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John
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Jan 18, 2016 04:28AM
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This is my rating and review from last year. I may revise after a fuller discussion.★★★★
A young man studying engineering in Paris, likely homesick and missing his native Guinea (then French Guinea), sits down and writes the story of his growing up a Malinké on the Upper Guinea plain in Kouroussa, a small town on the Niger River. And so we have this delightful, touching, universal story of growing, learning, coming of age, falling in love and leaving home. Highly recommended.
"'I don't see you pulling Fanta's hair,' [my sister] said.
'Why should I? She leaves me alone.'
'Yes, I've noticed.'
'Then, why should I?'
'Oh, I don't know. I thought there might be some other reason.'
What was she getting at? I shrugged my shoulders. Girls were crazy; all girls were."
Mod
★★★★★
Read from December 12 to 16, 2015
This is a good book, a memoir, Camara Laye tells us about his youth in Guinea. He shares with us the culture, family structure, spirituality of his people and his trip towards his own destiny. He wrote this book when he was in his twenties and studying engineering in France. He died in Senegal in 1980.
3 StarsIt was ok. A good memoir but I only really enjoyed parts of it. I didn't really find the point in the book.
★★★This memoir is an enjoyable read that is a picturesque coming of age story set in Africa. It's simply told without artifice or tremendous elaboration. We follow Laye's story as he is raised by his loving parents, attends primary school, falls for his first love, and finally becomes a man through a ritual circumcision. Unfortunately, the book ends on a bittersweet note and left me wanting more. Nicely rendered, but not likely to be memorable.
★★★A quite sweet story of growing up as a boy in Guinea during the 1930s.
* * *Three Stars for me. I enjoyed some parts of the tale in particular about the culture of the tribe. However, I was disappointed that it did not really have a point and that it was not really building to much of anything. I definitely liked Things Fall Apart better.
Anna wrote: "* * *I definitely liked Things Fall Apart better. .."
Ditto for me. I thought the writing style here was enjoyable, but I felt almost like I was reading a sociology paper as opposed to a memoir. There really wasn't a message and as you say, the story never really builds.
Here's my review from last year: 4 starsCamara Laye tells us about the highlights of his childhood in Upper Guinea and later in the capital of Conakry. In so doing he introduces us to the people and culture of his home country. This is a fascinating account of growing up in a tight knit community with strong familial ties, based on a foundation that combines islamic belief with more shamanistic elements. As he lives mostly in town but also visits his mother's family in a more rural area, we get a broader view on the difference between the two environments. Moving to Conakry and the family of his uncle at age fifteen, he shows us yet another side of the country. Of his stay in Conakry he tells us more about that family than about life there or the city itself, which remain rather out of focus. But the scenes of his native town are vivid and the he completely pulled me into his tale when he dealt with his relations to his parents and the difficult separations and the ambivalent feelings when starting a journey into the unknown, first to Conakry and at the end of the book to France. A lovely book.
The Dark Child by Camara Laye
5 stars
I really enjoyed this lovely quick read. Being autobiographical just made all the emotions of this young man's journey to adulthood that much more poignant. As a reader I could just feel Camara's terror as he and the other boys heard the lions roaring at them during the ceremony for the society of the uninitiated and the frenzied exhaustion of the long days of dancing prior to their entrance into manhood. I felt as if his coming of age story really occurred in two very distinct ways--both within the confines of his family and village--where so much tradition was honored--and in a much more worldly fashion as he started experiencing the world by following his dream to a higher education. One of my favorites, so far, on the 1001 list.
Mod
A coming-of-age novel, outlining how it was to grow up as a boy in Guinea back in the 30s and 40s. There were several little interesting aspects to this novel, such as the combination of traditional rites within an Islamic environment. But in terms of novels addressing the passage from a colonial/tribal state to the integration into a "civilized"/occidental society, I think that Achebe and Dangaremgba were much better. Cute, but not really exciting.
Rating: 4 StarsRead: 2010
I read this a few years ago as part of my reading around the world "project". It was my first choice for a book by a Guinean author. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was well-written. It is exactly the type of world literature book I like since it gives you a rich insight into another culture. I recently acquired copies of two of his other works, which I hope to read soon.
