Illustrating, to some extent, the effects of colonialism, along with desertions and displacements in the characters’ lives in this three-part novel covering more than fifty years in Zanzibar/Tanzania, Gurnah concentrates primarily on stories of family, courtship, and relationships–ordinary people living their daily lives. Though the novel feels like three separate novellas, rather than a continuous whole, Gurnah’s style is smooth and descriptive, conjuring the moods and images of different times and fascinating places.
Read Full Post »
The book begins as a leisurely portrait of two lonely immigrants to England from Zanzibar, one of them a distinguished young professor and the other a 65-year-old asylum seeker who has just arrived, pretending he understands no English. As the points of view shift back and forth between the two men in succeeding sections of the novel, we come to know each man well–his life, his aspirations in Zanzibar, his extended family, the family’s business connections there, and ultimately, the how and why of each man’s emigration to England. Coming from two different generations, each man has a different view of his former country, the older man having spent most of his life there, escaping to England when all other hope is gone, and the younger having left as a young student, but still longing for the connections he left behind. This is passionate book of clear vision, a book which recognizes harsh truths and still remains compassionate.
Read Full Post »
Three young college graduates are looking for Eden in the 1990s, someplace the rest of the world has not discovered, where they can live apart from corrupt “civilization” and enjoy the more “meaningful” aspects of a simple life, independent of the rest of the world. Surviving a long sea swim, conquering the cliffs on an uncharted island, and, more importantly, recognizing a dope farm and avoiding the bloodthirsty gunmen who patrol it, the three eventually make their way onto “The Beach,” the utopian society Daffy has told Richard about, and in which he was a founding member. As they settle in and learn the ropes, the three newcomers experience the mystical, sometimes drug-induced peacefulness they’ve always dreamed of. As in Lord of the Flies and other utopian dreams, the magic lasts only until the first big crisis, and on the beach, several crises occur simultaneously.
Read Full Post »
The author raises more questions than he answers. James Stephenson’s memoir about the Hadzabe in Tanzania, one of the last tribes of hunter-gatherers, is fascinating, though not always in ways the author probably intended. As much about the 27-year-old author and the casual romanticism with which he plunges into life in another culture as it […]
Read Full Post »
Posted in Historical, Literary, Turkey on Jan 15th, 2011
The rich story-telling tradition of the Middle East enlivens Turkish author Orhan Pamuk’s novel about the residents of Kars, a town in the remote northeast corner of Turkey, as Kerim Alakusoglu, known as Ka, returns after many years to investigate a spate of suicides by young women forbidden to wear headscarves in school. Though Kars, which comes from the Turkish word for “snow,” was once a crossroads for trading between Turkey, Soviet Georgia, Armenia, and Iran, all of which are within a few miles of the town, it is now “the poorest and most overlooked corner of Turkey.” All the conflicting political and religious tensions of the country are seen here, its residents representing a melting pot of historical influences—socialism and communism, atheism, political secularism, ethnic nationalism (especially the Kurds), and the most rapidly growing movement, Islamist fundamentalism. Many-leveled, beautifully wrought, and complex in its themes, this is a novel which thoughtful western readers will want to explore, a haunting novel rich with insights which should not be ignored.
Read Full Post »
