What do you think?
Rate this book
A Grain of Wheat
Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952–1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested.
247 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
578 people are currently reading
18123 people want to read
About the author
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
107 books2,042 followersNgũgĩ wa Thiong'o was a Kenyan author and academic, who was described as East Africa's leading novelist.
He began writing in English before later switching to write primarily in Gikuyu, becoming a strong advocate for literature written in native African languages. His works include the celebrated novel The River Between, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He was the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright was translated into more than 100 languages.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation [that] produces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although his landmark play Ngaahika Ndeenda, co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening.
Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for more than a year. Adopted as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, he was released from prison and fled Kenya. He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine. He previously taught at Northwestern University, Yale University, and New York University. Ngũgĩ was frequently regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are authors Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ.
He began writing in English before later switching to write primarily in Gikuyu, becoming a strong advocate for literature written in native African languages. His works include the celebrated novel The River Between, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He was the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright was translated into more than 100 languages.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation [that] produces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although his landmark play Ngaahika Ndeenda, co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening.
Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for more than a year. Adopted as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, he was released from prison and fled Kenya. He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine. He previously taught at Northwestern University, Yale University, and New York University. Ngũgĩ was frequently regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are authors Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 656 reviews
February 19, 2019
This is not an easy book. It's awful and unsettling in so many ways.
I think that for me, the book is not about Uhuru/Kenyan independence, or even the fight for it. For me, the book is mostly about the horrific effects of colonialism on the people, not just the Africans, but mostly the Africans, but also the effects, in glimpses, of the African culture on the African people. (Or, rather, was that the traditional African culture, or how it became under the brutalization that was normalized under colonization?)
"Colonial" sounds almost pretty to an American in the 21st century. What colonialism was, was not pretty. Not by a long shot. It was brutal, in-humanizing, horrific, awful ... just a system of hollowing out whatever wealth was to be had, by whatever means, from whatever piece of ground was 'colonized'.
I wish I had known to pay attention to the characters in the beginning, and to realize that they'd reappear in very different incarnations later in the novel. What "The Emergency" (a dozen years of basically martial law - also known as the Mau Mau Uprising, or the Mau Mau Rebellion, or the Mau Mau Revolt - preceding Uhuru/Independence) did to the various characters in the novel, the ways in which it changed those that survived, is raw. Those who died, those who were sent to concentration/detention camps, those who ran from the villages to the forest to fight - to become freedom fighters, terrorists, a defending army, all of those things -, those who became turncoats - brutalizing in turn former peers -, those who were the authority ... everyone, everyone is affected.
Still hard to rate. As I began the novel, it didn't seem special. A one-star, a two? Past the halfway mark it was a five-star, at the end, I don't know.
It's not a fluffy or gentle read, that's for sure.
I think that for me, the book is not about Uhuru/Kenyan independence, or even the fight for it. For me, the book is mostly about the horrific effects of colonialism on the people, not just the Africans, but mostly the Africans, but also the effects, in glimpses, of the African culture on the African people. (Or, rather, was that the traditional African culture, or how it became under the brutalization that was normalized under colonization?)
"Colonial" sounds almost pretty to an American in the 21st century. What colonialism was, was not pretty. Not by a long shot. It was brutal, in-humanizing, horrific, awful ... just a system of hollowing out whatever wealth was to be had, by whatever means, from whatever piece of ground was 'colonized'.
I wish I had known to pay attention to the characters in the beginning, and to realize that they'd reappear in very different incarnations later in the novel. What "The Emergency" (a dozen years of basically martial law - also known as the Mau Mau Uprising, or the Mau Mau Rebellion, or the Mau Mau Revolt - preceding Uhuru/Independence) did to the various characters in the novel, the ways in which it changed those that survived, is raw. Those who died, those who were sent to concentration/detention camps, those who ran from the villages to the forest to fight - to become freedom fighters, terrorists, a defending army, all of those things -, those who became turncoats - brutalizing in turn former peers -, those who were the authority ... everyone, everyone is affected.
Still hard to rate. As I began the novel, it didn't seem special. A one-star, a two? Past the halfway mark it was a five-star, at the end, I don't know.
It's not a fluffy or gentle read, that's for sure.
Read
October 5, 2020
May 29, 2020
I have been wanting to read more of Ngũgĩ's work since reading his late magic realist epic Wizard of the Crow a couple of years ago. I have also read The River Between, but that was before I was reviewing anything. This book, which dates from fairly early in his career in 1967 but was revised in 1986, is a much straighter narrative and is no less powerful. It is something of a slow burner, as the scene setting and establishment of the main characters is a little slow, but much of the second half is riveting and very moving.
The setting is in Kenya, in the lead-up to and immediately after its independence (Uhuru) in 1963. The way Ngũgĩ sets up his tangled web of personal loyalties and betrayals is masterful, even if few of the characters emerge unstained.
The setting is in Kenya, in the lead-up to and immediately after its independence (Uhuru) in 1963. The way Ngũgĩ sets up his tangled web of personal loyalties and betrayals is masterful, even if few of the characters emerge unstained.
June 28, 2018
Geç kalmış bir kitapla karşı karşıyayız ve bu gecikme elbette Afrika’nın, kitap özelinde Kenya’nın geç uluslaşması ile doğru orantılı. Yazar da bu geç kalmışlığın farkında ama kader olan coğrafyadan kurtuluş yok.
Bir Buğday Tanesi, tarihsel olarak Kenya ulusal kurtuluş mücadelesinin en hararetli ve nihayetinde bağımsızlıkla sonuçlanan 1922 – 1963 yılları arasını kapsayan bir dönemde geçiyor. Karakterlerin anıları üzerinden geçmiş isyanlar hatırlansa da zaman aralığını İngiliz sömürgecilerin Ohal ilan ettiği 50’ler ve bağımsızlığın ilk günleri ile sınırlayabiliriz. Baş karakterlerimiz bu aralıkta yaşıyor, eyleme geçiyor, ya zafer ya ölüm ya da ihanete bulaşıyor.
Geç kalmışlığın iki yanı var; kitap Kenya’nın bağımsızlığını kazanmasından 4 yıl sonra, erken bir tarihte yazılıyor. Ancak yazarın haklı olarak dert edindiği meseler; isyan, kahramanlık, direniş, ihanet, sömürgecilik ve kazanılan zafer, tercih ettiği biçim ve roman formunda onlarca kez anlatılmış, yetkin örnekleri 19. Yüzyıl ve 20. Yüzyılın hemen başlarında toplumsal gerçekçi edebiyat konu olmuş durumlar. Yazar, kendi kişisel tarihinde temel olan bu dönemi anlatmak isterken bu geç kalmışlığın kendi de farkında ve kurgu içinde bunu aşmaya çalışmış, ne kadar becerdiği ise tartışılır. İkinci yanı ise 1967’de yazılan bu romanın 2013 gibi geç bir tarihte bize ulaşması. Bunları anlatmanın ne gereği var demiyorum elbette, sonuçta yazar kitapta geçen Mau Mau isyanında ailesini ve dostlarını yitirmiş ve zaten her ulusun bizim için olmasa da kendisi için bir kurucu anlatıya ihtiyacı var. O zaman şöyle diyelim, geç kaldığının farkında olan bir yazarın anlatmak zorunda olduğu bir kitap bu. Zorunluluğa saygı duyuyorum ama dili ve tercih ettiği biçim benim edebi zevklerimle pek uyuşmuyor bunu da söylemeden geçmeyeyim. Yine de pozitif ayrımcılık yaparak herkese önereceğim, Kenya’dan çıkmış kaç yazarla tanışacaksınız ki bu fani dünyada.
Bir de şuraya vurgu yapıp bitireyim; kitap bağımsızlık kutlaması ve bölge halkının direniş kahramanı Kihika’yı anmak için yapılacak bir toplantıya şehidin şahidi Mugo’nun konuşma yapmak için hareket tarafından çağrılması ile başlar. Mugo yerel dilde kahin- peygamber anlamına gelmektedir, kitap içinde görürüz ki bölge halkı da ona ve geçmişine mistik bir paye biçmektedir, malum kitleler her zaman kahraman- kurtarıcı beklemektedir. Yazar burada kendisi adeta bir kehanette bulunur, Kahraman isteyenler hainle karşılaşacak, Kenya’nın bağımsızlığı en baştan ihanetle gölgelenecektir. Bütün Afrika kurtuluş mücadeleleri ve geldikleri nokta düşünülünce yazarın bu okumasına şapka çıkarmamak elde değil. Bir şapka da Mumbi ( söylencelerdeki sembolik anne) karakteri üzerinden kadına verdiği değer için çıkartalım.
Sonuç olarak; ne işinize yarayacak bilmiyorum ama Franz Fanon okumadan ölmeyin.
Bir Buğday Tanesi, tarihsel olarak Kenya ulusal kurtuluş mücadelesinin en hararetli ve nihayetinde bağımsızlıkla sonuçlanan 1922 – 1963 yılları arasını kapsayan bir dönemde geçiyor. Karakterlerin anıları üzerinden geçmiş isyanlar hatırlansa da zaman aralığını İngiliz sömürgecilerin Ohal ilan ettiği 50’ler ve bağımsızlığın ilk günleri ile sınırlayabiliriz. Baş karakterlerimiz bu aralıkta yaşıyor, eyleme geçiyor, ya zafer ya ölüm ya da ihanete bulaşıyor.
Geç kalmışlığın iki yanı var; kitap Kenya’nın bağımsızlığını kazanmasından 4 yıl sonra, erken bir tarihte yazılıyor. Ancak yazarın haklı olarak dert edindiği meseler; isyan, kahramanlık, direniş, ihanet, sömürgecilik ve kazanılan zafer, tercih ettiği biçim ve roman formunda onlarca kez anlatılmış, yetkin örnekleri 19. Yüzyıl ve 20. Yüzyılın hemen başlarında toplumsal gerçekçi edebiyat konu olmuş durumlar. Yazar, kendi kişisel tarihinde temel olan bu dönemi anlatmak isterken bu geç kalmışlığın kendi de farkında ve kurgu içinde bunu aşmaya çalışmış, ne kadar becerdiği ise tartışılır. İkinci yanı ise 1967’de yazılan bu romanın 2013 gibi geç bir tarihte bize ulaşması. Bunları anlatmanın ne gereği var demiyorum elbette, sonuçta yazar kitapta geçen Mau Mau isyanında ailesini ve dostlarını yitirmiş ve zaten her ulusun bizim için olmasa da kendisi için bir kurucu anlatıya ihtiyacı var. O zaman şöyle diyelim, geç kaldığının farkında olan bir yazarın anlatmak zorunda olduğu bir kitap bu. Zorunluluğa saygı duyuyorum ama dili ve tercih ettiği biçim benim edebi zevklerimle pek uyuşmuyor bunu da söylemeden geçmeyeyim. Yine de pozitif ayrımcılık yaparak herkese önereceğim, Kenya’dan çıkmış kaç yazarla tanışacaksınız ki bu fani dünyada.
Bir de şuraya vurgu yapıp bitireyim; kitap bağımsızlık kutlaması ve bölge halkının direniş kahramanı Kihika’yı anmak için yapılacak bir toplantıya şehidin şahidi Mugo’nun konuşma yapmak için hareket tarafından çağrılması ile başlar. Mugo yerel dilde kahin- peygamber anlamına gelmektedir, kitap içinde görürüz ki bölge halkı da ona ve geçmişine mistik bir paye biçmektedir, malum kitleler her zaman kahraman- kurtarıcı beklemektedir. Yazar burada kendisi adeta bir kehanette bulunur, Kahraman isteyenler hainle karşılaşacak, Kenya’nın bağımsızlığı en baştan ihanetle gölgelenecektir. Bütün Afrika kurtuluş mücadeleleri ve geldikleri nokta düşünülünce yazarın bu okumasına şapka çıkarmamak elde değil. Bir şapka da Mumbi ( söylencelerdeki sembolik anne) karakteri üzerinden kadına verdiği değer için çıkartalım.
Sonuç olarak; ne işinize yarayacak bilmiyorum ama Franz Fanon okumadan ölmeyin.
January 28, 2014
A Grain of Wheat centres a political narrative about the struggle for independence and liberation in Kenya; about rebellion against British imperialism, and on this level it is searing, laying bare the injustice from the point of view of a richly varied cast of rural Kenyan people. Ngugi draws on Conrad to nuance the idealistic, but cold and inhuman character of the white DO, Thompson. He gives space to the character of each of the people in the village, revealing their motives in all their ambiguity and mystery.
The book shifts its tone from the magnified detail of the psychological novel to the broader framing of folk-anecdote and the rhythmic transmission of oral tradition, addressing the reader as an unidentified 'I', encompassing the village and sinking, a polymorphous identity, into the crowd. This innovative fluidity is refreshing to my spirit and allows an unusually rich and multifaceted emotional resonance to build. Often phlegmatic, the narrative gathers force and power as it patiently traces each person's tributary of recall to the communal estuary.
The book shifts its tone from the magnified detail of the psychological novel to the broader framing of folk-anecdote and the rhythmic transmission of oral tradition, addressing the reader as an unidentified 'I', encompassing the village and sinking, a polymorphous identity, into the crowd. This innovative fluidity is refreshing to my spirit and allows an unusually rich and multifaceted emotional resonance to build. Often phlegmatic, the narrative gathers force and power as it patiently traces each person's tributary of recall to the communal estuary.
June 14, 2018
Bu coğrafyadan okuduğum ilk edebi eser sanırım buydu. Afrika, Kenya, Hindistan gibi coğrafyalarda yıllardır hangi majör kovboyların at koşturduğunu malûm duyup, okuyoruz.
Sömürgenin 1800'lerden beri nasıl teknik ve boyut değiştirdiğine de çok güzel bir örnek kitap olmuş aslında. Kitabı farklılaştıran sanırım konusu değil çünkü bu konu farklı coğrafyalarda darbe, içsavaş, terör gibi farklı yüzleriyle çokça edebiyat, sinema gibi sanatın duyarıyla bizi yüzyüze getirdi.
Kitabı ve konuyu farklı kılan karakterlerin samimi anlatımı, aile ilişkilerinin, ihanetin işlenişi, sömürge gibi büyük başlığın yanında detay kalmadan aktarılması sanırım.
Saygılar.
August 8, 2022
Maybe 4.5, maybe 5 - I need to ponder more. This was a fascinating and really powerful read with some fantastic characters and moment. I'd highly recommend it.
October 3, 2022
So good!💘 Still thinking about this incredible book days later. Masterful writing, crisp and beautiful. I first read this years ago in high school, and I remember loving it so much, but there’s so much I missed I reckon now. So much that’s in between the lines, the naming of the characters, the empathy, the descriptions, so much more. I could see them now, and it’s made me appreciate this work of art infinitely more! Thank goodness for the insight that comes with age!
Mugo is hands down one of my favourite human beings, yes I know he exists somewhere in the “real world”. He’s alive, I can feel it! Gikonyo and Mumbi, Oh man!
I wish there was more, another book, two more… I need more…
This book feels like home. And Ngugi wa Thiong’o? Yes I am for sure going to read all his books. This one I’ll be reading again and again! So many many times!
5 superb stars!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mugo is hands down one of my favourite human beings, yes I know he exists somewhere in the “real world”. He’s alive, I can feel it! Gikonyo and Mumbi, Oh man!
I wish there was more, another book, two more… I need more…
This book feels like home. And Ngugi wa Thiong’o? Yes I am for sure going to read all his books. This one I’ll be reading again and again! So many many times!
5 superb stars!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
August 13, 2013
Uhuru is a Swahili word that means freedom. It is a rallying cry for freedom fighters and the name given to the day when Kenya became an independent country in 1963. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o takes a magnifying glass to the feelings, motives and consciences of people caught up in the events leading up to Uhuru. Viewed from a distance of years and oceans, the lead-up to independence and ultimate triumph over the colonialists is unequivocally a time of celebration for Kenyans. Thiong'o dashes this picturesque vision with images of grief-stricken mothers, of relationships thwarted by war and women selling their bodies for the price of a loaf of bread, of the weight of betrayal wrung by the instinct of self-preservation and the gulf that can open between two people caught in the cyclone of events whirling during the Emergency years.
Even heroes have their secrets, and the resolve of the strong can be weakened in manifold ways. In the honest words of one freedom fighter, "Many of us talked like that because we wanted to deceive ourselves. It lessens your shame. We talked of loyalty to the movement and the love of our country. You know a time came when I did not care about Uhuru for the country any more. I just wanted to come home. And I would have sold Kenya to the whiteman to buy my own freedom."
The inner lives of the villagers of the fictional town of Thabai are strung through with political tension. Thiong'o constructs his story slowly, weaving back and forth through different storylines, visiting different time periods and peopling different huts. The momentum builds as the day of Uhuru dawns and the murky events of the preceding years are gradually drawn into sharper focus, with all the suspense of a thriller that is magnificently captured by a long-distance race on the morning of Independence.
There is a cloud that hangs over the novel, one that has yet to dissipate in the intervening decades. The men who turned their backs on the movement to lick the heels of the whiteman were not brought to justice, but were the first to benefit from a Kenya owned by the black man. If I speak in black-and-white terms, it is to match Thiong'o's own unflinchingly caustic portrayal of all the white colonialists that pass through his pages. I have not done the research myself, but the ongoing political corruption that plagues Kenya stands to back his claims, and casts another shadow on the celebrations that should accompany the freedom of any nation. A Grain of Wheat was of biting relevance at the time of its publication in 1967, and the questions it provokes resonate up to the present time. What is Uhuru, and did Thiong'o's characters truly attain it? Is Kenya a free and independent nation?
Even heroes have their secrets, and the resolve of the strong can be weakened in manifold ways. In the honest words of one freedom fighter, "Many of us talked like that because we wanted to deceive ourselves. It lessens your shame. We talked of loyalty to the movement and the love of our country. You know a time came when I did not care about Uhuru for the country any more. I just wanted to come home. And I would have sold Kenya to the whiteman to buy my own freedom."
The inner lives of the villagers of the fictional town of Thabai are strung through with political tension. Thiong'o constructs his story slowly, weaving back and forth through different storylines, visiting different time periods and peopling different huts. The momentum builds as the day of Uhuru dawns and the murky events of the preceding years are gradually drawn into sharper focus, with all the suspense of a thriller that is magnificently captured by a long-distance race on the morning of Independence.
There is a cloud that hangs over the novel, one that has yet to dissipate in the intervening decades. The men who turned their backs on the movement to lick the heels of the whiteman were not brought to justice, but were the first to benefit from a Kenya owned by the black man. If I speak in black-and-white terms, it is to match Thiong'o's own unflinchingly caustic portrayal of all the white colonialists that pass through his pages. I have not done the research myself, but the ongoing political corruption that plagues Kenya stands to back his claims, and casts another shadow on the celebrations that should accompany the freedom of any nation. A Grain of Wheat was of biting relevance at the time of its publication in 1967, and the questions it provokes resonate up to the present time. What is Uhuru, and did Thiong'o's characters truly attain it? Is Kenya a free and independent nation?
June 2, 2025
Two Hearts
(are better than one?)
I could start with two quotes, words spoken by two characters in very different dialogues:
«Which of us does not carry a weight in the heart?»
And:
«Strike terror in the heart of the oppressor.»
A Grain of Wheat, 1967: we are just a few years from the end of colonial rule (the day of proclamation of the independence of Kenya is December 12, 1963) and there is nothing celebratory about it.
Indeed, the dominant theme of the book is betrayal, ubiquitous in all its meanings and ramifications.
And, with betrayal, existential solitude, involving everyone (even whites): the consequence of frustrated aspirations to communion with the others («a time will come when you too will know that every man in the world is alone, and fights alone, to live», a character says).
But all this connects to the need for revolt, to fragments of mythical tales of struggles, to a strong bond with the land.
Who tells the story? It's not explicitly stated, but at times it feels as though the narrator is one of the locals, an anonymous spokesman for the community: «Most of us from Thabai»; «In our village»...
We are in a rural area of Kenya, inhabited by Gikuyu (the name remainds me vague memories of Out of Africa by Karen Blixen...). There is no direct description, but from the songs and proverbs mentioned we can reconstruct a mythical past: an original matriarchy and the subsequent rebellion of men, who agree to put all women pregnant and take power during the pregnancy's weakness.
Very important is the interlacing of times, at the beginning obviously confusing but then fascinating; and in the end fairly clear.
The glorious and terrible moment of revolt, the conquest of independence, is already in the past. And it is not only a bright past (treachery was already present, with suffering, prison, detention camps, violence). The present is much more prosaic and, above all, is full of wounds.
Actually, the present is not the time when things happen. Mostly, it seems to be an opportunity to bring out the main narrative, as a screen where is projected - already distanced - the past, recent and less recent.
So the true narrative is almost all retrospective, it emerges progressively, at different times and with different points of view. Sometimes, in some more legendary fragments, going back to the first steps of a liberation movement in the 1920s.
There is a frequent presence, in English, of local words, from "Uhuru", the swahili word meaning freedom, in particular the political independence of Kenya that is being achieved. And then: "shamba", "jembe", "panga" and so on (in the seventies Ngugi will go directly to writing in African languages).
The main characters (Mugo, Gikonyo, Karanja...) have all a difficult present and a richer past (if they are not already dead as Kihika, the hero of freedom).
The importance of Mumbi, who bears the name of the first woman according to the myths of the Gikuyu origins, emerges in particular; she therefore represents the woman par excellence, linked to the protagonists of the liberation movement and disputed by several men.
The interior division does not lack on the other side: even characters who have played a role as repressor and torturer to defeat rebels had a noble vision of the British Empire as «one British nation, emracing peoples of all colours and creeds, based on the just proposition that all men are created equal».
Among Kenyan fighters, instead, the models of freedom can be the Russians like Gandhi and Lincoln, who «had been executed by the British for leading the black folk in America into a revolt» and Napoleon, «one of the biggest warriors in history» whose voice alone «made the British urinate and shit on their calves inside their houses.»
But the vision of the hero Kihika is always nourished by the Bible (in particular, of course, Exodus): «a people united in faith are stronger than the bomb».
All this past and the wounds it left, the hopes of social and personal changes: everything is dancing around the few days of preparation and feast for independence.
«It was not a happy feeling; it was more a disturbing sense of an inevitable doom», but some hope of recovery in the relationship torn can be cautiously expanded to a more general view.
[I have read the Penguin African Writers edition, with an introduction by Abdulrazak Gurnah. I believe it is the version revised in 1987; but how big were the changes? There is no precise information.]
[given the keyword of the book, a possible anachronistic soundtrack would be this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wWiS...]
[nel 2017, cinquantenario della prima edizione, è stata ristampata anche una traduzione italiana, ma l'ho solo presa in mano senza leggerla]
(are better than one?)
I could start with two quotes, words spoken by two characters in very different dialogues:
«Which of us does not carry a weight in the heart?»
And:
«Strike terror in the heart of the oppressor.»
A Grain of Wheat, 1967: we are just a few years from the end of colonial rule (the day of proclamation of the independence of Kenya is December 12, 1963) and there is nothing celebratory about it.
Indeed, the dominant theme of the book is betrayal, ubiquitous in all its meanings and ramifications.
And, with betrayal, existential solitude, involving everyone (even whites): the consequence of frustrated aspirations to communion with the others («a time will come when you too will know that every man in the world is alone, and fights alone, to live», a character says).
But all this connects to the need for revolt, to fragments of mythical tales of struggles, to a strong bond with the land.
Who tells the story? It's not explicitly stated, but at times it feels as though the narrator is one of the locals, an anonymous spokesman for the community: «Most of us from Thabai»; «In our village»...
We are in a rural area of Kenya, inhabited by Gikuyu (the name remainds me vague memories of Out of Africa by Karen Blixen...). There is no direct description, but from the songs and proverbs mentioned we can reconstruct a mythical past: an original matriarchy and the subsequent rebellion of men, who agree to put all women pregnant and take power during the pregnancy's weakness.
Very important is the interlacing of times, at the beginning obviously confusing but then fascinating; and in the end fairly clear.
The glorious and terrible moment of revolt, the conquest of independence, is already in the past. And it is not only a bright past (treachery was already present, with suffering, prison, detention camps, violence). The present is much more prosaic and, above all, is full of wounds.
Actually, the present is not the time when things happen. Mostly, it seems to be an opportunity to bring out the main narrative, as a screen where is projected - already distanced - the past, recent and less recent.
So the true narrative is almost all retrospective, it emerges progressively, at different times and with different points of view. Sometimes, in some more legendary fragments, going back to the first steps of a liberation movement in the 1920s.
There is a frequent presence, in English, of local words, from "Uhuru", the swahili word meaning freedom, in particular the political independence of Kenya that is being achieved. And then: "shamba", "jembe", "panga" and so on (in the seventies Ngugi will go directly to writing in African languages).
The main characters (Mugo, Gikonyo, Karanja...) have all a difficult present and a richer past (if they are not already dead as Kihika, the hero of freedom).
The importance of Mumbi, who bears the name of the first woman according to the myths of the Gikuyu origins, emerges in particular; she therefore represents the woman par excellence, linked to the protagonists of the liberation movement and disputed by several men.
The interior division does not lack on the other side: even characters who have played a role as repressor and torturer to defeat rebels had a noble vision of the British Empire as «one British nation, emracing peoples of all colours and creeds, based on the just proposition that all men are created equal».
Among Kenyan fighters, instead, the models of freedom can be the Russians like Gandhi and Lincoln, who «had been executed by the British for leading the black folk in America into a revolt» and Napoleon, «one of the biggest warriors in history» whose voice alone «made the British urinate and shit on their calves inside their houses.»
But the vision of the hero Kihika is always nourished by the Bible (in particular, of course, Exodus): «a people united in faith are stronger than the bomb».
All this past and the wounds it left, the hopes of social and personal changes: everything is dancing around the few days of preparation and feast for independence.
«It was not a happy feeling; it was more a disturbing sense of an inevitable doom», but some hope of recovery in the relationship torn can be cautiously expanded to a more general view.
[I have read the Penguin African Writers edition, with an introduction by Abdulrazak Gurnah. I believe it is the version revised in 1987; but how big were the changes? There is no precise information.]
[given the keyword of the book, a possible anachronistic soundtrack would be this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wWiS...]
[nel 2017, cinquantenario della prima edizione, è stata ristampata anche una traduzione italiana, ma l'ho solo presa in mano senza leggerla]
January 27, 2014
كلما أبحرت أكثر في الأدب الأفريقي، كلما تأكدت أكثر من أنه يخبئ النفائس بين حروفه، وكلما ازددت حبا لقراءة المزيد منه
وهذه رواية تستحق القراءة، أبدع فيها أنغوجي بطريقة سرده للأحداث، فأمتعنا بمراوحته بين الماضي والحاضر، وبين مشاهد يتركها هنيهة ليعود ويركز الضوء عليها ثانية، مصورا إياها بعدسة سينيمائي مبدع، في مشاهد تخلو من الترتيب الزمني التقليدي أو السرد العادي...متصاعدا بالسرد ليرتب قطع الأحجية فتتضح الصورة أكثر فأكثر مع كل مشهد...متغلغلا لعمق الشخوص وخبايا نفوسهم فيكشف عما خفي منهم
أنغوجي الذي عاد لاسمه الأفريقي في محاولة منه للتبرأ من عقدة الغربي، بعد عودته من بريطانيا، ليلتصق بتراب إفريقيا وثقافتها وتراثها، بعيدا عن مخلفات الاستعمار النفسية والمادية والتي غرسها المستعمر قبل مغادرته أرضها، ليهدم وراءه إرثا حضاريا وثقافيا عظيما...يرسم واقعا كينيا عاشت فيه كينيا تحت الاستعمار حتى تحررت منه.
أحببت العنوان الذي أطلقه أنغوجي على روايته وكان له أثر في تتبع أحداثها لفهم العلاقة بينهما
"يقينا أبلغكم يقينا، دعوا حبة قمح
تسقط في الأرض وتموت
قد تبقى وحيدة: ولكنها إن ماتت فإنها تعطي غلالا وفيرة"
إنها "الأمل" بمستقبل مختلف بعد الاستقلال...حبة القمح التي وإن ماتت فإنها ستمنح غلالا وفيرة...فتموت لتحيي غيرها
الرواية أفريقية ليس لأن أحداثها تدور في البيئة الأفريقية ولا لأن شخوصها كذلك...ولكنها أيضا تعالج موضوعا مؤرقا يعاني منه كل أفريقي، نتيجة النظرة التي حرص الاستعمار على انتشارها عن أهلها وطبيعة حياتهم وطريقة تفكيرهم، حتى يظن البعض أن الشعوب الأفريقية لا حضارة لها، وأن المستعمر أنعم عليها بالحضارة والثقافة
فالرجل الأبيض الذي أوهم الأفريقيين أنه قادم إليهم بطهر الأنبياء، وإرادة الرب، ما لبث أن استولى على الأرض ليقيم عليها مؤسساته الاستعمارية والتبشيرية، بدون وجه حق
" لا حظ الناس خلال فترة قصيرة أن الرجل الأبيض حصل تدريجياً وبطريقة خفية على المزيد من الأرض لتلبية الحاجات المتزايدة لمركزه. لقد هدم الكوخ وأقام بنايات ثابتة. اعترض الشيوخ الملتصقون بالأرض نظروا إلى ما وراء الوجه الضاحك للرجل الأبيض وشاهدوا صفّاً من الغرباء الحمر الذين لا يحملون الإنجيل، بل السيف. "
تتركز الأحداث في قرية "ثاباي" التي عاش فيها "موغو" و "جيكونيو" و "مومبي" زوجته وأخت "كيهيكا"...الذي عرف بآرائه ومواقفة المناهضة للاستعمار، والذي اتخذ غاندي نموذجا له، وقد منحه أنغوجي مساحة واسعة من الأحداث، فعرفنا على نشأته وتأثره بـحكايات "واروي" منذ صغره، لما كان يستمع منه لما حدث إثر دخول المستعمر لبلده، ليكبر ويقود حركة "الماماو" في "ثاباي"...ويغتال "روبسن"0
ومن خلال سير الأحداث يوضح أنغوجي موقف الناس من الثورة ضد الاستعمار، فمنهم من ثار ضده ومنهم من استسلم للواقع ومنهم من رضيه طمعا في مكتسبات يحققها له...ومنهم من كان جاسوسا خائنا ارتدى ثوب النضال ليكشف للمستعمر عن أصدقائه ويوقعهم في شركه
فـ "مومبي" الجميلة التي يتمنى الكل القرب منها، لا يظفر بها إلا جيكونيو المناضل، أما "جرانكا" الذي انضم لفيلق الاستعمار فيغتصبها بعد أن منحه الاستعمار منصب مختار القرية....و"موغو" الذي عرف الناس بطولته، تظهر حقيقته للعلن لما طلب منه أن يكتب خطابا يكرم فيه أبطال الاستقلال لأنه رفيق "كيهيكا" في النضال...ليكشف عن خيانته ل "كيهيكا" بأن دلهم على مكان اختبائه ليعتقلوه ويعدموه، فتهتز صورة البطل
أنغوجي أبدع بما منحه لشخوصه من تفاصيل ترسم حدود شخصياتهم بما يخدم فكرته...وأبدع في المساحة التي منحها لكل منهم...وفي سبر أغوار شخوصه ليكشف عن الجانب النفسي منهم...وقد ظهر هذا جليا في معالجته لحكاية خيانة "موغو" لصديقه، الذي حاول تبرير خيانته...في حين كان الدافع الأساسي لفعلته غيرته وحقده وضغينة أكنها لـ "كيهيكا"0
" قرر موغو أنها الغيرة حين لم يجد جواباً عن سؤاله. قاده التفكير إلى كرهه القديم لكيهيكا. قوي الكُرهُ الآن حتى غاص به. كيهيكا الذي يمتلك أباً وأماً واختاً استطاع أن يلعب بالموت. إنّ له ناساً يحزنون عليه ويسمي آخرون أطفالهم باسمه كي يبقى اسم كيهيكا يتردد على شفاههم. إن كيهيكا يملك كل شيء وموغو لا يملك أي شيء"
عالج أنغوجي كذلك جانبا مهما لما أفرد مساحة للمستعمر بكافة شرائحه، فمنهم من جاء لكينيا ليتمتع بامتيازات، ومنهم من مارس سطوته وقسوته بلا حدود، ومنهم الذي جاء رغبة بالعمل وأبدى تعاطفا مع الشعب المقهور
أحببت الخاتمة التي جمعت شمل العائلة في إيحاء من أنغوجي لبدء حياة جديدة، الأسرة نواتها...وأفريقيا منتهاها
وهذه رواية تستحق القراءة، أبدع فيها أنغوجي بطريقة سرده للأحداث، فأمتعنا بمراوحته بين الماضي والحاضر، وبين مشاهد يتركها هنيهة ليعود ويركز الضوء عليها ثانية، مصورا إياها بعدسة سينيمائي مبدع، في مشاهد تخلو من الترتيب الزمني التقليدي أو السرد العادي...متصاعدا بالسرد ليرتب قطع الأحجية فتتضح الصورة أكثر فأكثر مع كل مشهد...متغلغلا لعمق الشخوص وخبايا نفوسهم فيكشف عما خفي منهم
أنغوجي الذي عاد لاسمه الأفريقي في محاولة منه للتبرأ من عقدة الغربي، بعد عودته من بريطانيا، ليلتصق بتراب إفريقيا وثقافتها وتراثها، بعيدا عن مخلفات الاستعمار النفسية والمادية والتي غرسها المستعمر قبل مغادرته أرضها، ليهدم وراءه إرثا حضاريا وثقافيا عظيما...يرسم واقعا كينيا عاشت فيه كينيا تحت الاستعمار حتى تحررت منه.
أحببت العنوان الذي أطلقه أنغوجي على روايته وكان له أثر في تتبع أحداثها لفهم العلاقة بينهما
"يقينا أبلغكم يقينا، دعوا حبة قمح
تسقط في الأرض وتموت
قد تبقى وحيدة: ولكنها إن ماتت فإنها تعطي غلالا وفيرة"
إنها "الأمل" بمستقبل مختلف بعد الاستقلال...حبة القمح التي وإن ماتت فإنها ستمنح غلالا وفيرة...فتموت لتحيي غيرها
الرواية أفريقية ليس لأن أحداثها تدور في البيئة الأفريقية ولا لأن شخوصها كذلك...ولكنها أيضا تعالج موضوعا مؤرقا يعاني منه كل أفريقي، نتيجة النظرة التي حرص الاستعمار على انتشارها عن أهلها وطبيعة حياتهم وطريقة تفكيرهم، حتى يظن البعض أن الشعوب الأفريقية لا حضارة لها، وأن المستعمر أنعم عليها بالحضارة والثقافة
فالرجل الأبيض الذي أوهم الأفريقيين أنه قادم إليهم بطهر الأنبياء، وإرادة الرب، ما لبث أن استولى على الأرض ليقيم عليها مؤسساته الاستعمارية والتبشيرية، بدون وجه حق
" لا حظ الناس خلال فترة قصيرة أن الرجل الأبيض حصل تدريجياً وبطريقة خفية على المزيد من الأرض لتلبية الحاجات المتزايدة لمركزه. لقد هدم الكوخ وأقام بنايات ثابتة. اعترض الشيوخ الملتصقون بالأرض نظروا إلى ما وراء الوجه الضاحك للرجل الأبيض وشاهدوا صفّاً من الغرباء الحمر الذين لا يحملون الإنجيل، بل السيف. "
تتركز الأحداث في قرية "ثاباي" التي عاش فيها "موغو" و "جيكونيو" و "مومبي" زوجته وأخت "كيهيكا"...الذي عرف بآرائه ومواقفة المناهضة للاستعمار، والذي اتخذ غاندي نموذجا له، وقد منحه أنغوجي مساحة واسعة من الأحداث، فعرفنا على نشأته وتأثره بـحكايات "واروي" منذ صغره، لما كان يستمع منه لما حدث إثر دخول المستعمر لبلده، ليكبر ويقود حركة "الماماو" في "ثاباي"...ويغتال "روبسن"0
ومن خلال سير الأحداث يوضح أنغوجي موقف الناس من الثورة ضد الاستعمار، فمنهم من ثار ضده ومنهم من استسلم للواقع ومنهم من رضيه طمعا في مكتسبات يحققها له...ومنهم من كان جاسوسا خائنا ارتدى ثوب النضال ليكشف للمستعمر عن أصدقائه ويوقعهم في شركه
فـ "مومبي" الجميلة التي يتمنى الكل القرب منها، لا يظفر بها إلا جيكونيو المناضل، أما "جرانكا" الذي انضم لفيلق الاستعمار فيغتصبها بعد أن منحه الاستعمار منصب مختار القرية....و"موغو" الذي عرف الناس بطولته، تظهر حقيقته للعلن لما طلب منه أن يكتب خطابا يكرم فيه أبطال الاستقلال لأنه رفيق "كيهيكا" في النضال...ليكشف عن خيانته ل "كيهيكا" بأن دلهم على مكان اختبائه ليعتقلوه ويعدموه، فتهتز صورة البطل
أنغوجي أبدع بما منحه لشخوصه من تفاصيل ترسم حدود شخصياتهم بما يخدم فكرته...وأبدع في المساحة التي منحها لكل منهم...وفي سبر أغوار شخوصه ليكشف عن الجانب النفسي منهم...وقد ظهر هذا جليا في معالجته لحكاية خيانة "موغو" لصديقه، الذي حاول تبرير خيانته...في حين كان الدافع الأساسي لفعلته غيرته وحقده وضغينة أكنها لـ "كيهيكا"0
" قرر موغو أنها الغيرة حين لم يجد جواباً عن سؤاله. قاده التفكير إلى كرهه القديم لكيهيكا. قوي الكُرهُ الآن حتى غاص به. كيهيكا الذي يمتلك أباً وأماً واختاً استطاع أن يلعب بالموت. إنّ له ناساً يحزنون عليه ويسمي آخرون أطفالهم باسمه كي يبقى اسم كيهيكا يتردد على شفاههم. إن كيهيكا يملك كل شيء وموغو لا يملك أي شيء"
عالج أنغوجي كذلك جانبا مهما لما أفرد مساحة للمستعمر بكافة شرائحه، فمنهم من جاء لكينيا ليتمتع بامتيازات، ومنهم من مارس سطوته وقسوته بلا حدود، ومنهم الذي جاء رغبة بالعمل وأبدى تعاطفا مع الشعب المقهور
أحببت الخاتمة التي جمعت شمل العائلة في إيحاء من أنغوجي لبدء حياة جديدة، الأسرة نواتها...وأفريقيا منتهاها
May 3, 2017
Frederick Jameson üçüncü dünyanın romanının bir toplumsal alegori olduğunu söylüyormuş. Jameson'ın bu tespiti şarkiyatçı anlayışın üçüncü dünya ile ilgili toptancı mantığı şeklinde suçlansa dahi yanlışlanması zor. Alegorik olmaktan başka çaresi de yoktur belki de söz konusu dünyanın romanının. Mesela bu romanın yazıldığı dönemde kıta Afrika'sının insanları henüz insan olduklarını bile kabul ettirememişler.
Read
August 2, 2019
AFRICAN BOOKS MARATHON
BOOK: 4
TITLE: A Grain of Wheat
AUTHOR: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
COUNTRY: Kenya
This was not an easy novel. The exchange between the present and the past was (mainly at the beginning) confusing, but you get used to it as the novel progress. The same goes with the names. You don't know if Mumbi is a woman or a man, or if Karanja is a she or a he. But you get used to it as well.
The present time of A Grain of Wheat takes place in the 4 days before Kenya's independence from the British Empire in December 1963.
The past time takes place during the Emergency in the 1950's during the Mau Mau rebellion against the European settlers. The past time is almost equal in length (if not longer) from the present.
The Characters:
Kihika: the hero, the fighter, the one that sacrifices himself for the good of his people.
Mumbi: his sister wife of Gikonyo, the beauty of the village.
Gikonyo: was detained in concentration camps during the emergency, and upon his release something makes him estranged from his beloved wife, Mumbi.
Mugo: the quiet, seclusive hero of the village who saved a pregnant woman from whipping and was tortured in result. He holds a terrible secret.
Karanja: A rival of Gikonyo, in love with Mumbi, he is the friend of the colonialists, in order to save his own hide.
DO Thompson: A caricature of the British imperialism: a savage, inhuman white-man, that his aim is to eliminate the brutes. The irony (if it's possible to be applied here) is that he, the European, cultured, western man is more savage and inhuman than the people of Africa that Europeans always (simplistically) perceived as the savages of the jungle.
Myself, even though not a Kenyan, I saw similarities of Kenya's revolt of the Mau-Mau, with Cyprus' revolt of EOKA against the same enemy, the British Empire, both revolts happened in the 1950's. Concentration camps (my late great uncle had an experience of this), hangings, traitors, searches in houses, independence. . .
As with Cyprus, the heroes are about to experience independence. What is independence? Prosperity and eternal peace? Or is this independence only an idealised dream. In Cyprus it was indeed a dream that lasted 3 years (1960-1963 (the year when Kenya was gaining her independence we realised that independence has to be maintained) ). I can't say what this upcoming independence will bring to Kenya (possible spoilers) but it's certainly not an idealised dream.
In this political novel we see a group of people waiting for Uhuru (Freedom in Swahili) - Independence day and we travel through their memories in the past during the uprisings, and we see their experiences, their mistakes, their history, and through their eyes we see Kenya's history as a whole.
Even though not an easy novel (especially for those who prefer straightforward narratives) it's not hard either and it's rewarding. Firstly because you get to know Kenya's history and culture, myths and realities, and secondly you are able to see the humanity in the black "savage" and the inhumanity in the white "cultured" man.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o began writing in the imperial language of English using an English name (James) and the in the late 1970's he rejected the colonial name and identity and started writing in Kikuyu (his native language) with his more correct name Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
The irony is that by using Kikuyu a native language of Kenya in a play instead of English, he was detained by those (lauded heroes) who were fighting the British for Kenyan Independence from the British Imperialism and the Colonial language English
I'm interested in reading more by him. 3.5 stars
You can see the complete list of my African Books here:
BOOK: 4
TITLE: A Grain of Wheat
AUTHOR: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o
COUNTRY: Kenya
This was not an easy novel. The exchange between the present and the past was (mainly at the beginning) confusing, but you get used to it as the novel progress. The same goes with the names. You don't know if Mumbi is a woman or a man, or if Karanja is a she or a he. But you get used to it as well.
The present time of A Grain of Wheat takes place in the 4 days before Kenya's independence from the British Empire in December 1963.
The past time takes place during the Emergency in the 1950's during the Mau Mau rebellion against the European settlers. The past time is almost equal in length (if not longer) from the present.
The Characters:
Kihika: the hero, the fighter, the one that sacrifices himself for the good of his people.
Mumbi: his sister wife of Gikonyo, the beauty of the village.
Gikonyo: was detained in concentration camps during the emergency, and upon his release something makes him estranged from his beloved wife, Mumbi.
Mugo: the quiet, seclusive hero of the village who saved a pregnant woman from whipping and was tortured in result. He holds a terrible secret.
Karanja: A rival of Gikonyo, in love with Mumbi, he is the friend of the colonialists, in order to save his own hide.
DO Thompson: A caricature of the British imperialism: a savage, inhuman white-man, that his aim is to eliminate the brutes. The irony (if it's possible to be applied here) is that he, the European, cultured, western man is more savage and inhuman than the people of Africa that Europeans always (simplistically) perceived as the savages of the jungle.
Myself, even though not a Kenyan, I saw similarities of Kenya's revolt of the Mau-Mau, with Cyprus' revolt of EOKA against the same enemy, the British Empire, both revolts happened in the 1950's. Concentration camps (my late great uncle had an experience of this), hangings, traitors, searches in houses, independence. . .
As with Cyprus, the heroes are about to experience independence. What is independence? Prosperity and eternal peace? Or is this independence only an idealised dream. In Cyprus it was indeed a dream that lasted 3 years (1960-1963 (the year when Kenya was gaining her independence we realised that independence has to be maintained) ). I can't say what this upcoming independence will bring to Kenya (possible spoilers) but it's certainly not an idealised dream.
In this political novel we see a group of people waiting for Uhuru (Freedom in Swahili) - Independence day and we travel through their memories in the past during the uprisings, and we see their experiences, their mistakes, their history, and through their eyes we see Kenya's history as a whole.
Even though not an easy novel (especially for those who prefer straightforward narratives) it's not hard either and it's rewarding. Firstly because you get to know Kenya's history and culture, myths and realities, and secondly you are able to see the humanity in the black "savage" and the inhumanity in the white "cultured" man.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o began writing in the imperial language of English using an English name (James) and the in the late 1970's he rejected the colonial name and identity and started writing in Kikuyu (his native language) with his more correct name Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
The irony is that by using Kikuyu a native language of Kenya in a play instead of English, he was detained by those (lauded heroes) who were fighting the British for Kenyan Independence from the British Imperialism and the Colonial language English
I'm interested in reading more by him. 3.5 stars
You can see the complete list of my African Books here:
July 20, 2021
A Grain of Wheat is the story of a group of villagers in the rural community of Thabai in Kenya’s central highlands, set in December 1963 as Kenya is about to become independent from the United Kingdom. The Emergency of the 1950s, the revolutionary struggle that finally led to independence, required the villagers to make choices that have left a powerful mark on them. As they prepare for freedom and look to the future, the main characters must come to terms with their past.
The novel focuses on several villagers as it explores the intersection of political struggle and personal choice. Mugo is a man of few words who lives alone, almost as a hermit. Based on one action he took to intervene when a woman was being beaten, many in the village view him as a hero. But he is keeping a dark secret that gnaws on him more and more as the day of Uhuru (freedom) approaches. Meanwhile, the other primary characters in the novel, Kihika, Gikonyo, Mumbi, and Karanja, all faced difficult choices as they dealt with the discrimination, inhumanity, and violence of colonial rule. Their responses included heroism, bravery, stoicism, submission, cowardice, and betrayal. Now, as Uhuru is upon them, they and others in the community are assessing and in some cases reinterpreting those responses.
The unique narrative structure of the novel includes numerous flashbacks, often in the form of “confessions.” This structure gives the book the feel of oral storytelling, which I’m guessing was intentional. It is effective in weaving together the past and the present lives of the various characters, but it can sometimes be difficult to follow. Or at least it was for me. For much of the book, I also had difficulty keeping some of the characters straight, which I attribute to the unfamiliarity of the African names. This difficulty receded as the book progressed.
As a Western reader, I found the book to be worth reading for at least two reasons. First, it proved to be quite educational in its depiction of Kenyan culture and history, of which I had only superficial knowledge. And second, by introducing me to these people in a rural Kenyan village, a setting far removed from my own life experience, it illustrated that human motivations and behaviors are universal. That’s a lesson that is worth reinforcing.
The novel focuses on several villagers as it explores the intersection of political struggle and personal choice. Mugo is a man of few words who lives alone, almost as a hermit. Based on one action he took to intervene when a woman was being beaten, many in the village view him as a hero. But he is keeping a dark secret that gnaws on him more and more as the day of Uhuru (freedom) approaches. Meanwhile, the other primary characters in the novel, Kihika, Gikonyo, Mumbi, and Karanja, all faced difficult choices as they dealt with the discrimination, inhumanity, and violence of colonial rule. Their responses included heroism, bravery, stoicism, submission, cowardice, and betrayal. Now, as Uhuru is upon them, they and others in the community are assessing and in some cases reinterpreting those responses.
The unique narrative structure of the novel includes numerous flashbacks, often in the form of “confessions.” This structure gives the book the feel of oral storytelling, which I’m guessing was intentional. It is effective in weaving together the past and the present lives of the various characters, but it can sometimes be difficult to follow. Or at least it was for me. For much of the book, I also had difficulty keeping some of the characters straight, which I attribute to the unfamiliarity of the African names. This difficulty receded as the book progressed.
As a Western reader, I found the book to be worth reading for at least two reasons. First, it proved to be quite educational in its depiction of Kenyan culture and history, of which I had only superficial knowledge. And second, by introducing me to these people in a rural Kenyan village, a setting far removed from my own life experience, it illustrated that human motivations and behaviors are universal. That’s a lesson that is worth reinforcing.
July 2, 2018
La puntuación justo recién acabado sería de un 4'5
No sabría decir porqué no me ha acabado de parecer redonda.
Lo tengo que dejar reposar.
De todos modos es desgarradora
No sabría decir porqué no me ha acabado de parecer redonda.
Lo tengo que dejar reposar.
De todos modos es desgarradora
July 13, 2021
*Progress comes at a heavy price.*
It was a good book, not exactly life changing though. I enjoyed learning a little about Kenyan culture during and near the end of the colonial Period.
The story dragged on quite a bit and there was a lot of back story but it all melded together wonderfully and I found myself sympathizing with many of the characters.
I thought some of the themes were not to my personal tastes. Revenge. Jealousy. Greed etc. But there was some guilt and redemption which I like to experience through the eyes of characters. Overall I found the characters to be very human in their flaws and was happy to see them show some growth near the end.
It was a good book, not exactly life changing though. I enjoyed learning a little about Kenyan culture during and near the end of the colonial Period.
The story dragged on quite a bit and there was a lot of back story but it all melded together wonderfully and I found myself sympathizing with many of the characters.
I thought some of the themes were not to my personal tastes. Revenge. Jealousy. Greed etc. But there was some guilt and redemption which I like to experience through the eyes of characters. Overall I found the characters to be very human in their flaws and was happy to see them show some growth near the end.
April 5, 2023
The best way I can sum up A Grain of Wheat, by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, is that it captures the essence of Kenya. Having visted the country on several occasions over the past decade I found the description of the landscape, customs and behavior of the cast of charcters in the novel very familiar. With that said, I am nevertheless unacquainted with the history of Kenya in the run up to it’s independence from Britain in 1963. The names Mau Mau, Jomo Kenyatta and Uhuru are recognizable without actually knowing the backstory. A Grain of Wheat is an insightful, unadorned portrait of the turbulent period in Kenya’s past in the run up to the end of colonial rule. The violence, brutality and arrogant superiority of the British colonists is contrasted starkly against the two types of Kenyans that existed back then. The dogged, passionate, and unyielding freedom fighters who fought bravely and died for Kenya’s freedom and the pragmatic, self-interested and survival-oriented collaborators who were used by the British in their oppression of the former. In many ways the main character, Mugo, pardoxically represents both of sides of the coin. He is revered by many for his unwavering resilence against cruel torture during years of captivity in British concentration camps, yet he harbors a tragic secret that undermines his near heroic status as a freedom fighter. Ngũgĩ weaves an intricate web of characters around Mugo, who to varying degrees are all connected to him at different points of his life, including during the tumultuous Mau Mau Uprising. Although, I was not overly impressed with Ngũgĩ’s style of writing, which I found rather pragmatic and unflowery, he is undoubtedly a very effective storyteller. He tells several stories within the main narrative, that enrich the tale considerably. Perhaps my only minor gripe with A Grain of Wheat is that it was quite hard to keep track of the myriad charcaters. At some point it was a bit confusing who was who. This made it hard for me to fully become engrossed in the story, especially at the start. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend A Grain of Wheat to any reader looking expand their literary horizons by delving into African literature.
February 23, 2019
12. A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo
published: 1967, revised 1986
format: 247 page paperback
acquired: 2010 from a now closed little bookstore in Brenham, TX
read: Feb 7-18
time reading: 9 hr 20 min, 2.3 min/page
rating: 4
My Litsy review:
published: 1967, revised 1986
format: 247 page paperback
acquired: 2010 from a now closed little bookstore in Brenham, TX
read: Feb 7-18
time reading: 9 hr 20 min, 2.3 min/page
rating: 4
My Litsy review:
Not sure how to review this, although for some reason I like the sound of the description—"a book on post-colonial Kenya". For all there is about Kenya's Mau Mau Rebellion, it's the way he is able to capture the emotional state of the characters that really struck me—especially jealousy and disappointment.Even though there is a lot more to say about this than that above, I find it hard to capture what I want. This is a story, through a village, of the Mau Mau Rebellion, the cruel British prison camps where suspected rebels were sometimes tortured to death, reprisals against this village, and the various humiliating ways people found to get through it. And then it's viewed in hindsight, as the day of independence from the UK approaches. But, when I closed the book, my main impression wasn't this history, it was tied specifically to the handful of main characters and their own states. They were what I was left thinking about.
August 5, 2016
Pare că această carte pornește greoi, mai ales dacă ne descurcăm greu cu numele africane (destul de asemănătoare între ele) și cu personajele aferente.
Treptat însă, acțiunea ne prinde, pentru că autorul kenyan este un excelent mânuitor al cuvintelor și acțiunilor, un demn ilustrator al istoriei țării sale.
Acțiunea principală se desfășoară în jurul datei independenței Kenyei (1963), pe când fiecare comunitate își organizează propria ceremonie pentru celebrarea Uhuru. Într-un sătuc, conflictele sunt deschise și rănile sunt adânci, atât între albi și negri, cât și interiorul comunității de culoare. Nimeni nu poate uita sacrificiile făcute de unele familii, anii lungi de lagăr și de torturi, pornite încă din 1952, odată cu revolta etnicilor kikuyu (cunoscută sub numele de Mau Mau).
Mulți dintre ei ascund secrete teribile, iar eroii satului se pot transforma fie în zei, fie în personaje negative. În plus, coșmarurile din trecut au determinat schimbarea relațiilor familiale sau din societate, iar cei care au colaborat cu albii sunt cei mai acuzați.
O radiografie foarte bună a sfârșitului Kenyei coloniale.
Treptat însă, acțiunea ne prinde, pentru că autorul kenyan este un excelent mânuitor al cuvintelor și acțiunilor, un demn ilustrator al istoriei țării sale.
Acțiunea principală se desfășoară în jurul datei independenței Kenyei (1963), pe când fiecare comunitate își organizează propria ceremonie pentru celebrarea Uhuru. Într-un sătuc, conflictele sunt deschise și rănile sunt adânci, atât între albi și negri, cât și interiorul comunității de culoare. Nimeni nu poate uita sacrificiile făcute de unele familii, anii lungi de lagăr și de torturi, pornite încă din 1952, odată cu revolta etnicilor kikuyu (cunoscută sub numele de Mau Mau).
Mulți dintre ei ascund secrete teribile, iar eroii satului se pot transforma fie în zei, fie în personaje negative. În plus, coșmarurile din trecut au determinat schimbarea relațiilor familiale sau din societate, iar cei care au colaborat cu albii sunt cei mai acuzați.
O radiografie foarte bună a sfârșitului Kenyei coloniale.
November 5, 2017
All along I avoided reading writers who use the stream of unconsciousness , but this one couldn't but finish it.. and I seriously have no idea how I have ..
I really hated the book and loved it at the same time .. it is a wide door , a huge one to the African Lit , and Civ ..
the mere description of their lives , made me want to visit Kenya.
Wa thiong'o is such a great writer , and I loved his philosophy , I loved how he made me as an Algerian reader , believe in the black power over the Whitman .
So basically this book talk of the independent day , and how so many flashbacks to arrive to the Uhuru ( freedom ) day .
Betrayal , love , determinism , friendship , and so many other subject has been tackled by James Wa thiong'o.
I struggled Lot with names of people , and places .like the struggle was real.
Still can't believe I finished it.
I really hated the book and loved it at the same time .. it is a wide door , a huge one to the African Lit , and Civ ..
the mere description of their lives , made me want to visit Kenya.
Wa thiong'o is such a great writer , and I loved his philosophy , I loved how he made me as an Algerian reader , believe in the black power over the Whitman .
So basically this book talk of the independent day , and how so many flashbacks to arrive to the Uhuru ( freedom ) day .
Betrayal , love , determinism , friendship , and so many other subject has been tackled by James Wa thiong'o.
I struggled Lot with names of people , and places .like the struggle was real.
Still can't believe I finished it.
August 24, 2011
Ngugi is one of my favorite authors. This novel is a stunning portrayal of British colonialism in Kenya in the lead up to Independence. What is most powerful is the narration that focuses on several characters through flashbacks about their relation to the British and to the Mau Mau resistance fighters. I especially love the way Ngugi portrays how many of these characters internalize colonialism and shows the damaging consequences of this not only on a personal level, but also on a communal one. The novel is absolutely extraordinary.
February 16, 2018
An impressive novel that takes a bit of concentration to figure out the various characters and changes in the time of the event.
The story of the years leading up to Kenya's independence is told through a set of characters who represent the oppressor, the freedom fighter, the unwitting hero, and those who were traitors.
The author showed the impact of the fight for independence on all of these characters and also of the communities they lived in. Written in only three years after independence, the author also told of the greed of the whites would be replaced by the greed of those who replaced them and while the book ended in a small piece of hope it also ended with many unanswered questions on the future.
The story of the years leading up to Kenya's independence is told through a set of characters who represent the oppressor, the freedom fighter, the unwitting hero, and those who were traitors.
The author showed the impact of the fight for independence on all of these characters and also of the communities they lived in. Written in only three years after independence, the author also told of the greed of the whites would be replaced by the greed of those who replaced them and while the book ended in a small piece of hope it also ended with many unanswered questions on the future.
February 5, 2026
A video review coming soon. So many things to say!
July 16, 2020
Es una gran novela, y muy bien narrada, además.
La historia que cuenta, tanto la ficticia, como el trasfondo histórico de los últimos años de la Kenia colonizada y la obtención de la ansiada y merecida independencia el 12 de diciembre de 1963 me han resultado interesantísimos.
Además, Thiong'o demuestra sus habilidades como narrador, no sólo en la construcción de personajes, que están trabajadísimos y presentan varias capas, lo cual, tratándose de una novela coral como la que nos ocupa ya es en sí mismo un mérito, sino en la estructura de la trama: hábilmente logra mostrarnos un panorama histórico y el pasado de los personajes en una acción presente que, en realidad, transcurre sólo en tres días. Y logra hacerlo con un uso muy hábil de la retrospectiva, sin que en ningún momento lastre el ritmo de la novela.
Hay que ser muy buen escritor para conseguirlo, como también hay que serlo para alternar puntos de vista, o pasar de una narración en tercera persona a otros pasajes en primera persona del plural, y hacerlo bien, logrando con ello que el lector se sienta más ligado a lo que cuenta, más partícipe.
Es una historia de amor, de muchos tipos de amor (a la tierra, a la pareja, a un ideal, a la tradición y cultura de tu pueblo), de traición, de muchos tipos de traición (a la patria, al movimiento, incluso a los seres que amas), de valor, de cobardía, de sufrimiento, de perserverencia, de odios enconados, resentimiento, esperanza... de pasiones humanas, al fin y al cabo. Pero sobre todo, es una historia que te hace plantearte qué es, realmente, la libertad, cuánto está uno dispuesto a pagar por ella... y si el sacrificio merece la pena, o si el resultado es el esperado.
Como he dicho los personajes están muy bien perfilados, y me ha fascinado cómo Ngugi Wa Thiong'o logra dar voz y pensamiento coherente a hombres, mujeres, ancianos, y a blancos, sin caer en ningún caso en el maniqueísmo.
Aunque, si tuviera que escoger algún personaje, me quedaría con el atormentado Mugo, paradigma del "héroe antiheroico", fuerte y vulnerable, cobarde y valiente... un oxímoron en sí mismo.
Y también con Mumbi, un personaje femenino que me ha parecido fascinante.
Así pues... ¿por qué no le pongo las 5 estrellas?
Porque pese a sus múltiples virtudes, y son muchas, no me ha parecido una novela redonda... durante mucho tiempo mientras la leía, notaba que me faltaba algo.
¿Y qué le faltaba para ser una novela redonda?
A mi juicio, y esta es una valoración absolutamente subjetiva (como todas las que hago, por otro lado), le falta corazón.
Es una novela que es todo cerebro, pero nada corazón.
Es brillante, lo ves desde el primer momento en que empiezas a leerla, te gusta, te interesa, incluso te mantiene intrigado por conocer esos secretos que ocultan muchos de los personajes, y que poco a poco se nos irán desvelando... pero no te emociona. Te mueve, pero no te conmueve.
No sé si soy capaz de explicarlo mejor, pero esa es la sensación que me ha transmitido.
En un principio creía que a lo mejor se debía al estilo sobrio, conciso, quirúrgico del autor... pero va más allá. Supongo que, para no resultar completamente parcial, el autor intentó distanciarse algo de la narración... pero acabó formando un muro con el lector que hace que difícilmente te subyugues a la historia, te entregues completamente a ella.
Intelectualmente te llega, hace plantearte y cuestionarte muchísimas cosas... pero no llega a emocionarte, conmoverte... no llega a las entrañas.
Y un detalle que me ha generado algo de rechazo, es como en varios pasajes de la novela se hace una normalización (e incluso uno de los personajes llega a oponerse a su crítica y cuestionamiento, por ser estos provenientes de la cultura colonial europea) de la ablación femenina. Que sí, que ya sé que era otra época, otra cultura... pero lo siento, es algo que me puede y que me hacía torcer el gesto.
Por lo demás, me parece una novela muy meritoria, entiendo perfectamente que esté considerada como una de las mejores novelas de la literatura africana del s. XX, y creo que cualquier lector interesado en este tipo de literatura no se la debería perder.
La historia que cuenta, tanto la ficticia, como el trasfondo histórico de los últimos años de la Kenia colonizada y la obtención de la ansiada y merecida independencia el 12 de diciembre de 1963 me han resultado interesantísimos.
Además, Thiong'o demuestra sus habilidades como narrador, no sólo en la construcción de personajes, que están trabajadísimos y presentan varias capas, lo cual, tratándose de una novela coral como la que nos ocupa ya es en sí mismo un mérito, sino en la estructura de la trama: hábilmente logra mostrarnos un panorama histórico y el pasado de los personajes en una acción presente que, en realidad, transcurre sólo en tres días. Y logra hacerlo con un uso muy hábil de la retrospectiva, sin que en ningún momento lastre el ritmo de la novela.
Hay que ser muy buen escritor para conseguirlo, como también hay que serlo para alternar puntos de vista, o pasar de una narración en tercera persona a otros pasajes en primera persona del plural, y hacerlo bien, logrando con ello que el lector se sienta más ligado a lo que cuenta, más partícipe.
Es una historia de amor, de muchos tipos de amor (a la tierra, a la pareja, a un ideal, a la tradición y cultura de tu pueblo), de traición, de muchos tipos de traición (a la patria, al movimiento, incluso a los seres que amas), de valor, de cobardía, de sufrimiento, de perserverencia, de odios enconados, resentimiento, esperanza... de pasiones humanas, al fin y al cabo. Pero sobre todo, es una historia que te hace plantearte qué es, realmente, la libertad, cuánto está uno dispuesto a pagar por ella... y si el sacrificio merece la pena, o si el resultado es el esperado.
Como he dicho los personajes están muy bien perfilados, y me ha fascinado cómo Ngugi Wa Thiong'o logra dar voz y pensamiento coherente a hombres, mujeres, ancianos, y a blancos, sin caer en ningún caso en el maniqueísmo.
Aunque, si tuviera que escoger algún personaje, me quedaría con el atormentado Mugo, paradigma del "héroe antiheroico", fuerte y vulnerable, cobarde y valiente... un oxímoron en sí mismo.
Y también con Mumbi, un personaje femenino que me ha parecido fascinante.
Así pues... ¿por qué no le pongo las 5 estrellas?
Porque pese a sus múltiples virtudes, y son muchas, no me ha parecido una novela redonda... durante mucho tiempo mientras la leía, notaba que me faltaba algo.
¿Y qué le faltaba para ser una novela redonda?
A mi juicio, y esta es una valoración absolutamente subjetiva (como todas las que hago, por otro lado), le falta corazón.
Es una novela que es todo cerebro, pero nada corazón.
Es brillante, lo ves desde el primer momento en que empiezas a leerla, te gusta, te interesa, incluso te mantiene intrigado por conocer esos secretos que ocultan muchos de los personajes, y que poco a poco se nos irán desvelando... pero no te emociona. Te mueve, pero no te conmueve.
No sé si soy capaz de explicarlo mejor, pero esa es la sensación que me ha transmitido.
En un principio creía que a lo mejor se debía al estilo sobrio, conciso, quirúrgico del autor... pero va más allá. Supongo que, para no resultar completamente parcial, el autor intentó distanciarse algo de la narración... pero acabó formando un muro con el lector que hace que difícilmente te subyugues a la historia, te entregues completamente a ella.
Intelectualmente te llega, hace plantearte y cuestionarte muchísimas cosas... pero no llega a emocionarte, conmoverte... no llega a las entrañas.
Y un detalle que me ha generado algo de rechazo, es como en varios pasajes de la novela se hace una normalización (e incluso uno de los personajes llega a oponerse a su crítica y cuestionamiento, por ser estos provenientes de la cultura colonial europea) de la ablación femenina. Que sí, que ya sé que era otra época, otra cultura... pero lo siento, es algo que me puede y que me hacía torcer el gesto.
Por lo demás, me parece una novela muy meritoria, entiendo perfectamente que esté considerada como una de las mejores novelas de la literatura africana del s. XX, y creo que cualquier lector interesado en este tipo de literatura no se la debería perder.
January 8, 2009
A Grain of Wheat is a novel about the inhabitants of a village in Kenya in 1963 in the last few days before the celebrations for Uhuru — that is, Kenyan independence. It was originally published in 1967, so the material was completely current at the time, although after finishing it that I read in the introduction that
Ngũgĩ revised A Grain of Wheat in 1987, to make the ‘world outlook’ of his peasants more in line with his ideas of the historical triumph of the oppressed.
and that
Ngũgĩ has said of the 1967 version of A Grain of Wheat that his ‘peasant and worker characters’ had the ‘vacillating mentality of the petite bourgeoisie’.
As far as I can gather, the revisions were relatively minor, and I guess I support the author’s right to mess around with his earlier work if he wants to, but I still find it vaguely frustrating not knowing what was what. And it seems like an odd thing to do, to me. But there you go.
Incidentally, Ngũgĩ’s early work, including this book, was written in English, but for the past 30 years or so he has written in Gĩkùyũ. Rejecting the colonial language has obvious political and social significance, but to switch from a language with hundreds of millions of speakers to one which is a minority language even in Kenya is still a striking decision.
The characters in the book are all dealing with the aftermath of the Mau Mau rebellion, having lost family members or having suffered detention, forced labour and torture. There’s something slightly topical about that at the moment; not just because we recently learned that Barack Obama’s grandfather was tortured by the British at that period, but also because insurgents being detained without trial and tortured have been in the news recently.
I didn’t read the book, though, as being principally about the relationship between colonist and colonised. Rather, it’s about the relationships between the Africans and the way they’ve been affected by events. Some of them worked for the British; others fought them. A man returns to his wife after years away in prison to find she has had a baby by another man. No one is left untouched. All this is told in flashback, so we gradually learn how characters became the way they are.
Obviously none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for the British, so they (we) are central in that sense, but still, the novel is building up to Uhuru, when the young Duke of Edinburgh will sit in a stadium in Nairobi and watch the flags changing over, and the British part of the story will peter out. I read the novel as being about what is left behind; in that sense it reminded me of How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone, Saša Stanišić’s novel about Yugoslavia. A war of independence against a colonial power is I suppose a peculiar kind of civil war, and it tears apart the fabric of the country in a similar way.
Ngũgĩ revised A Grain of Wheat in 1987, to make the ‘world outlook’ of his peasants more in line with his ideas of the historical triumph of the oppressed.
and that
Ngũgĩ has said of the 1967 version of A Grain of Wheat that his ‘peasant and worker characters’ had the ‘vacillating mentality of the petite bourgeoisie’.
As far as I can gather, the revisions were relatively minor, and I guess I support the author’s right to mess around with his earlier work if he wants to, but I still find it vaguely frustrating not knowing what was what. And it seems like an odd thing to do, to me. But there you go.
Incidentally, Ngũgĩ’s early work, including this book, was written in English, but for the past 30 years or so he has written in Gĩkùyũ. Rejecting the colonial language has obvious political and social significance, but to switch from a language with hundreds of millions of speakers to one which is a minority language even in Kenya is still a striking decision.
The characters in the book are all dealing with the aftermath of the Mau Mau rebellion, having lost family members or having suffered detention, forced labour and torture. There’s something slightly topical about that at the moment; not just because we recently learned that Barack Obama’s grandfather was tortured by the British at that period, but also because insurgents being detained without trial and tortured have been in the news recently.
I didn’t read the book, though, as being principally about the relationship between colonist and colonised. Rather, it’s about the relationships between the Africans and the way they’ve been affected by events. Some of them worked for the British; others fought them. A man returns to his wife after years away in prison to find she has had a baby by another man. No one is left untouched. All this is told in flashback, so we gradually learn how characters became the way they are.
Obviously none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for the British, so they (we) are central in that sense, but still, the novel is building up to Uhuru, when the young Duke of Edinburgh will sit in a stadium in Nairobi and watch the flags changing over, and the British part of the story will peter out. I read the novel as being about what is left behind; in that sense it reminded me of How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone, Saša Stanišić’s novel about Yugoslavia. A war of independence against a colonial power is I suppose a peculiar kind of civil war, and it tears apart the fabric of the country in a similar way.
April 19, 2025
So compelling. A nuanced and heartbreaking character study of a group of villagers in Thabai, Kenya on the eve of independence from the British. Book steered clear from moralizing and instead depicted the dilemmas that spring from balancing the moral imperative of resistance with the demands of survival and the desire to live a whole life with those ones love.
February 14, 2019
2/5stars
I'm sure this is great but I legit didn't understand a single thing in this book and could barely follow class discussion even though I'd read every word of this since I need to write an essay.
I'm sure this is great but I legit didn't understand a single thing in this book and could barely follow class discussion even though I'd read every word of this since I need to write an essay.
June 21, 2023
Around the World Reading Challenge: KENYA
===
This book is set in a small village in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain in the early 1960s, which isn't a period I'm particularly knowledgeable about and made for an interesting read. The narrative is told from different villagers and all takes place over the course of a week or so, though there are frequent flashbacks. They all have secrets and issues, though I could never entirely sympathize with any of their interpersonal dramas. I definitely had the sense that my different cultural context was causing me to come to judgements and conclusions that were not necessarily in line with how the author or the book characters saw particular events, especially inter-personal ones, which was an interesting experience. I thought it was an interesting read, though I can't say I particularly loved it.
===
This book is set in a small village in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain in the early 1960s, which isn't a period I'm particularly knowledgeable about and made for an interesting read. The narrative is told from different villagers and all takes place over the course of a week or so, though there are frequent flashbacks. They all have secrets and issues, though I could never entirely sympathize with any of their interpersonal dramas. I definitely had the sense that my different cultural context was causing me to come to judgements and conclusions that were not necessarily in line with how the author or the book characters saw particular events, especially inter-personal ones, which was an interesting experience. I thought it was an interesting read, though I can't say I particularly loved it.
May 13, 2025
A more character driven, thoughtful and personal take on revolution and decolonisation. The book brings to life the dilemmas, heartbreaks and personal vendettas that simmer under the surface of the freedom fight. Humanising, not moralising, and very enjoyable.
October 17, 2011
A masterpiece. The characters are sharply drawn and the plot is indisputably powerful. I am very moved by the depth of characterization (helped along by the seamless omniscient point of view; this gently reminds readers of the inner struggles, innate morality, and complexity of even the characters (and/or actions) we are initially eager to hate.
Perhaps I'm oversimplifying something that I don't understand fully, but I would say that the thrust of Ngugi's argument is that the political situation during the Kenyan rebellion against the UK destroyed all individuals involved, to greater or lesser extent, and that though some of the choices people made may seem reprehensible, they all had their root in some combination of the hope, selfishness, love, fear, and courage that we all harbor just beneath the surface.
I've discovered that I'm strongly drawn to literature examining important historical moments from the point of view of fictional characters, and I'm a strong believer that in impossibly inhumane situations like this one, almost any personal choice or action is in fact a forced one, a reaction -- and, as such, can be forgiven or pardoned on some level if not condoned. Today, in fact, I came across a question that Tzvetan Todorov asks in a book of his: is it true that "all traces of moral life evaporate as men become beasts locked in a merciless struggle for survival"?
Though Ngugi presents us with some confusing moments, every page of the book is absorbing and dramatic, full of a certain tension -- rather surprisingly -- a la Camus.
Two hints that do not bear directly on the work itself:
1. Like another reviewer on Goodreads, I found a brief list of characters (along with the page of first mention) to be very helpful in the first 100 pages or so. Many of the minor characters mentioned early on assume some unanticipated significance later.
2. I bought my copy of this book used and would highly recommend avoiding the old Heinemann "African Writers Series" edition. I am glad to see that Penguin has published this book (2010) and hope that it's not riddled with the same meaning-altering typos that the Heinemann is; this work deserves a well-edited publication. I am also continually puzzled by the drawing of the young white man on the cover. I can't imagine whose representation he could be, and it's a bit disturbing to keep seeing him when I open the book.
Perhaps I'm oversimplifying something that I don't understand fully, but I would say that the thrust of Ngugi's argument is that the political situation during the Kenyan rebellion against the UK destroyed all individuals involved, to greater or lesser extent, and that though some of the choices people made may seem reprehensible, they all had their root in some combination of the hope, selfishness, love, fear, and courage that we all harbor just beneath the surface.
I've discovered that I'm strongly drawn to literature examining important historical moments from the point of view of fictional characters, and I'm a strong believer that in impossibly inhumane situations like this one, almost any personal choice or action is in fact a forced one, a reaction -- and, as such, can be forgiven or pardoned on some level if not condoned. Today, in fact, I came across a question that Tzvetan Todorov asks in a book of his: is it true that "all traces of moral life evaporate as men become beasts locked in a merciless struggle for survival"?
Though Ngugi presents us with some confusing moments, every page of the book is absorbing and dramatic, full of a certain tension -- rather surprisingly -- a la Camus.
Two hints that do not bear directly on the work itself:
1. Like another reviewer on Goodreads, I found a brief list of characters (along with the page of first mention) to be very helpful in the first 100 pages or so. Many of the minor characters mentioned early on assume some unanticipated significance later.
2. I bought my copy of this book used and would highly recommend avoiding the old Heinemann "African Writers Series" edition. I am glad to see that Penguin has published this book (2010) and hope that it's not riddled with the same meaning-altering typos that the Heinemann is; this work deserves a well-edited publication. I am also continually puzzled by the drawing of the young white man on the cover. I can't imagine whose representation he could be, and it's a bit disturbing to keep seeing him when I open the book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 656 reviews