks in village huts or snatching purses from poor market women were shameful in the eyes of real experts in theft and robbery, and more so when such stories were narrated in front of international thieves and robbers. The foreigners had not traveled all this way to meet people who stole just because they were hungry or needed clothes and jobs. Such petty thieves and robbers were criminals. 鈥楬ere, in this cave, we are interested only in people who steal because their bellies are full,鈥� the master of ceremonies said, patting his stomach.Devil on the Cross was written during Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o's one year imprisonment in Kenya (due to his explicitly critical and political play: Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want)); the novel was written entirely on prison-issued toilet paper.
Oddly enough, the book has a fairly Russian feel to it - it still feels distinctly African in idiom though - mostly due to the tone of criticism of the corruption and cronyism of the political and economic elite. Ironically, most of the Russian books it reminds me of are fairly distinctly anti-communist (mostly just as a response to Russian power structure) while this book (and Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o) are fairly pro-Marxist (again, in response to the Kenyan-power-structure, and capitalistic greed suppressing the Kenyan working class). The book has a bit of a magical-realism feel to it in the opening couple chapters, but that ends up fading through the rest of the book, and it ends up being a pretty straightforward condemnation of capitalism and the political elite in power in Kenya at the time.
It's good, but is bogged down by the length of time spent on the speeches and ceremonies in the Thieves and Robbers Den; very strong beginning and ending though.
February 20, 2010
I hesitate between 2 and 3 stars because I loved what I learned from the book and the awareness that it renewed in me about neocolonial capitalist exploitation, and I love the strongly feminist awareness and message. However, the style of writing and the way the story was constructed read more like a treatise on leftist politics than a piece of art, and so as a novel it does not wholly succeed.
Now, it is true that I and many others would not have read a non-fiction treatise on how certain members of Kenyan society sell their country to foreign colonial and corporate interests and how they exploited the independence gained by the Mau Maus to cheat and enrich themselves on the blood and sweat of their own people, or how the exploitation of women is bound up in capitalist exploitation. Putting these concepts in novel form was a very clever way for Ngugi to share this awareness and to call for hope and struggle. However, I wish he could have done it more artfully, because I felt at times that I was reading for obligation, never fully immersed in the language or flow of the book. It felt hackish in style, like he was desperate to fit everything in there, no matter how contrived it seemed in the dialogue between two characters.
Nevertheless, I'd recommend it for anyone wishing to learn about Kenya, or possibly Africa in general, after colonial rule, and how independence has often been co-opted or exploited. It is also one of the most empathetic and in-depth views of systems of economic and sexual exploitation and violence against women I have ever read, coupled with a (somewhat less developed and believable) story of female resistance and strength, and for this reason alone I would recommend it. Still, though, while it is a good story of women, and a true story, it is not told with enough complexity and art to really hit the gut.
Now, it is true that I and many others would not have read a non-fiction treatise on how certain members of Kenyan society sell their country to foreign colonial and corporate interests and how they exploited the independence gained by the Mau Maus to cheat and enrich themselves on the blood and sweat of their own people, or how the exploitation of women is bound up in capitalist exploitation. Putting these concepts in novel form was a very clever way for Ngugi to share this awareness and to call for hope and struggle. However, I wish he could have done it more artfully, because I felt at times that I was reading for obligation, never fully immersed in the language or flow of the book. It felt hackish in style, like he was desperate to fit everything in there, no matter how contrived it seemed in the dialogue between two characters.
Nevertheless, I'd recommend it for anyone wishing to learn about Kenya, or possibly Africa in general, after colonial rule, and how independence has often been co-opted or exploited. It is also one of the most empathetic and in-depth views of systems of economic and sexual exploitation and violence against women I have ever read, coupled with a (somewhat less developed and believable) story of female resistance and strength, and for this reason alone I would recommend it. Still, though, while it is a good story of women, and a true story, it is not told with enough complexity and art to really hit the gut.
April 24, 2024
螣 螛喂蠈谓纬魏慰 蟽蔚 魏维胃蔚 尾喂尾位委慰 蟿慰蠀 蟽慰蠀 未畏渭喂慰蠀蟻纬蔚委 伪谓维渭喂魏蟿伪 魏 未喂伪蠁慰蟻蔚蟿喂魏维 蟽蠀谓伪喂蟽胃萎渭伪蟿伪. 螘蟺委蟽畏蟼, 蟺伪蟻伪蟿畏蟻蔚委蟼 蟺蠅蟼 蠀蟺维蟻蠂蔚喂 未喂伪蠁慰蟻蔚蟿喂魏萎 蟺蟻慰蟽苇纬纬喂蟽畏 蠅蟼 蟺蟻慰蟼 蟿慰 蟺蔚蟻喂蔚蠂蠈渭蔚谓蠈 蟿慰蠀 魏维胃蔚 蠁慰蟻维. 危蟿慰 蟺蟻慰畏纬慰蠉渭蔚谓慰 尾喂尾位委慰 蟿慰蠀 蔚蟽蟿委伪蟽蔚 蟺喂慰 蟺慰位蠉 蟽蟿慰 魏慰喂谓蠅谓喂魏蠈 蟺蟻委蟽渭伪, 蔚未蠋 蟺苇蟻伪 伪蟺蠈 蟿慰 魏慰喂谓蠅谓喂魏蠈 魏 蠁蠀位蔚蟿喂魏蠈 蔚渭尾维胃蠀谓蔚 胃委纬慰谓蟿伪蟼 蠁喂位慰蟽慰蠁喂魏维 味畏蟿萎渭伪蟿伪. 螠慰蠀 维蟻蔚蟽蔚 纬喂伪蟿委 蟿伪 蟽蠀谓未蠉伪蟽蔚 蟺慰位蠉 伪蟻渭慰谓喂魏维. 螚 纬蟻伪蠁萎 蟿慰蠀 萎蟿伪谓 蟺喂慰 未慰蠀位蔚渭苇谓畏, 蟺喂慰 渭蔚蟽蟿萎. 螔苇尾伪喂伪, 蠅蟼 喂蟽蟿慰蟻委伪 未蔚谓 渭蟺慰蟻蠋 谓伪 蟺蠅 蟺蠅蟼 渭蔚 蔚谓胃慰蠀蟽委伪蟽蔚. 韦慰 蟿苇位慰蟼 蠈渭蠅蟼, 萎蟿伪谓 伪谓伪蟿蟻蔚蟺蟿喂魏蠈 魏 苇未蠅蟽蔚 蟿畏 未喂魏伪委蠅蟽畏 蟺慰蠀 苇蟺蟻蔚蟺蔚.
July 23, 2021
喈掂喈氞喈瘝喈喈编瘝喈曕喈� 喈喈苦喁�:
" 喈氞喈侧瘉喈掂瘓喈喈侧瘝 喈む瘖喈權瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈氞喈む瘝喈む喈┼瘝 " 喈庎喁嵿 喈む喁堗喁嵿喁堗喈苦疅, 喈掄喁� 喈曕瘓喈む 喈掄喁佮喈班瘝 喈む喈┼瘝 喈氞喈编瘓喈喈侧喈班瘉喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈瘚喈む瘉 喈喈瘝 喈む瘉喈熰瘓喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈む喈赤喈侧瘝 喈掄喁� 喈瘉喈┼瘓喈掂瘉 喈ㄠ瘋喈侧瘓 喈庎喁佮喈苦喈苦喁佮喁嵿喈距喁� 喈庎喁嵿喈む瘉 喈嗋喁嵿喈む瘝喈む瘓 喈曕瘖喈熰瘉喈む瘝喈む瘉, 喈瘚喈氞喈曕瘝喈曕喈む瘉 喈掂喈權瘝喈� 喈掂瘓喈む瘝喈む喁�.
喈囙喁� 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈┼瘓喈掂喈�, 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈掂喈班瘝喈む瘝喈む瘓喈曕喈距畷 喈庎喁嵿喁佮喁� 喈瘉喈熰喈喈苦喁嵿喁�.
喈喈曕喁佮喁�, 喈氞喈苦喈距 喈氞喈喁嵿喈苦喁� 喈囙喁嵿喈熰喈瘖喈班瘉 喈ㄠ瘋喈侧瘓 喈疅喈苦喁嵿喁佮喈苦疅喁嵿疅 喈掄喁� 喈畷喈苦喁嵿畾喁嵿畾喈�. 喈忇喁嗋喁嵿喈距喁�, 喈囙喁� 喈ㄠ喈瘝 ism 喈氞瘒喈班瘝喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝; Communism, Colonialism, Imperialism, Capitalism, 喈瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈喈距畷 Post Colonialism 喈喁嵿喈� 喈掄喁� 喈瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈喈距 喈呧喈苦喁佮畷喈瘉喈瘝, 喈嗋喈む瘝喈む瘓喈瘉喈瘝 喈掂喈熰瘝喈熰瘉喈氞瘝 喈氞瘑喈┼瘝喈编喈班瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈编喁�.
喈囙喁嵿喈熰喈瘉喈瘝 喈曕瘋喈�, 喈掄喁� 喈ㄠ喁€喈┼喁嵿喁佮喈瘝 喈呧疅喁堗喁嵿 喈ㄠ喈熰喈喈┼瘉喈瘝, 喈囙喁嵿喈瘉喈瘝 喈呧喁嵿 喈曕喈侧喈苦喈掂喈む喈曕喁佮喁�, 喈忇畷喈距喈苦喈む瘝喈む喈喈距喈苦畷喈赤瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈む喁€喈熰瘝喈熰喈赤喁嵿畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈掂喈苦喈苦喁� 喈嗋喈苦畷喁嵿畷喈瘝 喈氞瘑喈侧瘉喈む瘝喈む 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰瘉 喈む喈┼瘝 喈囙喁佮畷喁嵿畷喈苦喈距喁嵿畷喈赤瘝 喈庎 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈愢喁嵿喁� 喈曕喈距喈距喁嵿喈苦喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂瘓喈む瘝喈む瘒 喈曕喁堗畾喁嵿畾喁娻喁嵿喈苦喈距畷 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喈苦喁佮畷喁嵿畷喈苦喈距喁�, Ngugi wa thiongo.
喈囙喁嵿 喈ㄠ瘋喈侧喈┼瘝 喈瘖喈脆喈瘑喈喁嵿喁嵿喈距喈班瘝 喈呧喈班喁嵿喈� 喈喈曕喁佮喁� 喈氞喈班喁嵿喁嵿喈熰瘝喈熰瘉 喈ㄠ喁嵿喈苦疅喁堗喁� 喈氞瘒喈班瘝喈む瘝喈む瘉喈赤瘝喈赤喈班瘝. 喈喈曕喁� 喈む瘉喈赤瘝喈赤喈喈距畷, 喈呧喁嵿喁堗 喈曕喈侧喈苦 喈呧喈氞喈┼瘝 喈氞疅喁嵿疅喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂喁佮疅 喈曕喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈曕喁嵿喈熰 喈む瘑喈赤瘝喈赤喁嵿喁嗋喈苦喈距喁� 喈曕瘖喈熰瘉喈瘓喈曕喁� 喈喈苦喁� 喈喁嵿喈苦喈苦喁佮畷喁嵿畷喈苦喈距喁�. 喈瘋喈┼瘝喈编疅喁佮畷喁嵿畷喁� 喈氞喁傕畷喈喈瘝; 喈掂瘑喈赤瘝喈赤瘓喈喁�, 喈嗋畾喈苦 喈囙喈權瘝喈曕喁�, 喈喈┼瘝 喈曕喁佮喁嵿喈班瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂喈� 喈掂喈曕喈瘝 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喈む瘓喈瘉喈瘝 喈氞瘉喈熰瘝喈熰喈曕瘝 喈曕喈熰瘝喈熰喈瘉喈赤瘝喈赤喈班瘝.
喈掄喁� 喈掂喈苦喈苦喁� 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈� 喈掂瘒喈｀瘝喈熰瘉喈瘑喈┼瘝喈编喈侧瘝 " 喈囙疅喁嵿喈班喈┼瘝 喈曕喈侧喁€喈�, ' 喈囙喈氞瘝喈氞瘚喈む喁� ' 喈曕喈苦喈苦喁佮喁嵿喁� 喈喈班喈熰瘝喈熰喈粪瘝 喈嗋喁佮喁� 喈掂喁嵿畷喁嵿畷喈む瘝喈む喈┼瘓 喈曕喁嵿喁佮畷喁� 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰喁� " .
喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈呧喁嵿 喈嗋畾喁堗喁�, " 喈呧喁佮喈侧畷喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈疅喁嵿疅喁佮喁� 喈瘒喈� 喈瘉喈熰喈ㄠ瘝喈む喈侧瘝 喈呧喁� 喈 喈曕喁堗畷喈赤瘓喈氞瘝 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈侧瘉喈瘝. 喈掄喁� 喈瘑喈┼瘝喈瘓喈喈� 喈氞喈瘑喈｀瘝喈熰瘉喈む瘝 喈む喁� 喈呧喁佮喁堗喈距 喈曕疅喁嵿疅喈苦喈距畷喁佮喁�. " 喈庎 喈掂瘒喈班瘝喈掂瘓 喈掂喈熰瘉喈瘝 喈曕喁佮喁嵿喈苦 喈瘑喈｀瘝喈｀瘓 喈呧疅喈曕瘝喈� 喈ㄠ喈┼瘓喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈呧喁嵿喁堗 喈掂瘑喈赤瘝喈赤瘓喈曕瘝喈曕喈� 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦喈苦喁� 喈嗋畾喁� 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤瘝.
喈呧喈赤瘝 喈掂喈熰瘉喈瘝 喈喈苦喁佮喁�, " 喈嗋喁嵿畷喈赤瘉喈曕瘝喈曕瘉 喈曕瘖喈熰喈� 喈掂喈粪喁佮喁嵿 喈曕瘖喈熰瘉喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈曕喁� 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喈む瘓 喈喈ㄠ瘝喈む瘉喈掂喈熰喈距疅喁嵿疅喁囙喁�. 喈呧喈┼瘝 喈掂喈粪喁� 喈瘑喈｀瘝喈｀瘓 喈呧喈苦喁嵿喁佮畷喁� 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰瘒 喈ㄠ瘈喈權瘝喈曕喈む瘉 喈囙喁佮畷喁嵿畷喁佮喁�. " 喈庎 喈瘉喈班疅喁嵿畾喈苦畷喁嵿畷喁� 喈掂喈む瘓 喈瘚喈熰瘉喈瘝 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤瘝 喈曕瘋喈编 喈曕喁堗喈苦喁� 喈喈｀喈曕瘝喈曕喈编喈赤瘝, 喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕.
May May Uprising 喈庎喁嵿畷喈苦 喈呧喁嵿喁堗 喈瘉喈班疅喁嵿畾喈苦畷喈� 喈氞瘑喈喁嵿喈距疅喁嵿疅喁堗喁佮喁� 喈曕喁堗喁嬥疅喁� 喈 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤喈侧瘝 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈侧喈喈班瘉喈瘝喈喁� 喈む喈┼瘝 喈瘑喈班瘉喈瘝 喈喈瘝. " 喈喈掂瘝 喈喈掂瘝 喈曕喈赤喁嵿畾喁嵿畾喈苦喈苦喁� 喈瘚喈む瘉, " 喈掄喁佮喁嬥喁佮喁� 喈む喈苦喈距畷 喈夃喁嵿 喈喈熰瘝喈熰瘚喈瘝 喈庎 喈夃喁佮喈苦喁娻喈� 喈庎疅喁佮喁嵿喁佮喁嵿喁嬥喁� " 喈庎喁嵿喁佮喁� 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤瘝 喈庎喁嵿喈距喁� 喈掄喁嵿喁佮喁堗喁� 喈曕喈熰瘝喈熰喈氞瘝 喈氞瘑喈侧瘝喈曕喈编喁佮瘝
喈曕喈熰瘝喈熰喁嵿喈熰瘝喈� 喈掄喁� 喈瘋喈┼瘝喈编瘉, 喈ㄠ喈┼瘝喈曕瘉 喈呧喁嵿喈苦喈距喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈掂喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘋喈侧喁� 喈疅喁嵿疅喁佮喁�. 喈氞喈侧喈班瘝喈む瘝喈む瘒 喈瘚喈瘝 喈掂喈熰瘝喈熰瘒喈┼瘝, 喈囙喈班瘝喈曕喈苦喁� 喈掂喈苦喁� 喈掄喁嵿喁娻喁� 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦喁嵿喁佮 喈氞喈ㄠ瘝喈む喁堗畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈掂瘑喈赤喈瘝喈喈熰瘝喈熰瘓喈曕瘝 喈曕喁嵿疅喁�. 喈喈曕瘝喈曕喈班喁� 喈む疅喁佮喈距喁佮喈む瘉 喈呧畷喈苦畷喈喈� 喈夃喁嵿喈む喈侧瘝; 喈忇喁堗喁�, 喈呧喈苦畷喈瘝 " 喈畾喈苦喈距喁� " 喈庎 喈曕瘒喈侧喈曕瘝 喈曕喈｀瘝喈熰喈距喁� 喈氞喈班喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦畷喈赤瘝.
喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕喈掂喈┼瘝 喈曕喈掂瘉喈曕喈苦喁� 喈掂喁佮喁� 喈氞喈む瘝喈む喈┼喈┼瘝 喈夃喁堗喈距疅喈侧瘝, 喈む喁嵿喁佮喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈庎喁嵿喈距喁� 喈囙喁嵿喁佮喁� 喈曕瘋喈� 喈掄喁嵿喈苦喁� 喈瘚喈曕瘉喈瘝.
喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕喈掂喈侧瘝 喈ㄠ喈曕喁佮喁� 喈瘉喈熰喈掂瘉, Quentin Tarantino喈掂喈┼瘝 " Django Unchained " 喈疅喈む瘝喈む喈侧瘝 喈瘉喈熰喈掂瘉 喈曕喈熰瘝喈氞喈喈侧瘝 Django 喈呧疅喈苦喁堗喁嵿喈┼喁嵿喈苦喁� 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喁� 喈掂瘑喈赤喈瘝喈疅 喈囙喈む瘝喈む喁� 喈む瘑喈编喈曕瘝喈�, 喈む瘑喈编喈曕瘝喈� 喈掄喁� 喈ㄠ喈曕喁嵿喁� 喈忇喁嵿喈熰瘉喈む瘝喈む瘉喈掂喈┼瘝, 喈瘉喈班疅喁嵿畾喈苦喈苦喁� 喈掂疅喈苦喈喈瘝.
喈呧喁嵿喈熰喈む瘝喈む喈┼瘝, 喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕喈掂瘉喈瘝 !!
喈曕喁嵿疅喈苦喁嵿喈距畷 喈掂喈氞喈瘉喈權瘝喈曕喁�.
" 喈氞喈侧瘉喈掂瘓喈喈侧瘝 喈む瘖喈權瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈氞喈む瘝喈む喈┼瘝 " 喈庎喁嵿 喈む喁堗喁嵿喁堗喈苦疅, 喈掄喁� 喈曕瘓喈む 喈掄喁佮喈班瘝 喈む喈┼瘝 喈氞喈编瘓喈喈侧喈班瘉喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈瘚喈む瘉 喈喈瘝 喈む瘉喈熰瘓喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈む喈赤喈侧瘝 喈掄喁� 喈瘉喈┼瘓喈掂瘉 喈ㄠ瘋喈侧瘓 喈庎喁佮喈苦喈苦喁佮喁嵿喈距喁� 喈庎喁嵿喈む瘉 喈嗋喁嵿喈む瘝喈む瘓 喈曕瘖喈熰瘉喈む瘝喈む瘉, 喈瘚喈氞喈曕瘝喈曕喈む瘉 喈掂喈權瘝喈� 喈掂瘓喈む瘝喈む喁�.
喈囙喁� 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈┼瘓喈掂喈�, 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈掂喈班瘝喈む瘝喈む瘓喈曕喈距畷 喈庎喁嵿喁佮喁� 喈瘉喈熰喈喈苦喁嵿喁�.
喈喈曕喁佮喁�, 喈氞喈苦喈距 喈氞喈喁嵿喈苦喁� 喈囙喁嵿喈熰喈瘖喈班瘉 喈ㄠ瘋喈侧瘓 喈疅喈苦喁嵿喁佮喈苦疅喁嵿疅 喈掄喁� 喈畷喈苦喁嵿畾喁嵿畾喈�. 喈忇喁嗋喁嵿喈距喁�, 喈囙喁� 喈ㄠ喈瘝 ism 喈氞瘒喈班瘝喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝; Communism, Colonialism, Imperialism, Capitalism, 喈瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈喈距畷 Post Colonialism 喈喁嵿喈� 喈掄喁� 喈瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈喈距 喈呧喈苦喁佮畷喈瘉喈瘝, 喈嗋喈む瘝喈む瘓喈瘉喈瘝 喈掂喈熰瘝喈熰瘉喈氞瘝 喈氞瘑喈┼瘝喈编喈班瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈编喁�.
喈囙喁嵿喈熰喈瘉喈瘝 喈曕瘋喈�, 喈掄喁� 喈ㄠ喁€喈┼喁嵿喁佮喈瘝 喈呧疅喁堗喁嵿 喈ㄠ喈熰喈喈┼瘉喈瘝, 喈囙喁嵿喈瘉喈瘝 喈呧喁嵿 喈曕喈侧喈苦喈掂喈む喈曕喁佮喁�, 喈忇畷喈距喈苦喈む瘝喈む喈喈距喈苦畷喈赤瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈む喁€喈熰瘝喈熰喈赤喁嵿畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈掂喈苦喈苦喁� 喈嗋喈苦畷喁嵿畷喈瘝 喈氞瘑喈侧瘉喈む瘝喈む 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰瘉 喈む喈┼瘝 喈囙喁佮畷喁嵿畷喈苦喈距喁嵿畷喈赤瘝 喈庎 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈愢喁嵿喁� 喈曕喈距喈距喁嵿喈苦喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂瘓喈む瘝喈む瘒 喈曕喁堗畾喁嵿畾喁娻喁嵿喈苦喈距畷 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喈苦喁佮畷喁嵿畷喈苦喈距喁�, Ngugi wa thiongo.
喈囙喁嵿 喈ㄠ瘋喈侧喈┼瘝 喈瘖喈脆喈瘑喈喁嵿喁嵿喈距喈班瘝 喈呧喈班喁嵿喈� 喈喈曕喁佮喁� 喈氞喈班喁嵿喁嵿喈熰瘝喈熰瘉 喈ㄠ喁嵿喈苦疅喁堗喁� 喈氞瘒喈班瘝喈む瘝喈む瘉喈赤瘝喈赤喈班瘝. 喈喈曕喁� 喈む瘉喈赤瘝喈赤喈喈距畷, 喈呧喁嵿喁堗 喈曕喈侧喈苦 喈呧喈氞喈┼瘝 喈氞疅喁嵿疅喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂喁佮疅 喈曕喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈曕喁嵿喈熰 喈む瘑喈赤瘝喈赤喁嵿喁嗋喈苦喈距喁� 喈曕瘖喈熰瘉喈瘓喈曕喁� 喈喈苦喁� 喈喁嵿喈苦喈苦喁佮畷喁嵿畷喈苦喈距喁�. 喈瘋喈┼瘝喈编疅喁佮畷喁嵿畷喁� 喈氞喁傕畷喈喈瘝; 喈掂瘑喈赤瘝喈赤瘓喈喁�, 喈嗋畾喈苦 喈囙喈權瘝喈曕喁�, 喈喈┼瘝 喈曕喁佮喁嵿喈班瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂喈� 喈掂喈曕喈瘝 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喈む瘓喈瘉喈瘝 喈氞瘉喈熰瘝喈熰喈曕瘝 喈曕喈熰瘝喈熰喈瘉喈赤瘝喈赤喈班瘝.
喈掄喁� 喈掂喈苦喈苦喁� 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈� 喈掂瘒喈｀瘝喈熰瘉喈瘑喈┼瘝喈编喈侧瘝 " 喈囙疅喁嵿喈班喈┼瘝 喈曕喈侧喁€喈�, ' 喈囙喈氞瘝喈氞瘚喈む喁� ' 喈曕喈苦喈苦喁佮喁嵿喁� 喈喈班喈熰瘝喈熰喈粪瘝 喈嗋喁佮喁� 喈掂喁嵿畷喁嵿畷喈む瘝喈む喈┼瘓 喈曕喁嵿喁佮畷喁� 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰喁� " .
喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈呧喁嵿 喈嗋畾喁堗喁�, " 喈呧喁佮喈侧畷喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈疅喁嵿疅喁佮喁� 喈瘒喈� 喈瘉喈熰喈ㄠ瘝喈む喈侧瘝 喈呧喁� 喈 喈曕喁堗畷喈赤瘓喈氞瘝 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈侧瘉喈瘝. 喈掄喁� 喈瘑喈┼瘝喈瘓喈喈� 喈氞喈瘑喈｀瘝喈熰瘉喈む瘝 喈む喁� 喈呧喁佮喁堗喈距 喈曕疅喁嵿疅喈苦喈距畷喁佮喁�. " 喈庎 喈掂瘒喈班瘝喈掂瘓 喈掂喈熰瘉喈瘝 喈曕喁佮喁嵿喈苦 喈瘑喈｀瘝喈｀瘓 喈呧疅喈曕瘝喈� 喈ㄠ喈┼瘓喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈呧喁嵿喁堗 喈掂瘑喈赤瘝喈赤瘓喈曕瘝喈曕喈� 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦喈苦喁� 喈嗋畾喁� 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤瘝.
喈呧喈赤瘝 喈掂喈熰瘉喈瘝 喈喈苦喁佮喁�, " 喈嗋喁嵿畷喈赤瘉喈曕瘝喈曕瘉 喈曕瘖喈熰喈� 喈掂喈粪喁佮喁嵿 喈曕瘖喈熰瘉喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈曕喁� 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喈む瘓 喈喈ㄠ瘝喈む瘉喈掂喈熰喈距疅喁嵿疅喁囙喁�. 喈呧喈┼瘝 喈掂喈粪喁� 喈瘑喈｀瘝喈｀瘓 喈呧喈苦喁嵿喁佮畷喁� 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰瘒 喈ㄠ瘈喈權瘝喈曕喈む瘉 喈囙喁佮畷喁嵿畷喁佮喁�. " 喈庎 喈瘉喈班疅喁嵿畾喈苦畷喁嵿畷喁� 喈掂喈む瘓 喈瘚喈熰瘉喈瘝 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤瘝 喈曕瘋喈编 喈曕喁堗喈苦喁� 喈喈｀喈曕瘝喈曕喈编喈赤瘝, 喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕.
May May Uprising 喈庎喁嵿畷喈苦 喈呧喁嵿喁堗 喈瘉喈班疅喁嵿畾喈苦畷喈� 喈氞瘑喈喁嵿喈距疅喁嵿疅喁堗喁佮喁� 喈曕喁堗喁嬥疅喁� 喈 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤喈侧瘝 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈侧喈喈班瘉喈瘝喈喁� 喈む喈┼瘝 喈瘑喈班瘉喈瘝 喈喈瘝. " 喈喈掂瘝 喈喈掂瘝 喈曕喈赤喁嵿畾喁嵿畾喈苦喈苦喁� 喈瘚喈む瘉, " 喈掄喁佮喁嬥喁佮喁� 喈む喈苦喈距畷 喈夃喁嵿 喈喈熰瘝喈熰瘚喈瘝 喈庎 喈夃喁佮喈苦喁娻喈� 喈庎疅喁佮喁嵿喁佮喁嵿喁嬥喁� " 喈庎喁嵿喁佮喁� 喈掂喈苦畷喈赤瘝 喈庎喁嵿喈距喁� 喈掄喁嵿喁佮喁堗喁� 喈曕喈熰瘝喈熰喈氞瘝 喈氞瘑喈侧瘝喈曕喈编喁佮瘝
喈曕喈熰瘝喈熰喁嵿喈熰瘝喈� 喈掄喁� 喈瘋喈┼瘝喈编瘉, 喈ㄠ喈┼瘝喈曕瘉 喈呧喁嵿喈苦喈距喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈掂瘑喈编瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈掂喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘋喈侧喁� 喈疅喁嵿疅喁佮喁�. 喈氞喈侧喈班瘝喈む瘝喈む瘒 喈瘚喈瘝 喈掂喈熰瘝喈熰瘒喈┼瘝, 喈囙喈班瘝喈曕喈苦喁� 喈掂喈苦喁� 喈掄喁嵿喁娻喁� 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦喁嵿喁佮 喈氞喈ㄠ瘝喈む喁堗畷喈赤喈┼瘝 喈掂瘑喈赤喈瘝喈喈熰瘝喈熰瘓喈曕瘝 喈曕喁嵿疅喁�. 喈喈曕瘝喈曕喈班喁� 喈む疅喁佮喈距喁佮喈む瘉 喈呧畷喈苦畷喈喈� 喈夃喁嵿喈む喈侧瘝; 喈忇喁堗喁�, 喈呧喈苦畷喈瘝 " 喈畾喈苦喈距喁� " 喈庎 喈曕瘒喈侧喈曕瘝 喈曕喈｀瘝喈熰喈距喁� 喈氞喈班喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈瘉喈む喈距喈苦畷喈赤瘝.
喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕喈掂喈┼瘝 喈曕喈掂瘉喈曕喈苦喁� 喈掂喁佮喁� 喈氞喈む瘝喈む喈┼喈┼瘝 喈夃喁堗喈距疅喈侧瘝, 喈む喁嵿喁佮喈權瘝喈曕喁� 喈庎喁嵿喈距喁� 喈囙喁嵿喁佮喁� 喈曕瘋喈� 喈掄喁嵿喈苦喁� 喈瘚喈曕瘉喈瘝.
喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕喈掂喈侧瘝 喈ㄠ喈曕喁佮喁� 喈瘉喈熰喈掂瘉, Quentin Tarantino喈掂喈┼瘝 " Django Unchained " 喈疅喈む瘝喈む喈侧瘝 喈瘉喈熰喈掂瘉 喈曕喈熰瘝喈氞喈喈侧瘝 Django 喈呧疅喈苦喁堗喁嵿喈┼喁嵿喈苦喁� 喈囙喁佮喁嵿喁� 喈掂瘑喈赤喈瘝喈疅 喈囙喈む瘝喈む喁� 喈む瘑喈编喈曕瘝喈�, 喈む瘑喈编喈曕瘝喈� 喈掄喁� 喈ㄠ喈曕喁嵿喁� 喈忇喁嵿喈熰瘉喈む瘝喈む瘉喈掂喈┼瘝, 喈瘉喈班疅喁嵿畾喈苦喈苦喁� 喈掂疅喈苦喈喈瘝.
喈呧喁嵿喈熰喈む瘝喈む喈┼瘝, 喈掂喁€喈瘝喈權瘝喈曕喈掂瘉喈瘝 !!
喈曕喁嵿疅喈苦喁嵿喈距畷 喈掂喈氞喈瘉喈權瘝喈曕喁�.
November 13, 2019
喈庎喁佮喁嵿喈距喈班瘝 喈曕瘋喈曕 喈掂 喈む喈喈權瘝喈曕瘚 喈氞喈编瘓喈喈侧瘝 喈掂瘓喈曕瘝喈曕喁嵿喈熰瘝喈熰喁嬥喁� 喈呧喈班瘝 喈庎喁佮喈苦 喈ㄠ瘋喈侧瘝. 喈瘉喈む喈苦喁� 喈曕喈曕瘝喈曕瘋喈瘋(喈曕瘑喈┼瘝喈喈掂喈┼瘝 喈瘋喈む瘝喈� 喈瘖喈脆喈喈� 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈侧喁嵿喈熰瘉喈曕喈编喁�) 喈瘖喈脆喈喈侧瘝 喈庎喁佮喈瘝喈疅喁嵿疅喈む瘉. 喈囙喁� 喈ㄠ喁€喈� 喈曕瘑喈┼瘝喈喈掂喈侧瘝 喈夃喁嵿 喈氞瘋喈脆喁� 喈喁嵿喈� 喈掂疅喈苦喈瘓喈む瘝喈む瘉 喈呧畽喁嵿畷喁� 喈掂畾喈苦喁嵿喁佮畷喁嵿畷喁娻喁嵿疅喈苦喁佮畷喁嵿畷喁佮喁� 喈氞喈� 喈曕喈距喈距喁嵿喈苦喈む瘝喈む瘓 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰瘉 喈庎喁佮喈瘝喈疅喁嵿疅 喈曕喁�. 喈曕瘑喈┼瘝喈 喈ㄠ喈熰瘝喈熰喈┼瘝 喈瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈喈距 喈掄喁� 喈喈苦喁�, 喈囙喁嵿 喈ㄠ喈掂喁� 喈掄喁� 喈曕畾喁嵿畾喈苦喈喈� Political fiction 喈掂喈苦畾喁堗喈苦喁� 喈呧疅喈曕瘝喈� 喈曕瘋喈熰喈喁�. 喈掄喁嵿喁娻喁� 喈囙疅喈む瘝喈む喈侧瘉喈瘝 喈囙喈苦喁� 喈呧喈班喈侧瘝 喈瘒喈氞喁嵿喈熰瘝喈熰喈班瘉喈曕瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈掂喈粪喈瘝 喈囙喁嵿喈苦喈� 喈喈む喈班喈喈� 喈ㄠ喈熰瘝喈熰喈编瘝喈曕瘉喈瘝 喈瘖喈班瘉喈ㄠ瘝喈む瘉喈瘝. 喈囙喁嵿喈赤喈苦喁� 喈囙喁佮畷喁嵿畷喁佮喁� 喈氞喈� 喈瘉喈曕瘝喈曕喈喈距 喈ㄠ喈侧瘓喈瘓 喈曕瘖喈｀瘝喈熰瘉 喈ㄠ喁嵿喈距喁� 喈夃喈班瘝喈ㄠ瘝喈む瘉 喈囙喁� 喈掂喈氞喈曕瘝喈� 喈瘉喈熰喈曕喈编喁�. 喈囙喁嵿喁佮喁� 喈氞瘖喈侧瘝喈侧喁嵿喁嬥喈距喁� 喈曕喁� 喈掂疅喈苦喈む瘝喈む喈侧瘉喈瘝 喈囙喁� 喈喈� 喈氞喈编喁嵿 喈掄喁� story telling 喈夃疅喈┼瘝 喈囙喁佮畷喁嵿畷喈苦喈む瘉.
If you're a big fan of Political fictions, Then this gem must be added to your shelve. And, It is also available in english .
Devil on the Cross (1980)
A Novel by Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o.
If you're a big fan of Political fictions, Then this gem must be added to your shelve. And, It is also available in english .
Devil on the Cross (1980)
A Novel by Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o.
February 25, 2020
Teenage marxists will really enjoy this book, but it ain't no Animal Farm. The simple story telling style of the "robbers and thieves" is not memorable or captivating.
It does a good enough job of introducing the idea behind the relations of production. It demonstrates how wealth is created through the exploitation of labor, but I didn't really feel indignation at the way the imperialist theives made their fortune.
If anything, it gave me some great business ideas: subdivide properties and build housing, or start a school touting ties to classical European education. Maybe I'm just getting old.
It does a good enough job of introducing the idea behind the relations of production. It demonstrates how wealth is created through the exploitation of labor, but I didn't really feel indignation at the way the imperialist theives made their fortune.
If anything, it gave me some great business ideas: subdivide properties and build housing, or start a school touting ties to classical European education. Maybe I'm just getting old.
October 20, 2021
Llegir en N'g奴g墨 wa Thiong'o m'ha fet millor persona. Amb els dos assajos que havia llegit (Descolonitzar la ment i Despla莽ar el centre), vaig patir una transformaci贸, vaig cr茅ixer. El diable a la creu va molt m茅s enll脿, i es quedar脿 amb m铆 per sempre, amb aquelles poques lectures escollides que et defineixen com a persona.
Mentre el llegia, pensava: sort que en N'g奴g墨 era a la pres贸 quan el va escriure, perqu猫 d'estar lliure segur que l'haguessin matat! Quina for莽a, quina den煤ncia, quina cr铆tica!! A l'imperialisme, al neocolonialisme, al capitalisme, al masclisme, al poder, al govern... Un cant a la llibertat, als treballadors, a la terra.
Gr脿cies, GR脌CIES RaigVerd i Josefina Caball per permetre'ns gaudir en catal脿 d'un llibre tan important. No deixo de pensar en com n'茅s, d'important, la lectura i an脿lisi d'aquest llibre! La grandesa de tot el que s'explica en aquesta hist貌ria, un assaig en forma de par脿bola plena de can莽ons i faules. Quanta bellesa!
Podria estar-me una llarga estona parlant d'aquest llibre, i prometo difondre la lectura d'El diable a la creu sempre que pugui. Aix铆 que si voleu entendre el meu entusiasme: correu a llegir-lo!
PD. Menci贸 especial a la coberta del llibre, em sembla espectacular
Mentre el llegia, pensava: sort que en N'g奴g墨 era a la pres贸 quan el va escriure, perqu猫 d'estar lliure segur que l'haguessin matat! Quina for莽a, quina den煤ncia, quina cr铆tica!! A l'imperialisme, al neocolonialisme, al capitalisme, al masclisme, al poder, al govern... Un cant a la llibertat, als treballadors, a la terra.
Gr脿cies, GR脌CIES RaigVerd i Josefina Caball per permetre'ns gaudir en catal脿 d'un llibre tan important. No deixo de pensar en com n'茅s, d'important, la lectura i an脿lisi d'aquest llibre! La grandesa de tot el que s'explica en aquesta hist貌ria, un assaig en forma de par脿bola plena de can莽ons i faules. Quanta bellesa!
Podria estar-me una llarga estona parlant d'aquest llibre, i prometo difondre la lectura d'El diable a la creu sempre que pugui. Aix铆 que si voleu entendre el meu entusiasme: correu a llegir-lo!
PD. Menci贸 especial a la coberta del llibre, em sembla espectacular
November 28, 2014
So far so boring. I feel bad judging it, seeing as I've read very little, but I don't think the translation works quite right...like, it's missing its soul or something. Or maybe I just don't like the style. I don't get all the biblical or cultural or whatever-they-are asides...like where they just all of a sudden start telling a depressing story and repeating themselves or singing...Maybe I just don't get it, but it's not very engaging. And the names confuse me. Sooooo...finishing this book will be rather painful.
The only thing that saved this book from the "sucky" shelf was the ending. My negative visceral reaction aligned me with the people Ngugi is portraying as The Devil in a way that made me stop and re-evaluate my impulse to deem it "sucky." It was interesting and thought-provoking in retrospect. But so very confrontational. When it comes to thought-provoking confrontational African writers, I prefer Coetzee. Coetzee is at least enjoyable to read.
The only thing that saved this book from the "sucky" shelf was the ending. My negative visceral reaction aligned me with the people Ngugi is portraying as The Devil in a way that made me stop and re-evaluate my impulse to deem it "sucky." It was interesting and thought-provoking in retrospect. But so very confrontational. When it comes to thought-provoking confrontational African writers, I prefer Coetzee. Coetzee is at least enjoyable to read.
August 15, 2020
The first book by Ng农g末 wa Thiong'o that I have read, how sad that it has taken me this long to discover his work and his ideas, thanks to him not being granted a visa by the Australian government to participate in the Sydney Writers' Festival in 2018. In this work, he takes aim at the challenges facing newly independent nation-states and the threat of neo-colonialism. While the book is very didactic in parts, with his prose being most enjoyable when it is comical and observational, his satirical take on the elites of these newly independent states is razor sharp and also funny. Still rings true today despite the end of the Cold War. The search for a socially just world and for real independence and autonomy is still on.
December 2, 2017
This is my first Gikuyu novel. Once the reader realizes that this is not simply a brilliant piece of menippean satire, one can appreciate also the remarkable aesthetic and stylistic elements of the novel (incorporation of folk songs, an oratorio, a play, oral story telling etc), its ferocious phrases, each of them dripping red with the author's blood, as well as the not inconsiderable fact that the novel was written on toilet paper while Ngugi was imprisoned. I have said before that Ngugi is the greatest of living novelists. This novel only confirms that fact. Why he has not yet received a Nobel is beyond the pale of my understanding.
November 14, 2013
This novel (or thinly-veiled, utterly unoriginal philosophical treatise) was an acute displeasure to read. If I had wanted to enjoy a dissertation on evil capitalist pigs, I would have read The Communist Manifesto. To compare it to The Communist Manifesto is actually an insult to The Communist Manifesto. At least Marx and Engels had the sense to stick to the realm of non-fiction (though I guess that's debatable.)
If you enjoyed this book, God bless you. You have a fortitude of spirit that I can only ever hope to attain.
If you enjoyed this book, God bless you. You have a fortitude of spirit that I can only ever hope to attain.
September 22, 2017
Esta ha sido mi primera lectura de un escritor africano contempor谩neo. Me ha resultado muy interesante, clara en sus intenciones y deliciosa. La historia est谩 contada como una larga f谩bula, y en la narraci贸n se intercalan cont铆nuamente par谩bolas y dichos, cosa que le da una gran autenticidad. Quiz谩s precisamente el hecho de que se acerque a las narraciones africanas la hace un poco moralista desde el punto de vista occidental, pero las ideas que muestra son tan absolutamente obvias y necesarias que yo se lo perdono.
June 7, 2008
Two stars, that is what the author gets from me for trying so hard to complicate a story.
But Ngugi is such a brain; one of the literary legends out of East Africa. Sometimes i wish i didnt have to read his books for Lit class. Perhaps if i had read them out of school i would have been more appreciative of them. Reading them for class made me look at them in terms of what the questions would require.
I am making a weak promise to myself to re-read them.
But Ngugi is such a brain; one of the literary legends out of East Africa. Sometimes i wish i didnt have to read his books for Lit class. Perhaps if i had read them out of school i would have been more appreciative of them. Reading them for class made me look at them in terms of what the questions would require.
I am making a weak promise to myself to re-read them.
October 1, 2020
took me a while to get into it but once I did :0 //changed my mind, the middle section of this book deserves five stars
October 22, 2024
No 茅s un llibre entretingut de llegir, per貌 crec que 茅s un llibre important de llegir. El final 茅s cat脿rtic.
May 23, 2019
Este libro resulta ser el grito de autor, oponi茅ndose ante las injusticias tra铆das por el neo colonialismo a las tierras de Kenia (tierra que lo vio nacer), dando nacimiento a una historia interesante y entretenida, 驴pero lo logra con 茅xito?
El libro posee una trama que en s铆 es simple pero bien ejecutada. Con una continuidad de la misma y junto a unos personajes que evolucionan de forma que resulta c贸moda para el lector. En ning煤n momento sent铆 que dieran vueltas en un mismo punto de la trama, sino que todo flu铆a con naturalidad. Sin embargo, esto 煤ltimo no se ejecuta sin fallos. Thiong'o en su texto abusa muchas veces del uso de las fabulas y met谩foras para dar mas precisi贸n a sus ideas, lo cual, para mi gusto, termina sacrificando esa fluidez en los personajes que presenta. No me cabe en la cabeza que alguien pueda comunicarse con otra persona de esa manera constantemente. En alg煤n momento alguien saltar铆a exclamando que hable con naturalidad, que se entendi贸 el concepto.
Una de las mayores cr铆ticas que se ha recibido a esta obra, es que muchos la han acusado de ser una propaganda al comunismo. En cierta medida lo es, pero es tolerable por dos motivos: Primero, en cuanto al contexto que nos referimos y quiz谩s a lo que motiv贸 al autor a empezar a esta obra (la cual escribi贸 en un rollo de papel en una celda), este se vio impulsado a criticar los males dados en su pa铆s natal y apuntar con el dedo 铆ndice a lo que vendr铆a siendo para este los motivos por el cual su pa铆s se ha visto abatido; y segundo, el libro no te restriega en cada p谩gina dicha propaganda, la cual es mencionada una 煤nica vez y luego sigue el curso de la trama.
Abusa un poco del InfoDumping que, despu茅s de leer la obra, te pones a pensar que pudo haberse dado de otra manera, y sufre de un peque帽o Deus Ex Machina, el cual me termin贸 resultando como un chirrido de dientes, pero que a la final es perdonable. Perdonable por que al final no resulta como un resuelve barato por parte del autor para algo, ya que (como mencion茅 anteriormente) la obra se da con naturalidad. As铆 mismo, este libro posee un final muy satisfactorio por que vemos la evoluci贸n de nuestra protagonista a un punto cre铆ble; y por que posee un plot twist tan bien ejecutado que resulta como una monta帽a rusa en las 煤ltimas p谩ginas de la obra de Thiong'o.
No creo que sea perfecto, pero tampoco es una obra que te haga sentir que has desperdiciado horas valiosas de tu tiempo. Puedes sentirte confiado en darle una oportunidad para que haga parte de tu estanter铆a. Por mi parte le doy un 3.7 y la pongo en mi estanter铆a con una sonrisa.
El libro posee una trama que en s铆 es simple pero bien ejecutada. Con una continuidad de la misma y junto a unos personajes que evolucionan de forma que resulta c贸moda para el lector. En ning煤n momento sent铆 que dieran vueltas en un mismo punto de la trama, sino que todo flu铆a con naturalidad. Sin embargo, esto 煤ltimo no se ejecuta sin fallos. Thiong'o en su texto abusa muchas veces del uso de las fabulas y met谩foras para dar mas precisi贸n a sus ideas, lo cual, para mi gusto, termina sacrificando esa fluidez en los personajes que presenta. No me cabe en la cabeza que alguien pueda comunicarse con otra persona de esa manera constantemente. En alg煤n momento alguien saltar铆a exclamando que hable con naturalidad, que se entendi贸 el concepto.
Una de las mayores cr铆ticas que se ha recibido a esta obra, es que muchos la han acusado de ser una propaganda al comunismo. En cierta medida lo es, pero es tolerable por dos motivos: Primero, en cuanto al contexto que nos referimos y quiz谩s a lo que motiv贸 al autor a empezar a esta obra (la cual escribi贸 en un rollo de papel en una celda), este se vio impulsado a criticar los males dados en su pa铆s natal y apuntar con el dedo 铆ndice a lo que vendr铆a siendo para este los motivos por el cual su pa铆s se ha visto abatido; y segundo, el libro no te restriega en cada p谩gina dicha propaganda, la cual es mencionada una 煤nica vez y luego sigue el curso de la trama.
Abusa un poco del InfoDumping que, despu茅s de leer la obra, te pones a pensar que pudo haberse dado de otra manera, y sufre de un peque帽o Deus Ex Machina, el cual me termin贸 resultando como un chirrido de dientes, pero que a la final es perdonable. Perdonable por que al final no resulta como un resuelve barato por parte del autor para algo, ya que (como mencion茅 anteriormente) la obra se da con naturalidad. As铆 mismo, este libro posee un final muy satisfactorio por que vemos la evoluci贸n de nuestra protagonista a un punto cre铆ble; y por que posee un plot twist tan bien ejecutado que resulta como una monta帽a rusa en las 煤ltimas p谩ginas de la obra de Thiong'o.
No creo que sea perfecto, pero tampoco es una obra que te haga sentir que has desperdiciado horas valiosas de tu tiempo. Puedes sentirte confiado en darle una oportunidad para que haga parte de tu estanter铆a. Por mi parte le doy un 3.7 y la pongo en mi estanter铆a con una sonrisa.
March 28, 2020
"Literature is the honey of a nation's souls, preserved for her children to taste forever, a little at a time! "
Esa frase describe bien este libro que busca empoderar las tradiciones de una Kenia intoxicada por los extranjeros. Ten铆a una expectativa alta de este libro pero defintivamente sobre paso todo lo que pensaba. Una novela interesante, con un mensaje contudente y personajes muy bien desarrollados. Una joya, no dudar铆a en comprar m谩s libros que digan "Ngugi Wa Thiong'o".
Esa frase describe bien este libro que busca empoderar las tradiciones de una Kenia intoxicada por los extranjeros. Ten铆a una expectativa alta de este libro pero defintivamente sobre paso todo lo que pensaba. Una novela interesante, con un mensaje contudente y personajes muy bien desarrollados. Una joya, no dudar铆a en comprar m谩s libros que digan "Ngugi Wa Thiong'o".
October 16, 2018
We meet War末末nga on a bad day. She has just lost her job for refusing to become her boss's 'sugar girl,' has lost her boyfriend who didn't believe she had always refused him and has been kicked out of her apartment for not agreeing to pay an increased rent. She is planning on returning to her hometown, Ilmorog, from Nairobi. But before she leaves, she receives an invitation from a mysterious stranger to the Devil's Feast; a competition to find the cleverest thieves and robbers in Kenya. What follows is her story, the story of international money in Kenya and Ng农g末's path for Kenya to follow in a neo-colonial world.
It is a story rich in symbolism, using traditional G末k农y农 proverbs and folklore alongside Christian imagery, parables etc. Sometimes this can take some time to process if you're not overly familiar with the references, but it adds more than it takes away. The satirisation of the country's capitalists is caricatured and darkly comic, reminding me of Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, but as with that book, the message is all the clearer for it. The ending is pretty badass, too,
Recommended.
It is a story rich in symbolism, using traditional G末k农y农 proverbs and folklore alongside Christian imagery, parables etc. Sometimes this can take some time to process if you're not overly familiar with the references, but it adds more than it takes away. The satirisation of the country's capitalists is caricatured and darkly comic, reminding me of Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, but as with that book, the message is all the clearer for it. The ending is pretty badass, too,
Recommended.
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