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Walking with Abel: Journeys with the Nomads of the African Savannah
Look out for Anna Badkhen's new book, Fisherman's A West African Community at Sea, on sale March 2018
An intrepid journalist joins the planet’s largest group of nomads on an annual migration that, like them, has endured for centuries.
Anna Badkhen has forged a career chronicling life in extremis around the world, from war-torn Afghanistan to the border regions of the American Southwest. In Walking with Abel , she embeds herself with a family of Fulani cowboys—nomadic herders in Mali’s Sahel grasslands—as they embark on their annual migration across the savanna. It’s a cycle that connects the Fulani to their past even as their present is increasingly under threat—from Islamic militants, climate change, and the ever-encroaching urbanization that lures away their young. The Fulani, though, are no strangers to uncertainty—brilliantly resourceful and resilient, they’ve contended with famines, droughts, and wars for centuries.
Dubbed “Anna Ba” by the nomads, who embrace her as one of theirs, Badkhen narrates the Fulani’s journeys and her own with compassion and keen observation, transporting us from the Neolithic Sahara crisscrossed by rivers and abundant with wildlife to obelisk forests where the Fulani’s Stone Age ancestors painted tributes to cattle. As they cross the Sahel, the savanna belt that stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, they accompany themselves with Fulani music they download to their cell phones and tales of herders and hustlers, griots and holy men, infused with the myths the Fulani tell themselves to ground their past, make sense of their identity, and safeguard their—our—future.
An intrepid journalist joins the planet’s largest group of nomads on an annual migration that, like them, has endured for centuries.
Anna Badkhen has forged a career chronicling life in extremis around the world, from war-torn Afghanistan to the border regions of the American Southwest. In Walking with Abel , she embeds herself with a family of Fulani cowboys—nomadic herders in Mali’s Sahel grasslands—as they embark on their annual migration across the savanna. It’s a cycle that connects the Fulani to their past even as their present is increasingly under threat—from Islamic militants, climate change, and the ever-encroaching urbanization that lures away their young. The Fulani, though, are no strangers to uncertainty—brilliantly resourceful and resilient, they’ve contended with famines, droughts, and wars for centuries.
Dubbed “Anna Ba” by the nomads, who embrace her as one of theirs, Badkhen narrates the Fulani’s journeys and her own with compassion and keen observation, transporting us from the Neolithic Sahara crisscrossed by rivers and abundant with wildlife to obelisk forests where the Fulani’s Stone Age ancestors painted tributes to cattle. As they cross the Sahel, the savanna belt that stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, they accompany themselves with Fulani music they download to their cell phones and tales of herders and hustlers, griots and holy men, infused with the myths the Fulani tell themselves to ground their past, make sense of their identity, and safeguard their—our—future.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 4, 2015
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957 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
July 26, 2016
"Long walks in open spaces are like ujjayi breath for the mind. Human feet evolved to measure out steady steps on hot, dry, flat land, and the human brain evolved to absorb boundless geology at the speed of three miles per hour. The sheer volume of lucid air fills the mind, the distant skyline paces of a spirit level of peace. The expanse around you unburdens the space within."I finished this as part of the 24in48 readathon in July 2016. I actually thought I might take this back to the library unread because I had already read two non-fiction books from Mali but once I started reading this one I had to keep going. I think I was expecting it to be more dry, more of a journalistic account, but Badkhen winds in archeological facts about the region, history, her own story, and I was pulled in. Her dedication not only in spending an entire year with the Fulani but in learning the language and attempting to gain understanding of their lives through their perspectives would have made most anthropologists proud.
"'Is there a land without death, Anna Ba?' she said. 'We are used to leaving everything.'I learned a lot about how Islam is practiced among the nomadic groups, as it has been practiced for centuries. Fulani men learn to recite the Koran before they ever have a chance to read or learn Arabic (and understand what it is that it says.) They follow most of the traditions, including Ramadan, although there are some different interpretations on halal. In the year Badkhen traveled with the Fulani, Ramadan coincided with the start of rainy season and the impetus for a major relocation.
To spend a lifetime walking away. To bid farewell over and over, all the time. To anchor your heart to the next campsite and then move on. To have your heart broken and reset like a bone."
"We broke fast with boiri and dates and millet toh, our first meal in seventeen hours. We drank tea and river water and more tea. Cicadas drowned out thunder. After dinner Hassan took the cattle out to pasture. The storm crashed into the camp all at once. The air filled suddenly with thick dust an dafter a few beats a tremendous squall spun into the plateau...."It was interesting to see the Fulani family unit portrayed in the juxtaposition between commercial goods (pop culture t-shirts, canned food, plastic) and traditional ways (still moving between areas with their cattle), traditional threats (flood, famine, other groups like the Bwa) vs. modern day (ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc.) As I know from the previous two books about Mali, some of the outlying areas along the Niger river have served as training grounds for terrorist groups, making the nomadic life more dangerous than it previously was. Because some terrorists have masqueraded as nomads, the Fulani have had to carry identification that ties them to a specific country, which isn't how they see themselves.
"If you are a Fulani you travel with your cows, with your family. Not all by yourself. The Fulani are always moving. But the movement is never arbitrary."I also like the writing in this book. I feel Badkhen is able to describe how the Savanna feels, not just the facts. This is the major element that kept me reading. I also added ten books to my to-read list based on writings she mentions in passing. Clearly the book is well researched but it does not read as academic. Her connections to the people she traveled with is clear, and I can only imagine that it was difficult to leave. There are drawings throughout the book by the author; I would have loved to also see some photography of this rich landscape and the people in it.
January 21, 2018
I see that "everyone" has raved about this book except...readers. Here's the thing: Anna Badkhen's prose and vocabulary may be unrivalled among her contemporaries. Her writing is absolutely gorgeous. You can sink your teeth into the lovely poetry of it. So...this probably should have been a book of poetry. Its unreasonable to write a journalistic piece, a personal memoir, a novel (too many "perhapses" to call it journalism) and a book of poetry all at once. In the first pages, the reader is enraptured by the beauty of it, but it soon becomes tedious, trying to tease out each densely packed paragraph. Also, I found myself not caring at all about her personal journey - and comparing herself with Peter Matthiesen and the Snow Leopard was gratuitous. If you have to say it, you're not it! As it was, it was just "too much." A gorgeously rendered, with an impressive vocabulary, too much.
October 12, 2015
This book is stunning as much for it subject matter as it is for the poetry in which it's written. It's at times brutal and and stark. Other times it is lush and filled with a spirit of life and wonder. I listened to this on audio book, which is rare for me, but I loved hearing the African names out loud. The author travels with a Fulani family and their cattle. Through her eyes we learn about their ways and hopes and fears. Such a completely different way of life and yet there is so much that is the same. We love our children. We love the earth. We love each other and eventually we will lose each other. We stare up at the night sky and know our place in the cosmos, even if we know nothing about cattle. I highly recommend this book, audio or print. I'm going to look for more works by this author.
October 22, 2015
I don't know where I heard about this book, perhaps one of those magazine articles or radio programmes that discuss what to read while on holiday, but however I discovered it, my interest was piqued.
The author, Anna Badkhen, lives with a Fulani family for some months (perhaps a year?) and experiences the transhumance of one of the last nomads on the planet, and, thanks to her, we are able to share the movement of the Fulani between summer and winter pastures, with all its inherent traditions, rituals, challenges and risks. I had never heard of the Fulani, or of transhumance and am only vaguely aware of the area of West Africa in which they occur, so I had a lot to learn, but because of the way Anna Badkhen writes, this was much more than a sociological treatise or a geography textbook. Her writing is very evocative, often quite poetic or lyrical and she demonstrates a very clear sympathy with the nomads with whom she travels.
I found the Fulani very interesting. They are practising Muslims, and Badkhen describes their observance of Ramadan in an environment which must make it much harder to do, given the heat and the calorific requirements of their lifestyle. The Fulani are cowherds, and keep other animals as well (goats, guinea fowl). Sometimes some animals die yet cannot be eaten because they are not halal. Despite their faith in Islam, they still cling to ancient magic and there are many wonderful examples of this throughout the book. I don't remember them all but there are tales of children being taken by owls, kola nuts restoring virginity and swallowing when you see a shooting star protecting you from something or other. It struck me (I am an atheist) that there was little difference between the religion and the magic in terms of the possibility of scientific proof or credibility. Some of the philosophies of the Fulani were fascinating. I tried to imagine a way of life in which you have no permanent home and in which the answer to the question "Where are you from?" elicits the answer "I am here now". I thought this had relevance to the current so-called migrant crisis that is occurring all over Europe.
It took me until about page 250 of 300 or so to realise who Abel of the title must be. Abel, the first murder victim, was a shepherd, so I assume the title was chosen to reflect that the Fulani have been herding their cows along the same routes for eons. Needless to say, their traditional way of life has many threats, both climatic and technological. War planes fly overhead as they walk and camp, they have cellphones and their young hanker after motorbikes, radios and a different way of life in the towns and cities, or want to rebel against the partners chosen for them by their parents.
The Fulani are not so distant from us that we do not share issues with them. I was sad to read about the Rimaube, who are former slaves and perhaps regarded as a different "class". The Fulani were not free from prejudice, believing blacks to be dirty (they do not regard themselves as black). Some of their men shared videos of wartime atrocities as a form of entertainment. It would be wrong to suggest that since the Fulani are pastoral and still a bit freer from modern technology than the rest of us that they have no faults, but Badkhen also shows them to be resourceful, hard-working and sometimes playful. They also love telling and hearing stories, which must surely be a basic human instinct.
The book isn't perfect. It moved so slowly that by the time I got to the end, I felt as if I had walked several hundred miles myself. I found the pieces about Badkhen's lost lover to be intrusive and to add nothing at all to the story. I felt the same about the little drawings that appeared from time to time, which were too vague to convey anything, at least to me. But my overwhelming impression was of a beautifully written book, which describes the landscape and the skies in sensual and evocative ways. The book had its own rhythm, which was slow, but lovely.
The author, Anna Badkhen, lives with a Fulani family for some months (perhaps a year?) and experiences the transhumance of one of the last nomads on the planet, and, thanks to her, we are able to share the movement of the Fulani between summer and winter pastures, with all its inherent traditions, rituals, challenges and risks. I had never heard of the Fulani, or of transhumance and am only vaguely aware of the area of West Africa in which they occur, so I had a lot to learn, but because of the way Anna Badkhen writes, this was much more than a sociological treatise or a geography textbook. Her writing is very evocative, often quite poetic or lyrical and she demonstrates a very clear sympathy with the nomads with whom she travels.
I found the Fulani very interesting. They are practising Muslims, and Badkhen describes their observance of Ramadan in an environment which must make it much harder to do, given the heat and the calorific requirements of their lifestyle. The Fulani are cowherds, and keep other animals as well (goats, guinea fowl). Sometimes some animals die yet cannot be eaten because they are not halal. Despite their faith in Islam, they still cling to ancient magic and there are many wonderful examples of this throughout the book. I don't remember them all but there are tales of children being taken by owls, kola nuts restoring virginity and swallowing when you see a shooting star protecting you from something or other. It struck me (I am an atheist) that there was little difference between the religion and the magic in terms of the possibility of scientific proof or credibility. Some of the philosophies of the Fulani were fascinating. I tried to imagine a way of life in which you have no permanent home and in which the answer to the question "Where are you from?" elicits the answer "I am here now". I thought this had relevance to the current so-called migrant crisis that is occurring all over Europe.
It took me until about page 250 of 300 or so to realise who Abel of the title must be. Abel, the first murder victim, was a shepherd, so I assume the title was chosen to reflect that the Fulani have been herding their cows along the same routes for eons. Needless to say, their traditional way of life has many threats, both climatic and technological. War planes fly overhead as they walk and camp, they have cellphones and their young hanker after motorbikes, radios and a different way of life in the towns and cities, or want to rebel against the partners chosen for them by their parents.
The Fulani are not so distant from us that we do not share issues with them. I was sad to read about the Rimaube, who are former slaves and perhaps regarded as a different "class". The Fulani were not free from prejudice, believing blacks to be dirty (they do not regard themselves as black). Some of their men shared videos of wartime atrocities as a form of entertainment. It would be wrong to suggest that since the Fulani are pastoral and still a bit freer from modern technology than the rest of us that they have no faults, but Badkhen also shows them to be resourceful, hard-working and sometimes playful. They also love telling and hearing stories, which must surely be a basic human instinct.
The book isn't perfect. It moved so slowly that by the time I got to the end, I felt as if I had walked several hundred miles myself. I found the pieces about Badkhen's lost lover to be intrusive and to add nothing at all to the story. I felt the same about the little drawings that appeared from time to time, which were too vague to convey anything, at least to me. But my overwhelming impression was of a beautifully written book, which describes the landscape and the skies in sensual and evocative ways. The book had its own rhythm, which was slow, but lovely.
June 13, 2017
Rok 2017 okrzyknęłam rokiem wychodzenia poza strefę komfortu. To był najwyższy czas, by zacząć sięgać po coś innego niż romanse i fantastykę młodzieżową, bo kto wie - może czeka na mnie coś lepszego, a do niedawna bałam się po to sięgnąć? Dlatego zauroczona okładką postanowiłam zapoznać się z twórczością Anny Badkhen. Jednak czy w przypadku Wędrówki z Ablem dobrze jest oceniać książkę po wyglądzie?
Autorka reportaży dołącza do grupy Fulan, którzy żyją niemal tak, jakby od wieków cywilizacja nie poszła do przodu. Przez wiele pokoleń koczowników prawie nic się nie zmieniło. Ich nawigacją nadal są gwiazdy, potrafią rozpoznać bydło z obcego stada, a za środek płatności służą im towary takie jak samodzielnie zrobiona maślanka. Anna wraz z nimi wędruje po Afryce, poznając ich historię, kulturę i zwyczaje, które są zupełnie odmienne od naszych. Co ciekawe, aby dowiedzieć się czegoś o danej osobie trzeba uważać na to, kogo o nią pytasz, bo według tradycji poszczególne linie pokrewieństwa nakazują określony stosunek. Kobieta nigdy nie wypowie się pozytywnie na temat żony swojego syna, choćby nie wiadomo jak wielką miłością ją darzyła.
Reportażystka ma bardzo barwny język. Jest w stanie poświęcić całą stronę tylko na opis targu, dzięki czemu nie tylko możemy go sobie zobrazować, ale też wyobrazić sobie zapachy. Jednak kobieta wędruje z grupą trzymającą się tradycji, odrzucającą zbędne nowinki, przez co momentami tekst jest niezrozumiały, a ja musiałam wyszukiwać w internecie o czym mowa, bo przypisy nie odnosiły się do wszystkich trudniejszych zagadnień. Tak naprawdę dopiero mniej więcej w połowie się do nich przyzwyczaiłam i zaczęłam czerpać większą przyjemność z lektury.
Cała książka po prostu opisuje życie takie, jakim jest. Bez ubarwień, ale też bez ignorancji. Ukazuje jak ważna w życiu Fulan jest pogoda oraz jak bardzo odczuwane są skutki zmian klimatycznych i globalizacji. Prawdopodobnie za sto lat zabraknie osób chcących kontynuować tradycje, a lud ten całkowicie zerwie z koczowniczym trybem życia. Dlatego opowieści te są jeszcze bardziej ciekawe. Kto wie, czy ktoś jeszcze będzie miał okazję poznać zwyczaje tych pasterzy od wewnątrz. Kolejną zaletą jest to, że Fulanie przekazują sobie wiedzę ustnie, z pokolenia na pokolenie. Jeśli młodzi zerwą z tradycją i ulegną technologii, to przynajmniej mamy udokumentowane wydarzenia ważne dla tych ludzi na tyle, że przez lata o nich nie zapomnieli.
Wędrówka z Ablem urozmaicona jest też małymi obrazkami, jakby szkicami zrobionymi na szybko. Czasami pozwalają lepiej zobrazować sobie to, o czym właśnie czytamy. A tych wydarzeń jest dużo. Dzielone są na krótkie historyjki, które często nie łączą się w spójną całość. Jednak jeśli już się przyzwyczaimy do stylu pisania autorki, to czeka nas intrygująca podróż przez Afrykę. Nie jest to książka lekka, mimo objętości raczej jest to opowieść na więcej niż jeden wieczór. Jeśli czytając lubisz przenosić się do innej kultury i stawać twarzą w twarz z problemami, których w naszym świecie nie doświadczysz, to zdecydowanie jest to pozycja dla ciebie!
Autorka reportaży dołącza do grupy Fulan, którzy żyją niemal tak, jakby od wieków cywilizacja nie poszła do przodu. Przez wiele pokoleń koczowników prawie nic się nie zmieniło. Ich nawigacją nadal są gwiazdy, potrafią rozpoznać bydło z obcego stada, a za środek płatności służą im towary takie jak samodzielnie zrobiona maślanka. Anna wraz z nimi wędruje po Afryce, poznając ich historię, kulturę i zwyczaje, które są zupełnie odmienne od naszych. Co ciekawe, aby dowiedzieć się czegoś o danej osobie trzeba uważać na to, kogo o nią pytasz, bo według tradycji poszczególne linie pokrewieństwa nakazują określony stosunek. Kobieta nigdy nie wypowie się pozytywnie na temat żony swojego syna, choćby nie wiadomo jak wielką miłością ją darzyła.
Reportażystka ma bardzo barwny język. Jest w stanie poświęcić całą stronę tylko na opis targu, dzięki czemu nie tylko możemy go sobie zobrazować, ale też wyobrazić sobie zapachy. Jednak kobieta wędruje z grupą trzymającą się tradycji, odrzucającą zbędne nowinki, przez co momentami tekst jest niezrozumiały, a ja musiałam wyszukiwać w internecie o czym mowa, bo przypisy nie odnosiły się do wszystkich trudniejszych zagadnień. Tak naprawdę dopiero mniej więcej w połowie się do nich przyzwyczaiłam i zaczęłam czerpać większą przyjemność z lektury.
Cała książka po prostu opisuje życie takie, jakim jest. Bez ubarwień, ale też bez ignorancji. Ukazuje jak ważna w życiu Fulan jest pogoda oraz jak bardzo odczuwane są skutki zmian klimatycznych i globalizacji. Prawdopodobnie za sto lat zabraknie osób chcących kontynuować tradycje, a lud ten całkowicie zerwie z koczowniczym trybem życia. Dlatego opowieści te są jeszcze bardziej ciekawe. Kto wie, czy ktoś jeszcze będzie miał okazję poznać zwyczaje tych pasterzy od wewnątrz. Kolejną zaletą jest to, że Fulanie przekazują sobie wiedzę ustnie, z pokolenia na pokolenie. Jeśli młodzi zerwą z tradycją i ulegną technologii, to przynajmniej mamy udokumentowane wydarzenia ważne dla tych ludzi na tyle, że przez lata o nich nie zapomnieli.
Wędrówka z Ablem urozmaicona jest też małymi obrazkami, jakby szkicami zrobionymi na szybko. Czasami pozwalają lepiej zobrazować sobie to, o czym właśnie czytamy. A tych wydarzeń jest dużo. Dzielone są na krótkie historyjki, które często nie łączą się w spójną całość. Jednak jeśli już się przyzwyczaimy do stylu pisania autorki, to czeka nas intrygująca podróż przez Afrykę. Nie jest to książka lekka, mimo objętości raczej jest to opowieść na więcej niż jeden wieczór. Jeśli czytając lubisz przenosić się do innej kultury i stawać twarzą w twarz z problemami, których w naszym świecie nie doświadczysz, to zdecydowanie jest to pozycja dla ciebie!
September 6, 2015
Books are often described as incandescent... this one truly is. Her use of language is fresh, unusual and heart stopping. I often read phrases over and over again, not wanting to let go of the pictures she conjures of this unique area of the world. For example: "... everywhere rimaibe and Bambara farmers, men and women in broad straw hats,tilled and planted, their handheld ploughs so sun breached that the farmers looked as if they were picking at the dirt with wishbones."
Anna Badkhen does such a great job portraying the courage, resililence nd tenacity of the Fulani people. She doesn't sugar coat or romanticize and she leaves so much unexplained and just tells it how it is with humor and empathy.
Anna Badkhen does such a great job portraying the courage, resililence nd tenacity of the Fulani people. She doesn't sugar coat or romanticize and she leaves so much unexplained and just tells it how it is with humor and empathy.
August 19, 2019
It is so interesting to read about ancient cultures that are continuing to exist in today's world. This story about the nomads walking with their cattle across the West African Sahel from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and back to follow the rains keeping the grass alive. The reporter that joined the migration gives a wonderful window into their daily routines, and knowledge and wisdom shared over centuries.
April 21, 2018
It was fine. Since I live in West Africa, it made it more interesting to me. The author's personal emotional drama about her lost lover didn't add much to it for me.
August 6, 2024
Warta przeczytania
May 1, 2016
Anna Badkhen is a very interesting person I'd never heard of before. Her choice of places to go and people to stay with and ideas to understand is astonishing and I'll be reading some of her journalism later. This book follows work she has done in similar circumstances and was undertaken during a period of deeply felt loss of her "beloved". Perhaps this gives her the rawness to write so lyrically and with such precisely observed detail. Living with Fulani people would be quite a challenge for anyone who has not grown up in that culture but Badkhen seems to manage it gracefully and gives us an intimate portrait of the people she shares her life with as well as a lot of context to help us understand how they see themselves and what drives them. She paints a picture of Fulani who we can recognise on a personal level but who are very different in the constraints within which they live. I was delighted with some of Badkhen's contextual material which showed that she was scientifically literate as well as warm, sensitive and compassionate. I find this reassuring because with some authors I feel like they have given me the whole picture because they haven't seen it. I occasionally struggled with her sentence construction and with her fondness for very obscure words. My only gripe with the book is that it would have been helpful to have a better idea from the beginning of the physical setting and also of the names and relationships of the characters since it takes quite a while for these to clarify. Some kind of glossary and a better map and maybe some photos would have helped though I liked the sketches. There's enough fascinating detail in this for a brilliant coffee table book - and that's not to denigrate in the least what Badkhen has written. The reason I say this is that halfway through I found myself googling Fulani and Djenne to get a feel for the setting which didn't require my imagination. It helped a lot.
November 30, 2015
I was pleased to see a new book about the Fulani, a tribe I lived with for two years in the late 70s in Senegal. Badkhen’s group is in Mali and still nomadic (2013) but her description of them did make them sound kindred all these years later. Her book is more poetry than anthropology and gives the uninitiated a taste of their exotic lifestyle. It is just a taste though, and there is no need to actually suffer the heat or constantly fan off the flies. That is a good thing because it’s the general image of the friendly people and interesting lifestyle we remember, not the daily drudgery that distracts from this. Badkhen is sympathetic toward their ancient and proud nomadic culture which is disappearing as the exploding population closes in around them. She doesn’t analyze this like an anthropologist, but gives the case study perspective of a participant observer traveling with the Diakayaté family along the Bani River (near the Niger, between Bamako and Timbuktu). It was interesting for me to see how times have changed since the 70s – they have cell phones now and the lions and genii have disappeared – and how they haven’t in that marriages are still arranged and they continue to cook by fire. The literati will especially like this book because Anna is very eloquent, saying, for example, that the huts are “sedulously wainscoted” whereas I would just call them carefully whitewashed and then give the percentage of clay and dung in the mix. Overall I would call this an enjoyable introduction to the Fulani and hope it will motivate people to learn more about them.
April 5, 2022
This book took me a long time to read. It is part history, part anthropological study, part story, part poetry. Badkhen’s vocabulary put me utterly to shame and the thing is fully lacking in narrative structure, which makes it a bit of a slog. I found the language to often obscure the story rather than expose it.
However…I feel deeply grateful to have picked it up, and to know a little of the Fulani and their story. I feel glad to know of Oumarou’s steadfastness and Fanta’s long suffering humor and Hairatou’s sweetness. How beautiful to know about people so different from me, and so much the same.
I know some have criticized the author weaving in her own heartbreak, but I loved that she grounded the story of the Diakayatès with the journey that she herself was on while with them. Next time, I wish Anna Badkhen would decide what type of book she wants to write rather than trying to write 5 things at once, but I can’t say I regret this one.
However…I feel deeply grateful to have picked it up, and to know a little of the Fulani and their story. I feel glad to know of Oumarou’s steadfastness and Fanta’s long suffering humor and Hairatou’s sweetness. How beautiful to know about people so different from me, and so much the same.
I know some have criticized the author weaving in her own heartbreak, but I loved that she grounded the story of the Diakayatès with the journey that she herself was on while with them. Next time, I wish Anna Badkhen would decide what type of book she wants to write rather than trying to write 5 things at once, but I can’t say I regret this one.
March 16, 2017
Badkhen immerses the reader in the sights, sounds and smells of the Sahel as she accompanies a nomadic family on their travels from the dry season through the rainy season and back. It's a fascinating look at an age-old way of life as the world around it changes forever. I was surprised that she was more willing to weave in a personal story of disappointed love than she was to describe what it felt like to walk for days on end and participate in the herding and domestic chores of the family. But overall, it's a book lush with words and evocative images that will stay will me.
August 26, 2020
Purchase Walking with Abel here for just $10!
Journalist Anna Badkhen joins a family of Fulani cowboys for their annual migration across the savanna. Embracing her as one of their own, this is the inspiring and empowering story of a group of people who've integrated their tradition and culture with modern technology and politics.
Anastasia - The Book Grocer
Journalist Anna Badkhen joins a family of Fulani cowboys for their annual migration across the savanna. Embracing her as one of their own, this is the inspiring and empowering story of a group of people who've integrated their tradition and culture with modern technology and politics.
Anastasia - The Book Grocer
June 24, 2018
So gorgeous. Without judgement, comparison to other cultures, or interjecting her own views or feelings (except for brief interludes reflecting on a broken relationship) Anna Badkhen describes the life of her adopted cowboy family in the African Sahel (and she calls them cowboys, not herders). Her extensive research on West African history and her love for the Diakayate family are displayed vividly in this word painting.
February 6, 2021
This book was amazing. The Fulani were shown in such a way that I wanted to be there, even though my Western sensibilities were constantly assaulted by the ways of the Fulani. I felt a part of them, I was pulled in, I imagined I was looking up at the stars when they were, imagined balancing calabashes on my head when they were. This book was a picture of peoples I will never see but thanks to the author, I feel as though I have seen them.
August 7, 2023
Gorgeously descriptive language, deeply enmeshed travel writing, honest personal reflection. Badkhen spends a year traveling and living with a cattle herding Fulani family, the largest nomadic group in the world. Vivid historical account set against the struggles of everyday life against the backdrop of war in Mali, the arrival of guns, consumerism, and a retreating land base. All while Badkhen considers her own immigrant status in the U.S., her own shifting sense of belonging and rootlessness.
November 25, 2017
The book gives us very personal record of living with nomads in Africa. I liked very much description of Fulani's beliefs, customs and lifestyle, as well as insight to changes brought about by the new technology and war. I wish the author wrote more about it. I was missing photos. It is an interesting work, but could have been written more thoroughly.
April 1, 2018
bits of this were so astonishingly gorgeous that i found myself holding my breath as i read (and re-read) them - but it was definitely an oddly fragmented book. the story of Africa's oldest nomadic people was interesting enough but it was Badkhen's personal experience that burned hot. i want more of it.
June 17, 2017
This book is about the last of the Nomads of Africa. Anna spent a year on the move with them. The Fulini people live by herding their cattle and living off their milk. A poignant look at how the developing world is impinging on native life.
December 30, 2017
Anna Ba writes very heart-wrenchingly, and poetically whimsical throughout the whole adventure in the Sahel-felt like I was there. Nomadic life before, during, and after is not always as dreamy as I long thought,...it has a lot of realistic ups and downs akin to non-transhumanic lives-
November 16, 2020
Kiinnostava kuvaus paimentolaiskansasta, joka liikkuu karjansa mukana ja uskoo maailman olevan luotu lehmiä varten. Avasi silmiä katsomaan maailmaa, omaa elämää ja varsinkin luontosuhdetta taas hiukan eri silmin. Lähtökohdista olisi ehkä voinut saada enemmänkin irti.
June 25, 2022
The author embedded herself with a nomadic family in Mali. This is a lovely account of her observations of the family as it carries on the same traditions and seasonable movement of livestock that have been in place for millennia.
July 24, 2022
Beautiful. Original.
February 16, 2023
A treasure … Thks Anna Ba, wonderful hosts, cows & Mali.
June 13, 2017
http://www.dwiestronyksiazek.pl
Książki z gatunku literatury faktu mają swoich fanów i przeciwników. Osobiście jestem neutralnie do niego nastawiona. Zdarzyło mi się przeczytać książki ciekawe, które pomimo natłoku faktów, dat i nazwisk wciągnęły mnie bardziej niż niejedna pozycja z literatury popularnej. Z tego powodu po przeczytaniu dobrych opinii na temat Czterech pór roku w afgańskiej wiosce autorstwa Anny Badkhen zdecydowałam się sięgnąć po jej nowe dzieło - Wędrówkę z Ablem. Oczekiwałam przeniesienia się do Afryki i na kilka godzin zamieszkania wśród nomadów. Jednak czy moje oczekiwania się spełniły?
Autorka w swojej książce skupia się na przybliżeniu nam jak wygląda życie Fulanów w świecie, gdzie globalizacja dosięga nawet najbardziej oddalone od cywilizacji miejsca. Globalne ocieplenie, wojny, polityka oparta na terroryzowaniu ludności czy zmniejszenie się zasobów naturalnych. Wszystkie te czynniki wpływają na grupy nomadów. Ludzie decydują się opuścić swoich bliskich, by znaleźć lepsze życie w miastach, śmiertelność dzieci zwiększa się przez choroby. W ciągu kilkunastu lat życie Fulanów zmieniło się całkowicie, a odpowiedzialność za ten fakt spoczywa na nas - ludziach.
To, jak świat wpływa na ludność decydującą się nie korzystać z tego co oferuje nam współczesny świat i stawia na kontakt z naturą oraz korzystanie chociażby z barteru jako środka płatności, poznajemy dzięki rodzinie Umaru Diakajate. Ich całkowicie inne priorytety, proste życie z dala od problemów cywilizacyjnych oraz to, jak potrafią czerpać szczęście z małych rzeczy, okazuje się naprawdę ciekawą historią.
Kolejnym ciekawym zabiegiem było wplątanie w reportaż osobistych odczuć autorki. Zostały opisane w taki sposób, że nie narzucały nam zdania Anny, tylko pokazywały jedną z interpretacji wydarzeń. Szczegółowe opisy, wiele informacji oraz wątki obyczajowe tworzą w tej książce ciekawą mieszankę. Pod płaszczem suchych faktów toczy się oddzielny wątek, który sprawia, że łatwiej nam zżyć się z tą pozycją.
Jednak mimo ogromnego plusa jakim okazała się przedstawiona w książce historia, czas spojrzeć na kilka minusów, które dotyczą sposobu jej opisania. Odniosłam wrażenie, że autorka pisze “płasko”. Delitanie wspomina o rzeczach trudnych i tragicznych. Głód czy ubóstwo są wspomniane w lekki sposób. Do tego wszystkie wątki są ułożone w książce chaotycznie. Dla osoby, która pierwszy raz spotyka się z tym ludem i jego wierzeniami, wiele rzeczy jest obcych i przez to, jeśli nie przedstawi się w tego sposób odpowiedni, jest po prostu nudny i dziwny. Są to skomplikowane treści, które dla osoby żyjącej w kraju rozwiniętym są całkowicie nieznane.
Uważam, że fani autorki z pewnością się nie zawiodą. Niestety dla mnie historia choć interesująca i wciągająca, momentami okazywała się nudna i zbyt poplątana. Jednak jeśli tak jak Anna chcecie wędrować wśród Fulanów i zobaczyć jak przeszłość zderza się z przyszłością - wtedy bardzo polecam tę książkę. Życie tego ludu okazuje się tak niezwykłe, z pewnością nie raz będziecie się zastanawiać czy to może być prawdziwa historia. Mojego serca ta lektura nie zdobyła, jednak jeśli jesteś fanem reportaży - powinna Ci się spodobać!
Książki z gatunku literatury faktu mają swoich fanów i przeciwników. Osobiście jestem neutralnie do niego nastawiona. Zdarzyło mi się przeczytać książki ciekawe, które pomimo natłoku faktów, dat i nazwisk wciągnęły mnie bardziej niż niejedna pozycja z literatury popularnej. Z tego powodu po przeczytaniu dobrych opinii na temat Czterech pór roku w afgańskiej wiosce autorstwa Anny Badkhen zdecydowałam się sięgnąć po jej nowe dzieło - Wędrówkę z Ablem. Oczekiwałam przeniesienia się do Afryki i na kilka godzin zamieszkania wśród nomadów. Jednak czy moje oczekiwania się spełniły?
Autorka w swojej książce skupia się na przybliżeniu nam jak wygląda życie Fulanów w świecie, gdzie globalizacja dosięga nawet najbardziej oddalone od cywilizacji miejsca. Globalne ocieplenie, wojny, polityka oparta na terroryzowaniu ludności czy zmniejszenie się zasobów naturalnych. Wszystkie te czynniki wpływają na grupy nomadów. Ludzie decydują się opuścić swoich bliskich, by znaleźć lepsze życie w miastach, śmiertelność dzieci zwiększa się przez choroby. W ciągu kilkunastu lat życie Fulanów zmieniło się całkowicie, a odpowiedzialność za ten fakt spoczywa na nas - ludziach.
To, jak świat wpływa na ludność decydującą się nie korzystać z tego co oferuje nam współczesny świat i stawia na kontakt z naturą oraz korzystanie chociażby z barteru jako środka płatności, poznajemy dzięki rodzinie Umaru Diakajate. Ich całkowicie inne priorytety, proste życie z dala od problemów cywilizacyjnych oraz to, jak potrafią czerpać szczęście z małych rzeczy, okazuje się naprawdę ciekawą historią.
Kolejnym ciekawym zabiegiem było wplątanie w reportaż osobistych odczuć autorki. Zostały opisane w taki sposób, że nie narzucały nam zdania Anny, tylko pokazywały jedną z interpretacji wydarzeń. Szczegółowe opisy, wiele informacji oraz wątki obyczajowe tworzą w tej książce ciekawą mieszankę. Pod płaszczem suchych faktów toczy się oddzielny wątek, który sprawia, że łatwiej nam zżyć się z tą pozycją.
Jednak mimo ogromnego plusa jakim okazała się przedstawiona w książce historia, czas spojrzeć na kilka minusów, które dotyczą sposobu jej opisania. Odniosłam wrażenie, że autorka pisze “płasko”. Delitanie wspomina o rzeczach trudnych i tragicznych. Głód czy ubóstwo są wspomniane w lekki sposób. Do tego wszystkie wątki są ułożone w książce chaotycznie. Dla osoby, która pierwszy raz spotyka się z tym ludem i jego wierzeniami, wiele rzeczy jest obcych i przez to, jeśli nie przedstawi się w tego sposób odpowiedni, jest po prostu nudny i dziwny. Są to skomplikowane treści, które dla osoby żyjącej w kraju rozwiniętym są całkowicie nieznane.
Uważam, że fani autorki z pewnością się nie zawiodą. Niestety dla mnie historia choć interesująca i wciągająca, momentami okazywała się nudna i zbyt poplątana. Jednak jeśli tak jak Anna chcecie wędrować wśród Fulanów i zobaczyć jak przeszłość zderza się z przyszłością - wtedy bardzo polecam tę książkę. Życie tego ludu okazuje się tak niezwykłe, z pewnością nie raz będziecie się zastanawiać czy to może być prawdziwa historia. Mojego serca ta lektura nie zdobyła, jednak jeśli jesteś fanem reportaży - powinna Ci się spodobać!
February 25, 2021
Try as I might to go the distance, I bailed on this book at its midpoint. Definite kudos are in order to Anna Badkhen for embedding herself with the Fulani and experiencing their nomadic way of life. However, the writing failed to draw me in and I felt more obligated than entranced to read more. I loved the book's concept but the reading was slow and laborious. For such an exceptional journey I expected much more energy and personality in the storytelling. Anna's sidebar on her heartbreak felt out of place and might have best been kept in a personal journal. Perhaps someday I'll finish it if I'm in the mood. For right now I don't feel I'm missing much by shelving it early.
August 20, 2018
The author doesn't give any prelude. She starts somewhere in the middle. At first, this is bewildering, but then it seems just right. I enjoyed the book, but it is a slow read. She is spending her days with the Fulani people, and so she recounts the work of the day and the passing of time. Slowly, readers get to know the people and their old way of life that take place in a modern world unaware of their existence.
November 20, 2023
The book is written almost as a diary, chronicling a year following a nomadic group in Africa. There are no chapters, which I found disturbing (how my brain works). I'm not sure why this book was on my bookshelf, and it was tough to keep reading at times, but overall it was a good book, just very different. The author is a journalist who has also journaled other trips she has taken. Interesting if you want to spend a year in African desert.
December 31, 2022
I hate not finishing books but if I would not finish a book, this would be one of these books. The writing is not ideal. I love the concept and I really wish it was better presented. I enjoyed what I got to learn beyond the writing. The two stars are simply for the contents of the book, that’s it. Maaaajor white gaze energy, I think that is what really killed the potential of the book.
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