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The Parachute Drop
Book by Zongo, Norbert
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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November 18, 2022
I read the English translation of this novel, originally published in 1988 in French. The author was a Burkinabè journalist. The novel features the life of a fictional African President, Gouama, ruling over the fictional country of “Watinbow”, and is a kind of satire of the type of dictator all too common in 20th century Africa.
The book opens with an author preface in which Norbert Zongo describes being arrested and brutally beaten up by the “special police” of Burkina Faso in 1981. He was accused of “insulting the President”, and when he denied this, the police presented him with a manuscript copy of this novel, which he had tried to mail to a publisher in Cameroon. He spent a year in detention, and says in the preface “it was then I learned the truth about a certain kind of power in Africa, as well as the suicidal nature of all opposition, of all protest in our land. Most importantly, from that day forward I understood that it was my duty to fight this power, to struggle for a more humane Africa. An Africa free of detention centres, death cells, and torture chambers.” Sadly, Zongo was murdered by the Burkina Faso police in 1998.
Given the above, I would love to say that this novel was a literary masterpiece, but I didn’t really find it so. The political message was rather laboured, especially in the latter stages, although I can’t really complain about that as I knew beforehand it would be that sort of book.
The novel is dominated by the character of Gouama, who indulges in casual rape and murder and who has looted his country’s Treasury to stuff his personal Swiss bank account. He has extreme mood swings, one moment deliriously happy, the next either furiously angry or sobbing in despair. He’s also a drunkard, is extremely cowardly, and is something of a buffoon. There are a couple of scenes that seemed to be introduced for comic effect and to make Gouama look ridiculous, but I felt these sat uneasily with the brutality that appears elsewhere in the novel.
To the modern reader, Gouama might seem too extreme a caricature, but I’m old enough to remember when news stories featured African dictators like Mobutu, Bokassa and Idi Amin, any one of whom would have been a good fit for Gouama. What I found less convincing was that Gouama is also portrayed as extremely naïve. He is manipulated by almost everyone around him and seems almost childlike in his inability to see what is really happening. I was left wondering how such a man ever got to be president in the first place.
The main manipulator is the President’s Chief Advisor, a European called Marcel who is very much the power behind the throne. Marcel takes his own orders from “the Ambassador”, who we can surmise is a representative of the former colonial power. I think Zongo wanted to make the point that the independence of African countries was more presentational than real, and that the colonialists were still the ones really in charge.
One the plus side, the story moves along at a lively pace, and I wasn’t bored at any point.
I would say there would be two reasons to read this novel. One would be if you were pursuing one of those “a book from every country” challenges. The other would be to pay tribute to Norbert Zongo. He was a brave man.
The book opens with an author preface in which Norbert Zongo describes being arrested and brutally beaten up by the “special police” of Burkina Faso in 1981. He was accused of “insulting the President”, and when he denied this, the police presented him with a manuscript copy of this novel, which he had tried to mail to a publisher in Cameroon. He spent a year in detention, and says in the preface “it was then I learned the truth about a certain kind of power in Africa, as well as the suicidal nature of all opposition, of all protest in our land. Most importantly, from that day forward I understood that it was my duty to fight this power, to struggle for a more humane Africa. An Africa free of detention centres, death cells, and torture chambers.” Sadly, Zongo was murdered by the Burkina Faso police in 1998.
Given the above, I would love to say that this novel was a literary masterpiece, but I didn’t really find it so. The political message was rather laboured, especially in the latter stages, although I can’t really complain about that as I knew beforehand it would be that sort of book.
The novel is dominated by the character of Gouama, who indulges in casual rape and murder and who has looted his country’s Treasury to stuff his personal Swiss bank account. He has extreme mood swings, one moment deliriously happy, the next either furiously angry or sobbing in despair. He’s also a drunkard, is extremely cowardly, and is something of a buffoon. There are a couple of scenes that seemed to be introduced for comic effect and to make Gouama look ridiculous, but I felt these sat uneasily with the brutality that appears elsewhere in the novel.
To the modern reader, Gouama might seem too extreme a caricature, but I’m old enough to remember when news stories featured African dictators like Mobutu, Bokassa and Idi Amin, any one of whom would have been a good fit for Gouama. What I found less convincing was that Gouama is also portrayed as extremely naïve. He is manipulated by almost everyone around him and seems almost childlike in his inability to see what is really happening. I was left wondering how such a man ever got to be president in the first place.
The main manipulator is the President’s Chief Advisor, a European called Marcel who is very much the power behind the throne. Marcel takes his own orders from “the Ambassador”, who we can surmise is a representative of the former colonial power. I think Zongo wanted to make the point that the independence of African countries was more presentational than real, and that the colonialists were still the ones really in charge.
One the plus side, the story moves along at a lively pace, and I wasn’t bored at any point.
I would say there would be two reasons to read this novel. One would be if you were pursuing one of those “a book from every country” challenges. The other would be to pay tribute to Norbert Zongo. He was a brave man.
January 18, 2021
A story told from the unique point of view of a corrupt African dictator. All his money and reading of Machiavelli's The Prince will only lead further along the road to hell he's been paving. And all along he is happily ignorant of his own guilt. He is genuinely surprised at the lack of health clinics and the poverty, when he flees through the poor country, and naively surprised that his saviors (those 'Marxists' he's been fearing) will not take his money, or that he could possibly be betrayed by his old dictator colleague.
Adding to the reveals of this is the layer of 'advisors' and ambassadors leading the ignorant despot (and his successor) around by their noses, writing their speeches. No one (except the student rebels) comes out of this looking even half way decent, not the French politics in Africa, nor the despot of Burkina Faso - who to (almost to prove the author's point) killed him in a car bombing, as with many of his (imagined or real) enemies and critics.
Read this book! It is both a catchy fable about men in power losing it and a clever and entertaining story of power and corruption in Africa, and if nothing else read it to honour the journalist who risked his life to tell these stories, knowing it would get him killed.
Adding to the reveals of this is the layer of 'advisors' and ambassadors leading the ignorant despot (and his successor) around by their noses, writing their speeches. No one (except the student rebels) comes out of this looking even half way decent, not the French politics in Africa, nor the despot of Burkina Faso - who to (almost to prove the author's point) killed him in a car bombing, as with many of his (imagined or real) enemies and critics.
Read this book! It is both a catchy fable about men in power losing it and a clever and entertaining story of power and corruption in Africa, and if nothing else read it to honour the journalist who risked his life to tell these stories, knowing it would get him killed.
November 1, 2024
La novela cuenta los últimos días del gobierno del Presidente Gouama, Dictador Vitalicio de primera generación de la República de Watingow, país ficticio de África. Gouama posiblemente haya iniciado su gobierno con buenas intenciones, pero terminó siendo corrupto, autoritario y cruel.
De primera generación significa que surgió del grupo de intelectuales que lideró la lucha por la independencia del país. Gouama es derrocado por un golpe militar (dictadores de segunda generación), pero logra escapar y recorrer con esfuerzo grandes distancias y dificultades para llegar a un país vecino.
Mientras tanto, la población se vuelca a las calles para apoyar y celebrar el derrocamiento del tirano y dar la bienvenida a las autoridades militares.
“La masa aullaba, su histeria iba en aumento. "¡Muerte al tirano! ¡Viva el ejército! ¡Viva la libertad!".
La masa: el "pueblo" de Watingow, que había jurado lealtad a Gouama, que había callado el 99% de lo que pensaba, que apenas cinco meses antes había querido quemar en la hoguera a uno de los que supuestamente había intentado asesinarlo.”
La publicación de este libro fue prohibida por el gobierno, cerca de 1986, y condujo al autor a la cárcel y la tortura. La novela parece tener una intención pedagógica y política, ya que su autor fue un periodista de investigación insobornable en sus críticas al gobierno de su país. A pesar de este condicionamiento, se pueden encontrar varias observaciones interesantes y agudas, y una novela interesante y bien escrita.
Norbert Zongo nació en Burkina Faso en 1949, y fue asesinado por las autoridades del gobierno en 1998. El libro finalmente fue publicado fuera de África en 2004, y a pesar del tiempo transcurrido no ha perdido vigencia.
De primera generación significa que surgió del grupo de intelectuales que lideró la lucha por la independencia del país. Gouama es derrocado por un golpe militar (dictadores de segunda generación), pero logra escapar y recorrer con esfuerzo grandes distancias y dificultades para llegar a un país vecino.
Mientras tanto, la población se vuelca a las calles para apoyar y celebrar el derrocamiento del tirano y dar la bienvenida a las autoridades militares.
“La masa aullaba, su histeria iba en aumento. "¡Muerte al tirano! ¡Viva el ejército! ¡Viva la libertad!".
La masa: el "pueblo" de Watingow, que había jurado lealtad a Gouama, que había callado el 99% de lo que pensaba, que apenas cinco meses antes había querido quemar en la hoguera a uno de los que supuestamente había intentado asesinarlo.”
La publicación de este libro fue prohibida por el gobierno, cerca de 1986, y condujo al autor a la cárcel y la tortura. La novela parece tener una intención pedagógica y política, ya que su autor fue un periodista de investigación insobornable en sus críticas al gobierno de su país. A pesar de este condicionamiento, se pueden encontrar varias observaciones interesantes y agudas, y una novela interesante y bien escrita.
Norbert Zongo nació en Burkina Faso en 1949, y fue asesinado por las autoridades del gobierno en 1998. El libro finalmente fue publicado fuera de África en 2004, y a pesar del tiempo transcurrido no ha perdido vigencia.
August 10, 2014
Few books I’ve read have opened in a more chilling way than this slim novel which was published after his assassination in 1998. In his preface Zongo, the country’s most respected journalist and publisher of the L’Indépendant newspaper, describes being beaten by Burkina Faso’s special police force who had discovered the novel and judged it subversive. What followed was a period of solitary confinement, persecution and attempts on his life, culminating in his murder. An Independent Commission of Inquiry later concluded that he had been killed for purely political reasons because of his investigative work into the death of a driver who had worked for the brother of President Blaise Compaoré.
A few pages into the novel it becomes evident why the government forces considered this work to be an incendiary piece of writing. Zongo portrays the fictional West African nation of Watinbow which is led by the corrupt and immoral President Gouama. Gouma has grown rich by diverting IMF and world aid funds into his private Swiss bank account. He’s surrounded by sycophantic representatives from an unnamed country and advisers who are more than happy to collude in any plans he devises to stay in power, even if this involves fire bombing opponents or removing the organs from prisoners. Alerted to a potential challenge to his authority Gouama has two of his senior army chiefs killed while taking part in a parachute drop. But he still gets toppled from power in a military coup d’etat and tries to flee the country disguised as a peasant so that he can regroup and try to regain power.
History has brought us many examples of this kind of political leader in Africa, the kind that drives around in expensive cars and stays in luxury hotels while their countrymen starve. What this novel gives is an insight into the mind of such a person and the inherent instability of a country ruled via fear and military strength.
"At the beginning after the initial coup that brings the new regime to power, the early disputes are always about gets appointed to the limited number of governmental posts that open up. But there is a far more subtle struggle for position that takes lace, to see how the ‘courageous’ men will line up behind the president. These are the strong men in the making, only some are more strong than others. The battle of the heroes goes on behind the scenes: hero number five wants to become hero number two, hero number form wants to become hero number one; hero number one wants to eliminate all those who dream of taking his place. In this way the fighting begins anew. The heroes systematically obliterate one another. Each in his turn crashes and burns until a new strong man emerges."
At times like this the book veers towards the polemic so for example we have an encounter between Gouma and a poor fisherman in which the latter dispenses with the ex-President’s vision of his land as one of contented citizens he has heeled make wealthy. Other times it borders on black humour as government aides discuss the various options for eliminating their opponents. There’s too much of the former and not enough of the latter or sufficient depth of characterisation to make this story really come alive.
An important novel if only for the fact that it was ever published but not a particularly satisfying read.
A few pages into the novel it becomes evident why the government forces considered this work to be an incendiary piece of writing. Zongo portrays the fictional West African nation of Watinbow which is led by the corrupt and immoral President Gouama. Gouma has grown rich by diverting IMF and world aid funds into his private Swiss bank account. He’s surrounded by sycophantic representatives from an unnamed country and advisers who are more than happy to collude in any plans he devises to stay in power, even if this involves fire bombing opponents or removing the organs from prisoners. Alerted to a potential challenge to his authority Gouama has two of his senior army chiefs killed while taking part in a parachute drop. But he still gets toppled from power in a military coup d’etat and tries to flee the country disguised as a peasant so that he can regroup and try to regain power.
History has brought us many examples of this kind of political leader in Africa, the kind that drives around in expensive cars and stays in luxury hotels while their countrymen starve. What this novel gives is an insight into the mind of such a person and the inherent instability of a country ruled via fear and military strength.
"At the beginning after the initial coup that brings the new regime to power, the early disputes are always about gets appointed to the limited number of governmental posts that open up. But there is a far more subtle struggle for position that takes lace, to see how the ‘courageous’ men will line up behind the president. These are the strong men in the making, only some are more strong than others. The battle of the heroes goes on behind the scenes: hero number five wants to become hero number two, hero number form wants to become hero number one; hero number one wants to eliminate all those who dream of taking his place. In this way the fighting begins anew. The heroes systematically obliterate one another. Each in his turn crashes and burns until a new strong man emerges."
At times like this the book veers towards the polemic so for example we have an encounter between Gouma and a poor fisherman in which the latter dispenses with the ex-President’s vision of his land as one of contented citizens he has heeled make wealthy. Other times it borders on black humour as government aides discuss the various options for eliminating their opponents. There’s too much of the former and not enough of the latter or sufficient depth of characterisation to make this story really come alive.
An important novel if only for the fact that it was ever published but not a particularly satisfying read.
September 26, 2025
Burkina Faso 🛬
3.5 stars
This is a short read but packed with reflections on African leaders driving Mercedes around their starving people, the Balkanisation of Africa, and a well-done extended metaphor of 80's Burkina Faso.
Gouama is a very interesting character to follow, with his stacks of money and tears, lessons almost learned, and beloved European alliances. Mieux vaut être seul que mal accompagné!
Norbert Zongo himself was assassinated for investigating Blaise Compaoré's brother's driver's politically motivated murder. His story and legacy, while touching, are a reminder of why the dictatorial representation in a not-so-fictional book was (and is) so relevant. Il avait l'air prophétique.
Not higher rated because *something* was missing for me, I just haven't reflected on what yet.
3.5 stars
This is a short read but packed with reflections on African leaders driving Mercedes around their starving people, the Balkanisation of Africa, and a well-done extended metaphor of 80's Burkina Faso.
Gouama is a very interesting character to follow, with his stacks of money and tears, lessons almost learned, and beloved European alliances. Mieux vaut être seul que mal accompagné!
Norbert Zongo himself was assassinated for investigating Blaise Compaoré's brother's driver's politically motivated murder. His story and legacy, while touching, are a reminder of why the dictatorial representation in a not-so-fictional book was (and is) so relevant. Il avait l'air prophétique.
Not higher rated because *something* was missing for me, I just haven't reflected on what yet.
February 16, 2020
4.5 stars
This was my read the world selection for Burkina Faso.
At the beginning of the book we are informed of the sad fate of the author of this book - Zongo, a respected journalist who dared to be honest in his writings, was tortured and later killed in a car bombing.
The book is set in the fictional African country of Watinbow, where the corrupt President Gouama learns that two of his senior officers are planning to overthrow him, so he arranges for them to die during a ceremonial parachute drop, where their parachutes are rigged to not open.
Gouama is brought down anyway, as it was the informers, rather than the men who died who were set to stage the coup. Gouama manages to escape and goes on the road with his sorcerer trying to get over the border into Zakro (another fictional African country), where he is certain his friend the President will help him re-claim his leadership.
This was a very engrossing book and quite a fascinating look at a pretty disgraceful human being, who diverted world aid funds into his Swiss bank account, had a taste for rather young women (of which he wanted a different one every night) and had real delusions of grandeur. It was very easy to hate this character!
Alongside this were the interesting interactions with ‘normal’ people while he was on the run and of course, the way the coup played out. It was very difficult to work out who you could trust in this book as allegiances changed quickly!
I found this to be a very intriguing book and was never sure what to expect next. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 from me!
This was my read the world selection for Burkina Faso.
At the beginning of the book we are informed of the sad fate of the author of this book - Zongo, a respected journalist who dared to be honest in his writings, was tortured and later killed in a car bombing.
The book is set in the fictional African country of Watinbow, where the corrupt President Gouama learns that two of his senior officers are planning to overthrow him, so he arranges for them to die during a ceremonial parachute drop, where their parachutes are rigged to not open.
Gouama is brought down anyway, as it was the informers, rather than the men who died who were set to stage the coup. Gouama manages to escape and goes on the road with his sorcerer trying to get over the border into Zakro (another fictional African country), where he is certain his friend the President will help him re-claim his leadership.
This was a very engrossing book and quite a fascinating look at a pretty disgraceful human being, who diverted world aid funds into his Swiss bank account, had a taste for rather young women (of which he wanted a different one every night) and had real delusions of grandeur. It was very easy to hate this character!
Alongside this were the interesting interactions with ‘normal’ people while he was on the run and of course, the way the coup played out. It was very difficult to work out who you could trust in this book as allegiances changed quickly!
I found this to be a very intriguing book and was never sure what to expect next. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 from me!
July 16, 2023
The opening chapter, where Norbert Zongo is confronted for the manuscript of the present novel, was definitely the most memorable part. The novel describes the life of Gouama, dictator is a fictional African country, thwarting a coup and desperately trying to hold onto his power, but ultimately has to flee and hide from his previous supporters. Gouama steals money from his country, is surrounded by ‘advisors’ with similarly lose morals, and his attempts to stay in power include assassination and magic rituals with human sacrifices.
The book was downright brutal in its descriptions of violence, and flip-flopped between satire and a polemic caricature. There are scenes that are maybe meant to humanise Guoama, such as when he speaks to a fisherman while on the run, and realises how poor the country truly is.
Overall, I wasn’t too taken by the story itself, but rather than the literary achievement, the value of this book lies in its mere existence. Embarrassingly, I also struggled with the French. The very political bits went a bit over my head due to language issues, I fear.
• Le vrai problème en Afrique ne doit pas être la lutte entre pseudo-"modérés" et pseudo-"progressistes", mais bien la lutte entre exploiteurs et exploités, pillards et pillés.
The book was downright brutal in its descriptions of violence, and flip-flopped between satire and a polemic caricature. There are scenes that are maybe meant to humanise Guoama, such as when he speaks to a fisherman while on the run, and realises how poor the country truly is.
Overall, I wasn’t too taken by the story itself, but rather than the literary achievement, the value of this book lies in its mere existence. Embarrassingly, I also struggled with the French. The very political bits went a bit over my head due to language issues, I fear.
• Le vrai problème en Afrique ne doit pas être la lutte entre pseudo-"modérés" et pseudo-"progressistes", mais bien la lutte entre exploiteurs et exploités, pillards et pillés.
February 23, 2023
Roman magistral sur la politique dans années post-indépendance au Watinbow, un pays africain imaginaire: dictature, coups d'Etat, emprisonnement des opposants, rôle de l'ancienne puissance coloniale et ses conseillers, ... sur un fond de violence et de misère. Zongo révèle bien comment les politiciens et militaires au pouvoir vivent dans un monde parallèle, déconnecté des réalités, aveuglés par le pouvoir et les richesses.
Zongo montre également comment des opposants (étudiants, intellectuels, ...) réclamant plus de justice sociale et de démocratie, sont systématiquement taxés de communistes pilotés par Moscou, ce qui donne un alibi parfait à la classe dirigeante et à l'ancienne puissance afin de les éliminer.
Zongo montre également comment des opposants (étudiants, intellectuels, ...) réclamant plus de justice sociale et de démocratie, sont systématiquement taxés de communistes pilotés par Moscou, ce qui donne un alibi parfait à la classe dirigeante et à l'ancienne puissance afin de les éliminer.
December 17, 2025
I read this book for my reading-of-the-world project (Burkina Fasco). This book was better than had hoped based on a review from a friend who recommended it. It is a political satire that is fun, very informative, and damning about neocolonialism in Africa in general. Well worth the read even if not doing the reading-of-the-world project.
August 12, 2017
Burkina Faso
Another day began: another day of incredible good luck for thousands of people for whom life has refused nothing, for Africa's wealthy and educated, for those who believe it is perfectly normal to exploit their brothers and sisters, to treat their fellows like beasts of burden. Another day in a world of intolerable paradox."
"But the busiest people of all were the police. They had received strict orders to empty the town of beggars lepers, the blind, the crazy. Men, women and children were crammed together on big trucks that had been sent to evacuate them. Their cries and tears intermingled."
They will simply have to take their anarchy elsewhere. We don't want it here."
"Betrayal: this is all that man is really capable of."
"I'm obliged to execute you, You know better than I do that it's nothing personal. It's just politics. It's an old African law that one must kill all who get in the way."
"Life, true life, happens in a flash, a fleeting moment on a dark night."
Another day began: another day of incredible good luck for thousands of people for whom life has refused nothing, for Africa's wealthy and educated, for those who believe it is perfectly normal to exploit their brothers and sisters, to treat their fellows like beasts of burden. Another day in a world of intolerable paradox."
"But the busiest people of all were the police. They had received strict orders to empty the town of beggars lepers, the blind, the crazy. Men, women and children were crammed together on big trucks that had been sent to evacuate them. Their cries and tears intermingled."
They will simply have to take their anarchy elsewhere. We don't want it here."
"Betrayal: this is all that man is really capable of."
"I'm obliged to execute you, You know better than I do that it's nothing personal. It's just politics. It's an old African law that one must kill all who get in the way."
"Life, true life, happens in a flash, a fleeting moment on a dark night."
May 11, 2022
The cynicism behind the continuous cycle of despotism
#burkinafaso was next on my alphabetical #internationalreadinglist and I cannot aptly describe the combined joy and sadness in choosing #theparachutedrop by #norbertzongo . A #burkinabe investigative journalist bravely writing hard-hitting exposes for the newspaper #lindependent that cast a glaring spotlight on the corruption of President #blaisecompaore, #zongo was assassinated along with his brother and two companions whose bodies were recovered from a burning car one year after the original #french publication of this book. In the forward, translator #christopherwise had met him while teaching in Burkina Faso and was amazed at the bravery of Zongo to publish such a brutally candid work, though fiction, that left little doubt about whom inspired the work. Zongo casually dismissed the fear and threats, resigned to the likelihood that this work would be the death of him. Less than a year later, that proved to be true.
Set on the fictional #westafrica country of #watinbow , The Parachute Drop focuses on the insanity and brutality of a despotic leader who had once been the revolutionary savior of his country in throwing off colonization by what we presume to be France. Though no longer a colony, the Ambassador of the former colonial power and a shadowy go between who helps the dictator hide the money and bury the bodies while simultaneously feeding him intel on his political foes and nascent democracy movements fomenting within his country. This fuels continuous rounding up of perceived enemies and suspicions about his own Army made up of men whose predecessors and many themselves had previously served as the frontline soldiers of the colony going back to the beginning of the 20th centuries, what the French had called #tirailleurs . His most recent purge touched off a unforseen series of circumstances that exposed an endemic problem in the post-colonial nations of Africa as one-time heroes of the people eventually turn into their worst nightmares. Working in conjunction with the Estate of Norbert Zongo, translator Christopher Wise presents a beautiful, well translated and edited story that gives an inside look at the nature of despotism and the unfortunate circumstances that seems to perpetuate an endless cycle of vulgar enrichment of a few with an extremity of exploitation of the masses.
It is an excellent read and an excellent addition to my international library. This is exactly the kind of works I was hoping to discover on this challenge.
#readtheworld #readtheworldchallenge #globalreadingchallenge #africanliterature #burkinafasoliterature #burkinabeliterature
#burkinafaso was next on my alphabetical #internationalreadinglist and I cannot aptly describe the combined joy and sadness in choosing #theparachutedrop by #norbertzongo . A #burkinabe investigative journalist bravely writing hard-hitting exposes for the newspaper #lindependent that cast a glaring spotlight on the corruption of President #blaisecompaore, #zongo was assassinated along with his brother and two companions whose bodies were recovered from a burning car one year after the original #french publication of this book. In the forward, translator #christopherwise had met him while teaching in Burkina Faso and was amazed at the bravery of Zongo to publish such a brutally candid work, though fiction, that left little doubt about whom inspired the work. Zongo casually dismissed the fear and threats, resigned to the likelihood that this work would be the death of him. Less than a year later, that proved to be true.
Set on the fictional #westafrica country of #watinbow , The Parachute Drop focuses on the insanity and brutality of a despotic leader who had once been the revolutionary savior of his country in throwing off colonization by what we presume to be France. Though no longer a colony, the Ambassador of the former colonial power and a shadowy go between who helps the dictator hide the money and bury the bodies while simultaneously feeding him intel on his political foes and nascent democracy movements fomenting within his country. This fuels continuous rounding up of perceived enemies and suspicions about his own Army made up of men whose predecessors and many themselves had previously served as the frontline soldiers of the colony going back to the beginning of the 20th centuries, what the French had called #tirailleurs . His most recent purge touched off a unforseen series of circumstances that exposed an endemic problem in the post-colonial nations of Africa as one-time heroes of the people eventually turn into their worst nightmares. Working in conjunction with the Estate of Norbert Zongo, translator Christopher Wise presents a beautiful, well translated and edited story that gives an inside look at the nature of despotism and the unfortunate circumstances that seems to perpetuate an endless cycle of vulgar enrichment of a few with an extremity of exploitation of the masses.
It is an excellent read and an excellent addition to my international library. This is exactly the kind of works I was hoping to discover on this challenge.
#readtheworld #readtheworldchallenge #globalreadingchallenge #africanliterature #burkinafasoliterature #burkinabeliterature
May 7, 2019
I read the original French version "Le Parachutage": if the translation is a good one, this book set in the 1980s, an era of African countries in the throes of heavy-handed dictators, has some surprisingly fresh and funny insights. Dictators may have become more subtle, but Zongo's satire points at some underlying thought structures and machinations by self-interested leaders and former colonial powers that are probably still valid today.
Some quotes (my translation):
"If you don't want the people to contest you, there's only one thing: make sure the people are happy and gay. And for them to be happy, they have to dance and drink. Above all, drink. You must have a good drinks policy. Encourage the setting up of breweries."
"Do you need to have studied the Bolshevik or Chinese revolution to understand that societies filled with corruption, nepotism, tribalism, cronyism, etc are rotten and that sooner or later they will engender violence, hate, crime before exploding in utter total chaos.
There is no greater assassin in a society than a corrupt person. There is no greater tyrant and greater criminal than an embezzler of public monies."
"My dear minister, do you know the name of the imbecile who said that money does not buy happiness?"
"No, Mr President"
"He must have been a Communist. A French comic was right when he said the unluckiest person on earth is the cosmonaut Yuri Gargarine. He went around the earth several times and landed back in the Soviet Union."
Money, today, is at the beginning and at the end of all happiness.
And my personal favourite: [talking about school in the colonial period]
"... I didn't go to because the priest who had built the school was thought to be crazy. He talked of a single God. Our parents thought he was mentally deranged because he kept his snot and his spittle in his pockets. Worse, he urinated in a hole in the middle of a hut"
Some quotes (my translation):
"If you don't want the people to contest you, there's only one thing: make sure the people are happy and gay. And for them to be happy, they have to dance and drink. Above all, drink. You must have a good drinks policy. Encourage the setting up of breweries."
"Do you need to have studied the Bolshevik or Chinese revolution to understand that societies filled with corruption, nepotism, tribalism, cronyism, etc are rotten and that sooner or later they will engender violence, hate, crime before exploding in utter total chaos.
There is no greater assassin in a society than a corrupt person. There is no greater tyrant and greater criminal than an embezzler of public monies."
"My dear minister, do you know the name of the imbecile who said that money does not buy happiness?"
"No, Mr President"
"He must have been a Communist. A French comic was right when he said the unluckiest person on earth is the cosmonaut Yuri Gargarine. He went around the earth several times and landed back in the Soviet Union."
Money, today, is at the beginning and at the end of all happiness.
And my personal favourite: [talking about school in the colonial period]
"... I didn't go to because the priest who had built the school was thought to be crazy. He talked of a single God. Our parents thought he was mentally deranged because he kept his snot and his spittle in his pockets. Worse, he urinated in a hole in the middle of a hut"
February 4, 2018
From the introduction we already know that the author Zongo a respected journalist, was tortured and later killed when his car was fire bombed by members of the then President of Burlington Farsi’s presidential guard.
For me this read almost like a farce or black comedy as it is so far removed from what I know as the norms of politics. But knowing that truth flows through it made it kind of heartbreaking as the cycle of oppression by a dictator resolves only to be seen to be beginning all over again.
Prescient as to his own fate it is also sadly relatable on the current climate.
For me this read almost like a farce or black comedy as it is so far removed from what I know as the norms of politics. But knowing that truth flows through it made it kind of heartbreaking as the cycle of oppression by a dictator resolves only to be seen to be beginning all over again.
Prescient as to his own fate it is also sadly relatable on the current climate.
February 18, 2021
Burkina Faso. I am beginning to think there are no happy, modern books from Africa. I might have to stick to folk tales. In this story, the dictator kills his enemies by sabotaging their parachutes. Then he rapes a 13 year old girl, kills some students, and steals the country’s foreign aid. After a coup, he suffers, but not nearly enough. I’m sure I am missing a lot due to translation, so I increased my rating to 2. I believe the author was murdered for writing this because the government found it subversive. Not a cheerful story.
November 15, 2023
This book was able to give small glimpses passing through the country of Burkina Faso but the vast majority was covering the inadequacies of its fearful leader. I appreciated the author’s ability to create such a whiny privileged and out of touch leader but can’t say I enjoyed reading about him. Despite meaningful connections to his previous people, he never came full circle. He was pulled towards riches and comfort as his only desire for leading his country. While he might feel differently, his timely death seemed like the only way to close the story.
January 12, 2018
In the fictitious country of Watinbow, a corrupt leader from hell plans a murder in order to suppress a potential coup.
This book is all the more poignant when you learn that the author was murdered in a car bombing by the government for his outspoken views on life in Burkina Faso.
« Une stratégie pour éliminer des traîtres ? C’est la meilleure. Pourquoi ne pas faire comme toujours, saboter leur voiture pendant le week-end. S’ils n’y meurent pas on les achèvera à l’hôpital. »
This book is all the more poignant when you learn that the author was murdered in a car bombing by the government for his outspoken views on life in Burkina Faso.
« Une stratégie pour éliminer des traîtres ? C’est la meilleure. Pourquoi ne pas faire comme toujours, saboter leur voiture pendant le week-end. S’ils n’y meurent pas on les achèvera à l’hôpital. »
March 8, 2019
Politisk satire fra Burkina Faso er ikke det, man støder på alleroftest. Måske fordi regimekritikere i landet har en lav overlevelsesrate. Således også også forfatteren og journalisten Norbert Zongo (1949-1998), som blev myrdet af det burkinske styre for sin kritiske journalistik.
Læs min anmeldelse af Zongos satiriske roman fra 1998, The Parachute Drop, på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/2019/03/08/norber...
Læs min anmeldelse af Zongos satiriske roman fra 1998, The Parachute Drop, på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/2019/03/08/norber...
February 6, 2021
Global Read Challenge 60: Burkina Faso
It is hard to separate this book from the life of the author Norbert Zongo, a Burkinabe journalist murdered by Blaise Compaoré. This book is an excellent satire with some really good biting moments. Of course the dictator is a little bit too broadly drawn, but the story is really good and it is well paced. It is incredible to imagine Zongo writing this, knowing there was a fair chance it would get him murdered.
It is hard to separate this book from the life of the author Norbert Zongo, a Burkinabe journalist murdered by Blaise Compaoré. This book is an excellent satire with some really good biting moments. Of course the dictator is a little bit too broadly drawn, but the story is really good and it is well paced. It is incredible to imagine Zongo writing this, knowing there was a fair chance it would get him murdered.
September 22, 2025
The book in my hand seemed to acquire a lot of weight suddenly. It transformed from just another book to an object of gravitas, something sacred. I stared, read and re-read those sentences over and over, trying to process their magnitude, internalize their true import. You see, I had just read this in the preface by the translator:
How can a review do justice to the words of someone who wielded the pen, knowing full well it will eventually kill him? Someone who was targeted by the gendarme in 1981 and labelled “a serious threat to the state” for writing the book I held in my very hands. Someone who in his own words learnt that day “the suicidal nature of all opposition, all protest in our land” but used that learning to strengthen his resolve to fight that corrupt power on behalf of the people of his land. The value of this man’s words is measured not just by the content, but by his life. How can I “review” this book? How can anyone?
So this is not a review. It is simply me doing my part to amplify this book’s voice in the world. Passing on a few of its lessons to those who will never read it, and sharing a part of my own experience in journeying through its pages.
Zongo’s The Parachute Drop is set in the fictional West African nation of Watinbow, ruled by a dictator “President” Gouama (As the gendarme realized from the manuscript in 1981, this is fictionalized Burkina Faso under Blaise Compaoré). The book is very unique and intriguing because Zongo writes with the voice of the oppressor and not the oppressed - i.e., the dictator Gouama is the central character from whose point of view the story unfolds. I wonder if the book came about as a result of Zongo’s attempt to really understand dictators by putting himself in their shoes.
Moderate spoilers follow:
The story arc starts with a glimpse at Gouama’s dictatorship - how he constantly worries about losing power, how he keeps his grip on the country by silencing dissenters, his opulent and corrupt life, his circle of sycophants. Local officials tell him what he wants to hear – that he is loved and beloved by the people, and show him what he wants to see - they clean the streets, put on a show of abundance, hide the squalor and struggle. The dictator has convinced himself that his staying in power is best for the country, after all, he is the reason the nation got freedom from the French. So Gouama lives a self-constructed lie, fueled by spineless officials and the self-serving French who still pull the strings, not as blatant colonizers but as the real decision makers behind the scenes (keep the leaders corrupt and under your thumb, get easy access to the country’s resources – simple really).
Things go wrong for Gouama when there is a military coup and he has to flee the capital with a trusted aide. He makes his way through his country, actually meeting its citizens, getting to know them, learning about their conditions first hand and hearing their ambivalence towards whoever rules the country (since it seems to rarely affect their lives) for the first time. We see hints of remorse and plans for some degree of restitution in the future building in his head.
But Gouama’s immediate concern is taking back power. His plan is to get to the neighboring country whose dictator he considers a good friend, get his help to access the plentiful money stashed away in an overseas bank account, and hire mercenaries to fight his military. Things don’t unfold the way he thinks, of course, largely thanks to the French who have in fact made the coup happen and instituted the new dictator.
The Parachute Drop is social commentary at every level – it is a meditation on dictatorship, blindness of power, and how even after independence, many nations find themselves at the mercy of other more powerful countries who still dictate who is in power and for how long. It is a journalists’ longing for a change, but also a resigned realization that it is probably never coming.
This book got me thinking about how critical the leaders of a young nation really are – the ones who really shape the national identity, build stability, stand up the systems of social and economic justice that endure long after they are gone. When I look at the nations around the world left behind by their colonizers, the ones that have endured and grown vs. the ones that have imploded into civil wars and coups seem to be separated only by this, the presence or absence of the moral, non-myopic few who shaped the everlasting destiny of the very many.
Reading context: Reading the world choice for Burkina Faso
Read as: Translated to English from French by Christopher Wise
Book format: Physical book, borrowed from the Stanford libraries
“In the Winter of 1997, Norbert Zongo offered a public lecture at the American Cultural Center, adjacent to the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. .. Zongo spoke in a quiet voice on the subject of journalistic freedom and responsibility. What struck me then was the calm with which he described the numerous attempts on his life, even joking he never rode the same automobile twice. The Burkinabé government’s favorite method of eliminating its political opponents was to attack its enemies in their cars.. Men who had offended Compaoré in far less serious ways had already been killed. .. A year or so later, Norbert Zongo was killed in a car bombing..”
How can a review do justice to the words of someone who wielded the pen, knowing full well it will eventually kill him? Someone who was targeted by the gendarme in 1981 and labelled “a serious threat to the state” for writing the book I held in my very hands. Someone who in his own words learnt that day “the suicidal nature of all opposition, all protest in our land” but used that learning to strengthen his resolve to fight that corrupt power on behalf of the people of his land. The value of this man’s words is measured not just by the content, but by his life. How can I “review” this book? How can anyone?
So this is not a review. It is simply me doing my part to amplify this book’s voice in the world. Passing on a few of its lessons to those who will never read it, and sharing a part of my own experience in journeying through its pages.
Zongo’s The Parachute Drop is set in the fictional West African nation of Watinbow, ruled by a dictator “President” Gouama (As the gendarme realized from the manuscript in 1981, this is fictionalized Burkina Faso under Blaise Compaoré). The book is very unique and intriguing because Zongo writes with the voice of the oppressor and not the oppressed - i.e., the dictator Gouama is the central character from whose point of view the story unfolds. I wonder if the book came about as a result of Zongo’s attempt to really understand dictators by putting himself in their shoes.
Moderate spoilers follow:
The story arc starts with a glimpse at Gouama’s dictatorship - how he constantly worries about losing power, how he keeps his grip on the country by silencing dissenters, his opulent and corrupt life, his circle of sycophants. Local officials tell him what he wants to hear – that he is loved and beloved by the people, and show him what he wants to see - they clean the streets, put on a show of abundance, hide the squalor and struggle. The dictator has convinced himself that his staying in power is best for the country, after all, he is the reason the nation got freedom from the French. So Gouama lives a self-constructed lie, fueled by spineless officials and the self-serving French who still pull the strings, not as blatant colonizers but as the real decision makers behind the scenes (keep the leaders corrupt and under your thumb, get easy access to the country’s resources – simple really).
Things go wrong for Gouama when there is a military coup and he has to flee the capital with a trusted aide. He makes his way through his country, actually meeting its citizens, getting to know them, learning about their conditions first hand and hearing their ambivalence towards whoever rules the country (since it seems to rarely affect their lives) for the first time. We see hints of remorse and plans for some degree of restitution in the future building in his head.
But Gouama’s immediate concern is taking back power. His plan is to get to the neighboring country whose dictator he considers a good friend, get his help to access the plentiful money stashed away in an overseas bank account, and hire mercenaries to fight his military. Things don’t unfold the way he thinks, of course, largely thanks to the French who have in fact made the coup happen and instituted the new dictator.
The Parachute Drop is social commentary at every level – it is a meditation on dictatorship, blindness of power, and how even after independence, many nations find themselves at the mercy of other more powerful countries who still dictate who is in power and for how long. It is a journalists’ longing for a change, but also a resigned realization that it is probably never coming.
This book got me thinking about how critical the leaders of a young nation really are – the ones who really shape the national identity, build stability, stand up the systems of social and economic justice that endure long after they are gone. When I look at the nations around the world left behind by their colonizers, the ones that have endured and grown vs. the ones that have imploded into civil wars and coups seem to be separated only by this, the presence or absence of the moral, non-myopic few who shaped the everlasting destiny of the very many.
Reading context: Reading the world choice for Burkina Faso
Read as: Translated to English from French by Christopher Wise
Book format: Physical book, borrowed from the Stanford libraries
May 27, 2022
Novel that depicts a corrupt leader of an African country and how he is overthrown, flees, experiences how regular people, tribes and people who have studied abroad live in his country. Finally he returns to the capital and the new president kills him. Interesting, shows his inability to form conclusions based on his experience thus demonstrating his stupidity.
June 22, 2024
This novel is more of a historical piece than a literary one. The prose and the crafting of the story isn't anything special. However it is intriguing to read an account of an African dictator written by a journalist who was later murdered by the regime of the dictator in his own country.
Want to read
October 20, 2023Burkina Faso
October 29, 2023
The story of one of the most disgusting dictators ends up with you unwillingly rooting for this piece of s*** to realize how his downfall is going to play out. Very good, not perfect.
April 8, 2024
Una denuncia política brutal que supuso el asesinato de su autor. Reseña completa aquí: https://200paises200libros.wordpress....
July 27, 2024
Excellent fable. Humorous but grave. A surprisingly entertaining read. But chilling in the light of the consequences for Zongo.
May 4, 2025
Reading Around World #131: Burkina Faso
May 21, 2025
Reading around the world: Burkina Faso
March 22, 2017
Brave writing. Disturbing imagery. Infuriating politics.
February 22, 2022
Yes, that Zongo was murdered by the regime he satirizes in this book adds a level of poignancy to the story, but sadly that does not make it a good novel.
June 14, 2015
Norbert Zongo was killed for his critique of the (Burkinabe) regime in his journalism and in this novel. The amount of greed and corruption is incredible. This story shows the fictitious leader President Gouama of the fictitious country Watinbow thinking he is maintaining his power by killing two men who work for him. In reality his advisors told him to kill these men because they wanted to take over. The novel shows the horrible cycle of corruption and shows coups d'etat to be futile because the power of the citizens is never theirs. Gouama thinks his president friend of the neighboring country will aid him, but in fact he has betrayed him.
There is a great passage about neocolonialism where "those who had the good fortune to be able to read and write, felt a tremendous hatred for our former colonizers. Such hatred was normal and justified we told ourselves. But the true source of this hatred has rarely been brought to light. What these elite few really hated was their own impotence, their own failures to advance within the colonialist government. They were envious men, and they were rarely taken seriously by the colonialist bourgeoisie. SO these men bided their time and waited for their revenge. ...They hated the colonizers because they themselves longed to lord over their own people as kings, to make slaves of their own people"(100).
Materialism is critiqued: "It is hardly a question of progress that a few Africans now drive about in a Mercedez...If Africa has 'progressed,' why is there no food for the poor?...It seems to me that the only thing that has 'progressed'has been Africa's foreign debt. No wait, the number of coup d'etats has also 'progressed,' I suppose"(110).
I loved the commentary on starting breweries and sports teams as a way of keeping the populance mindless! (129-130).Also the social critique of real terrorism "comes from London, Paris, and Washington. It is the terrorism of those who determine the value of our labor, of those who have never seen a coffee plant and yet fix the price of coffee on the market"(130-131).
There is a great passage about neocolonialism where "those who had the good fortune to be able to read and write, felt a tremendous hatred for our former colonizers. Such hatred was normal and justified we told ourselves. But the true source of this hatred has rarely been brought to light. What these elite few really hated was their own impotence, their own failures to advance within the colonialist government. They were envious men, and they were rarely taken seriously by the colonialist bourgeoisie. SO these men bided their time and waited for their revenge. ...They hated the colonizers because they themselves longed to lord over their own people as kings, to make slaves of their own people"(100).
Materialism is critiqued: "It is hardly a question of progress that a few Africans now drive about in a Mercedez...If Africa has 'progressed,' why is there no food for the poor?...It seems to me that the only thing that has 'progressed'has been Africa's foreign debt. No wait, the number of coup d'etats has also 'progressed,' I suppose"(110).
I loved the commentary on starting breweries and sports teams as a way of keeping the populance mindless! (129-130).Also the social critique of real terrorism "comes from London, Paris, and Washington. It is the terrorism of those who determine the value of our labor, of those who have never seen a coffee plant and yet fix the price of coffee on the market"(130-131).
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