What do you think?
Rate this book
Memoirs #2
In the House of the Interpreter
With black-and-white illustrations throughout
World-renowned Kenyan novelist, poet, playwright, and literary critic Ng˜ug˜ý wa Thiong’o gives us the second volume of his memoirs in the wake of his critically acclaimed Dreams in a Time of War.
In the House of the Interpreter richly and poignantly evokes the author’s life and times at boarding school—the first secondary educational institution in British-ruled Kenya—in the 1950s, against the backdrop of the tumultuous Mau Mau Uprising for independence and Kenyan sovereignty. While Ng˜ug˜ý has been enjoying scouting trips, chess tournaments, and reading about the fictional RAF pilot adventurer Biggles at the prestigious Alliance High School near Nairobi, things have been changing rapidly at home. Poised as he is between two worlds, Ng˜ug˜ý returns home for his first visit since starting school to find his house razed and the entire village moved up the road, closer to a guard checkpoint. Later, his brother Good Wallace, a member of the insurgency, is captured by the British and taken to a concentration camp. As for Ng˜ug˜ý himself, he falls victim to the forces of colonialism in the person of a police officer encountered on a bus journey, and he is thrown into jail for six days. In his second year at Alliance High School, the boarding school that was his haven in a heartless world is shattered by investigations, charges of disloyalty, and the politics of civil unrest.
In the House of the Interpreter hauntingly describes the formative experiences of a young man who would become a world-class writer and, as a political dissident, a moral compass to us all. It is a winning celebration of the implacable determination of youth and the power of hope.
World-renowned Kenyan novelist, poet, playwright, and literary critic Ng˜ug˜ý wa Thiong’o gives us the second volume of his memoirs in the wake of his critically acclaimed Dreams in a Time of War.
In the House of the Interpreter richly and poignantly evokes the author’s life and times at boarding school—the first secondary educational institution in British-ruled Kenya—in the 1950s, against the backdrop of the tumultuous Mau Mau Uprising for independence and Kenyan sovereignty. While Ng˜ug˜ý has been enjoying scouting trips, chess tournaments, and reading about the fictional RAF pilot adventurer Biggles at the prestigious Alliance High School near Nairobi, things have been changing rapidly at home. Poised as he is between two worlds, Ng˜ug˜ý returns home for his first visit since starting school to find his house razed and the entire village moved up the road, closer to a guard checkpoint. Later, his brother Good Wallace, a member of the insurgency, is captured by the British and taken to a concentration camp. As for Ng˜ug˜ý himself, he falls victim to the forces of colonialism in the person of a police officer encountered on a bus journey, and he is thrown into jail for six days. In his second year at Alliance High School, the boarding school that was his haven in a heartless world is shattered by investigations, charges of disloyalty, and the politics of civil unrest.
In the House of the Interpreter hauntingly describes the formative experiences of a young man who would become a world-class writer and, as a political dissident, a moral compass to us all. It is a winning celebration of the implacable determination of youth and the power of hope.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2012
59 people are currently reading
1082 people want to read
About the author
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
118 books1,988 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 85 reviews
May 8, 2013
Lovely read. I liked that it was for the most part set in my Alma Mater, and the authors views and perspectives of the outside world from Alliance High School, repeatedly referred to as the "sanctuary" in the book. As a fan of of Ngugi, i was treated to an insight into his formative years (intellectually)..which has deepened my understanding of his works.
Highly recommend it. Best read and appreciated after reading the prequel, dreams in a time of war.
Highly recommend it. Best read and appreciated after reading the prequel, dreams in a time of war.
August 2, 2017
This book buttonholed me and drew me into its world. I could not put it down until I'd finished it. Oh, well, I had to put it down to work and cook and eat and shower, but other than that it demanded my undivided reader's attention. The title is drawn from The Pilgrim's Progress and the book is a memoir, but also a parable, of Kenya in the 195os. It made an interesting contrast to Out in the Midday Sun, which told the same events from a white colonial's point of view--meaning two totally different stories of the same events. Well, I say "same"--none of the white colonials were arrested for being on a bus. You wouldn't really know they were concurrent on the same planet, let alone the same country.
The main character sees his boarding school as a safe place, a refuge from the "hounds"--the dogs of war and unrest that bay just outside the gates. As a student at the prestigious Alliance, his uniform protects him in the most unlikely situations, but the day comes when he has to take that uniform off and join the ranks of working Africans. He becomes just another black, in made-to-measure trousers, yes, but they don't protect him like the Old School Tie.
I particularly liked the way the author discusses his pilgrimage toward faith, and the slough of doubts and questions he faced over the years--some existential, some cultural, some brought on by the failings of those he admired. He niether apologises for his faith, nor does he ridicule it or puff it up.
I later realised I had read this out of order; am interested to find the other volumes of his memories.
The main character sees his boarding school as a safe place, a refuge from the "hounds"--the dogs of war and unrest that bay just outside the gates. As a student at the prestigious Alliance, his uniform protects him in the most unlikely situations, but the day comes when he has to take that uniform off and join the ranks of working Africans. He becomes just another black, in made-to-measure trousers, yes, but they don't protect him like the Old School Tie.
I particularly liked the way the author discusses his pilgrimage toward faith, and the slough of doubts and questions he faced over the years--some existential, some cultural, some brought on by the failings of those he admired. He niether apologises for his faith, nor does he ridicule it or puff it up.
I later realised I had read this out of order; am interested to find the other volumes of his memories.
February 6, 2017
Στο δεύτερο μέρος της αυτοβιογραφικής τριλογίας του, o Thiong'o πιάνει το νήμα εκεί που το άφησε το Dreams In A Time of War, όταν ξεκινάει δηλαδή το τελευταίο σκέλος της σχολικής του εκπαίδευσης. Μακριά πια απ'το χωριό, ο Κενυάτης πιτσιρικάς νιώθει ότι το σχολείο του είναι το φρούριο που θα κρατήσει τα αποικιοκρατικά αρπακτικά μακριά του. Την ίδια στιγμή, ο μεγάλος του αδελφός είναι στα βούνα με τους αντάρτες που πολεμούν τους Άγγλους, καθώς οι τελευταίοι εντείνουν την καταστολή κ τα βασανιστήρια στους κατοίκους της χώρας.
Μπορώ να πω ότι το House of the Interpreter είναι ακόμα καλύτερο απ'τον προκάτοχό του, όχι μόνο γιατί η ηλικία που βρίσκεται ο αφηγητής γεννάει πιο ενδιαφέρουσες κ ανήσυχες σκέψεις (κάτι που ισχύει βέβαια) αλλά κυρίως γιατί πλέον καταλαβαίνεις καλύτερα τα τεκταινόμενα. Ο Thiong'o σε αυτή την περίοδο της ζωής του ψάχνει απαντήσεις κ τις ψάχνει παντού. Στα λόγια του Σέξπηρ, στα λόγια της Βίβλου αλλά και των συμμαθητών του, στη σοφία της μητέρας του και στη δύναμη της κοινότητας (είτε μιλάμε για τη σχολική, είτε για αυτή των προσκόπως ή των διαφόρων ομάδων του σχολείου). Κατασπαράζει το ένα μυθιστόρημα πίσω απ'το άλλο κ ψάχνει να βρει μια Αφρική που δεν την περιγράφει κάποιος ξένος αλλά αυτή που ζει ο ίδιος.Δεν κρύβω ότι το βιβλίο το διαβάζω σα μυθιστόρημα, σαν μια coming of age ιστορία σε ένα κομμάτι της Κένυας. Το ότι πρόκειται για αληθινά περιστατικά βοηθούν πολύ στον τρόπο που απολαμβάνω τα τεκταινόμενα.
Φυσικά δεν είναι όλα ιδανικά εδώ. Στο δεύτερο μισό του βιβλίου κ ειδικότερα κατά τη διάρκεια του τελευταίου έτους του σχολείου,η ιστορία χωλαίνει κ φαίνεται να επαναλαμβάνονται πολλά πράγματα. Ίσως το πρόβλημα να είναι ότι πια έχω καταλήξει στα κομμάτια της ιστορίας της ζωής του που με ενδιαφέρουν περισσότερο. Σε αυτή την κατήγορία ανήκει κ το τελευταίο μέρος όπου ο αφηγητής, έχοντας πια αποφοιτήσει (με άριστους βαθμούς) κ περάσει τις εξετάσεις για να συνεχίσει τις σπουδές του στο κολέγιο της Ουγκάντα πέφτει σε ένα μπλόκο καθώς επιστρέφει στο ρημαγμένο χωριό του για να πει τα νέα στη μητέρα του. Θα καταλήξει στη φυλακή κ εκεί υπάρχουν μερικές απίθανες σελίδες ακόμα κ αν ο αναγνώστης ξέρει ήδη ότι κάπως θα ξεμπλέξει. O Thiong'o μεταφέρει με πολύ ζωντανό τρόπο τις συνθήκες κ τις σκέψεις ενός έγκλειστου (την απελπίσια κ την ελπίδα, την αναγκαστική ενσωμάτωση κ τη μοναξιά,την μοίρα κοκ) κ οι σελίδες κυλούν σα νερό.
Εν κατακλείδι, έχω κολλήσει με αυτή τη σειρά των βιβλίων κ ανάλογα με τα κέφια του ταχυδρομείου σύντομα θα περάσω στο τρίτο κ τελευταίο μέρος, στις σελίδες δηλαδή που γεννιέται ο συγγραφέας Thiong'o
Μπορώ να πω ότι το House of the Interpreter είναι ακόμα καλύτερο απ'τον προκάτοχό του, όχι μόνο γιατί η ηλικία που βρίσκεται ο αφηγητής γεννάει πιο ενδιαφέρουσες κ ανήσυχες σκέψεις (κάτι που ισχύει βέβαια) αλλά κυρίως γιατί πλέον καταλαβαίνεις καλύτερα τα τεκταινόμενα. Ο Thiong'o σε αυτή την περίοδο της ζωής του ψάχνει απαντήσεις κ τις ψάχνει παντού. Στα λόγια του Σέξπηρ, στα λόγια της Βίβλου αλλά και των συμμαθητών του, στη σοφία της μητέρας του και στη δύναμη της κοινότητας (είτε μιλάμε για τη σχολική, είτε για αυτή των προσκόπως ή των διαφόρων ομάδων του σχολείου). Κατασπαράζει το ένα μυθιστόρημα πίσω απ'το άλλο κ ψάχνει να βρει μια Αφρική που δεν την περιγράφει κάποιος ξένος αλλά αυτή που ζει ο ίδιος.Δεν κρύβω ότι το βιβλίο το διαβάζω σα μυθιστόρημα, σαν μια coming of age ιστορία σε ένα κομμάτι της Κένυας. Το ότι πρόκειται για αληθινά περιστατικά βοηθούν πολύ στον τρόπο που απολαμβάνω τα τεκταινόμενα.
Φυσικά δεν είναι όλα ιδανικά εδώ. Στο δεύτερο μισό του βιβλίου κ ειδικότερα κατά τη διάρκεια του τελευταίου έτους του σχολείου,η ιστορία χωλαίνει κ φαίνεται να επαναλαμβάνονται πολλά πράγματα. Ίσως το πρόβλημα να είναι ότι πια έχω καταλήξει στα κομμάτια της ιστορίας της ζωής του που με ενδιαφέρουν περισσότερο. Σε αυτή την κατήγορία ανήκει κ το τελευταίο μέρος όπου ο αφηγητής, έχοντας πια αποφοιτήσει (με άριστους βαθμούς) κ περάσει τις εξετάσεις για να συνεχίσει τις σπουδές του στο κολέγιο της Ουγκάντα πέφτει σε ένα μπλόκο καθώς επιστρέφει στο ρημαγμένο χωριό του για να πει τα νέα στη μητέρα του. Θα καταλήξει στη φυλακή κ εκεί υπάρχουν μερικές απίθανες σελίδες ακόμα κ αν ο αναγνώστης ξέρει ήδη ότι κάπως θα ξεμπλέξει. O Thiong'o μεταφέρει με πολύ ζωντανό τρόπο τις συνθήκες κ τις σκέψεις ενός έγκλειστου (την απελπίσια κ την ελπίδα, την αναγκαστική ενσωμάτωση κ τη μοναξιά,την μοίρα κοκ) κ οι σελίδες κυλούν σα νερό.
Εν κατακλείδι, έχω κολλήσει με αυτή τη σειρά των βιβλίων κ ανάλογα με τα κέφια του ταχυδρομείου σύντομα θα περάσω στο τρίτο κ τελευταίο μέρος, στις σελίδες δηλαδή που γεννιέται ο συγγραφέας Thiong'o
October 10, 2020
This memoir is a stark reminder that native Africans in Kenya were made "outsiders and second class citizens" during British colonization. It begins in 1955 when the Mau Mau rebellion was in process (for some historical perspective). The author is a bright young man who attends The Alliance School which was a British Missionary School . It was the first to offer secondary education to African students. The way of life there was like the Boy Scout Pledge with religion thrown into the mix.
Think about the above paragraph. An African in an African country was not able to get a secondary education while the white invaders were. The author's village was destroyed by the British in order to root out the rebellion. The families who were displace were relocated to "villages" surrounded by barbed wire.
Yet the author does not write or recall with rancor. His recollections are very matter of fact which is far more chilling. His writing style is very engaging. I plan to read other books by this author.
Think about the above paragraph. An African in an African country was not able to get a secondary education while the white invaders were. The author's village was destroyed by the British in order to root out the rebellion. The families who were displace were relocated to "villages" surrounded by barbed wire.
Yet the author does not write or recall with rancor. His recollections are very matter of fact which is far more chilling. His writing style is very engaging. I plan to read other books by this author.
October 21, 2021
This is an excellent memoir by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, an eminent Kenyan writer who I learned of quite recently when someone on Facebbook complained that he should have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He has written many novels, plays and memoirs. For some reason, our U.S. press writes more about West African writers, and some from southern Africa, giving the impression that there are no great writers in East Africa.
This is an important memoir about the author's teenage years as a poor but brilliant boy who was able to get into a prestigious school, though the British had imprisoned his older brother who fought with the Mau Mau resistance to colonial rule. The book is a fine study of colonialism and the dangers that the author managed to escape.
I am eager to read more of his books.
This is an important memoir about the author's teenage years as a poor but brilliant boy who was able to get into a prestigious school, though the British had imprisoned his older brother who fought with the Mau Mau resistance to colonial rule. The book is a fine study of colonialism and the dangers that the author managed to escape.
I am eager to read more of his books.
April 14, 2025
Attraverso la narrazione dei suoi anni giovanili, Ngũgĩ intreccia la sua storia personale con quella del suo paese, il Kenya, durante un periodo cruciale della sua lotta per l'indipendenza. Negli anni ’50 in cui il racconto è ambientato, nel Kenia si vivevano momenti di tensione con la rivolta dei Mau Mau contro il dominio coloniale britannico e di conseguenza con arresti, torture e violenze. Ma il giovane Ngugi riuscirà a trovare la sua salvezza nella frequenza dell’Alliance High School, un college istituito dalla corona britannica per giovani africani. Questo college cui la famiglia, poverissima per altro, lo aveva iscritto, per lui rappresentò nei primi anni il rifugio nel quale nulla di male poteva capitargli. Diventerà in seguito il luogo di transizione e di mediazione, dove si svolge un processo di interpretazione culturale e linguistica e dove egli formò la sua identità sia come individuo sia anche come scrittore. Lì Ngugi scoprirà la lingua e la cultura inglese ma prenderà anche piena coscienza dell’importanza della cultura africana, radicata nella sua lingua madre, il gikuyu. Importanti sono infatti le riflessioni sul potere della lingua di plasmare la realtà e di resistere all'oppressione. L’apprendistato comunque non fu facile. Ma se nel paese reale, anche e soprattutto dopo la proclamazione di indipendenza, vigeva un clima di violenze e soprusi, egli, e non solo lui, maturava una coscienza ben salda su valori di onestà, giustizia sociale e democrazia. E l’opposizione al regime lo porterà all’esilio. Molto belle sono le descrizioni della natura, del lavoro nei campi e del suo rapporto con la madre.
February 7, 2013
The latest book by Ngũgĩ picks up his life story where his childood memoir, Dreams in a Time of War, left off. It is April 1955, and the Kenyan Emergency, also known as the Mau Mau Uprising, is raging throughout the country. The Mau Mau, a group of Kikuyu freedom fighters, are at war with the colonial British government in an effort to achieve independence, after repeated cries to address grievances against their people were systematically ignored. The Mau Mau specialize in lightning quick strikes against the colonialists and Kikuyu supporters, which spread terror throughout the country. The British Army responds by fighting the Mau Mau in the forests and jungles, while cracking down harshly on the Kikuyu villagers who they suspect are supporting the freedom fighters.
Ngũgĩ's older brother Good Wallace has fled to join the freedom fighters, after he barely escaped with his life from an attack by local police after he visited his family in their home village of Kamĩrĩthũ. The townspeople and local officials are aware of Good Wallace's participation in the Uprising, and the family's activities are under surveillance.
As the book opens, James Ngũgĩ, the author's baptismal name, has returned from his first term at Alliance High School, one of the most prestigious secondary schools for black Kenyan students. His excitement at seeing his family again is quickly lost, as his home village has been razed to the ground, unbeknownst to him. He is eventually directed to a home guard post, which has also been given the name Kamĩrĩthũ, which is essentially a concentration camp comprised of people from several nearby villagers, under guard by the British Army. Those who are loyal to the colonial government receive better housing and more freedom, and families like the Ngũgĩs are relegated to substandard living conditions and are closely monitored.
James wears his Alliance uniform proudly outside of the school grounds, as it is widely recognized as a mark of success by fellow Kikuyus, and he views it as a sort of talisman that will protect him from suspicion or harm by British soldiers. The school was founded by European missionaries and modeled on schools for the education of Native Americans and African Americans in the post-Civil War South, particularly Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and Hampton Institute in Virginia. During Ngũgĩ's years at Alliance it was led by Edward Carey Francis, a visionary Englishman who transformed the school from a largely vocational one to an institute of higher learning based on rigorous study within and outside the classroom that would mold and generate the future leaders of the country. Black teachers from across the country worked alongside their European counterparts, and as a result Alliance students were self-confident, intellectually minded, and prepared to attend university or serve as teachers and leaders within their communities.
James grows in confidence during his Alliance years, under the influence of his teachers and close classmates, as he excels in his studies, writes his first short story and becomes a respected Christian teacher to children in a distant village. However, he is deeply conflicted between his education, which is heavily focused on England as the center of the world and colonialism as beneficial to the citizens of the British Empire, and his people's desire for freedom and his concern about Good Wallace, who was captured and imprisoned by the British Army, and his mother, who was detained and tortured while he was there. He graduates second in his class, takes on a temporary teaching position, and is accepted into Uganda's Makerere University, one of the most prestigious post-secondary schools for African students. However, in the aftermath of his acceptance to university, he falls into a dangerous situation that threatens to overturn all of his hard work and success.
In the House of the Interpreter is named in honor of Robert Carey Francis, who viewed Alliance as a modern version of the Interpreter's House in the 17th century novel The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, a place "where the dust we had brought from the outside could be swept away by the law of good behavior and watered by the gospel of Christian service." It is a valuable and detailed though time limited view into Ngũgĩ's formative years, and the experiences during a time of personal and political upheaval that penetrated the fortress of higher learning that Alliance represented to him and his classmates.
Ngũgĩ's older brother Good Wallace has fled to join the freedom fighters, after he barely escaped with his life from an attack by local police after he visited his family in their home village of Kamĩrĩthũ. The townspeople and local officials are aware of Good Wallace's participation in the Uprising, and the family's activities are under surveillance.
As the book opens, James Ngũgĩ, the author's baptismal name, has returned from his first term at Alliance High School, one of the most prestigious secondary schools for black Kenyan students. His excitement at seeing his family again is quickly lost, as his home village has been razed to the ground, unbeknownst to him. He is eventually directed to a home guard post, which has also been given the name Kamĩrĩthũ, which is essentially a concentration camp comprised of people from several nearby villagers, under guard by the British Army. Those who are loyal to the colonial government receive better housing and more freedom, and families like the Ngũgĩs are relegated to substandard living conditions and are closely monitored.
James wears his Alliance uniform proudly outside of the school grounds, as it is widely recognized as a mark of success by fellow Kikuyus, and he views it as a sort of talisman that will protect him from suspicion or harm by British soldiers. The school was founded by European missionaries and modeled on schools for the education of Native Americans and African Americans in the post-Civil War South, particularly Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and Hampton Institute in Virginia. During Ngũgĩ's years at Alliance it was led by Edward Carey Francis, a visionary Englishman who transformed the school from a largely vocational one to an institute of higher learning based on rigorous study within and outside the classroom that would mold and generate the future leaders of the country. Black teachers from across the country worked alongside their European counterparts, and as a result Alliance students were self-confident, intellectually minded, and prepared to attend university or serve as teachers and leaders within their communities.
James grows in confidence during his Alliance years, under the influence of his teachers and close classmates, as he excels in his studies, writes his first short story and becomes a respected Christian teacher to children in a distant village. However, he is deeply conflicted between his education, which is heavily focused on England as the center of the world and colonialism as beneficial to the citizens of the British Empire, and his people's desire for freedom and his concern about Good Wallace, who was captured and imprisoned by the British Army, and his mother, who was detained and tortured while he was there. He graduates second in his class, takes on a temporary teaching position, and is accepted into Uganda's Makerere University, one of the most prestigious post-secondary schools for African students. However, in the aftermath of his acceptance to university, he falls into a dangerous situation that threatens to overturn all of his hard work and success.
In the House of the Interpreter is named in honor of Robert Carey Francis, who viewed Alliance as a modern version of the Interpreter's House in the 17th century novel The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, a place "where the dust we had brought from the outside could be swept away by the law of good behavior and watered by the gospel of Christian service." It is a valuable and detailed though time limited view into Ngũgĩ's formative years, and the experiences during a time of personal and political upheaval that penetrated the fortress of higher learning that Alliance represented to him and his classmates.
September 15, 2024
I have immensely enjoyed part 1 of the memoirs where Ngugi wa Thiong'o recounts his childhood in the Kenyan village. Part 2 is linear, boy goes to school kind of story, and it feels a bit dispassionate. Simple words, trivial deeds...
I have a hypothesis regarding the selection of words. For the lack of other written word on Kenyan history and specifically by an African author, this is then the next best thing to history. It has to be remembered.
The plot emerges unexpectedly. All the gospel about truth and love start to make sense outside the school's gates when the author confronts the reality and has to make a stand. The ending is actually quite good.
I have a hypothesis regarding the selection of words. For the lack of other written word on Kenyan history and specifically by an African author, this is then the next best thing to history. It has to be remembered.
The plot emerges unexpectedly. All the gospel about truth and love start to make sense outside the school's gates when the author confronts the reality and has to make a stand. The ending is actually quite good.
July 3, 2021
4. Explica els seus anys d’educació secundària en el sí d’un país colonitzat que comença a anhelar la llibertat. Veiem un gran imperi des del punt de vista que mai hem vist. El més meravellós de tot és que parla del conflicte sense deixar de descriure la seva vida. Sense lliçons ni grans contextos. L’acompanyem al seu dia a dia i en copsem tot el que no sabíem (almenys jo)
Desplaçar el centre. Aquest títol d’una altra obra seva, que segurament llegiré, em sembla majestuós. Treure la literatura d’on sempre ha lluit i desplaçar-la a qui mai hem escoltat.
Desplaçar el centre. Aquest títol d’una altra obra seva, que segurament llegiré, em sembla majestuós. Treure la literatura d’on sempre ha lluit i desplaçar-la a qui mai hem escoltat.
January 23, 2013
I picked this up as a reader for the Arts Club of Washington's Marfield Prize. It was a very, very enjoyable read. I thought that I understood the dynamics of the colonial time, but gained more insights than I thought was possible.
July 24, 2021
Great memoir about late 1950s Kenya during the state of emergency. Especially interesting as a dear friend's father pops up in the book a few times.
This book fulfills the Kenya book for my African Reading Challenge. Countries completed so far: Rwanda, Malawi, Kenya.
This book fulfills the Kenya book for my African Reading Challenge. Countries completed so far: Rwanda, Malawi, Kenya.
January 9, 2018
Flows with the gentle irresistible power of a river, and as many eddies and layers of cool, warm and hot. What a wonderful Christmas present to receive the second volume of this great writer's memoirs, following on from Dreams in a Time of War. As always the personal is political: through Ngugi's high school years I got so much insight into what was happening in Kenya around the time I was born.
The personal is also personal: the book is full of sweet stories of what it is to be a schoolboy - and it is touchingly dedicated to his entire high school graduation class as "a formative part of [his] intellectual and spiritual stirrings." The stories are open and forthright about everything except any stirrings of sexuality.
The brutality of colonialism and racism are stark in this book, as we move with Ngugi back and forth between school and home with each term. Due to his razor sharp mind, Ngugi goes to about the only school at the time that offers quality education to black Kenyans. At school, we experience the unfurling of a mind that simply loves ideas, literature, debate and intellectual challenge. Yet the context is paradoxical: the institution is set up both to educate Kenya's best and brightest and to perpetuate white domination.
At home the colonial whip is more crude and brutal. The book opens with Ngugi's family being forced, along with their whole community, to build their own concentration camp - a militarised fortified village designed to starve out the Mau Mau resistance. It is shocking to read a first hand account of what life is like in Kenya in the 1950s, and helps me understand the level of anger and devastation in Africa today.
It's ironic that one of the early African writers to introduce a class consciousness into his novels is at this stage going through his own upward class change. While at school he never has money, but once he has his "O" levels professional opportunities open up. Yet his blackness is enough reason or arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. For a reader schooled in the ways of a world where upper classes are treated better by all arms of the state than lower classes, it is all the more devastating to witness the humiliation of this proud and brilliant young man by the colonial powers.
And it is hugely inspiring to know how this young man emerged as one of the world's leading authors and thinkers. I look forward to the next volume of his memoirs, Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Writer's Awakening.
The personal is also personal: the book is full of sweet stories of what it is to be a schoolboy - and it is touchingly dedicated to his entire high school graduation class as "a formative part of [his] intellectual and spiritual stirrings." The stories are open and forthright about everything except any stirrings of sexuality.
The brutality of colonialism and racism are stark in this book, as we move with Ngugi back and forth between school and home with each term. Due to his razor sharp mind, Ngugi goes to about the only school at the time that offers quality education to black Kenyans. At school, we experience the unfurling of a mind that simply loves ideas, literature, debate and intellectual challenge. Yet the context is paradoxical: the institution is set up both to educate Kenya's best and brightest and to perpetuate white domination.
At home the colonial whip is more crude and brutal. The book opens with Ngugi's family being forced, along with their whole community, to build their own concentration camp - a militarised fortified village designed to starve out the Mau Mau resistance. It is shocking to read a first hand account of what life is like in Kenya in the 1950s, and helps me understand the level of anger and devastation in Africa today.
It's ironic that one of the early African writers to introduce a class consciousness into his novels is at this stage going through his own upward class change. While at school he never has money, but once he has his "O" levels professional opportunities open up. Yet his blackness is enough reason or arbitrary arrest and imprisonment. For a reader schooled in the ways of a world where upper classes are treated better by all arms of the state than lower classes, it is all the more devastating to witness the humiliation of this proud and brilliant young man by the colonial powers.
And it is hugely inspiring to know how this young man emerged as one of the world's leading authors and thinkers. I look forward to the next volume of his memoirs, Birth of a Dream Weaver: A Writer's Awakening.
January 18, 2024
Este é o segundo volume das memórias do escritor queniano Ngugi Wa Thiongo'o. Se na primeira parte, intitulada Sonhos em tempo de guerra, o autor evocava a sua infância, acompanhando o processo de deterioração da vida de seu pai, o acirramento da repressão do governo colonial contra os movimentos nacionalistas de resistência, e o alistamento do seu irmão mais velho na guerrilha Mau-mau, Na casa do intérprete começa com a chegada do jovem Ngugi à tão sonhada escola Alliance para cursar o ensino médio.
Thiongo'o recupera aqui uma das linhas principais do primeiro volume. O pacto feito com sua mãe para fazer valer a pena os sacrifícios familiares por investir na sua educação num contexto em que a educação dos africanos era progressivamente dificultada pelo governo britânico, os meios de vida da família eram cada vez mais reduzidos pela política de estado de exceção decretada no pós II Guerra, e as pessoas da etnia Kikuyo sofriam restrições de mobilidade e hostigamiento constante pelas suas relações com os Mau-mau: o jovem estudante devia ser sempre o melhor, ou, pelo menos, tentar ser o melhor e não permitir que nada o desviasse do seu caminho.
O livro apresenta um retrato detalhado da vida sob o jugo colonial da Inglaterra, ao mesmo tempo que descreve a vida acadêmica e o processo de formação moral, política e intelectual do futuro escritor. É muito interessante a relação que estabelece entre os métodos de ensino e convivência da escola com as propostas pedagógicas que Booker T. Washington defendia para população negra do sul dos EUA na virada do século XX (a que o autor não poupa críticas), e também as reflexões teológicas que Thiongo'o desenvolve a partir a evolução da sua fé, que deixa atrás a religiosidade infantil monolítica para se tornar mais complexa ao incorporar a reflexão anticolonial.
Thiongo'o recupera aqui uma das linhas principais do primeiro volume. O pacto feito com sua mãe para fazer valer a pena os sacrifícios familiares por investir na sua educação num contexto em que a educação dos africanos era progressivamente dificultada pelo governo britânico, os meios de vida da família eram cada vez mais reduzidos pela política de estado de exceção decretada no pós II Guerra, e as pessoas da etnia Kikuyo sofriam restrições de mobilidade e hostigamiento constante pelas suas relações com os Mau-mau: o jovem estudante devia ser sempre o melhor, ou, pelo menos, tentar ser o melhor e não permitir que nada o desviasse do seu caminho.
O livro apresenta um retrato detalhado da vida sob o jugo colonial da Inglaterra, ao mesmo tempo que descreve a vida acadêmica e o processo de formação moral, política e intelectual do futuro escritor. É muito interessante a relação que estabelece entre os métodos de ensino e convivência da escola com as propostas pedagógicas que Booker T. Washington defendia para população negra do sul dos EUA na virada do século XX (a que o autor não poupa críticas), e também as reflexões teológicas que Thiongo'o desenvolve a partir a evolução da sua fé, que deixa atrás a religiosidade infantil monolítica para se tornar mais complexa ao incorporar a reflexão anticolonial.
August 6, 2024
A fabulous biography that educated me on what it was like to live in Kenya in the 40s and 50s.
The book was an important read given my family’s history in Kenya. Ngũgĩ shares his story growing up as a child in Kenya, with the story centred around his days as a student at Alliance and eventual college admission. I learned of his first-hand experience of colonialism, living in a national state of emergency & the momentum of anti-colonial movement in Kenya.
I particularly enjoyed reading about how Alliance became a “sanctuary” for its school children during these times, developing the soul, body & mind through religion, sport & class, respectively. This enabled a lucky few to be able to challenge white peers in university admissions, despite the circumstances.
The story ends with a moving account of the authors unjustified arrest by corrupt police officers which leads to a moving trial, which tests his faith & pursuit of truth.
Ngũgĩ’s use of imagery is both captivating and inspiring. Two come to mind:
- “The bloodhounds at the gate” that represents the corrupt police that are relentlessly hunting down anti-colonial empathisers and ordinary people who they can pin crimes on
- The “house of the interpreter” title even comes from a passage from Pilgrim’s Progress which is read out by the school headmaster Casey Francis during chapel service and to me symbolises the state of Kenya at the time. The parlor full of dust is Kenya and its colonial vices. The sweeping is the changing law & progressive educational system. The sprinkling of water is religious faith.
The book was an important read given my family’s history in Kenya. Ngũgĩ shares his story growing up as a child in Kenya, with the story centred around his days as a student at Alliance and eventual college admission. I learned of his first-hand experience of colonialism, living in a national state of emergency & the momentum of anti-colonial movement in Kenya.
I particularly enjoyed reading about how Alliance became a “sanctuary” for its school children during these times, developing the soul, body & mind through religion, sport & class, respectively. This enabled a lucky few to be able to challenge white peers in university admissions, despite the circumstances.
The story ends with a moving account of the authors unjustified arrest by corrupt police officers which leads to a moving trial, which tests his faith & pursuit of truth.
Ngũgĩ’s use of imagery is both captivating and inspiring. Two come to mind:
- “The bloodhounds at the gate” that represents the corrupt police that are relentlessly hunting down anti-colonial empathisers and ordinary people who they can pin crimes on
- The “house of the interpreter” title even comes from a passage from Pilgrim’s Progress which is read out by the school headmaster Casey Francis during chapel service and to me symbolises the state of Kenya at the time. The parlor full of dust is Kenya and its colonial vices. The sweeping is the changing law & progressive educational system. The sprinkling of water is religious faith.
March 8, 2019
This is Ngugi wa Thiong'o's 2nd memoir and tells of his years at Alliance Academy. When I was in high school at Rift Valley Academy, a boarding school for missionary children, Alliance was one of our sports rivals. Thiong'o wrote of this place 20 years before my time at RVA, in the 1950s during the Mau Mau years. Alliance Academy was considered the best "African" secondary school during those years. I enjoyed seeing the similarities between these two boarding schools that were so close together. The book, however, is much deeper as he explores his life during this volatile time in Kenyan history and his own social development as he grew as a student but struggled with religious issues and worries about his own family. A very strong continuation of his memoirs.
June 24, 2025
I heard this writer’s name for the first time the day his death was announced. I listened to an interview from several years earlier with someone from the BBC who was a RIGHT idiot. Asked Thiong’o why he had switched to writing in his native language, Kikuyu, after several years of great success writing in English. Thiong’o was patient and kind in his answer; didn’t start with, as I thought he had every right to do, “Have YOU ever written in a second language? Do you KNOW how hard that is, and how incomplete it feels, however excellent your command of the second language?”
It went on from there and the BBC guy didn’t come off so well. I was intrigued to hear from Thiong’o himself so I checked out this memoir from the library. This is one part of his extraordinary story, from living very happily in a tight-knit village through his high school years at an elite boarding school. His first-person view of British colonial brutality is nuanced: An outstanding learner of English, he still laments the imposition of the language and the cruel attempts to obliterate native languages. His curiosity about British manners has an edge of irony to it: Yes, let’s learn the names and positions of all those forks although we Kenyans can never be included among “gentlemen.” He describes some of the Europeans in Africa as "larger-than-life bearers of light to a Dark Continent ... traversing terrains of dangerous forests clad in nothing more than the Bible, spreading enlightenment and casting out the devil" yet embraces Christianity wholeheartedly, even evangelically.
I started to give this 4 stars because there are times when the stories drag a bit and run together, until the very last one which had me on the edge of my chair, mouth and eyes wide open. He leaves on a cliffhanger, suggesting that the next volume of memoir will take up at the moment this one left off, and I will have to read it. In the meantime, a moment from an earlier story to remember forever: Working for a few months as an elementary school teacher between high school and college, he is brought before a young white man who can decide whether Thiong’o will stay in jail on nebulous charges or be set free to go home. The two find out their schools had competed against each other in several sports, and Thiong’o lets the white guy claim his school’s record of victories in field hockey despite his own recollections to the contrary. Thiong’o realizes the young man is in the same position he is: working a temporary job while awaiting news of admission to university. The power difference between the two of them first disappears, then roars back with ugly consequences. The BBC interviewer’s ignorance during that interview was certainly nothing in comparison to that - and many other - moments of imperialism, but the two images resonate.
It went on from there and the BBC guy didn’t come off so well. I was intrigued to hear from Thiong’o himself so I checked out this memoir from the library. This is one part of his extraordinary story, from living very happily in a tight-knit village through his high school years at an elite boarding school. His first-person view of British colonial brutality is nuanced: An outstanding learner of English, he still laments the imposition of the language and the cruel attempts to obliterate native languages. His curiosity about British manners has an edge of irony to it: Yes, let’s learn the names and positions of all those forks although we Kenyans can never be included among “gentlemen.” He describes some of the Europeans in Africa as "larger-than-life bearers of light to a Dark Continent ... traversing terrains of dangerous forests clad in nothing more than the Bible, spreading enlightenment and casting out the devil" yet embraces Christianity wholeheartedly, even evangelically.
I started to give this 4 stars because there are times when the stories drag a bit and run together, until the very last one which had me on the edge of my chair, mouth and eyes wide open. He leaves on a cliffhanger, suggesting that the next volume of memoir will take up at the moment this one left off, and I will have to read it. In the meantime, a moment from an earlier story to remember forever: Working for a few months as an elementary school teacher between high school and college, he is brought before a young white man who can decide whether Thiong’o will stay in jail on nebulous charges or be set free to go home. The two find out their schools had competed against each other in several sports, and Thiong’o lets the white guy claim his school’s record of victories in field hockey despite his own recollections to the contrary. Thiong’o realizes the young man is in the same position he is: working a temporary job while awaiting news of admission to university. The power difference between the two of them first disappears, then roars back with ugly consequences. The BBC interviewer’s ignorance during that interview was certainly nothing in comparison to that - and many other - moments of imperialism, but the two images resonate.
March 13, 2014
Moving memoir. Makes one appreciate being born in the U.S. Between colonialism and guerrilla war fare, the citizens of Kenya are constantly fighting to be heard and to be free. Ngugi catalogs his high school journey at the prestigous Alliance Academy. He was one of the fortunate ones chosen to further their education. During the four years he was away at school, his village was razed and his brother and mother imprisoned. A wonderful coming-of-age story both courageous and heartbreaking. I am so enjoy reading about the different African experiences, in awe and appreciation for their perserverance.
December 11, 2012
Captures the contradictions and complexities of education under the colonial system. Enjoyable throughout, but has an exceptionally gripping conclusion.
September 26, 2020
Thought provoking.
January 8, 2023
Following Dreams in a time of war, this is Part 2 of the memoir series of the Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, translated to English from Gikuyu. It is a book with multiple short length essays about his time in Alliance High School and coming of age in Kenya under the colonization of the British. A central theme, 'contradiction', is peppered throughout the book: How Alliance, a school run by the British to train Kenyan civil servants, ends up being a hotbed of the independence movement. How learning about Shakespeare and British art forms ends up sparking ideas about resistance and revolutions amongst the student body. Simple things, such as being taught table manners, instilled in them that they may one day be waited on. How he have also realized that there are things that could be learnt outside the school gates, the school being 'the oasis in the desert' as quipped by their principal, but the oasis is not an oasis without the desert. And at the end, the school with a scary imposing façade to young Ngũgĩ ends up being his refuge, and the skills he learnt being put to good use immediately after he left school.
August 3, 2025
This book is the history of Ngugi, when he enters Alliance boarding school. It is the story of his 4 years as student with academic struggles as many other students: being accepted, developing confidence, making friends, developing values and ethics, critical thinking. While he navigates schooling he also comes to question colonialism, his sense of dislocation and the fact that “even African history was largely the story of Europeans in Africa”.
On the other hand, every time he visits his family things and political events keep unfolding. His brother Good Wallace, member of the liberation Mau Mau movement is always in his thoughts. His moms’ potatoes are a constant, his return home during holidays… he keeps connected with the reality outside school. After four years at Alliance…Ngugi is ready to go to University however something happens. The end is a strong tale of freedom, of truth and courage.
On the other hand, every time he visits his family things and political events keep unfolding. His brother Good Wallace, member of the liberation Mau Mau movement is always in his thoughts. His moms’ potatoes are a constant, his return home during holidays… he keeps connected with the reality outside school. After four years at Alliance…Ngugi is ready to go to University however something happens. The end is a strong tale of freedom, of truth and courage.
March 3, 2024
Another excellent entry in the memoirs of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o focused on his years at Alliance High, a boarding school he attended from 1955-1958. There's so much to enjoy in this book, and Thiong'o is great at mining for the emotional resonance in his storytelling, whether in minute occurences, such as when the little "Crow" boy makes a reappearance, to big life-changing events like the courtroom scene that ends this volume. Along the way, we get his evolving relationship with Christianity, a first romantic experience, the trials and tribulations (and joys and triumphs) of academic life, his continued interest in the arts, specifically literature and theater, and an overall great portrait of an individual grappling with the effects of colonialism. Since I mistakenly read the third volume of Thiong'o's memoirs first, I'll soon be skipping to the final volume.
June 17, 2022
i dont know what to feel about this one, i really adore ngugi's works but this memoir just feels like its missing something......
one of his works that i rlly enjoyed is called the perfect nine ((its one of my top 5 reads in 2020!!!)) which was written in epic poem, generally about feminism and gender equality if you guys would like to check it out 👀 so i was glad to stumbled upon this one day in the library & instantly picked it up 📚
no doubt that its v well written but kinda lacks in terms of making me engaged; just too much of centering his time in boarding school and i wished theres a variety of events and experiences of his time in exploring other things. pretty much got really bored and almost didnt finish 😬
one of his works that i rlly enjoyed is called the perfect nine ((its one of my top 5 reads in 2020!!!)) which was written in epic poem, generally about feminism and gender equality if you guys would like to check it out 👀 so i was glad to stumbled upon this one day in the library & instantly picked it up 📚
no doubt that its v well written but kinda lacks in terms of making me engaged; just too much of centering his time in boarding school and i wished theres a variety of events and experiences of his time in exploring other things. pretty much got really bored and almost didnt finish 😬
December 2, 2018
This was a nice companion to the pre-high school days laid out in Dreams in a Time of War. I enjoyed the interspersing of commentary about how the author came to think a certain way, or hold a certain expectation of the world. The introduction of things familiar from summer camp (lights out, being woken in the morning in your bunk, preparing for performances while also attending classes) also brought this second volume to life for me in a way the first volume didn't necessarily. Throughout both, though, it was illuminating to hear the author's perspective on, and means of coming by the information, world events. A trick of the trade for memoir, I suppose. I'd read more by Ngugi.
July 20, 2024
“I don’t feel a stranger to my village anymore. It has taken a long time. But the gain of the new makes up for the loss of the old. Good Wallace embraces me. My younger brother, Njinju, clings to my hand, making it clear to all that I am his hero” (240).
“Nothing will ever dim the glory of the hour when I became free, or diminish my longing and quest for freedom, whose value I have come to cherish even more” (240).
Beautiful beautiful book and amazing and hopeful and ending and it also had so many references to Kenyan political figures and others who I would really like to do some more research on!
“Nothing will ever dim the glory of the hour when I became free, or diminish my longing and quest for freedom, whose value I have come to cherish even more” (240).
Beautiful beautiful book and amazing and hopeful and ending and it also had so many references to Kenyan political figures and others who I would really like to do some more research on!
May 18, 2020
Beautifully described memoir of a boy's education in Kenya as the country fights against colonialism.
The boy's internal struggles are captured in vignettes where he grapples with colonial legacies:
- racist depictions of Africa in British literature
- the role of Christianity in his life and identity
- civil unrest and the fight for freedom
- tensions between African, Asian and European Kenyans
A powerful depiction of how children reconcile the education they get inside a classroom with the incongruous reality outside the classroom.
The boy's internal struggles are captured in vignettes where he grapples with colonial legacies:
- racist depictions of Africa in British literature
- the role of Christianity in his life and identity
- civil unrest and the fight for freedom
- tensions between African, Asian and European Kenyans
A powerful depiction of how children reconcile the education they get inside a classroom with the incongruous reality outside the classroom.
August 12, 2017
Ngugi is one of the African authors' names that are whispered in reverence, shouted with pride and revered in one's own soul. "This is OUR best." "This is OUR voice on the world's stage." "This is OUR story." This book gifted me with the visual and texture of colonialism in Kenya. I loved all the contradictions and sharing the experience of an individual recognizing and navigating through them. Now I want to here about this time and place from an Acrossian's perspective.
April 10, 2020
It's an enjoyable read throughout but it took me long time to get through the middle bit. I finished the last part in 1 read and the twist has brought the book to another level. The incident sums up all the main themes in the book: the importance of eloquence and education, his uphold of truth and justice, the colonialism struggles, the fear vs the courage. I enjoyed both his memoirs and now want to get the 3rd book. :))))
November 8, 2021
similarly to wizard of the crow, his writing style has this appeal which I can't really explain much. i liked learning about what was going on in kenya in the 50s, and i saw the inspiration for some things seen in wizard of the crow (some names and stuff said about satan and temptation). also, his realisation about the black+white monolith gave something to think about. surprisingly, I also enjoyes reading about his journey with spirituality.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews