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23rd out of 119 books
—
87 voters
Measuring Time: A Novel
by
Helon Habila
Mamo and LaMamo are twin brothers living in the small Nigerian village of Keti, where their domineering father controls their lives. With high hopes the twins attempt to flee from home, but only LaMamo escapes successfully and is able to live their dream of becoming a soldier who meets beautiful women. Mamo, the sickly, awkward twin, is doomed to remain in the village with...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
February 19th 2007
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published January 1st 2007)
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If I were still teaching, I would teach this book, not only for the questions it raises to which I do not know the answers (Nigerian history primary among them), but also because it is beautifully told, deceptively simple, and filled with love and wisdom, anger and illness, dishonesty and naive, hopeful belief. Mamo and LaMamo are twins who as children seek adventure and fame, and as adults realize the dark side of both ambitions.
Two twins, living in a small Nigerian village called Keti, measuring time, wondering how they will each achieve fame together. Mamo, the twin who has sickle cell anemia, measures his time as a child, sick in bed, while his twin colors and entertains him by his bedside. Mamo measures his time, waiting for his father's love. Mamo measures his time, waiting for his twin to come back from numerous rebel armies, trying to "save Africa" from the puppets of the Western Powers. Mamo measures his time, g...more
A long & demanding novel, it's also a slow starter, & I kept being tempted to bail out until, at midpoint, I figured out what it was about, & that was two of my favorite topics: History & national identity. "A true history," the main character reflects, "is one that looks at the lives of individuals, ordinary people who toil and dream and suffer, who bear the brunt of whatever vicissitudes time inflicts on the nation. If a historian could capture these ordinary lives, including t...more
Mooie roman over de tweeling LaMamo en Mamo, die graag beroemd willen worden en om dit te bereiken, besluiten om hun geboortedorpje te ontvluchten om in het leger te gaan. (view spoiler)...more
The author's style of putting across the story is unique and wonderful. I love the characterization, particularly that of Mamo, the sickly twin. The author takes us carefully into his gentle and admirable character. He is a young man that speaks less and lives in much silence, from which he studies his environment very well, and becomes a historian determined to preserve his people's history and tell their story from different angles and from the point of view of several distinct individuals inc...more
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"Measuring Time" is the story of twin brothers, their family and the people that shaped them. Living in rural Nigeria, village life and the natural environment add atmosphere and context. Habila's story-telling talents are evident in numerous ways. His own narrative of people and events is interwoven with those of his protagonist Mamo, who in later years writes about the people around him and thereby becomes a recorder of the local history. Giving Mamo the dual voice of the growing boy/young adu...more
The incomprehensible genocides and self-destruction in Africa ripped off the headlines become clearer in this family saga of twins in a small Nigerian village. The intersection of personality, Western technololgy and trappings, and tradition give the reader a glimmer of understanding. Illness and ambition vie in the soul of sickly Mamo, the thinker/writer stuck in the village; ambition and compassion in his brother who becomes a child soldier. Very readable and illuminating.
I waffled back and forth over if this book was a four star or a three star...so it is getting a 3+ from me. I liked the book and found it very interesting. But the reason for the three stars and not four is because the most interesting part for me was "experiencing" life in an African village and how civil wars/any war affect the life of people living in the conflict areas. The author does an excellent job of painting the picture of African village life and giving depth to Mamo, the main charact...more
Beautiful.
If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller with a mind bending plot you won't find it here. This is as real as it gets from the theme of the story to the pace of the writing.
Having had my early childhoold in northern Nigeria I was able to identify with many elements of this story which really brought it home for me. I felt I was reading a true story and not simply fiction.
Well done Helon.
If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller with a mind bending plot you won't find it here. This is as real as it gets from the theme of the story to the pace of the writing.
Having had my early childhoold in northern Nigeria I was able to identify with many elements of this story which really brought it home for me. I felt I was reading a true story and not simply fiction.
Well done Helon.
A wrenching story about a pair of Nigerian twins and the various paths their separate lives take. Most interesting for me was the one twin's work to write a "true" history of his own community, and the muddy layers of power and colonialism implicated by such an undertaking.
I really liked this book. there's something about the characters of Mamo and LaMamo that grabbed, and I wanted to keep finding out how their lives progressed. I found myself really cheering for Mamo and hoping he would succeed. It's worth a read for sure.
Frankly, it's a mess. Confused, confusing, neither here nor there. Lots and lots of pretty words and pretty descriptions that add nothing to the story and little to the mood of the narrative. I could go on, but I won't.
reading this book was listening to my father talk about his life before immigration. i could easily see him and his mates living out their lives in this novel. it was realistic fiction, becuase it bought the nigerian of my father's youth (and the nigerian during the present elections) to life in a very sublte way. helon habila writes in a plain fashion. he puts me in the mind of chinua achebe. what you see is what the characters see. what you experience is what the characters experience. what yo...more
I want to give this four stars, because it seemed like "literature," and smart people like literature, and I'm smart, right? But that's just posturing, if I'm honest. I didn't love Measuring time, but I did truly enjoy it. Measuring Time is well paced (good thing, or the title would be ironic) and filled with interesting characters. The story contains a lot of emotion, but never stoops to sentimentality. And there's both enough grit and enough light to make the book appealing to me at this stage...more
An interesting novel that takes place in Nigeria and chronicles the divergent path of twin brothers. Mamo, the sickly and older brother, stays in the native village becoming the local historian while his twin, Lamamo, sets off at a young age to join the army and ends up fighting in various locations in northern Africa. The novel explores interesting issues such as tradition v. modernity, peaceful action v. violence, moral integrity, history and education, among others. I enjoyed the book for the...more
Aug 06, 2011
Issi
added it
Another super read by a Nigerian author. Story of twins in rural Nigeria and the lives they live; both together and apart. Sad and memorable.
Very interesting book on the path that a pair of twins took. This is a very touching and tragic book that offers a "hope" message at the end.
I loved this book! All Mamo ever wanted was to be famous and remembered. He gets his wish, though not in the way he imagined as a child. Those around him also have their place in history recorded, but probably not the way they would have chosen either. Plus I really learned a lot about a culture that's totally foreign to me, which is always cool! The ending did kind of lack for me, but overall it was a story I found myself drawn to, always wanted to read the next chapter b/c, even though my life...more
Helon Habila is a great story teller, a beautiful story centred around two twins in a small village in Nigeria. Really enjoyed it.
It was difficult to get into this book at first, but when the author got to all the stories about how Nigeria came to be formed and about the various people who colonized the country & how it affected the people, I was hooked.
Dec 11, 2008
Michele TheAKAbookworm
is currently reading it
I'm loving this book! Thanks to Karen for recommending it to me! It's a great follow to Half of a Yellow Sun.
African contemp....1970s-90s Keti, Nigeria....present day village life, recording history.
Revealing look at current African politics at the seam of modernity.
Revealing look at current African politics at the seam of modernity.
A story about twin boys who grow up in Nigeria. It is a well written book about coming to age in a village with politics that would be difficult for people in the Western world to understand.
I felt this amazing story of 2 brothers. So recommend this.
An entertaining, poignant coming-of-age novel.
Helon Habila has done its again! Such an interesting read, awesome writing. Will totally recommend it!
When I think of a word to describe how I felt about this book, the only word that continuously comes to mind is "indifferent." I was indifferent about the story, the writing and the characters. All were good and at times I was engaged and invested in the text. However, there were other times that I found myself just not caring. I wouldn't say that it was a horrible book because it wasn't, but I don't think that I would recommend it to anyone either.
This was excellant. The story takes place in Nigeria, Africa. It's about twin boys growing up in a traditional village but with the modern world creeping in. It's a history of sorts, too, (fiction though). But the relationships between the people was the amazing story. It gave me the same sense of characters that Smith gives to his characters in Ladies Detective Agency. Lovely read!
I liked the characters and their relationships, and the political goings-on -- both the political-hopeful father and the government interference in the school intrigued me.
The language was pleasant and enjoyable to read, and the main story was interesting.
It was maybe 150 pages too long and could have used an editor with a more judicious eye.
The language was pleasant and enjoyable to read, and the main story was interesting.
It was maybe 150 pages too long and could have used an editor with a more judicious eye.
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Helon Habila was born in Nigeria in 1967. He studied literature at the University of Jos and taught at the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, before moving to Lagos to work as a journalist. In Lagos he wrote his first novel, Waiting for an Angel, which won the Caine Prize in 2001. Waiting for an Angel has been translated into many languages including Dutch, Italian, Swedish, and French.
In 2002 he moved...more
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In 2002 he moved...more
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