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81st out of 201 books
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Chaka
This novel is the first of many works of literature that takes the great Zulu leader, king, and emperor as its subject. The story is well-known, partly due to Mofolo but also to the works of literature by Badian, Senghor, and Mazisi Kunene. O.R. Dathorne has said, "The historical Chaka is only the impetus for Mofolo's psychological study of the nature of repudiation."
...morePaperback, 192 pages
Published
January 1st 1983
by Heinemann Educational Books
(first published 1925)
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I wanted to like it, and at first I really did, but for the last half or so I just wanted to finish him off. The book has a mythic quality certainly. I liked the way in which, even though magic was an integral part of Chaka's rise to power, everything that happened was his own responsibility. In the end, though, he was just too awful for me to care about at all.
Chaka is a fictionalised account of the life of the C19th Zulu king Shaka. It’s unusually early for an African novel, originally published in 1925 but existing in manuscript in some form as early as 1910.
I wasn’t entirely looking forward to reading it. It has started to really bother me when those who rose to power and built empires through force are presented as Great Men, as admirable or heroic. Qin Shi Huang, Alexander the Great, Napoleon: these men were ruthless megalomaniacs who...more
I wasn’t entirely looking forward to reading it. It has started to really bother me when those who rose to power and built empires through force are presented as Great Men, as admirable or heroic. Qin Shi Huang, Alexander the Great, Napoleon: these men were ruthless megalomaniacs who...more
Mofolo hatte nicht den Anspruch eine historisch korrekte Biographie über Chaka zu schreiben, daher erlaubt er sich einige Freiheiten, wenngleich die Rahmendaten als solches durchaus richtig sind. Als zutiefst moralischer und christlicher Mensch ging es Mofolo vor allem darum zu zeigen, wie sich Macht und Ehrgeiz auswirken können – nämlich hier wie bei anderen Darstellern der Weltgeschichte verheerend nicht für die Feinde, sondern auch für das eigene Volk. Wie Mofolo das hier tut, ist lesenswert,...more
Jain
rated it
Violent yet often beautiful, this fictionalized account of Chaka (or Shaka) and the rise of the Zulu nation reads as half-historical fiction, half-mythology. The ending is less strong than the beginning; though Chaka's brutality is part of the historical record, some of the fictional incidents of extreme violence that appear in the second half of the book make Chaka seem almost a caricature.
A marvelous, biblical tale of ambition, intention and, in the end, sheer malice. By the end of this novel, I was riveted by the absolute horror of the tale. The writing is excellent, as well. Mofolo was educated by missionaries, and the work was translated by missionaries, so it develops a mythic, bible-ese voice that fills the tale (itself vaguely based on historical fact) with an epic tone.
Really, really good.
Really, really good.
I could use Chaka's services to deal with some rather annoying people. Oh yes, should also mention it's a very good read and an excellent translation.
Great little book about the rise and fall of the great Shaka, or uShaka (Zulu) or Chaka (Sesotho), king of the Zulus. One of the first novels (if not the first) published by an African author.
I read the first edition. The current one is the I-don't-know-how-many-th edition.
I read the first edition. The current one is the I-don't-know-how-many-th edition.
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I thought this book wasnt good at all. The reason i think this is because it didnt have no action or anything exciting in it so it was really boring.
Really hoped it would be better.
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