FiveBooks on the Nile

[FiveBooks]

Hey guys, thought you might be interested in this, its an interview we did with travel writer Dan Morrison about his favorite books on the Nile, he recommended some of the books that your group has on its list. Have a look at it and let us know what you think:

FiveBooks on the Nile

We also have some other book interviews on Africa that your might enjoy:
FiveBooks on Rwanda with Philip Gourevitch
FiveBooks on Africa with Michela Wrong

[Melanie]

Just checked out the interviews with Gourevitch and Wrong. I found them very interesting and will probably read several of the books they mentioned - thanks for posting this!

[Marieke, Former guide & Chief Chatterbox]

wow, thanks for these, FiveBooks! what a great idea to talk to specialist about a five-book selection. i just read Dan Morrison's interview and wonder if he has read The Other Nile: Journeys in Egypt, The Sudan and Ethiopia, which i really enjoyed. I've meant to read Moorehead's books...i think i'll have to get on top of those before Morrison's is released, which if i understood the intro to his interview correctly, will be in August. I've read some of Collins' other works but not his work on the Nile. I guess I should, since Morrison says he is in love with it.

[Sokari]

Clearly there are no Rwandans writing about Rwanda or Africans writing about Africa - what a sad shame that is!

[Marieke, Former guide & Chief Chatterbox]

that can't be true! let's find FiveBooks by Africans about the Nile, Rwanda, or Africa in general to complement these "outsider" collections...

[[deleted user]]

Yeah, I noticed this, too.

[Diane , Head Librarian]

For Rwanda, he didn't mention An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography and Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, both written by Rwandans.

[Marieke, Former guide & Chief Chatterbox]

I finally read Gourevitch's piece, and his last book recommendation is a memoir by a South African. And one of the books he mentions was written by a Somali woman. Also, he did at least allude to the problem of access to Rwandan writing for non-Rwandans.

To the Rwandan books by Rwandans (in English), i'd like to add Rwanda Means the Universe: A Native's Memoir of Blood and Bloodlines.

[Marieke, Former guide & Chief Chatterbox]

I'm reading through Michela Wrong's piece now, and I notice she names three African writers out of a generation: "and we also have a generation of African writers – people like Dambisa Moyo, Andrew Mwenda and Moeletsi Mbeki – who are saying that aid is part of the problem."
So it seems that (at least) Western writers are not wholly ignorant of their African counterparts.

i think the problem with the format is actually rather innocent, since it's likely a problem of accessibility rather than the thought that Africans writing about Africa are inconsequential. so...FiveBooks having access to only to foreign experts on African issues (i'm just guessing)rather than African experts combined with what would be considered accessible to a general audience makes for a skewed presentation, especially for members of this group who are more likely to be sensitive to and aware of African contributions.

in any case, this discussion thread underscores my hope for this group here on GoodReads...that the universe expands for both readers and writers (African and non-African) of things African.

A fun thread to revisit on this topic, actually, is "Rude Question" by Manu. :D