When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa
by Peter Godwin
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Read in April, 2008
Godwin's "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" is not only compelling and well-written, but more timely than ever. A memoir of his adult life after having left Zimbabwe, the place of his birth (he is a journalist for National Geographic and a slew of other top-notch publications), Godwin painfully portrays the experience of white Africans in Zimbabwe, and his own family's history in their journey to Africa. It gives an insider's view of Mugabe's reign of terror, and the utter chaos that has ...more
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Read in February, 2008
This was recommended to me by Connie Schardt and Andy Ribner. It is the story of the collapse of Zimbabwe society, but more it is the story or the relationship between a father and his son, a mother and her son, a man and wife. I found the story of the collapse of Zimbabwe very difficult to read. People are powerless and terrible danger - I nearly had to stop reading the book it was so upsetting. But then the story becomes more personal. Peter's parent, long time Zimbabweans and social activ...more
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The author, Peter Godwin, grew up as a white Zimbabwean, just like Alexandra Fuller, author of Don't Lets Go to the Dogs tonight. He brilliantly shares his experience living under Robert Mugabe, who has been the country's dicator since the 1970's.
My problem, however, is how he portrays his parents, and their near-saintliness. They are/were clearly warm people with an impressive degree of moral courage.
But he never addresses the fact that Zimbabwe -- formerly Rhodesia, was a European co...more
My problem, however, is how he portrays his parents, and their near-saintliness. They are/were clearly warm people with an impressive degree of moral courage.
But he never addresses the fact that Zimbabwe -- formerly Rhodesia, was a European co...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Jeanne by:
John Rigby
I'm about half-way through this one, but I left it behind in DC until I get back from Sudan, because I already have about 20 books out here. And since I have a compulsion about keeping all the books I read, I can't leave them here, I'll have to get them back home somehow.
Anyway, this is a well-written and engaging memoir about Zimbabwe - Peter Godwin grew up in Zimbabwe when it was still Rhodesia, and his first book, Mukiwa, describes his experiences as a young man. In this book, he goes b...more
Anyway, this is a well-written and engaging memoir about Zimbabwe - Peter Godwin grew up in Zimbabwe when it was still Rhodesia, and his first book, Mukiwa, describes his experiences as a young man. In this book, he goes b...more
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Read in June, 2008
Reading an article about Chinua Achebe in the books section of The New Yorker recently, there was a mention of a particularly good book about Africa. All I could remember when I went to the bookstore was that the word crocodile was in the title. I thought the book that had been mentioned was this book; I was wrong; I'm not sorry. I really enjoyed it.
Actually, I bought this for my mom who likes it when I read her books first. I thought she'd find it interesting, and I thought I mig...more
Actually, I bought this for my mom who likes it when I read her books first. I thought she'd find it interesting, and I thought I mig...more
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Read in July, 2008
Initially, I thought this book was going to be another white colonial (hence patronizing) view of Africa, a la Kapucinski or Theroux, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was much more——and much better——than I ever expected. There is a nice triumvirate of storytelling here that when linked together as they are in this book, pack a punch that none of the three lines alone could have done. Peter Godwin IS white, but he was born and raised in Zimbabwe (nee Rhodesia) and his tacking...more
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Read in April, 2008
This is the memoir of a white man who grew up in Zimbabwe, but currently lives in Manhattan. His parents, deeply rooted in their African community, refuse to leave even after the father has a heart-attack and it becomes obvious that the country does not have the resources to provide him with adequate medical care. Godwin returns to Zimbabwe to assist his family and to confront his ever-changing and unstable homeland. I thought Godwin did a good job balancing his telling of the political history ...more
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Zimbabwe during the past thirty years seems to have been a miserable place to live. Inflation caused prices of even the most basic items and services to soar. The government instituted a program where white-owned farms were taken over by black farmers, leaving the white farmers without a home and without a job. Looting was commonplace. Riots were commonplace. Medical services were overwhelmed, especially with AIDS patients. Election fraud was rampant.
Despite all these problems, Godwin’s pa...more
Despite all these problems, Godwin’s pa...more
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So I finished this on the way to Aruba (Aruba: A memoir in books. Captain's log, book number one) and I liked it a lot - first of all, the writing is engaging and at times very powerful - the topic, Africa, is fascinating, and Godwin weaves together his issues of identity (yay we love identity issues!) with struggles within his family. I found his parents to be fascinating people, the kind of people you rarely meet, whose value system is so tight and so noble, to the core (ie, hobbling over in...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Linzee by:
New York Times
This book was incredibly sad: it was the story a man watching his parents get old and his home country fall apart. The former is something we all have to deal with, but for the more fortunate among us, the latter is not. Godwin's decision to contrast his current life in NYC with the way life was evolving in Zimbabwe provided context and contrast for those of us who have never been to Africa and helped provide a more clear sense of the conditions than if he'd set the entire book in Africa. I have...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone
Without revealing any of the significant components of Peter Godwin's outstanding work, I'd have to say that his subtitle, "A Memoir of Africa", is the only aspect of the book with which I take issue - it's much more than a simple memoir.
"When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" is first and foremost a must-read for anyone that feels undereducated about Africa and Mugabe's corrupt rise to power, but beyond that, I think I found Godwin's book is so interesting because he is able to...more
"When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" is first and foremost a must-read for anyone that feels undereducated about Africa and Mugabe's corrupt rise to power, but beyond that, I think I found Godwin's book is so interesting because he is able to...more
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Read in February, 2008
Godwin gives an excellent, personal insight into the sad simultaneous demise of his family and his country.
Being raised by Rhodesian/Zimbabweans, and taking multiple family trips back home, I have grown up with the beauty of the country and it's people as a constant reality in my life. Consequently, I felt myself getting infuriated as a read and was reminded of the sheer ludicrousy and hopelessness of contemporary Zimbabwean life. It’s hard to imagine the peaceful, prosperous country that m...more
Being raised by Rhodesian/Zimbabweans, and taking multiple family trips back home, I have grown up with the beauty of the country and it's people as a constant reality in my life. Consequently, I felt myself getting infuriated as a read and was reminded of the sheer ludicrousy and hopelessness of contemporary Zimbabwean life. It’s hard to imagine the peaceful, prosperous country that m...more
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Read in May, 2008
I essentially started and finished this book while travelling to Sierra Leone. I knew plenty of the situation in Zimbabwe, but the author put faces and names to the depressing experiences occurring in Zimbabwe since 2000. It makes me even more discouraged to know that in the 2 years since he finished the book that Zimbabwe's economic situation has deteriorated further so much so that I don't know how my friends are surviving.
Reading this book also surprised me in that the places that were so ...more
Reading this book also surprised me in that the places that were so ...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone who wants to understand the current situation in Zimbabwe
My dad brought this back from SA for me, and it was funny because I'd just finished reading Mukiwa by the same author. Mukiwa is about Peter Godwin's childhood in Zimbabwe, and this book covers the death of his father there in the period from the late 90's to 2006. Peter Godwin is a journalist and it shows in how the book is written. I choose not to hold it against him.
Still, for some reason I couldn't read this book without my eyes tearing up. Seriously, I read almost the entire book tr...more
Still, for some reason I couldn't read this book without my eyes tearing up. Seriously, I read almost the entire book tr...more
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Read in February, 2008
I enjoyed this book immensely. It was emotional, heartbreaking, educational, funny, ironic, and touching. It is the memoir of a man who grew up in Zimbabwe, Africa during a period of political unrest and military rule. It was amazing to read about the Zimbabwe that was, and the Zimbabwe that is now (even to this day). It just opened up my eyes to a totally different culture of Europeans who moved to Africa and then truly felt as though they became African themselves, even with strong Europea...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
lovers of the dark continent
i'm obsessed with africa and its chaos. why is it consistently chaotic? so i tend to read memoirs and personal accounts. this book is very good and very touching, focusing on zimbabwe and its economic downturn under the rule of mugabe. the story is not just about africa but the writer's relationship with his ill/dying parents who refuse to leave even when things become very dangerous for white people. i was most impressed by his parents who were in their 70s, still living on their own under ve...more
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Read in April, 2008
Excellent source of info on what goes on behind the political repression in Zimbabwe, written by a journalist raised there and going back to visit his elderly parents still living there. The day to day harassments, roadblocks, food shortages,farm takeovers, etc., all due to Robert Mugabe's hatred of white people and his distributing of wealth only to the military, who naturally support him. Especially pertinent now that he was not re-elected but is using his old tactics to hold on to power - a...more
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This book is all over the place at times. he fluctuates between writing about his family and his identity, and writing about politics and culture. topics include white rhodesian/zimbabwean identity, the violence and injustice of white farm evictions under Mugabe, the jewish holocaust, and september 11. in the end, when his focus shifts mainly from politics to his family, and how one informs the other, he is more successful. but i don't like the way he writes about africa - it is very national ge...more
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Very powerful book about the chaos of Mugabe and his reign of terror in Zimbabwe. The ambivalence of the world. The confusion of the people. The out of control murder. The ultimate anarchy.
He drifts in the middle to give the history of his father, a holocaust survivor who left his Jewish identity behind to protect his family. It's interesting, but the writer spent a bit too much time here in his personal background when I wanted to be back in Zimbabwe. It was important--a comparison of the ...more
He drifts in the middle to give the history of his father, a holocaust survivor who left his Jewish identity behind to protect his family. It's interesting, but the writer spent a bit too much time here in his personal background when I wanted to be back in Zimbabwe. It was important--a comparison of the ...more
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Read in January, 2007
The title comes from a Shona saying that explains a solar eclipse. Godwin is a journalist who currently lives in the U.S. His earlier memoir, Mukiwa, was about growing up as a white guy in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, and I liked it a lot. This memoir is more contemporary. Godwin receives news in 1996 that his father is dying, and so he rushes back to Zim. The book covers his visits home over the next few years. It is both a personal story -- a family secret is uncovered -- and a political one -- a countr...more
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