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Devil on the Cross
This remarkable and symbolic novel centers on Wariinga's tragedy and uses it to tell a story of contemporary Kenya.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
229 people are currently reading
6267 people want to read
About the author
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
107 books2,042 followersNgũgĩ wa Thiong'o was a Kenyan author and academic, who was described as East Africa's leading novelist.
He began writing in English before later switching to write primarily in Gikuyu, becoming a strong advocate for literature written in native African languages. His works include the celebrated novel The River Between, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He was the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright was translated into more than 100 languages.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation [that] produces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although his landmark play Ngaahika Ndeenda, co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening.
Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for more than a year. Adopted as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, he was released from prison and fled Kenya. He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine. He previously taught at Northwestern University, Yale University, and New York University. Ngũgĩ was frequently regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are authors Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ.
He began writing in English before later switching to write primarily in Gikuyu, becoming a strong advocate for literature written in native African languages. His works include the celebrated novel The River Between, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He was the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright was translated into more than 100 languages.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation [that] produces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although his landmark play Ngaahika Ndeenda, co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening.
Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for more than a year. Adopted as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, he was released from prison and fled Kenya. He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine. He previously taught at Northwestern University, Yale University, and New York University. Ngũgĩ was frequently regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are authors Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ.
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April 6, 2019
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Devil on the Cross is a fascinating work of political literature, a call for Kenyans to wake up to what neocolonial capitalism had done to their supposedly independent country. Devil on the Cross is a deceptively complex, yet clear novel with one political goal: the true independence of Kenya from Western economic and cultural domination.
Many sensible readers don't seem to like this novel. A common critique goes like this: Devil on the Cross is a simple novel with an obvious goal, so it shouldn't be lauded as groundbreaking literature.
1. Most of main characters are archetypes: the evil and horny capitalist big bosses, the virtuous worker sparking revolution, the small thief with bigger nefarious aspirations, the international white capitalist kingpins, the soft scholar, the virtuous woman who believes that good will triumph.
2. The allegories are obvious: Rich men host a national competition to crown seven "Experts in Theft and Robbery". Several men give speeches extolling how they exploit workers, rural people, and women to the raucous applause of the audience. A young man searches to find the right mix of Kenyan instruments to compose a tune that will unite all Kenyans in one struggle. A young, studious poor woman is led astray by a rich old man, who turns her off her studies and then abandons her when she becomes pregnant. It's a novel of dichotomies, of good vs. evil and rich vs. poor.
3. The lessons are clear: Kenyan independence was shallow. As Frantz Fanon put it, the new leaders of many African states wore white masks over their black skin to reassure the colonial powers that their citizens' assets were safe. Kenyans must break free from this new, less obvious, but just as harmful form of colonial oppression. By joining together, the oppressed can throw off the yoke of the new Kenyan capitalists and their international backers. But the path forward won't be easy.
But these supposed critiques are exactly what makes Devil on the Cross a fantastic political novel. The goal of a political novel is to take a stand, to expose evildoers, to point out what is Good. Its goal is to convince the reader that there must be change and that it can't wait. Devil on the Cross is obvious, clear, and entertaining, and that's why it's great – and effective.
Ngũgĩ, the master behind Decolonizing the Mind and The River Between, is a brilliant political writer. He understands the power of simple, direct words. Almost the entire book is a series of speeches and parables told from various perspectives. Ngũgĩ guides the reader through complex topics like international capitalism and gender inequality by letting the characters tell their own stories. These stories are grounded in experiences that everyday Kenyans (and readers in the West) can understand and analyze without too much difficulty. What's a better way to highlight sexual harassment in the workplace than listening to a survivor tell her story and then connect it to a wider, global problem? Through Ngũgĩ, ordinary people talk to ordinary people.
Throughout his works, Ngũgĩ has consistently made the point that literature can be used to dismantle oppression. But to realize this lofty goal, literature has to be clear and written with the target audience in mind. That's why he wrote this novel (and all of his subsequent works) in Gikuyu, the vernacular language of the people he wanted to reach, his people.
Ngũgĩ was a playwright, and Devil on the Cross also borrows from a strong oral tradition. Songs, parables, and repetition, classic hallmarks of oral literature, are found everywhere, reflecting an oral tradition that is familiar to his Gikuyu audience. Ngũgĩ recognizes that the political awakening of a people is only possible through using speech and argument well. Content is not enough; form matters.
Devil on the Cross should be handed out as a companion to every textbook on postcolonial Africa. Because of its clarity, Ngũgĩ's novel is an excellent introduction to the horrors of unrestrained capitalism for an intelligent lay audience. That's why it's a classic of Kenyan literature and why it should be a classic of world literature, too.
Many sensible readers don't seem to like this novel. A common critique goes like this: Devil on the Cross is a simple novel with an obvious goal, so it shouldn't be lauded as groundbreaking literature.
1. Most of main characters are archetypes: the evil and horny capitalist big bosses, the virtuous worker sparking revolution, the small thief with bigger nefarious aspirations, the international white capitalist kingpins, the soft scholar, the virtuous woman who believes that good will triumph.
2. The allegories are obvious: Rich men host a national competition to crown seven "Experts in Theft and Robbery". Several men give speeches extolling how they exploit workers, rural people, and women to the raucous applause of the audience. A young man searches to find the right mix of Kenyan instruments to compose a tune that will unite all Kenyans in one struggle. A young, studious poor woman is led astray by a rich old man, who turns her off her studies and then abandons her when she becomes pregnant. It's a novel of dichotomies, of good vs. evil and rich vs. poor.
3. The lessons are clear: Kenyan independence was shallow. As Frantz Fanon put it, the new leaders of many African states wore white masks over their black skin to reassure the colonial powers that their citizens' assets were safe. Kenyans must break free from this new, less obvious, but just as harmful form of colonial oppression. By joining together, the oppressed can throw off the yoke of the new Kenyan capitalists and their international backers. But the path forward won't be easy.
But these supposed critiques are exactly what makes Devil on the Cross a fantastic political novel. The goal of a political novel is to take a stand, to expose evildoers, to point out what is Good. Its goal is to convince the reader that there must be change and that it can't wait. Devil on the Cross is obvious, clear, and entertaining, and that's why it's great – and effective.
Ngũgĩ, the master behind Decolonizing the Mind and The River Between, is a brilliant political writer. He understands the power of simple, direct words. Almost the entire book is a series of speeches and parables told from various perspectives. Ngũgĩ guides the reader through complex topics like international capitalism and gender inequality by letting the characters tell their own stories. These stories are grounded in experiences that everyday Kenyans (and readers in the West) can understand and analyze without too much difficulty. What's a better way to highlight sexual harassment in the workplace than listening to a survivor tell her story and then connect it to a wider, global problem? Through Ngũgĩ, ordinary people talk to ordinary people.
Throughout his works, Ngũgĩ has consistently made the point that literature can be used to dismantle oppression. But to realize this lofty goal, literature has to be clear and written with the target audience in mind. That's why he wrote this novel (and all of his subsequent works) in Gikuyu, the vernacular language of the people he wanted to reach, his people.
Ngũgĩ was a playwright, and Devil on the Cross also borrows from a strong oral tradition. Songs, parables, and repetition, classic hallmarks of oral literature, are found everywhere, reflecting an oral tradition that is familiar to his Gikuyu audience. Ngũgĩ recognizes that the political awakening of a people is only possible through using speech and argument well. Content is not enough; form matters.
Devil on the Cross should be handed out as a companion to every textbook on postcolonial Africa. Because of its clarity, Ngũgĩ's novel is an excellent introduction to the horrors of unrestrained capitalism for an intelligent lay audience. That's why it's a classic of Kenyan literature and why it should be a classic of world literature, too.
April 9, 2009
January: Novel number two for my African Lit class. This one is my favorite so far- politically enraged and theatrical, it utilizes magical realist-esque shifts in character and context, jumping in and out of reality and all over the African map. Written on toilet paper while Ngugi was in jail.
April: Ok- a few months an two research projects on Ngugi later, I can say that this book now holds a place in my personal canon of radical literature. Devil on the Cross is just incredible. Form and style interact with context and intent to create a world in which Western capitalism and religion are dissected and rejected and traditional Gikuyu language and belief systems slowly enter the mind like rainwater seeping through the wall of a tent. What Ngugi does to halt the Kenyan slide into Western-style greed is genius. It's no wonder that this book helped contribute to his eternal exile and political rejection. Devil on the Cross is too powerful an indictment and too thrilling a spiritual call to arms- it incites a disobliging defensiveness in the moneyed classes and a mania of dutiful resistance in the rest of us. Totally brilliant!
April: Ok- a few months an two research projects on Ngugi later, I can say that this book now holds a place in my personal canon of radical literature. Devil on the Cross is just incredible. Form and style interact with context and intent to create a world in which Western capitalism and religion are dissected and rejected and traditional Gikuyu language and belief systems slowly enter the mind like rainwater seeping through the wall of a tent. What Ngugi does to halt the Kenyan slide into Western-style greed is genius. It's no wonder that this book helped contribute to his eternal exile and political rejection. Devil on the Cross is too powerful an indictment and too thrilling a spiritual call to arms- it incites a disobliging defensiveness in the moneyed classes and a mania of dutiful resistance in the rest of us. Totally brilliant!
March 10, 2013
Overall, very interesting read. My only complaint is probably that it seemed reaaaaaaaaaaaally straightforward in its analogies, so much so that it could be predictable; at the same time, I'm not sure that this isn't just my perception as someone who 1) isn't a Gikuyu speaker, 2) is reading it after it's been translated to English, and 3) isn't watching it being acted out (as it's written in a way that very heavily lends itself to being acted out).
All that said, I still found it very enjoyable and thought-provoking. The most valuable piece for me was seeing neo-colonial capitalism artistically depicted using human characters: a few chapters in, you get testimonies from a number of characters that help the reader understand Wariinga's (and a good number of other characters') predicament. Ngugi also did a surprisingly nice job of conveying the experience of a WOMAN in the midst of the neo-colonial imperialists: he managed to include some of the more salient (and I'd say unifying) experiences of women within global capitalism (I'm not going to mention exact examples because it would give too much away). Toward the end, we even were given a little bit to think about regarding the impact of global capitalism on romantic relationships between people by considering Wariinga's example. I was also VERY shocked by the final chapter because the plot takes a very interesting (and hard to predict turn).
Overall, an excellent read with tons of quotable moments seeing as the artistic value of Ngugi's writing and excellent depiction of intersectionality is probably what makes this so worthwhile to read. I disagree with the reviews that suggested that this was a book that made sexism something that's simply subordinate to class struggle, as well. The last few chapters of the book make clear that Kenyan Black women's oppression wasn't solely a matter of capitalism, but instead had was a tool that facilitated class oppression (e.g. pointing out that Kenyan men's sexist views of women had contributed to rich men being able to treat women as objects as well). I think to construe this as dismissive of the seriousness of sexism requires one to assume that every woman's most salient experiences with gendered oppression are ones that have nothing to do with class and race. Further, it is assuming that women actually can work AROUND class, when (as this book points out) poor women regularly are available targets for gendered violence BECAUSE of class (e.g. prostitution out of economic necessity creates opportunities for sexual exploitation that don't exist for well-off women; poor women's experience of gendered violence is often treated as consensual because women may stay with abusive men out of economic necessity or may not gain legal protection due to racialized sexist assumptions about who can be a victim).
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't grasp how global capitalism impacts people of color (specifically Black people) to reinforce worldwide systems of dominance through seemingly benign means and creates the illusion of consent on the part of the oppressed. I also strongly recommend this book to people who already get it, but maybe don't have the words to describe the experience. Lastly, the book also has some interesting points to think about for those of us coming from less privileged backgrounds who have suddenly gained access to new and hard-to-understand class privilege. This book offers lots of attention-grabbing examples of how it all plays out, even today. I'd also go so far as to say this book has added relevance in the Obama presidential years.
All that said, I still found it very enjoyable and thought-provoking. The most valuable piece for me was seeing neo-colonial capitalism artistically depicted using human characters: a few chapters in, you get testimonies from a number of characters that help the reader understand Wariinga's (and a good number of other characters') predicament. Ngugi also did a surprisingly nice job of conveying the experience of a WOMAN in the midst of the neo-colonial imperialists: he managed to include some of the more salient (and I'd say unifying) experiences of women within global capitalism (I'm not going to mention exact examples because it would give too much away). Toward the end, we even were given a little bit to think about regarding the impact of global capitalism on romantic relationships between people by considering Wariinga's example. I was also VERY shocked by the final chapter because the plot takes a very interesting (and hard to predict turn).
Overall, an excellent read with tons of quotable moments seeing as the artistic value of Ngugi's writing and excellent depiction of intersectionality is probably what makes this so worthwhile to read. I disagree with the reviews that suggested that this was a book that made sexism something that's simply subordinate to class struggle, as well. The last few chapters of the book make clear that Kenyan Black women's oppression wasn't solely a matter of capitalism, but instead had was a tool that facilitated class oppression (e.g. pointing out that Kenyan men's sexist views of women had contributed to rich men being able to treat women as objects as well). I think to construe this as dismissive of the seriousness of sexism requires one to assume that every woman's most salient experiences with gendered oppression are ones that have nothing to do with class and race. Further, it is assuming that women actually can work AROUND class, when (as this book points out) poor women regularly are available targets for gendered violence BECAUSE of class (e.g. prostitution out of economic necessity creates opportunities for sexual exploitation that don't exist for well-off women; poor women's experience of gendered violence is often treated as consensual because women may stay with abusive men out of economic necessity or may not gain legal protection due to racialized sexist assumptions about who can be a victim).
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't grasp how global capitalism impacts people of color (specifically Black people) to reinforce worldwide systems of dominance through seemingly benign means and creates the illusion of consent on the part of the oppressed. I also strongly recommend this book to people who already get it, but maybe don't have the words to describe the experience. Lastly, the book also has some interesting points to think about for those of us coming from less privileged backgrounds who have suddenly gained access to new and hard-to-understand class privilege. This book offers lots of attention-grabbing examples of how it all plays out, even today. I'd also go so far as to say this book has added relevance in the Obama presidential years.
November 6, 2020
What a story. What an ending. But most importantly - what a message (“As far as we peasants are concerned, all our labor goes to fatten Nairobi and the big towns.”).
I confess I knew nothing about our colonial past in Kenya, and next to nothing (only BBC propaganda) about the Mau-Mau revolution. This story of post-colonial exploitation by the same people who perpetrated colonial oppression and brutal repression has opened my eyes to how things go for all victims / members of empires (British, French, Belgian etc). Instead of flooding the minds of our children at school with all that ‘Tudors and Stuart’s’ crap, we should be teaching them about the reality of ‘empire’ and how 500 million people in Africa live in extreme poverty to this day because the exploitation never stopped.
Beautiful writing by an amazing African writer. I will be reading a lot more of this ilk.
I confess I knew nothing about our colonial past in Kenya, and next to nothing (only BBC propaganda) about the Mau-Mau revolution. This story of post-colonial exploitation by the same people who perpetrated colonial oppression and brutal repression has opened my eyes to how things go for all victims / members of empires (British, French, Belgian etc). Instead of flooding the minds of our children at school with all that ‘Tudors and Stuart’s’ crap, we should be teaching them about the reality of ‘empire’ and how 500 million people in Africa live in extreme poverty to this day because the exploitation never stopped.
Beautiful writing by an amazing African writer. I will be reading a lot more of this ilk.
March 14, 2019
Terminé, luego de una lectura lenta, accidentada (si se me permite el melodramatismo) con esta novela hoy en la tarde. Al final no dejo de sentir que estuve frente a una fábula, un panfleto. Cuando cualquiera de esas dos cosas se ejecuta, debe uno hacerlo con mucha habilidad. Aquí siento una intencionalidad superior al resultado. Un gran propósito, entorpecido por su forma de llevarse a cabo.
Me alegra, pese a ello, haberla leído. Creo que tiene un puñado de buenos momentos, y volveré a pensar en ella cuando se me plantee aquello de la función social del arte.
Me alegra, pese a ello, haberla leído. Creo que tiene un puñado de buenos momentos, y volveré a pensar en ella cuando se me plantee aquello de la función social del arte.
August 6, 2022
من روائع الأدب الافريقي، تحفة سياسية و إنسانية لا مثيل لها
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قرأتها مباشرة بعد رواية الاشياء تتداعى، فبدت كأنها تتمة أو جزء ثاني لها، الرواية بكل بساطة تبرز أوجه العنصرية التي يعيشها الأفارقة داخل بلدانهم، كيف عمل الغرب على تجهيلهم و توهيمهم بقدسية الجنس الأبيض
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الرواية تفصح بشكل صريح عن أوجه الاستغلال التي تعاني منه دول العالم الثالث، حيث الغني يأكل لحم الفقير و يتبنن به
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الرواية تذرف دموع إفريقيا المرة، هي تجسيد حي لما جرى ويجري هناك من جرائم ضد الإنسانية
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هي أيضا تجسيد لمعاناة المثقف الإفريقي وسط أمواج الجهل واستحالة مهمته، تجسد كيف يتنافس الخونة من أكلي لحوم شعوبهم على المناصب إرضاءً لاسيادهم الأوروبيين، كيف عمل الغربيون على إختيار ممثليهم من الشعب بعناية، لتمكينهم من الاستحواذ على الخيرات دون مقاومة من الشعب، وكيف يلقون لهؤلاء الخونة بفتات خيراتهم ليطغو به على بني جلدتهم، ويستبيحون كل محرماتهم
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كيف يعمل الفقر على تشويه الحب و تدنيسه، وكيف يفرض الحب نفسه في جميع الظروف، الكاتب يود أن يقول أن الحب هو ملتقى الطيبين في كل العالم ومن كل الفئات والثقافات، ثم يجعلنا نلتمس معاناة الطيبين في قبضة الاشرار
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هنا ستدرك كيف خرج الاستعمار من الباب أمام أعين الجميع ثم تسلل عائدا خفية من النافذة الخلفية التي فتحها له الخونة ستدرك أن شيطانا واحدا يعيش بهذا العالم، هو الغرب ونظامه الرأس مالي، ستغني ثقافتك حول القارة السمراء بشكل مبهر
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قرأتها مباشرة بعد رواية الاشياء تتداعى، فبدت كأنها تتمة أو جزء ثاني لها، الرواية بكل بساطة تبرز أوجه العنصرية التي يعيشها الأفارقة داخل بلدانهم، كيف عمل الغرب على تجهيلهم و توهيمهم بقدسية الجنس الأبيض
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الرواية تفصح بشكل صريح عن أوجه الاستغلال التي تعاني منه دول العالم الثالث، حيث الغني يأكل لحم الفقير و يتبنن به
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الرواية تذرف دموع إفريقيا المرة، هي تجسيد حي لما جرى ويجري هناك من جرائم ضد الإنسانية
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هي أيضا تجسيد لمعاناة المثقف الإفريقي وسط أمواج الجهل واستحالة مهمته، تجسد كيف يتنافس الخونة من أكلي لحوم شعوبهم على المناصب إرضاءً لاسيادهم الأوروبيين، كيف عمل الغربيون على إختيار ممثليهم من الشعب بعناية، لتمكينهم من الاستحواذ على الخيرات دون مقاومة من الشعب، وكيف يلقون لهؤلاء الخونة بفتات خيراتهم ليطغو به على بني جلدتهم، ويستبيحون كل محرماتهم
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كيف يعمل الفقر على تشويه الحب و تدنيسه، وكيف يفرض الحب نفسه في جميع الظروف، الكاتب يود أن يقول أن الحب هو ملتقى الطيبين في كل العالم ومن كل الفئات والثقافات، ثم يجعلنا نلتمس معاناة الطيبين في قبضة الاشرار
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هنا ستدرك كيف خرج الاستعمار من الباب أمام أعين الجميع ثم تسلل عائدا خفية من النافذة الخلفية التي فتحها له الخونة ستدرك أن شيطانا واحدا يعيش بهذا العالم، هو الغرب ونظامه الرأس مالي، ستغني ثقافتك حول القارة السمراء بشكل مبهر
February 7, 2019
Generalmente, las obras que se fundamentan en una tesis ideológica me desagradan por cuanto todo está al servicio de dicha tesis y los personajes se convierten en tipos. En este caso, esta misma sensación de desagrado me ha acompañado a través de la mayoría de las páginas de esta alegoría, pero estaba contrastada por la potencia de las imágenes, la belleza del lenguaje y la presencia de una protagonista femenina que observa para finalmente actuar, con ese final abrupto y sensacional .
Read
February 1, 2019A polemic parable about the evils wreaked on Kenya by colonialism and capitalism, written in Thiong'o’s native tongue and smuggled out of prison on sheets of toilet paper. A fascinating back story but it is doggedly didactic, and even agreeing with all the major points I still can’t imagine many readers actually enjoying the work itself.
February 24, 2025
Devil on the Cross by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (1938) is one of the most staggering novels I have read. While it reminded me of John Steinbeck’s social activism (
In Dubious Battle
), George Orwell’s dystopian world-building (
1984
), and Mikhail Bulgakov’s play with the devil (
The Master and Margarita
), it is first and foremost a thought-provoking reflection on postcolonial Kenyan society.
Written on toilet paper
The novel’s background is as interesting as its content. It is regarded as the first modern novel written in Gĩgĩkũyũ, a language spoken in the area around Nairobi, after Wa Thiong’o decided to write in his native tongue. Since he was imprisoned due to a politically motivated theatre play, the author wrote the story on toilet paper. The main character is Warĩĩnga, a young woman traveling from the capital to her parents in Ilmorog. She shares a bus (matatũ) ride with five remarkable people, each with their own thoughts on the political state of their country. During the ride, their conversation shifts to a mysterious Devil’s Feast for Thieves and Robbers happening in Ilmorog. As it soon turns out, each of them has their own reason for joining the feast.
Kenyan key developments
In less than 300 pages, Wa Thiong’o explores key developments in Kenya, from capitalist imperialism, corruption, and poverty to gender inequality and the loss of culture due to the continued dominance of European languages and values. I enjoyed the way the author integrates different forms of oppression into a thrilling (yet bizarre) narrative. Finally, his words are sharp and well-chosen. Novels like Devil on the Cross and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart make me realise that I must regularly reserve space for authors from the African continent.
Certain people in Ilmorog, our Ilmorog, told me that this story was too disgraceful, too shameful, that it should be concealed in the depths of everlasting darkness.
There were others who claimed that it was a matter for tears and sorrow, that it should be suppressed so that we should not shed tears a second time.
I asked them: How can we cover up pits in our courtyard with leaves or grass, saying to ourselves that because our eyes cannot now see the holes, our children can prance about the yard as they like?
Written on toilet paper
The novel’s background is as interesting as its content. It is regarded as the first modern novel written in Gĩgĩkũyũ, a language spoken in the area around Nairobi, after Wa Thiong’o decided to write in his native tongue. Since he was imprisoned due to a politically motivated theatre play, the author wrote the story on toilet paper. The main character is Warĩĩnga, a young woman traveling from the capital to her parents in Ilmorog. She shares a bus (matatũ) ride with five remarkable people, each with their own thoughts on the political state of their country. During the ride, their conversation shifts to a mysterious Devil’s Feast for Thieves and Robbers happening in Ilmorog. As it soon turns out, each of them has their own reason for joining the feast.
Kenyan key developments
In less than 300 pages, Wa Thiong’o explores key developments in Kenya, from capitalist imperialism, corruption, and poverty to gender inequality and the loss of culture due to the continued dominance of European languages and values. I enjoyed the way the author integrates different forms of oppression into a thrilling (yet bizarre) narrative. Finally, his words are sharp and well-chosen. Novels like Devil on the Cross and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart make me realise that I must regularly reserve space for authors from the African continent.
February 20, 2010
I hesitate between 2 and 3 stars because I loved what I learned from the book and the awareness that it renewed in me about neocolonial capitalist exploitation, and I love the strongly feminist awareness and message. However, the style of writing and the way the story was constructed read more like a treatise on leftist politics than a piece of art, and so as a novel it does not wholly succeed.
Now, it is true that I and many others would not have read a non-fiction treatise on how certain members of Kenyan society sell their country to foreign colonial and corporate interests and how they exploited the independence gained by the Mau Maus to cheat and enrich themselves on the blood and sweat of their own people, or how the exploitation of women is bound up in capitalist exploitation. Putting these concepts in novel form was a very clever way for Ngugi to share this awareness and to call for hope and struggle. However, I wish he could have done it more artfully, because I felt at times that I was reading for obligation, never fully immersed in the language or flow of the book. It felt hackish in style, like he was desperate to fit everything in there, no matter how contrived it seemed in the dialogue between two characters.
Nevertheless, I'd recommend it for anyone wishing to learn about Kenya, or possibly Africa in general, after colonial rule, and how independence has often been co-opted or exploited. It is also one of the most empathetic and in-depth views of systems of economic and sexual exploitation and violence against women I have ever read, coupled with a (somewhat less developed and believable) story of female resistance and strength, and for this reason alone I would recommend it. Still, though, while it is a good story of women, and a true story, it is not told with enough complexity and art to really hit the gut.
Now, it is true that I and many others would not have read a non-fiction treatise on how certain members of Kenyan society sell their country to foreign colonial and corporate interests and how they exploited the independence gained by the Mau Maus to cheat and enrich themselves on the blood and sweat of their own people, or how the exploitation of women is bound up in capitalist exploitation. Putting these concepts in novel form was a very clever way for Ngugi to share this awareness and to call for hope and struggle. However, I wish he could have done it more artfully, because I felt at times that I was reading for obligation, never fully immersed in the language or flow of the book. It felt hackish in style, like he was desperate to fit everything in there, no matter how contrived it seemed in the dialogue between two characters.
Nevertheless, I'd recommend it for anyone wishing to learn about Kenya, or possibly Africa in general, after colonial rule, and how independence has often been co-opted or exploited. It is also one of the most empathetic and in-depth views of systems of economic and sexual exploitation and violence against women I have ever read, coupled with a (somewhat less developed and believable) story of female resistance and strength, and for this reason alone I would recommend it. Still, though, while it is a good story of women, and a true story, it is not told with enough complexity and art to really hit the gut.
January 3, 2011
have recently started reading about Africa and have to admit to being fairly ignorant about most African history and literature. Therefor, this review will be somewhat limited since I believe that the characters in this book are all based on cultural and social ideals and thoughts instead of actual “people” like many novels. This book was also written while Thiong’ o was in jail because of a play he wrote about the government. The then vice president of Kenya ordered his arrest. While imprisoned, Thiong’ o wrote this book on toilet paper guards gave him because he had no paper. Thiong’ o writes in his native Kikuyu language and translates it into English himself.
The book is built around a “Devil’s Feast” where the best robbers and thieves from all around the world will meet in Ilmorog, a fictional city in Kenya, and tell their stories. After the stories are told, the robbers and thieves will then decide who is the greatest of them all. The main character, Wariinga, is a Kenyan woman in her mid 20s who has just been fired by Boss Kihara for not sleeping with him. She also has a child by The Rich Old Man who dumped her after finding out she was pregnant with his child and went back to his wife. This sets the premise of women being used and abused by men in Kenya but also, Warringa seems to the redemptive power of women and the poor of Kenya while most of the men are metaphors for capitalism and western culture, raping and destroying Kenya for its own needs and desires.
Wariinga decides to return to her hometown, Illmorog. She rides in a bus with 5 other characters that seem to represent other parts of Kenya’s culture: The students who want equality. The professors who are trying to educate and help the poor. The wealthy who are part of the Devil’s Feast, proud of their raping of Kenya and the poor, and another woman who is much like Warringa and fights for rights and equality after being used by men.
They watch and listen to the Devil’s Feast and hear pride filled stories from the robbers and thieves about how they are using and destroying Kenya. They disregard the native intelligence and culture, seeing it as “primitive” and worthless, justifying their own desire to make money and rule the world. Thiong’ o obivously had a great disdain of the willingness of capitalism and western ideology to sell and use with little regard to what the west can learn from these cultures. This also includes Christianity and western religions which tend to ignore the Earth and destroy the beauty of the world instead of caring for and respecting it. It seems many of the most corrupt characters are the ones that claim they are from “The Church” and therefore have a ready excuse to ruin other people’s lives. The Feast goes on until two of the characters get the students, workers and the police to come and take them into custody. The police are paid off and actually arrest all the students and workers and put them in jail while the rich foreigners and Kenyans who advocate destroying the Kenyan culture go free.
The end of the story is not one that I want to give away because it is such a powerful book. I have yet to read anyone that has characters who are so dense and soliloquies that are so eloquent and angry at the same time. This book is a difficult read if one is not willing to take the time to pay attention to the language and logic of each. It reminds me of As I lay Dying by Faulkner in that there are quick changes between characters who are narrating and each character is so different . That being said, Thiong’o's style is entirely different than Faulkner’s so please don’t expect that kind of prose. It is much more dense and yet lush at the same time.
This is definitely a book that I will reread a few times in my life because I can only imagine how much I have missed while still enjoying it thoroughly. Also, Ngugi wa Thiong’ o will be coming to Mills College to speak in March. I look forward to reading his other novels before I hear him in person
The book is built around a “Devil’s Feast” where the best robbers and thieves from all around the world will meet in Ilmorog, a fictional city in Kenya, and tell their stories. After the stories are told, the robbers and thieves will then decide who is the greatest of them all. The main character, Wariinga, is a Kenyan woman in her mid 20s who has just been fired by Boss Kihara for not sleeping with him. She also has a child by The Rich Old Man who dumped her after finding out she was pregnant with his child and went back to his wife. This sets the premise of women being used and abused by men in Kenya but also, Warringa seems to the redemptive power of women and the poor of Kenya while most of the men are metaphors for capitalism and western culture, raping and destroying Kenya for its own needs and desires.
Wariinga decides to return to her hometown, Illmorog. She rides in a bus with 5 other characters that seem to represent other parts of Kenya’s culture: The students who want equality. The professors who are trying to educate and help the poor. The wealthy who are part of the Devil’s Feast, proud of their raping of Kenya and the poor, and another woman who is much like Warringa and fights for rights and equality after being used by men.
They watch and listen to the Devil’s Feast and hear pride filled stories from the robbers and thieves about how they are using and destroying Kenya. They disregard the native intelligence and culture, seeing it as “primitive” and worthless, justifying their own desire to make money and rule the world. Thiong’ o obivously had a great disdain of the willingness of capitalism and western ideology to sell and use with little regard to what the west can learn from these cultures. This also includes Christianity and western religions which tend to ignore the Earth and destroy the beauty of the world instead of caring for and respecting it. It seems many of the most corrupt characters are the ones that claim they are from “The Church” and therefore have a ready excuse to ruin other people’s lives. The Feast goes on until two of the characters get the students, workers and the police to come and take them into custody. The police are paid off and actually arrest all the students and workers and put them in jail while the rich foreigners and Kenyans who advocate destroying the Kenyan culture go free.
The end of the story is not one that I want to give away because it is such a powerful book. I have yet to read anyone that has characters who are so dense and soliloquies that are so eloquent and angry at the same time. This book is a difficult read if one is not willing to take the time to pay attention to the language and logic of each. It reminds me of As I lay Dying by Faulkner in that there are quick changes between characters who are narrating and each character is so different . That being said, Thiong’o's style is entirely different than Faulkner’s so please don’t expect that kind of prose. It is much more dense and yet lush at the same time.
This is definitely a book that I will reread a few times in my life because I can only imagine how much I have missed while still enjoying it thoroughly. Also, Ngugi wa Thiong’ o will be coming to Mills College to speak in March. I look forward to reading his other novels before I hear him in person
November 11, 2019
Imperialism + Neo-colonialism + Corruption Held to Account
If you can compare the early poster artwork of the Russian Revolution with say, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, or Jackson Pollock, then probably you won’t flinch from comparing this work with say, Turgenev, Faulkner, or Ismail Kadare. As for me, I found it hard. The present book is no doubt powerful and unique, a work from the heart, a cry against the evils of this world, written on toilet paper in a Kenyan prison where the author languished for political reasons. But is it a book I would recommend you to read? That’s another question. Reviews here on Goodreads by Will A, Mary Emily O’Hara, Claudia and SalsaArum (to name a few good ones) will tell you what the book is about, so I won’t repeat their excellent comments. Suffice to say that if you want to know what a talented, anguished African author has to say about his country’s trajectory, about corruption, exploitation, poverty, and the prospects for change, you have come to the right place. If you want to know about Kenya beyond game parks and facile Hollywood movies, this could be an eye-opener. If you are interested in African literature written first in a local language (Gikuyu) and translated into English by the author himself, literature full of the proverbs and sayings of Kenyan oral tradition, then you will find this excellent. However, if you are looking for a “standard” novel in any sense of the word, one in which political color and political aims take second place to a story, then this may not prove so satisfactory. This is a political allegory, and a statement of where the author stands vis-à-vis the people who jailed him. Politically it should be given five stars, as an allegory too, but in the class of “literature as literature”, I can’t give it more than three. We may be “with” him, but he was the one who had to take the punishment for speaking out. He earned the right to say whatever he felt. I don’t put him down, but as a reviewer, I have to say what I think.
The injustices dealt with in Ngugi’s book still remain. And we are only reading while he spoke out.
If you can compare the early poster artwork of the Russian Revolution with say, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, or Jackson Pollock, then probably you won’t flinch from comparing this work with say, Turgenev, Faulkner, or Ismail Kadare. As for me, I found it hard. The present book is no doubt powerful and unique, a work from the heart, a cry against the evils of this world, written on toilet paper in a Kenyan prison where the author languished for political reasons. But is it a book I would recommend you to read? That’s another question. Reviews here on Goodreads by Will A, Mary Emily O’Hara, Claudia and SalsaArum (to name a few good ones) will tell you what the book is about, so I won’t repeat their excellent comments. Suffice to say that if you want to know what a talented, anguished African author has to say about his country’s trajectory, about corruption, exploitation, poverty, and the prospects for change, you have come to the right place. If you want to know about Kenya beyond game parks and facile Hollywood movies, this could be an eye-opener. If you are interested in African literature written first in a local language (Gikuyu) and translated into English by the author himself, literature full of the proverbs and sayings of Kenyan oral tradition, then you will find this excellent. However, if you are looking for a “standard” novel in any sense of the word, one in which political color and political aims take second place to a story, then this may not prove so satisfactory. This is a political allegory, and a statement of where the author stands vis-à-vis the people who jailed him. Politically it should be given five stars, as an allegory too, but in the class of “literature as literature”, I can’t give it more than three. We may be “with” him, but he was the one who had to take the punishment for speaking out. He earned the right to say whatever he felt. I don’t put him down, but as a reviewer, I have to say what I think.
The injustices dealt with in Ngugi’s book still remain. And we are only reading while he spoke out.
September 19, 2016
The master of ceremonies leaped on to the platform and called for silence. He addressed the audience and told them that this was a competition for thieves and robbers, real ones - that is, those who had reached international standards. Stories of people breaking padlocks in village huts or snatching purses from poor market women were shameful in the eyes of real experts in theft and robbery, and more so when such stories were narrated in front of international thieves and robbers. The foreigners had not traveled all this way to meet people who stole just because they were hungry or needed clothes and jobs. Such petty thieves and robbers were criminals. ‘Here, in this cave, we are interested only in people who steal because their bellies are full,” the master of ceremonies said, patting his stomach.Devil on the Cross was written during Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's one year imprisonment in Kenya (due to his explicitly critical and political play: Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want)); the novel was written entirely on prison-issued toilet paper.
Oddly enough, the book has a fairly Russian feel to it - it still feels distinctly African in idiom though - mostly due to the tone of criticism of the corruption and cronyism of the political and economic elite. Ironically, most of the Russian books it reminds me of are fairly distinctly anti-communist (mostly just as a response to Russian power structure) while this book (and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o) are fairly pro-Marxist (again, in response to the Kenyan-power-structure, and capitalistic greed suppressing the Kenyan working class). The book has a bit of a magical-realism feel to it in the opening couple chapters, but that ends up fading through the rest of the book, and it ends up being a pretty straightforward condemnation of capitalism and the political elite in power in Kenya at the time.
It's good, but is bogged down by the length of time spent on the speeches and ceremonies in the Thieves and Robbers Den; very strong beginning and ending though.
April 24, 2024
Ο Θιόνγκο σε κάθε βιβλίο του σου δημιουργεί ανάμικτα κ διαφορετικά συναισθήματα. Επίσης, παρατηρείς πως υπάρχει διαφορετική προσέγγιση ως προς το περιεχόμενό του κάθε φορά. Στο προηγούμενο βιβλίο του εστίασε πιο πολύ στο κοινωνικό πρίσμα, εδώ πέρα από το κοινωνικό κ φυλετικό εμβάθυνε θίγοντας φιλοσοφικά ζητήματα. Μου άρεσε γιατί τα συνδύασε πολύ αρμονικά. Η γραφή του ήταν πιο δουλεμένη, πιο μεστή. Βέβαια, ως ιστορία δεν μπορώ να πω πως με ενθουσίασε. Το τέλος όμως, ήταν ανατρεπτικό κ έδωσε τη δικαίωση που έπρεπε.
July 23, 2021
வாசிப்பிற்கான பதிவு:
" சிலுவையில் தொங்கும் சாத்தான் " என்ற தலைப்பைவிட, ஒரு கைதி ஒருவர் தான் சிறையிலிருக்கும் போது மலம் துடைக்கும் தாளில் ஒரு புனைவு நூலை எழுதியிருந்தார் என்பது ஆர்வத்தை கொடுத்து, யோசிக்காது வாங்க வைத்தது.
இது வெறும் புனைவாக, வெறும் வார்த்தைகளாக என்னுள் முடியவில்லை.
மிகவும், சரியான சமயத்தில் இப்படியொரு நூலை படித்துவிட்ட ஒரு மகிழ்ச்சி. ஏனென்றால், இது நாம் ism சேர்க்கும்; Communism, Colonialism, Imperialism, Capitalism, முக்கியமாக Post Colonialism பற்றி ஒரு முக்கியமான அறிமுகமும், ஆழத்தையும் விட்டுச் சென்றிருக்கிறது.
இப்படியும் கூட, ஒரு நவீனத்துவம் அடைந்த நாடாயினும், இன்னமும் அந்த காலனியவாதிகளும், ஏகாதிபத்தியவாதிகளும் முதலீட்டாளர்களின் வழியில் ஆதிக்கம் செலுத்தி கொண்டு தான் இருக்கிறார்கள் என வெறும் ஐந்து கதாபாத்திரங்கள் வைத்தே கதைச்சொல்லியாக இருந்திருக்கிறார், Ngugi wa thiongo.
இந்த நூலின் மொழிபெயர்ப்பாளர் அமரந்தா மிகவும் சிரம்ப்பட்டு நம்மிடையே சேர்த்துள்ளார். மிகத் துள்ளியமாக, அன்றைய காலனிய அரசின் சட்டங்களை வருட கணக்குகள்படி தெள்ளந்தெளிவாய் கொடுமைகளை பதிவு பன்னியிருக்கிறார். மூன்றடுக்கு சமூகமாம்; வெள்ளையர், ஆசிய இனங்கள், பின் கறுப்பர்கள் வரி விகதம் இருப்பதையும் சுட்டிக் காட்டியுள்ளார்.
ஒரு வரியில் சொல்ல வேண்டுமென்றால் " இட்லரின் காலனீய, ' இனச்சோதனை ' களிலிருந்து பிரிட்டிஷ் ஆளும் வர்க்கத்தினை கற்றுக் கொண்டது " .
முதலாளிகளின் அற்ப ஆசையை, " அலுவலகங்கள் மட்டும் பேச முடிந்தால் அவை பல கதைகளைச் சொல்லும். ஒரு மென்மையான சிமெண்டுத் தரை அருமையான கட்டிலாகும். " என வேர்வை விடும் கருப்பின பெண்ணை அடக்க நினைக்கும் அன்றைய வெள்ளைக்கார முதலாளியின் ஆசை வரிகள்.
அவள் விடும் பதிலும், " ஆண்களுக்கு கொடிய விஷமுள்ள கொடுக்குகள் இருப்பதை மறந்துவிடமாட்டேன். அதன் விஷம் பெண்ணை அரித்துக் கொண்டே நீங்காது இருக்கும். " என புரட்சிக்கு விதை போடும் வரிகள் கூறி கதையில் பயணிக்கிறாள், வரீய்ங்கா.
May May Uprising என்கிற அன்றைய புரட்சிகர செயல்பாட்டையும் கதையோடு பல வரிகளில் சொல்லியிருப்பது தான் பெரும் பலம். " மாவ் மாவ் கிளர்ச்சியின் போது, " ஒருபோதும் தனியாக உண்ண மாட்டோம் என உறுதிமொழி எடுத்துள்ளோம் " என்னும் வரிகள் எல்லாம் ஒற்றுமைநை காட்டிச் செல்கிறது்
கிட்டத்தட்ட ஒரு மூன்று, நான்கு அத்தியாயங்கள் வெறும் முதலாளிகளின் வாக்குமூலம் மட்டுமே. சிலிர்த்தே போய் விட்டேன், இவர்களின் வழியே ஒவ்வொரு முதலாளித்துவ சிந்தனைகளின் வெளிப்பாட்டைக் கண்டு. பணக்காரன் தடுமாறுவது அகிகமாக உண்பதால்; ஏழையோ, அதிகப் " பசியால் " என கேலிக் கிண்டலாய் சிரிக்கும் முதலாளிகள்.
வரீய்ங்காவின் கனவுகளில் வரும் சாத்தானின் உரையாடல், தத்துவங்கள் எல்லாம் இன்றும் கூட ஒன்றிப் போகும்.
வரீய்ங்காவால் நிகழும் முடிவு, Quentin Tarantinoவின் " Django Unchained " படத்தில் முடிவு காட்சியில் Django அடிமைத்தனத்தில் இருந்து வெளிப்பட இரத்தம் தெறிக்க, தெறிக்க ஒரு நிகழ்வை ஏற்படுத்துவான், புரட்சியின் வடிவமாய்.
அப்படித்தான், வரீய்ங்காவும் !!
கண்டிப்பாக வாசியுங்கள்.
" சிலுவையில் தொங்கும் சாத்தான் " என்ற தலைப்பைவிட, ஒரு கைதி ஒருவர் தான் சிறையிலிருக்கும் போது மலம் துடைக்கும் தாளில் ஒரு புனைவு நூலை எழுதியிருந்தார் என்பது ஆர்வத்தை கொடுத்து, யோசிக்காது வாங்க வைத்தது.
இது வெறும் புனைவாக, வெறும் வார்த்தைகளாக என்னுள் முடியவில்லை.
மிகவும், சரியான சமயத்தில் இப்படியொரு நூலை படித்துவிட்ட ஒரு மகிழ்ச்சி. ஏனென்றால், இது நாம் ism சேர்க்கும்; Communism, Colonialism, Imperialism, Capitalism, முக்கியமாக Post Colonialism பற்றி ஒரு முக்கியமான அறிமுகமும், ஆழத்தையும் விட்டுச் சென்றிருக்கிறது.
இப்படியும் கூட, ஒரு நவீனத்துவம் அடைந்த நாடாயினும், இன்னமும் அந்த காலனியவாதிகளும், ஏகாதிபத்தியவாதிகளும் முதலீட்டாளர்களின் வழியில் ஆதிக்கம் செலுத்தி கொண்டு தான் இருக்கிறார்கள் என வெறும் ஐந்து கதாபாத்திரங்கள் வைத்தே கதைச்சொல்லியாக இருந்திருக்கிறார், Ngugi wa thiongo.
இந்த நூலின் மொழிபெயர்ப்பாளர் அமரந்தா மிகவும் சிரம்ப்பட்டு நம்மிடையே சேர்த்துள்ளார். மிகத் துள்ளியமாக, அன்றைய காலனிய அரசின் சட்டங்களை வருட கணக்குகள்படி தெள்ளந்தெளிவாய் கொடுமைகளை பதிவு பன்னியிருக்கிறார். மூன்றடுக்கு சமூகமாம்; வெள்ளையர், ஆசிய இனங்கள், பின் கறுப்பர்கள் வரி விகதம் இருப்பதையும் சுட்டிக் காட்டியுள்ளார்.
ஒரு வரியில் சொல்ல வேண்டுமென்றால் " இட்லரின் காலனீய, ' இனச்சோதனை ' களிலிருந்து பிரிட்டிஷ் ஆளும் வர்க்கத்தினை கற்றுக் கொண்டது " .
முதலாளிகளின் அற்ப ஆசையை, " அலுவலகங்கள் மட்டும் பேச முடிந்தால் அவை பல கதைகளைச் சொல்லும். ஒரு மென்மையான சிமெண்டுத் தரை அருமையான கட்டிலாகும். " என வேர்வை விடும் கருப்பின பெண்ணை அடக்க நினைக்கும் அன்றைய வெள்ளைக்கார முதலாளியின் ஆசை வரிகள்.
அவள் விடும் பதிலும், " ஆண்களுக்கு கொடிய விஷமுள்ள கொடுக்குகள் இருப்பதை மறந்துவிடமாட்டேன். அதன் விஷம் பெண்ணை அரித்துக் கொண்டே நீங்காது இருக்கும். " என புரட்சிக்கு விதை போடும் வரிகள் கூறி கதையில் பயணிக்கிறாள், வரீய்ங்கா.
May May Uprising என்கிற அன்றைய புரட்சிகர செயல்பாட்டையும் கதையோடு பல வரிகளில் சொல்லியிருப்பது தான் பெரும் பலம். " மாவ் மாவ் கிளர்ச்சியின் போது, " ஒருபோதும் தனியாக உண்ண மாட்டோம் என உறுதிமொழி எடுத்துள்ளோம் " என்னும் வரிகள் எல்லாம் ஒற்றுமைநை காட்டிச் செல்கிறது்
கிட்டத்தட்ட ஒரு மூன்று, நான்கு அத்தியாயங்கள் வெறும் முதலாளிகளின் வாக்குமூலம் மட்டுமே. சிலிர்த்தே போய் விட்டேன், இவர்களின் வழியே ஒவ்வொரு முதலாளித்துவ சிந்தனைகளின் வெளிப்பாட்டைக் கண்டு. பணக்காரன் தடுமாறுவது அகிகமாக உண்பதால்; ஏழையோ, அதிகப் " பசியால் " என கேலிக் கிண்டலாய் சிரிக்கும் முதலாளிகள்.
வரீய்ங்காவின் கனவுகளில் வரும் சாத்தானின் உரையாடல், தத்துவங்கள் எல்லாம் இன்றும் கூட ஒன்றிப் போகும்.
வரீய்ங்காவால் நிகழும் முடிவு, Quentin Tarantinoவின் " Django Unchained " படத்தில் முடிவு காட்சியில் Django அடிமைத்தனத்தில் இருந்து வெளிப்பட இரத்தம் தெறிக்க, தெறிக்க ஒரு நிகழ்வை ஏற்படுத்துவான், புரட்சியின் வடிவமாய்.
அப்படித்தான், வரீய்ங்காவும் !!
கண்டிப்பாக வாசியுங்கள்.
November 13, 2019
எழுத்தாளர் கூகி வா தியாங்கோ சிறையில் வைக்கப்பட்டபோது அவர் எழுதிய நூல். முதலில் கிக்கூயூ(கென்யாவின் மூத்த மொழியாக சொல்லப்படுகிறது) மொழியில் எழுதப்பட்டது. இது நவீன கென்யாவில் உள்ள சூழலை பற்றி வடிவமைத்து அங்கு வசித்துக்கொண்டிருக்கும் சில கதாபாத்திரத்தை கொண்டு எழுதப்பட்ட கதை. கென்யா நாட்டின் முக்கியமான ஒரு பதிவு, இந்த நாவல் ஒரு கச்சிதமான Political fiction வரிசையில் அடக்க கூடியது. ஒவ்வொரு இடத்திலும் இதில் அவரால் பேசப்பட்டிருக்கும் விஷயம் இந்தியா மாதிரியான நாட்டிற்கும் பொருந்தும். இன்றளவில் இருக்கும் சில முக்கியமான நிலையை கொண்டு நம்மால் உணர்ந்து இதை வாசிக்க முடிகிறது. இன்னும் சொல்லப்போனால் கதை வடிவத்திலும் இது மிக சிறந்த ஒரு story telling உடன் இருக்கிறது.
If you're a big fan of Political fictions, Then this gem must be added to your shelve. And, It is also available in english .
Devil on the Cross (1980)
A Novel by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
If you're a big fan of Political fictions, Then this gem must be added to your shelve. And, It is also available in english .
Devil on the Cross (1980)
A Novel by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
February 25, 2020
Teenage marxists will really enjoy this book, but it ain't no Animal Farm. The simple story telling style of the "robbers and thieves" is not memorable or captivating.
It does a good enough job of introducing the idea behind the relations of production. It demonstrates how wealth is created through the exploitation of labor, but I didn't really feel indignation at the way the imperialist theives made their fortune.
If anything, it gave me some great business ideas: subdivide properties and build housing, or start a school touting ties to classical European education. Maybe I'm just getting old.
It does a good enough job of introducing the idea behind the relations of production. It demonstrates how wealth is created through the exploitation of labor, but I didn't really feel indignation at the way the imperialist theives made their fortune.
If anything, it gave me some great business ideas: subdivide properties and build housing, or start a school touting ties to classical European education. Maybe I'm just getting old.
November 14, 2013
This novel (or thinly-veiled, utterly unoriginal philosophical treatise) was an acute displeasure to read. If I had wanted to enjoy a dissertation on evil capitalist pigs, I would have read The Communist Manifesto. To compare it to The Communist Manifesto is actually an insult to The Communist Manifesto. At least Marx and Engels had the sense to stick to the realm of non-fiction (though I guess that's debatable.)
If you enjoyed this book, God bless you. You have a fortitude of spirit that I can only ever hope to attain.
If you enjoyed this book, God bless you. You have a fortitude of spirit that I can only ever hope to attain.
October 20, 2021
Llegir en N'gūgī wa Thiong'o m'ha fet millor persona. Amb els dos assajos que havia llegit (Descolonitzar la ment i Desplaçar el centre), vaig patir una transformació, vaig créixer. El diable a la creu va molt més enllà, i es quedarà amb mí per sempre, amb aquelles poques lectures escollides que et defineixen com a persona.
Mentre el llegia, pensava: sort que en N'gūgī era a la presó quan el va escriure, perquè d'estar lliure segur que l'haguessin matat! Quina força, quina denúncia, quina crítica!! A l'imperialisme, al neocolonialisme, al capitalisme, al masclisme, al poder, al govern... Un cant a la llibertat, als treballadors, a la terra.
Gràcies, GRÀCIES RaigVerd i Josefina Caball per permetre'ns gaudir en català d'un llibre tan important. No deixo de pensar en com n'és, d'important, la lectura i anàlisi d'aquest llibre! La grandesa de tot el que s'explica en aquesta història, un assaig en forma de paràbola plena de cançons i faules. Quanta bellesa!
Podria estar-me una llarga estona parlant d'aquest llibre, i prometo difondre la lectura d'El diable a la creu sempre que pugui. Així que si voleu entendre el meu entusiasme: correu a llegir-lo!
PD. Menció especial a la coberta del llibre, em sembla espectacular
Mentre el llegia, pensava: sort que en N'gūgī era a la presó quan el va escriure, perquè d'estar lliure segur que l'haguessin matat! Quina força, quina denúncia, quina crítica!! A l'imperialisme, al neocolonialisme, al capitalisme, al masclisme, al poder, al govern... Un cant a la llibertat, als treballadors, a la terra.
Gràcies, GRÀCIES RaigVerd i Josefina Caball per permetre'ns gaudir en català d'un llibre tan important. No deixo de pensar en com n'és, d'important, la lectura i anàlisi d'aquest llibre! La grandesa de tot el que s'explica en aquesta història, un assaig en forma de paràbola plena de cançons i faules. Quanta bellesa!
Podria estar-me una llarga estona parlant d'aquest llibre, i prometo difondre la lectura d'El diable a la creu sempre que pugui. Així que si voleu entendre el meu entusiasme: correu a llegir-lo!
PD. Menció especial a la coberta del llibre, em sembla espectacular
November 28, 2014
So far so boring. I feel bad judging it, seeing as I've read very little, but I don't think the translation works quite right...like, it's missing its soul or something. Or maybe I just don't like the style. I don't get all the biblical or cultural or whatever-they-are asides...like where they just all of a sudden start telling a depressing story and repeating themselves or singing...Maybe I just don't get it, but it's not very engaging. And the names confuse me. Sooooo...finishing this book will be rather painful.
The only thing that saved this book from the "sucky" shelf was the ending. My negative visceral reaction aligned me with the people Ngugi is portraying as The Devil in a way that made me stop and re-evaluate my impulse to deem it "sucky." It was interesting and thought-provoking in retrospect. But so very confrontational. When it comes to thought-provoking confrontational African writers, I prefer Coetzee. Coetzee is at least enjoyable to read.
The only thing that saved this book from the "sucky" shelf was the ending. My negative visceral reaction aligned me with the people Ngugi is portraying as The Devil in a way that made me stop and re-evaluate my impulse to deem it "sucky." It was interesting and thought-provoking in retrospect. But so very confrontational. When it comes to thought-provoking confrontational African writers, I prefer Coetzee. Coetzee is at least enjoyable to read.
August 27, 2018
I have always wondered how a writer that wrote amazing books like A Grain of Wheat and Weep Not, Child, could have fallen so low with things like Matigari. I don´t know the answer to this, but here is where the decline started (and fastly). Although this book has some moments, it´s the start of the simplicity, Manichaeism, Religious parables, and praise for Communism. Nothing againt Communism, but anyone who has read Ngugi in this phase knows he knows almost nothing about it - he didn´t read Marx, for sure. He read some pamphlets, at most.
As I said the book has some good moments, but as in the terrible Matigari, Ngugi really believes that you can find the solution for your problems using guns. In Matagari, children using guns can solve a country´s problems. Here, a woman using guns can solve her personal problems. Way to go, Ngugi!
Funny thing is, although his books are full of hate against capitalism and USA, today he lives happily... guess where.
As I said the book has some good moments, but as in the terrible Matigari, Ngugi really believes that you can find the solution for your problems using guns. In Matagari, children using guns can solve a country´s problems. Here, a woman using guns can solve her personal problems. Way to go, Ngugi!
Funny thing is, although his books are full of hate against capitalism and USA, today he lives happily... guess where.
August 15, 2020
The first book by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o that I have read, how sad that it has taken me this long to discover his work and his ideas, thanks to him not being granted a visa by the Australian government to participate in the Sydney Writers' Festival in 2018. In this work, he takes aim at the challenges facing newly independent nation-states and the threat of neo-colonialism. While the book is very didactic in parts, with his prose being most enjoyable when it is comical and observational, his satirical take on the elites of these newly independent states is razor sharp and also funny. Still rings true today despite the end of the Cold War. The search for a socially just world and for real independence and autonomy is still on.
December 2, 2017
This is my first Gikuyu novel. Once the reader realizes that this is not simply a brilliant piece of menippean satire, one can appreciate also the remarkable aesthetic and stylistic elements of the novel (incorporation of folk songs, an oratorio, a play, oral story telling etc), its ferocious phrases, each of them dripping red with the author's blood, as well as the not inconsiderable fact that the novel was written on toilet paper while Ngugi was imprisoned. I have said before that Ngugi is the greatest of living novelists. This novel only confirms that fact. Why he has not yet received a Nobel is beyond the pale of my understanding.
September 22, 2017
Esta ha sido mi primera lectura de un escritor africano contemporáneo. Me ha resultado muy interesante, clara en sus intenciones y deliciosa. La historia está contada como una larga fábula, y en la narración se intercalan contínuamente parábolas y dichos, cosa que le da una gran autenticidad. Quizás precisamente el hecho de que se acerque a las narraciones africanas la hace un poco moralista desde el punto de vista occidental, pero las ideas que muestra son tan absolutamente obvias y necesarias que yo se lo perdono.
June 7, 2008
Two stars, that is what the author gets from me for trying so hard to complicate a story.
But Ngugi is such a brain; one of the literary legends out of East Africa. Sometimes i wish i didnt have to read his books for Lit class. Perhaps if i had read them out of school i would have been more appreciative of them. Reading them for class made me look at them in terms of what the questions would require.
I am making a weak promise to myself to re-read them.
But Ngugi is such a brain; one of the literary legends out of East Africa. Sometimes i wish i didnt have to read his books for Lit class. Perhaps if i had read them out of school i would have been more appreciative of them. Reading them for class made me look at them in terms of what the questions would require.
I am making a weak promise to myself to re-read them.
September 14, 2016
Communist Manifesto meets Post-Independence Kenya meets Animal Farm. Incredibly difficult to read.
October 1, 2020
took me a while to get into it but once I did :0 //changed my mind, the middle section of this book deserves five stars
October 22, 2024
No és un llibre entretingut de llegir, però crec que és un llibre important de llegir. El final és catàrtic.
May 19, 2025
Quotes:
not me quoting the whole book :^)
Stories are stories. All stories are old. All stories are new. All stories belong to tomorrow. And stories are not about ogres or about animals or about men. All stories are about human beings.
There is no love that is not linked with hate. How can you tell what you love unless you know what you hate?
Do you know, some people don't realize that when the price of things goes up and the wages remain the same, it is really the same thing as a drop in wages? But the profits of the employers increase at the same rate as the increase in prices
These days the land rewards not those who clear it but those who come after it has been cleared.
Gīkūyű said that no one can cook two pots of food simultaneously without burning the contents of one of them,' Műturi said. 'But you, Mwaūra, seem to be able to cook a couple of thousand pots at the same time! Are you really able to watch over the food in all of them, or do you end up with charred remains?
How can we cover up pits in our courtyard with leaves or grass, saying to ourselves that because our eyes cannot now see the holes, our children can prance about the yard as they like?
Happy is the man who is able to discern the pitfalls in his path, for he can avoid them.
Happy is the traveller who is able to see the tree stumps in his way, for he can pull them up or walk around them so that they do not make him stumble.
"Theft is theft, and robbery is robbery.'
Cultural imperialism is mother to the slavery of the mind and the body. It is cultural imperialism that gives birth to the mental blindness and deafness that persuades people to allow foreigners to tell them what to do in their own country, to make foreigners the ears and mouths of their national affairs, forgetting the saying: Only he who lives in the wilderness knows what it is like. Hence a foreigner can never become the true guide of another people.
Gatuīria spoke Gīkūyű like many educated people in Kenya people who stutter like babies when speaking their national languages but conduct fluent conversations in foreign languages. The only difference was that Gatuîria was at least aware that the slavery of language is the slavery of the mind and nothing to be proud of. But in the heat of discussion Gatuîria was able to speak his language without pausing, hesitating or reverting to English.
The children will be allowed to read only those books that glorify the system of drinking human blood and eating human flesh. They will not be allowed to ask questions about the conditions of their lives or those of their parents, or that might raise doubts about the sanctity and necessity of drinking human blood and eating human flesh. They will sing only those songs and hymns and read only that literature that glorify the system of drinking human blood and eating human flesh.
You commit murder, then you don your robes of pity and you go to wipe the tears from the faces of orphans and widows. You steal food from people's stores at midnight, then at dawn you visit the victims wearing your robes of charity and you offer them a calabash filled with the grain that you have stolen.
not me quoting the whole book :^)
Stories are stories. All stories are old. All stories are new. All stories belong to tomorrow. And stories are not about ogres or about animals or about men. All stories are about human beings.
There is no love that is not linked with hate. How can you tell what you love unless you know what you hate?
Do you know, some people don't realize that when the price of things goes up and the wages remain the same, it is really the same thing as a drop in wages? But the profits of the employers increase at the same rate as the increase in prices
These days the land rewards not those who clear it but those who come after it has been cleared.
Gīkūyű said that no one can cook two pots of food simultaneously without burning the contents of one of them,' Műturi said. 'But you, Mwaūra, seem to be able to cook a couple of thousand pots at the same time! Are you really able to watch over the food in all of them, or do you end up with charred remains?
How can we cover up pits in our courtyard with leaves or grass, saying to ourselves that because our eyes cannot now see the holes, our children can prance about the yard as they like?
Happy is the man who is able to discern the pitfalls in his path, for he can avoid them.
Happy is the traveller who is able to see the tree stumps in his way, for he can pull them up or walk around them so that they do not make him stumble.
"Theft is theft, and robbery is robbery.'
Cultural imperialism is mother to the slavery of the mind and the body. It is cultural imperialism that gives birth to the mental blindness and deafness that persuades people to allow foreigners to tell them what to do in their own country, to make foreigners the ears and mouths of their national affairs, forgetting the saying: Only he who lives in the wilderness knows what it is like. Hence a foreigner can never become the true guide of another people.
Gatuīria spoke Gīkūyű like many educated people in Kenya people who stutter like babies when speaking their national languages but conduct fluent conversations in foreign languages. The only difference was that Gatuîria was at least aware that the slavery of language is the slavery of the mind and nothing to be proud of. But in the heat of discussion Gatuîria was able to speak his language without pausing, hesitating or reverting to English.
The children will be allowed to read only those books that glorify the system of drinking human blood and eating human flesh. They will not be allowed to ask questions about the conditions of their lives or those of their parents, or that might raise doubts about the sanctity and necessity of drinking human blood and eating human flesh. They will sing only those songs and hymns and read only that literature that glorify the system of drinking human blood and eating human flesh.
You commit murder, then you don your robes of pity and you go to wipe the tears from the faces of orphans and widows. You steal food from people's stores at midnight, then at dawn you visit the victims wearing your robes of charity and you offer them a calabash filled with the grain that you have stolen.
May 23, 2019
Este libro resulta ser el grito de autor, oponiéndose ante las injusticias traídas por el neo colonialismo a las tierras de Kenia (tierra que lo vio nacer), dando nacimiento a una historia interesante y entretenida, ¿pero lo logra con éxito?
El libro posee una trama que en sí es simple pero bien ejecutada. Con una continuidad de la misma y junto a unos personajes que evolucionan de forma que resulta cómoda para el lector. En ningún momento sentí que dieran vueltas en un mismo punto de la trama, sino que todo fluía con naturalidad. Sin embargo, esto último no se ejecuta sin fallos. Thiong'o en su texto abusa muchas veces del uso de las fabulas y metáforas para dar mas precisión a sus ideas, lo cual, para mi gusto, termina sacrificando esa fluidez en los personajes que presenta. No me cabe en la cabeza que alguien pueda comunicarse con otra persona de esa manera constantemente. En algún momento alguien saltaría exclamando que hable con naturalidad, que se entendió el concepto.
Una de las mayores críticas que se ha recibido a esta obra, es que muchos la han acusado de ser una propaganda al comunismo. En cierta medida lo es, pero es tolerable por dos motivos: Primero, en cuanto al contexto que nos referimos y quizás a lo que motivó al autor a empezar a esta obra (la cual escribió en un rollo de papel en una celda), este se vio impulsado a criticar los males dados en su país natal y apuntar con el dedo índice a lo que vendría siendo para este los motivos por el cual su país se ha visto abatido; y segundo, el libro no te restriega en cada página dicha propaganda, la cual es mencionada una única vez y luego sigue el curso de la trama.
Abusa un poco del InfoDumping que, después de leer la obra, te pones a pensar que pudo haberse dado de otra manera, y sufre de un pequeño Deus Ex Machina, el cual me terminó resultando como un chirrido de dientes, pero que a la final es perdonable. Perdonable por que al final no resulta como un resuelve barato por parte del autor para algo, ya que (como mencioné anteriormente) la obra se da con naturalidad. Así mismo, este libro posee un final muy satisfactorio por que vemos la evolución de nuestra protagonista a un punto creíble; y por que posee un plot twist tan bien ejecutado que resulta como una montaña rusa en las últimas páginas de la obra de Thiong'o.
No creo que sea perfecto, pero tampoco es una obra que te haga sentir que has desperdiciado horas valiosas de tu tiempo. Puedes sentirte confiado en darle una oportunidad para que haga parte de tu estantería. Por mi parte le doy un 3.7 y la pongo en mi estantería con una sonrisa.
El libro posee una trama que en sí es simple pero bien ejecutada. Con una continuidad de la misma y junto a unos personajes que evolucionan de forma que resulta cómoda para el lector. En ningún momento sentí que dieran vueltas en un mismo punto de la trama, sino que todo fluía con naturalidad. Sin embargo, esto último no se ejecuta sin fallos. Thiong'o en su texto abusa muchas veces del uso de las fabulas y metáforas para dar mas precisión a sus ideas, lo cual, para mi gusto, termina sacrificando esa fluidez en los personajes que presenta. No me cabe en la cabeza que alguien pueda comunicarse con otra persona de esa manera constantemente. En algún momento alguien saltaría exclamando que hable con naturalidad, que se entendió el concepto.
Una de las mayores críticas que se ha recibido a esta obra, es que muchos la han acusado de ser una propaganda al comunismo. En cierta medida lo es, pero es tolerable por dos motivos: Primero, en cuanto al contexto que nos referimos y quizás a lo que motivó al autor a empezar a esta obra (la cual escribió en un rollo de papel en una celda), este se vio impulsado a criticar los males dados en su país natal y apuntar con el dedo índice a lo que vendría siendo para este los motivos por el cual su país se ha visto abatido; y segundo, el libro no te restriega en cada página dicha propaganda, la cual es mencionada una única vez y luego sigue el curso de la trama.
Abusa un poco del InfoDumping que, después de leer la obra, te pones a pensar que pudo haberse dado de otra manera, y sufre de un pequeño Deus Ex Machina, el cual me terminó resultando como un chirrido de dientes, pero que a la final es perdonable. Perdonable por que al final no resulta como un resuelve barato por parte del autor para algo, ya que (como mencioné anteriormente) la obra se da con naturalidad. Así mismo, este libro posee un final muy satisfactorio por que vemos la evolución de nuestra protagonista a un punto creíble; y por que posee un plot twist tan bien ejecutado que resulta como una montaña rusa en las últimas páginas de la obra de Thiong'o.
No creo que sea perfecto, pero tampoco es una obra que te haga sentir que has desperdiciado horas valiosas de tu tiempo. Puedes sentirte confiado en darle una oportunidad para que haga parte de tu estantería. Por mi parte le doy un 3.7 y la pongo en mi estantería con una sonrisa.
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