One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 27, 2012 Beverly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My thoughts:
• At first it took me a while to get into the flow of the book but for me this book was a series of vignettes/thoughts – some very brief and some a little longer. There were times when I was fully engaged and others that I was not quite sure what was going on.
• For the book is divided into the three stages of the author’s life – coming-of-age (childhood into adolescence as become more aware of the influences outside of family) – college years/young adult – adulthood and each part had My thoughts:
• At first it took me a while to get into the flow of the book but for me this book was a series of vignettes/thoughts – some very brief and some a little longer. There were times when I was fully engaged and others that I was not quite sure what was going on.
• For the book is divided into the three stages of the author’s life – coming-of-age (childhood into adolescence as become more aware of the influences outside of family) – college years/young adult – adulthood and each part had a different flavor but was aware that all were written by an adult reflecting backwards
• We are all a product of our times that is influenced by our personal ambitions tempered by the past and family, cultural and political expectations/barriers and the author did a good job of showing how each of these affected him.
• While some understanding of this time period/history/place will enhance the reading this book can be read on both the macro and micro level. On the macro level the life path by Wainaina can be recognized by many as it is universal one that many readers can understand that mimics their life in broad strokes, but what the reader will get on the macro level is a broad stroke of a middle class life in Kenya, Uganda, & South Africa at the time. On the micro level, Wainaina mentions issues, names, places that are better understood if you have some knowledge on what he is commenting on – or if interested can research further.
• This book and author falls into the category of Afropolitan – internationally mobile, educated, with a different expectation of Africa than the parent’s and prior generations. As I have enjoyed the thoughts and portrayals by other authors labeled as Afropolitan – I also enjoyed this book. This book will help dispel some stereotypes that come to mind when readers think of Africa.
• I enjoyed how the author used historical events, family events, cultural tidbits throughout the story and it helped to understand his inner turmoil as he grew up and moved forward as an adult.
• As the author is a student of words – the language/words are both structured and free-flowing yet the reader is aware that the author took much thought on the words/sentences as presented on the page.
• I would not say that I am a big fan of memoirs but this memoir worked for me – I came away understanding a little more about a place and time that is often portrayed differently in history – the author is honest in what happened and does not paint a Pollyanna portrait but one that is individual to him.
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Jul 25, 2011 Andrea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kenya

Binyavanga is a boy who seems a bit out of step with his family's ordered, prosperous life in Nakuru, Kenya. He observes the world in vivid snatches and his memoir is written in a similar way. It is a bit hard to dive into, but I found it very vivid and engaging once I got a grip on what he is doing. Kenya is a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic country in which most people's views of Africa and the world come mediated through community myths and ideas about the "other." The author does an excellent jo ...more

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Sep 23, 2020 Anna Ruth FL rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kenya-grc

This is a beautiful book. I listened to the audio version, which is narrated by Ivanno Jeremiah. His narration is brilliant. I cried several times while listening, not even because the segment I was listening to was sad, but because the author died so young with much more to say.

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