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Rumours
Keke, a veteran MK cadre who was once the CEO of a cellphone company, wakes up one day to find his life in ruins. He has lost his job and his wife, and he has become more and more reliant on the solace of alcohol. After hitting rock bottom, Keke is thrust into a spiritual journey. He meets Ami, a shaman from Mali, and travels there, where he is "cooked" and cleansed in a "meeting" with his ancestors. Only when he is healed, and understands his role in the context of a post-apartheid South Africa, can Keke make a careful comeback to his country to re-join his wife and comrades. The global village, the African continent and South Africa are the platforms where Keke's life unfolds in the 21st century. Dr Serote's writing was inspired by the late Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart. It was through reading this novel that Serote realised that everything he had read before was about things he had not experienced himself. One of the main themes in is that of traditional healing – a theme Serote is very familiar with as he was called by his ancestors to become a traditional healer.
Born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, Mongane Wally Serote was drawn to poetry and writing towards the end of his high-school career and went on to obtain a fine arts degree in New York at Columbia University in 1979. As a cadre for Umkhonto weSizwe he spent time in Botswana, where he was instrumental in setting up the Medu Arts Ensemble. He is the recipient of the 1993 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, and received the Pablo Neruda Award from the Chilean government in 1994. In 2012, Serote won the prestigious Golden Wreath Award. He joins Léopold Sédar Sengor of Senegal as one of only two recipients to come from the African continent.
Born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, Mongane Wally Serote was drawn to poetry and writing towards the end of his high-school career and went on to obtain a fine arts degree in New York at Columbia University in 1979. As a cadre for Umkhonto weSizwe he spent time in Botswana, where he was instrumental in setting up the Medu Arts Ensemble. He is the recipient of the 1993 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, and received the Pablo Neruda Award from the Chilean government in 1994. In 2012, Serote won the prestigious Golden Wreath Award. He joins Léopold Sédar Sengor of Senegal as one of only two recipients to come from the African continent.
278 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 24, 2014
4.5 Rating
This book is intense. It is not the kind of book that is written for individual entertainment devoid of answering the "so what?" question that I think is critical in books. It is not the read that allows your eyes to just flow across the page without challenging you to examine yourself in relation to the rest of the world. It took me three days to read this book where as I would normally read most books of this size within a day.
I would normally rate this book 4.0, because the dialogues and some areas were dense, but gave it 4.5 stars because it dares in so many areas where we have learnt to be silent or ashamed. It also dares to ask where did the liberation go wrong in South Africa, in the continent and the diaspora. And why are we chasing fame and money rather than healing ourselves, the country and the continent
It talks about personal issues, politics, spirituality and many things that make you think. If you looking for a book that stimulates thinking about the plight of the continent, the impact of liberation struggle on personal relationships, about how to really heal the continent after centuries of assault - then this book will do it for you. It explores many issues. The key focus is on how do we find ourselves and may we dare to revert to indigenous spiritual and cultural practices?
It also to a degree explores the 'sins of incumbency' in post liberation Africa. The characters are people searching for a way to unshackle Africa as a whole from cultural, economic and spiritual domination that impacts Africans in the continent and the diaspora. It brings in the voice of an African American at some stage, the voices of the new generation kids in South Africa searching for a spiritual home, the voice of women with different economic standings, the voice of the elder spiritualist that believe in the basics and the connection to environment and ancestors. Ancestors have always been central to African belief systems until they were "demonised" by new religions that were embraced. This is not an area that we are used to reading about - or talking about - so it may be rejected by readers because it is not the norm - "magic of europe" is acceptable and made to be enhanting and pleasant - but African spiritualism, which is the central theme of this book - is often demonised and something we simply shun, deny.
It certainly does not shy away from going into detail about this area.
I could identify with so very many characters in the book. Is it possible that a person in post apartheid SA, educated and with much experience can become homeless and destitute? Yes! This I could identify with too. It is real that patronage and connections gets you somewhere fast in SA? -- For Sure!
It must have taken a lot of effort and dedication to write this book. Sometimes the dialogues are long and jam packed and you need to take a breather to digest them. It is intense!
But if you allow it to, - it will make you think - and you could learn something outside of the norm about being African
This book is intense. It is not the kind of book that is written for individual entertainment devoid of answering the "so what?" question that I think is critical in books. It is not the read that allows your eyes to just flow across the page without challenging you to examine yourself in relation to the rest of the world. It took me three days to read this book where as I would normally read most books of this size within a day.
I would normally rate this book 4.0, because the dialogues and some areas were dense, but gave it 4.5 stars because it dares in so many areas where we have learnt to be silent or ashamed. It also dares to ask where did the liberation go wrong in South Africa, in the continent and the diaspora. And why are we chasing fame and money rather than healing ourselves, the country and the continent
It talks about personal issues, politics, spirituality and many things that make you think. If you looking for a book that stimulates thinking about the plight of the continent, the impact of liberation struggle on personal relationships, about how to really heal the continent after centuries of assault - then this book will do it for you. It explores many issues. The key focus is on how do we find ourselves and may we dare to revert to indigenous spiritual and cultural practices?
It also to a degree explores the 'sins of incumbency' in post liberation Africa. The characters are people searching for a way to unshackle Africa as a whole from cultural, economic and spiritual domination that impacts Africans in the continent and the diaspora. It brings in the voice of an African American at some stage, the voices of the new generation kids in South Africa searching for a spiritual home, the voice of women with different economic standings, the voice of the elder spiritualist that believe in the basics and the connection to environment and ancestors. Ancestors have always been central to African belief systems until they were "demonised" by new religions that were embraced. This is not an area that we are used to reading about - or talking about - so it may be rejected by readers because it is not the norm - "magic of europe" is acceptable and made to be enhanting and pleasant - but African spiritualism, which is the central theme of this book - is often demonised and something we simply shun, deny.
It certainly does not shy away from going into detail about this area.
I could identify with so very many characters in the book. Is it possible that a person in post apartheid SA, educated and with much experience can become homeless and destitute? Yes! This I could identify with too. It is real that patronage and connections gets you somewhere fast in SA? -- For Sure!
It must have taken a lot of effort and dedication to write this book. Sometimes the dialogues are long and jam packed and you need to take a breather to digest them. It is intense!
But if you allow it to, - it will make you think - and you could learn something outside of the norm about being African
Displaying 1 of 1 review