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Pleasure

Nthikeng Mohlele

3.97 · Rating details · 30 ratings · 8 reviews

The notion of pleasure in all its guises is one of the oldest and most enduring grand themes of literature, presented here through the eyes and thoughts of writer and dreamer Milton Mohlele. Thoughtful, eccentric and besieged by the erotic and the sensual, the profane and the redemptive, Milton thinks and writes on pleasure as it is both experienced and imagined.

Drawn agai ...more

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Paperback, 208 pages

Published May 1st 2016 by Picador Africa (first published April 2015)

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Apr 16, 2018 Puleng Hopper rated it really liked it

Pleasure is an extensive but not exhaustive text that seeks to explore and interrogate the phenomenon that is Pleasure. To identify it, analyze and measure it . The verb and or noun pleasure , as imagined , dreamed and experienced. The author seeks to get to the bottom of the mysterious pleasure by relating a historical novel that covers World War 2 , and by narrating on the contradictions of present day Cape town, South Africa.

Through following the intriguing journeys of two characters, Moremi Pleasure is an extensive but not exhaustive text that seeks to explore and interrogate the phenomenon that is Pleasure. To identify it, analyze and measure it . The verb and or noun pleasure , as imagined , dreamed and experienced. The author seeks to get to the bottom of the mysterious pleasure by relating a historical novel that covers World War 2 , and by narrating on the contradictions of present day Cape town, South Africa.

Through following the intriguing journeys of two characters, Moremi , ( I resonated more with the name Moremi as opposed to Milton) , a writer and a professor residing in Cape Town; and Giovani Gomez, an imaginary American soldier captured in World War 2 by the Germans, Nthikeng seeks context , grasp, and understanding of the elusive and slippery pleasure. The lives of these two characters affords us numerous scenarios to ruminate, reflect, explore and dissect Pleasure in its varied forms.

In following Moremi's life, a good writer , living under his great author father’s shadow, we get to interrogate pleasure as experienced in Moremi’s various love encounters , in a state of wealth, in a state of poverty, in mental instability, homelessness, family , suicide and murder.

The book Pleasure is also a novel, a love story within love stories. We are let in on the platonic relationship between Giovani and Marie, wherein Giovani was subjected to experiencing Pleasure via observation and admiration of the woman form, amidst minimal communication. There is also the churchy and rigid relationship between Giovani and his wife Elisabeth.

Moremi , on the other hand. had relationships with four women, Orapeleng ,Masechaba, Abella, and Alexis . From varied experiences and personalities of these women Moremi mirrors his well-executed assertions and findings on pleasure .

Through experiences of twenty two year old Giovanni Gomez, his wife Elisabeth and his secret admirer, Marie Amsel, we are afforded the opportunity to further tackle Pleasure in a war zone. Gioviani epitomized that part of pleasure that we find amidst strife, solitude, fear, the mundane, longing, silence, uncertainty and death.
About sex and pleasure, Moremi opines on page 76
".... although carnal pleasure dominates human lives, it is by no means the only one. Yet it's powerful pull dictates this reality , that it is not the only one , thus reducing other pleasures to a small letter p"

The narration is multidimensional. It also incorporates insightful opinions on African literature, Christianity, love and history.

Nthikeng writes beautifully. He is academic, lyrical and sensual. He is accurately descriptive of the smallest of objects, inanimate and otherwise. For a male, he artistically and tastefully writes about women characters, their bodies , sexuality and disposition without butchering it. His writing is characterized by well punctuated long sentences; that required me as a reader, to lift myself up to his level. A well-researched project by all means.

What rings loud to me after reading the book is a response by Moremi to Achille on page 101
"No, you are not. If your counter view , and that of your Pan Africanist and nationalist for whom you have elected yourself spokesperson, is that Africans can only think and reflect on their own continent - in total isolation from world events - then you have lost your mind . I cannot accept Africans should not dream, or imagine themselves outside of only being Black and colonised and enslaved - as if the rest of the world is empty , and that everything that happen in it has nothing to do with them whatsoever ! That is demented scholarship , a very slippery ideological slope you are trying to climb..."
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May 06, 2020 iamtshepo rated it it was amazing

Required reading .... naughty things beautiful things ... funny things .... imaginative history and fantasy ... all things nice

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Sep 15, 2018 Sipho Lukhele rated it really liked it

If there is one book you need to approach with an open mind, it is this one. Just read it for Pleasure.

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Feb 28, 2019 Prince M rated it it was amazing

Inspiring

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Mar 21, 2018 Tilly Ngope added it

I just did not understand the content of it, one minute he is in Poland or Russia next with his ex wife . Honestly I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone

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Jun 17, 2018 Vuvu Vena rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2018

I will admit it was hard to get into the book at first. But once I got into the rhythm of it it was easy to fall in love with Mohlele's prose. Absolutely captivating. His navigation of the subject matter is also so insane and leaves you with a lot to ponder. ...more

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Jul 08, 2016 Lorraine rated it it was amazing

This was my first Nthikeng Mohlele book.

The man writes with fluidity. Words in motion. The prose alone was so emotive. So captivatingly beautific that I had to remind myself that a black man authored this book.

The beginning of the book tantalised all my 5 senses and more. I was transported into Milton's life by his rendition of his life with the three women. I was then catapulted into another realm by his experiences on Omaha Beach and nearly wept at his experiences as a POW, Giovanni Gomez.

His ...more

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May 10, 2019 Nelisiwe added it

If you are into literary writing, this book will deliver on just that!

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About Nthikeng Mohlele

Nthikeng Mohlele

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Nthikeng Mohlele was partly raised in Limpopo and Tembisa Township, and attended the University of the Witwatersrand, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Art, Publishing Studies and African Literature. He is the author of four critically acclaimed novels: The Scent of Bliss (2008), Small Things (2013), Rusty Bell (2014) and Pleasure (2016). Pleasure won the 2016 University of Johannes ...more