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The Outsider(S)
by
The Story:
Irmtraut Eickelschaft plays in the upper league of nightmare bosses. In the ‘Shark Kingdom’ where she is a citizen, staying one step ahead has as literal a meaning as it gets. When her fierce rival Nadia speaks during a tense meeting with Chinese investors in what sounds like perfect Chinese, she realizes that she has to act.
That act pushes her from her life in h ...more
Irmtraut Eickelschaft plays in the upper league of nightmare bosses. In the ‘Shark Kingdom’ where she is a citizen, staying one step ahead has as literal a meaning as it gets. When her fierce rival Nadia speaks during a tense meeting with Chinese investors in what sounds like perfect Chinese, she realizes that she has to act.
That act pushes her from her life in h ...more
Paperback, 1, 172 pages
Published
July 17th 2012
(first published July 13th 2012)
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The Outsider is a beautiful tale that touches on what it's like for foreigners in Kenya and Germany.
It follows the life of women who realize that the previous notions they held of being in abroad are not as rosy or peachy as they thought- and they struggle not only to fit in but to accept that they were wrong too.
I liked: Irmtraut- she has a very weird name, but at the top of the corporate ladder she learns that people as vicious as Nadia (a very jealous and annoying workmate) will do everything ...more
It follows the life of women who realize that the previous notions they held of being in abroad are not as rosy or peachy as they thought- and they struggle not only to fit in but to accept that they were wrong too.
I liked: Irmtraut- she has a very weird name, but at the top of the corporate ladder she learns that people as vicious as Nadia (a very jealous and annoying workmate) will do everything ...more
(Review of 'The Outsider(S) by Bob Gribbin)
This fascinating first novel by a Kenyan author is based on cultural clashes, perceptions and misperceptions as experienced by several women. Indeed the story provides some keen insight - often amusing, but occasionally sad - into how folks on different sides of the culture divide react.
Structurally the novel chiefly follows two women, one starting as an impoverished Kenyan living hand-to-mouth in a Nairobi slum and the other a sophisticated German who ...more
This fascinating first novel by a Kenyan author is based on cultural clashes, perceptions and misperceptions as experienced by several women. Indeed the story provides some keen insight - often amusing, but occasionally sad - into how folks on different sides of the culture divide react.
Structurally the novel chiefly follows two women, one starting as an impoverished Kenyan living hand-to-mouth in a Nairobi slum and the other a sophisticated German who ...more
This book made me laugh and cry in equal measure. Granted, I am sucker for books about different cultures. The story is about prejudices. A German woman goes to Kenya and a Kenyan woman goes to Germany. It was unsettling and at the same time entertaining to read what each of them thought or expected. The German woman at the beginning came across as very brutal but became likable the more I read. I thought that the writer should have written a bit more about her work issues. The Kenyan woman’s na
...more
I really enjoyed reading this book. At first, it took a while to get used to the style it is written in. Each of the main characters has their own share of storytelling – narrated in first person for each of them. That requires the reader to also change perspective which is quite interesting and brings him/her closer to all of them, not just one main character. After getting used to the back and forth between them and also in time, I could hardly put the book down for the second half.
The charact ...more
The charact ...more
Clever well thought out story. The book starts with a quote which sets up the tone for the book. The story is told in first person narrative by three protagonists. This was confusing for me at the beginning but the more I read, the more intensely I could identify with the three protagonists.There are also some minor characters who contribute a great deal to the development of the story. The old woman and her friends etc.
The book started well but by the time I completed reading it(which happened ...more
The book started well but by the time I completed reading it(which happened ...more
In "The Outsider(s)" Adhiambo deals with intercultural encounters in a very personal way. The story is narrated from each of the protagonists' perspective. This allows the author to convey the fact that we all, culturally shaped by our own society, approach a new culture with certain ideas about it and even with prejudices.
Although some imaginations of the respectively new country seem to be exaggerated, they illustrate well how wrong, really strange and amusing they are at the same time.
The bo ...more
Although some imaginations of the respectively new country seem to be exaggerated, they illustrate well how wrong, really strange and amusing they are at the same time.
The bo ...more
I won this novel in a Goodreads first reads giveaway. Thank you to Goodreads and to the author. I enjoyed the book, although it took me a little while to get used to reading each chapter in a different character's voice. At the beginning of the book some of the German characters seemed so cold and harsh, and the translation and grammar seemed odd at times. But then I realized it all served a purpose to the story. It is a story about a German woman who goes to Kenya and a Kenyan woman who goes to
...more
A really enjoyable read following the lives of a German woman in Kenya and and Kenyan woman in Germany. The characters were believable and sympathetic and the depiction of life in the two countries was fascinating and eye opening. At turns very funny and the plot was well paced and not predictable. Well worth reading.
The book talks about a very important topic of todays times: prejudices towards other cultures.
It uses three characters to tear down the usual stereotypes on each side of the aisle.
It is very funny and eye-opening to read about those experiences.
And it has a great and unexpected end!
It uses three characters to tear down the usual stereotypes on each side of the aisle.
It is very funny and eye-opening to read about those experiences.
And it has a great and unexpected end!
a real page-turner and Caroline has a rare insight into both cultures
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Enjoyed this...quick read. Looking forward to meeting the author in April!
Sep 25, 2012
Rosalind Arwas
added it
Read this for the beautiful characterisation, cultural insights, descriptions of life in Kenya and the clever, sometimes very sensitive, humour.
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“Making judgements about other people requires that we understand where they are coming from;their motivations and their fears. Only then can we claim to know them.”
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