The Witch-Herbalist of the Remote Town

by Amos Tutuola

After four years of marriage, the brave hunter of the Rocky Town and his beautiful wife, Lola, are still without a child. Equipped with juju, sharpened machete, bow and poisonous arrows, flints and thunderbolts, he sets off in search of the Witch-Herbalist's medicine. For six years he journeys, conquering or escaping from such haunting characters as the Abnormal Squatting Man of the Jungle and the Crazy Removable-Headed Wild Man. Finally he reaches the Remote Town of the Witch-Mother and is given medicine for his wife, but on the way home he makes a decision with interesting consequences.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, African Literature, Africa, Literature, Adventure

Paperback

First published February 1, 1982

About the author

Amos Tutuola (20 June 1920 – 8 June 1997) was a Nigerian writer famous for his books based in part on Yoruba folk-tales.
Despite his short formal education, Tutuola wrote his novels in English. His writing's grammar often relies more on Yoruba orality than on standard English.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It was not so long after this cruel Abnormal Squatting Wild Man began to speak squeakingly, that the cold water began to spurt from every part of his body continuously as if one was speaking with great annoyance for a long time."

These are the types of sentences Tutuola writes. They are "wrong", of course, in their grammar and structure, and yet they are an accurate representation of a way of narrating, a way of thinking, a way of life. As a western European one can call on a vast collection of mythic tropes, all collectively understood, all easily referenced. There is accordingly a tendency for writers from other traditions to be swallowed up by the dominant archetypes and to de-Other their tales. Tutuola does not do this. Perhaps because he only reached the equivalent of a 6th grade education, and reportedly did not read much himself. Indeed he apparently wrote his first book over two days and accidentally sent it to a missionary school rather than a publisher (thankfully the publisher forwarded it to Faber, who saw its merit).

His work is important for this reason. So few voices reach us in the Anglo-American world which are truly different. When we discover them they must be cherished.

The structure of the tale is that of a quest, and that undertaken by a husband in order to "cure" his barren wife. It is funny, confusing, disturbing, bat-shit crazy, and hugely enjoyable. Faber are reprinting all his works over the next year, and all on e-readers too, so go get one.

"Although I had two "minds" in me, the first one which was in the left was not so reliable sometimes. It misled me to do wrong things, but its advice was useful sometimes. But the second one which was in the right was very reliable. It spoke the truth always. Whenever both of them deserted me when I was in dangers, my "memory" never deserted me and it did not fail or forget to record down the offences which each of the two "minds" committed."

I love this.

[Kevin]

Imagine a fever dream dictated by someone whose experiences and upbringing (from homeland to grammatical structure of native language to religious beliefs) are absolutely foreign to you. In theory this is no stranger than any western fairy tale about a journey to a far-off place to retrieve some sort of magic that will fix something back home - in theory. In practice it's something different, only because it's so full and sure of itself and with a strong identity that it was hard to map my expectations and experiences to it. Tutuola makes zero concessions to any outside culture other than writing in English. It's refreshing but also exhausting, and with a growing to-read list stacking up at the library I just don't have the patience to ride it out.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute banger

[Eden I. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first section was so repetitive I really struggled and read this over a long time, over a year. I’m glad I did, this is true feat of imagination and precise language and plotting. It’s like mad max fury road, Arthurian romance, spirited away and ponyo rolled into one.

[Philisiwe Twijnstra · Rating 5 out of 5]

😍🥰 My love for Amos will never perish.

[in8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

reviewed it here: http://5cense.com/12/baby_on_brain.htm

[Ayreon · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5