book data
316 ratings, 3.76 average rating, 36 reviews
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published
November 4th 1993
by Virago Press Ltd
binding
Paperback, 96 pages
isbn
086068296X
(isbn13: 9780860682967)
description
<ul>It is not only the fact that this is the most deeply felt presentation of the female condition in African fiction that gives distinction to this novel, but also its undoubted literary qualities, which seem to place it among the best novels that have come out of our continent.&...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 418)
So Long a Letter is a short novel with huge impact. Mariama Ba manages in only 89 pages to paint a very rich and deep picture of the lives of two long time friends. Ba’s novel sheds some light on the position of women in Muslim marriages and the roles of women in a changing society, in this case Senegal in the 1970’s. Besides the overt themes in So Long a Letter several latent themes are present. The depth of this novel are vast. Ba explores social themes surrounding Islam in North West...more
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Read in May, 2008
This is one of several books that were assigned in my African Religions class in college. I didn't actually end up reading many of them, so I decided to go back and read them, inbetween the other books I have to read this summer, before deciding if I wanted to keep them or not.
The story is quite good, and is essentially a one sided epistolary novel from a recently widowed Senegalese school teacher to her friend. I provides insight into the the traditional customs and changing attitudes i...more
The story is quite good, and is essentially a one sided epistolary novel from a recently widowed Senegalese school teacher to her friend. I provides insight into the the traditional customs and changing attitudes i...more
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Really good and really short. Years ago I kept a notebook for writing down particularly striking passages from novels. I ended up feeling too embarrassed of that notebook to keep it going, but had I, there would have been at least three more entries from So Long a Letter. I really liked the writing style, and any book that makes me relate so much and reflect on my own life while describing things so totally alien to me (feminism in Post-colonial Africa) is accomplishing quite a feat.
This epistolary novel is unlike anything I have ever read. It offers incredible insight into a Sengelese woman's life of love, friendship, loss, and strength. It showcases the terrible injustices women have had to battle to secure their place as social pioneers in a suffocating patriarchal society. For such a tiny novel (90 pages) it allows the reader to unpack so much...it is a song of triumph as much as it is one of great sorrow.
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Ba's classic gave voice to the women of Senegal in the years following independence from France. A heart wrenching account of polygamous life in Muslim West Africa, from an educated narrator who helped to overthrow the structures of colonialism only to find herself trapped by the traditions of her native culture. Absolutely beloved and revered since it was first published in 1981. In English: So Long A Letter...
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Read in May, 2008
A very short story. basically a huge long letter that the main character has with her friend. Takes place in Africa and both woman had the same eperience of their husbands marrying another woman. Her friend left her husband. The main character stays with hers for more years until he died. She expresses her feelings, experieces, insight and suffering. Heartfelt.
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Read in July, 2008
This is a really beautiful book. I found some parts difficult to follow (towards the beginning), but the book itself is short. It is so extremely real, open emotions about a broken marriage, loss, pain, forgiveness, family, friendship, traditions, womanhood, motherhood and amazing strength in one Senegalese widow's story.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in September, 2007
recommended to Sarah by:
Prof. Aidoo
This was a lyrical and lovely little book. Mariama Ba makes it easy to connect with the main character and understand her emotions. She is not a terribly strong female figure, at least not compared with the friend to whom she is writing, but brings to light many of the issues facing women in Senegalese society.
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Read in January, 2008
Very interesting look at a different culture and women's roles in an Islamic culture. Be prepared for an epistolary novel, and it deals with a lot more feminine issues than global ones. Still, it challenged my ideas of tradition vs. modernity, and exposes the reader to a very different viewpoint.
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Read in November, 2004
recommends it for:
African lit fans
Great book, short book (translated as well). This will open up a world to western readers where, though women are educated and even have jobs and shops, they are not free to make their own marital decisions. To do so threatens powerful me and unmasks their insecurities.
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Read in March, 2008
I could tell it was a good book, but the translation was kind of weird. I love the main character and her reflections. It's one of those books you read, and you feel you're growing and learning with one of the characters as you read.
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Read in February, 2007
A look into issues regarding changing times/culture and poligamy from an entirely female perspective. Semi-autobiographical. Very personal with that almost makes you feel like a voyeur. A wonderful representation of strong women in Africa.
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I really like this book. It's a letter (a LONG one) written to a friend (still the book is less than 100 pages. I like that it's first person, a woman writing to a friend, and then I learned much of African culture.
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Read in January, 2007
Mariama Ba creates a character that is at the same time bitter over her husbands taking of a second wife, but inspiring in her strength. Beautifully written...I love her words. (translated from French)
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probably one of my most favorite books of all times. if you can, read it in the original french if possible. mariama ba takes the epistolary form to a powerful place in this story.
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The first time I read this, I think I read it too fast. (It's very short.) I re-read it many times after to write a paper on it, and it grew on me.
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Another favorite--this short read 89 pages, details how a Senegalese woman copes with her husband's announcement that he's taking another wife.
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Read in July, 2008
By the first Senegalese woman author published in the west; had to guess at some of the cultural reference points, but a nicely told tale
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Read in October, 2003
This is a fine book but not exceptional. Yet somehow I ended up reading it in both English and French for 3 different college courses.
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Read in November, 2007
An beautifully written book, with incredibly uplifting themes. Any person can grow by reading about this modern African woman.
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