This is a compelling account of the turbulence that inflamed Kenya in the 1950s and its impact on people's lives. Five friends and agemates make... read full description
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Aug 15, 2011
i found this book a little difficult to grasp and understand. The book continuously and unexpectedly went into flashback and it left me a bit confused, even though i do see this as one of the author's techniques and styles, I personally found it difficult to understand. I however have so much for Kenya and their struggle for independence and the trials and tribulations they went through, whether it be betrayal by their own people or by the British. It clearly depicted and painted a picture as to
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Aug 23, 2010
Mika
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James Ngugin Nisun jyvä-romaanissa (suom. Seppo Loponen, a Grain of Wheat) tapahtumat sijoittuvat 1950-luvun lopun Keniaan. Aiheena ovat englantilaisten siirtomaaherrojen harjoittama terrori ja sen seurannaisvaikutukset, esim. keskitysleirit ja vapaustaistelun tukahduttaminen.
Pääosin tapahtumapaikkana on vankileirejä lukuun ottamat syrjäinen Rung’ein kaupunki ja sen lähistö. Rakenne on oivallisen mielenkiintoinen, sillä ihmisten sankarina pitämä Mugo paljastetaan petturiksi, ja martt More...
Pääosin tapahtumapaikkana on vankileirejä lukuun ottamat syrjäinen Rung’ein kaupunki ja sen lähistö. Rakenne on oivallisen mielenkiintoinen, sillä ihmisten sankarina pitämä Mugo paljastetaan petturiksi, ja martt More...
Jan 08, 2009
Harry
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A Grain of Wheat is a novel about the inhabitants of a village in Kenya in 1963 in the last few days before the celebrations for Uhuru — that is, Kenyan independence. It was originally published in 1967, so the material was completely current at the time, although after finishing it that I read in the introduction that
Ngũgĩ revised A Grain of Wheat in 1987, to make the ‘world outlook’ of his peasants more in line with his ideas of the historical triumph of the oppressed.
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Ngũgĩ revised A Grain of Wheat in 1987, to make the ‘world outlook’ of his peasants more in line with his ideas of the historical triumph of the oppressed.
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Sep 01, 2011
Michael
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I used to assign this book to high school students. The Mau Mau rebellion and the emergency are exciting to history students, I think. When you think of all the similar stories of a colonial policy of concentration camps during a rebellion, the US in Vietnam and the Philippines, the Germans in South West Africa, the French in Algeria, the British in Malaysia and so on, this book is as relevant as anything to world history. Also it might be the single best piece of art about those experiences
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Apr 08, 2009
Janey
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I found this book difficult to get into/get used to at first, but after clearing the hurdle of remembering the abundance of unfamiliar sounding character names (at least 35 separate characters who have some degree of significance to the plot! I suggest, if you have similar such trouble upon cracking open this egg, reading in front of a computer and keeping a Word document open to alphabetically list names-of plus corresponding descriptions-of characters, so that you can refer to it as needed), I
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Jan 07, 2011
Meg
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I went into this novel comparing it to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, which in spite of its many rave reviews I found to be relatively underwhelming. In my opinion, A Grain of Wheat was much better, but also very different.
The structure and style of A Grain of Wheat is certainly more complex and underscores Ngũgĩ's experience and education with western literature. Additionally, he includes a white colonial perspective on Kenya's independence, and while this view isn't as clearl More...
The structure and style of A Grain of Wheat is certainly more complex and underscores Ngũgĩ's experience and education with western literature. Additionally, he includes a white colonial perspective on Kenya's independence, and while this view isn't as clearl More...
Feb 11, 2008
Robert
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James Ngugi, A Grain of Wheat (Heinemann, 1967)
Another entry (the thirty-seventh, to be precise) in Heinemann's always above average African Writers Series. Ngugi gives us the story of Kenya on the verge of independence (the action takes place in the days before, and the day after, Uhuru). While the book's main focus purports to be on one of his principal town's inhabitants, Gikonyo, it soon becomes evident that the story is about the town itself. And this is where Ngugi falls short.
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Another entry (the thirty-seventh, to be precise) in Heinemann's always above average African Writers Series. Ngugi gives us the story of Kenya on the verge of independence (the action takes place in the days before, and the day after, Uhuru). While the book's main focus purports to be on one of his principal town's inhabitants, Gikonyo, it soon becomes evident that the story is about the town itself. And this is where Ngugi falls short.
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Oct 04, 2007
Nicholas
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Grain of Wheat is a great example of political/historical fiction. At times Ngugi states his political theories of the end of colonialism in Kenya more than creates in depth characters, but wide range of heroes villains lovers rival white black successes and failures give this book the wide perspective that helps to understand a complicated issue. By focusing on a small village rather than the metropolis of Nairobi or the heroics of Jomo Kenyatta Ngugi shows how the struggle of decolonization- c
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Aug 24, 2011
Marcy
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Ngugi is one of my favorite authors. This novel is a stunning portrayal of British colonialism in Kenya in the lead up to Independence. What is most powerful is the narration that focuses on several characters through flashbacks about their relation to the British and to the Mau Mau resistance fighters. I especially love the way Ngugi portrays how many of these characters internalize colonialism and shows the damaging consequences of this not only on a personal level, but also on a communal one.
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Mar 03, 2009
Jeff
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Set on the eve of Kenyan independence, it shows us what happens when we gain freedom. As the yoke of colonialism is lifted it reveals rivalries and strife among those formerly united in anti-colonialism.
On another level it shows how individuals are helpless to escape the defining events of their time, and how these events obliterate the life they would prefer to live.
On another level it shows how individuals are helpless to escape the defining events of their time, and how these events obliterate the life they would prefer to live.
Jan 29, 2009
OneWorldLibrary
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ÒElin Melchior: The wealth of information provided on Kenyan society in this book with five different main characters makes the resulting density well worth it. It is set at a turning point in Kenya's history and is fascinating. ---- Library Description: novelÓ
Nov 28, 2010
Ross
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The novel ends up being distinctly anti-panegyric, as much a denunciation of what Kenyans did during the Emergency as a plea for future reconciliation.
May 04, 2009
Catherine
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Author nominated for Booker International Prize 2009. Greatly enjoyed this book although there was a section I got bogged down in toward the middle. Read this the same time as I'm struggling through City Sister Silver and the similarities in theme are striking: self-rule; horrors of civil unrest and lack of human rights; search for love and acceptance; accepting responsibility and finding one's "tribe" or place in life.
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Jan 26, 2009
Again, I read this for my Modern African Literature class. I don't remember it.
Jul 13, 2011
Maria
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I appreciate the book and how Ngugi utilizes the narrative technique of the flashback...
May 07, 2010
Claire
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Ngugi signed my copy of this book. He is very charming, I was very starstruck.
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Feb 04, 2008
Peter
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when traveling with a Kenyan friend i asked who her favorite author from her country was. I choose this book, I think because I happened upon it in a used book store. I'm not sure how it compares to his other work, but I found the story compelling. It provides the uneducated reader with some information about the colonial history there and some chewable metaphorage.
Jun 03, 2008
Gemma
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A complex and multi layered novel about guilt and betrayal, A Grain of Wheat is set in the days leading up to Kenyan independence but shifts easily and fluidly back and forth in time. It is a challenging and insightful piece with a nice sense of moral ambiguity and offers no easy answers, while moving towards a sense of redemption.
Mar 04, 2008
Myka
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This book is amazing! He was clearly reading Fanon while he wrote this. It's the story of Kenya and the Mau Mau/Land and Freedom right at the moment of emancipation, and is told through the layering of stories of colonizers, resistance fighters, and people living in the village.
Mar 01, 2008
Johnny
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Kenya's best writer provides a window into what Africa was like in the middle of 20th century before the continent became charity fodder, a symbol of escape, or any other patronizing adjective we like to attribute to the continent that witnessed the emergence of man.
Jun 11, 2007
Katie
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An interesting look at a few lives of villagers living during the 1950s/1960s in Kenya during "the emergency." Warning, hard to follow, but interesting if you dig Kenyan history.
May 31, 2008
Shep
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I was really impressed by the quiet pacing- and sympathetic tone. This is one of those times where the truth of individual humans made a marxist mitigate.
Aug 08, 2008
Mugo
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ngugi is amazing. he makes you feel like you are right there with the maumau fighters. nuf said.
Feb 11, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
Feb 10, 2012
