What do you think?
Rate this book
Because Sadness is Beautiful?
"Tanaka Chidora writes with the nerve and verve of firework displays in these poems. There is “a peace armed to the teeth” here, and over there “words are just fugitives scuttling away from the recognition of the reader.” Through this burst of iron vocabulary discipline, the poet suggests that even if sadness could be all we are left with, we still need to give sadness a try until it becomes beautiful, because sadness has always been beautiful, anyway." - Memory Chirere , University of Zimbabwe
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 15, 2022
A book club read that I enjoyed, have bookmarked favourites and will probably reread.
Page 1- there is a country whose main pre/occupation is to allocate sadness to its people. Looking at Zimbabwe and other African countries, that statement is fact. The government supposedly voted in by the people, to act for the people, does not reflect that in its actions. The reference to Dambudzo Marachera’s House of Hunger is a show of how though time has passed, not much has changed.
Tanaka makes connections to places, other authors and works which creates a sense of familiarity and living through the words he writes. ‘the things I carry’ speaks about our daily lives. All the responsibilities we have and life happening at any given moment, but we still have to keep going and show up. Show up to work, show up for family and friends. He so aptly describes feelings and emotions, the pain of trying to go the toilet after overindulging on guavas, so familiar. That was my childhood and that of many others. Even as an adult, that risk is still present if you put a plate of guavas in front of me.
There a harsh reminder of the protests by citizens and the corresponding response by the military and police. Cruelty to the very citizens they are meant to serve despite them suffering like the average person. ‘portrait of a policeman’s gumboot connecting with shrivelled buttocks’ takes me back to that very image published over and over again, heartbreaking.
Another favourite is the ‘The midnight preacher’ who ‘cursed his flock and left the apostles as executors of the curse’. So akin to Mugabe and his forced resignation leaving the country with his successors who are continuing his legacy of violence. ‘Asante Sana’.
Page 1- there is a country whose main pre/occupation is to allocate sadness to its people. Looking at Zimbabwe and other African countries, that statement is fact. The government supposedly voted in by the people, to act for the people, does not reflect that in its actions. The reference to Dambudzo Marachera’s House of Hunger is a show of how though time has passed, not much has changed.
Tanaka makes connections to places, other authors and works which creates a sense of familiarity and living through the words he writes. ‘the things I carry’ speaks about our daily lives. All the responsibilities we have and life happening at any given moment, but we still have to keep going and show up. Show up to work, show up for family and friends. He so aptly describes feelings and emotions, the pain of trying to go the toilet after overindulging on guavas, so familiar. That was my childhood and that of many others. Even as an adult, that risk is still present if you put a plate of guavas in front of me.
There a harsh reminder of the protests by citizens and the corresponding response by the military and police. Cruelty to the very citizens they are meant to serve despite them suffering like the average person. ‘portrait of a policeman’s gumboot connecting with shrivelled buttocks’ takes me back to that very image published over and over again, heartbreaking.
Another favourite is the ‘The midnight preacher’ who ‘cursed his flock and left the apostles as executors of the curse’. So akin to Mugabe and his forced resignation leaving the country with his successors who are continuing his legacy of violence. ‘Asante Sana’.
Displaying 1 of 1 review