Great African Reads discussion
Tour d'Afrique: Africa A-Z
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Going overland to Gabon: May & June (2011)
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Sho wrote: "I'll add Gabonese author Daniel Mengara, Mema."Awesome!! I knew I could rely on you to come up with more suggestions, Sho!! ;)
I read Travels in West Africa when I was in Ghana and Togo and I loved it.
Chinook wrote: "I read Travels in West Africa when I was in Ghana and Togo and I loved it."Oh that's good! :) Sounds like a promising read then!
looking forward to being able to re-join the readings for may/june! will have to see if I can come across any Gabonese fiction - disturbingly nothing comes to mind at the moment.
Meme sounds interesting.Another book but it is also non-fiction.
A Workman Is Worthy of His Meat by Jeremy Rich
In Libreville, the capital of the African nation of Gabon, the colonial past has evolved into a present indelibly marked by colonial rule and ongoing French influence. This is especially evident in areas as essential to life as food. In this complex, hybrid culinary culture of Libreville, croissants are as readily available as plantains. Yet this same culinary diversity is accompanied by high prices and a scarcity of locally made food that is bewildering to residents and visitors alike. A staggering two-thirds of the country’s food is imported from outside Gabon, making Libreville’s cost of living comparable to that of Tokyo and Paris. In this compelling study of food culture and colonialism, Jeremy Rich explores how colonial rule intimately shaped African life and how African townspeople developed creative ways of coping with colonialism as European expansion threatened African self-sufficiency.
From colonization in the 1840s through independence, Libreville struggled with problems of food scarcity resulting from the legacy of Atlantic slavery, the violence of colonial conquest, and the rise of the timber export industry. Marriage disputes, racial tensions, and worker unrest often centered on food, and townspeople employed varied tactics to combat its scarcity. Ultimately, imports emerged as the solution and have had a lasting impact on Gabon’s culinary culture and economy.
Fascinating and informative, A Workman Is Worthy of His Meat engages a new avenue of historical inquiry in examining the culture of food as part of the colonial experience and resonates with the questions of globalization dominating culinary economics today.
yay, FOOD!! that looks like a good one, Beverly. And i'll read anything Chinook endorses. From my own check of the LC catalog, it seems that Albert Schweitzer was a super important figure, but i know zilch about him. I think Gabon will present a familiar problem for this group: French. but not a problem for Mahriana! :D
But i think Mema looks good. Sho, have you already read this book?
Yes, I read Mema and enjoyed it. It's not very long, either, which might make it a good companion to a non-fiction selection for Gabon.
I finished my Ethiopia picks, so decided to go ahead and start Mary Kingsley, although I'll read the group's book too, if that's not chosen. But I'd highly recommend it, as it's very funny. I was laughing in the first chapter when she describes the advice people give her about packing and preparing to travel to Africa.
Hello people,I've been very, very remiss with setting up a poll and getting things going for Gabon.. :( It's all done now so feel free to go and vote on your preferred book - hopefully there's something of interest to everybody and that's accessible!
Poll will stay open til Wednesday, 20 April, just a bit over a week.
Muphyn
I'm newbie in Great African Reads group and confused about Tour d'Afrique. Is the group reading a book about the "G" country Gabon or about the theme "Empire"?
The Tour d'Afrique book is from a different country every two months and since we are going in alphabetical order, we are now voting on a book for Gabon. Sometimes, people choose to read an alternate book from that country, but you can still be part of the discussion. The themes are an extra thing that was started to give people a chance to talk about things that might not encompass just one country or that they might just be interested in. We just happened to be on the theme of "Empire" right now. The books are suggestions from members, but we don't vote on a specific book for the themes; people just discuss the theme in any way they choose and recommend or inquire about books related to the theme. The tour gives us a general structure, but we have lots of threads going at once which makes it nice if you just read or learn something interesting and want to comment on it or share it.
Hi Sharon...I think Andrea explained it pretty well. the Tour is our "official" group activity and we've been doing it since 2008 or so. But not everyone enjoys group reads or has access to the books or the time to devote to a book they might not otherwise read, so we recently started the Themes thing as an experiment. The Themes thing is a much more casual discussion that focuses on a randomly selected topic rather than on a book that we have voted on. I hope you're a little less confused by it?
Wow, you explained it all fabulously, I think! :D Sharon, if you're still confused, please don't be shy but tell us, and we'll try again! :)
Now I get it. Thanks y'all. I've got my seat belt on and ready to ride Tour d'Afrique.
Thanks to all who voted for the upcoming Tour d'Afrique read - the winner is Mary Kingsley's "Travels in West Africa"!We'll be setting up discussion threads etc. in early May! Happy reading. :)
i got my copy of Kingsley's book yesterday (from work) and was astounded to see that it is well over 700 pages long although many editions at GR are listed at being around 300. why is that? i don't mind reading the extended version, but i was a little surprised (and confused) to see such a large book when i was expecting a more normal-sized one.
Wow, that is long!! I was under the impression too that it was 300 pages or so. Does it have heaps of appendices perhaps? Haven't checked out the copies at my library yet, will do so early next week and see how long they are.Have you been able to find your specific edition on GR, Marieke?
I've got an old copy from my university library and it is indeed quite long. I think some of the newer editions must be abridged.
Andrea wrote: "I've got an old copy from my university library and it is indeed quite long. I think some of the newer editions must be abridged."It's a hunk of a book allrighty...But Tour d'Afrique has never been an easy road, or so I've heard. ;-)
Sharon wrote: "... It's a hunk of a book allrighty...But Tour d'Afrique has never been an easy road, or so I've heard. ;-)...";) That is probably true, Sharon! :) It can get real tricky with the book choices and we aim to make it as difficult as possible ... no, of course not, just kidding! :) I never imagined it to be quite this hard to dig up book selections and source books for some countries whilst others are real easy and we have an awesome trip! :) Bit naive, I suppose. :)
I'm so hoping that I can pick up an abridged version (or whatever the shorter versions are), otherwise I've got no hope to ever finish it...
Wikipedia on Mary Kingsley Her understanding and empathy for the native African people and their interests, along with her stance on their so called "savage" way of life earned her unwanted fame and a mislabel as a feminist, an image she countered whenever given the chance.
Some quotes from Travels in West Africa
The African’s own way of doing anything mechanical is the simplest way, not the easiest, certainly not the quickest: he has all the chuckle-headedness of that overrated creature the ant, for his head never saves his heels.
. . . remember that, unless under white direction, the African has never made an even fourteenth-rate piece of cloth or pottery, or a machine, tool, picture, sculpture, and that he has never even risen to the level of picture-writing.
. . . if it is not the polygamy and not the drink that makes the West African as useless as he now is as a developer, or a means of developing the country, what is it?
The great inferiority of the African to the European lies in the matter of mechanical idea. I own I regard not only the African, but all coloured races, as inferior - inferior in kind not in degree - to the white races . . .
. . . when an African is bored - and he easily is so - he goes utterly to the bad.
. . . several authorities, not mission authorities alone, state with ethnologists that the African is incapable of learning, except during the period of childhood.
There will be then as there is now, and as there was in the past, individual Africans who will rise to a high level of culture, but that will be all for a very long period. To say that the African race will never advance beyond its present culture-level, is saying too much, in spite of the mass of evidence supporting this view, but I am certain they will never advance above it in the line of European culture.
I do not believe that the white race will ever drag the black up to their own particular summit in the mountain range of civilisation. Both polygamy and slavery {514} are, for divers reasons, essential to the well-being of Africa . . .
{514} By slavery, I mean the quasi-feudal system you find existing among the true negroes. I do not mean either the form of domestic slavery of Egypt, or the system of labour existing in the Congo Free State; although I am of opinion that the suppression of his export slave trade to the Americas was a grave mistake. It has been fraught with untold suffering to the African, which would have been avoided by altering the slave trade into a coolie system.
Painful quotes, Manu! I have some very mixed feelings about the book, but don't want comment too much until others have read some for themselves.Would be interesting to talk about this book in relation to "King Leopold's Ghost."
Hey, I suggest we move the discussion to here so we've got a separate thread in the book discussion folder. :)Interesting quotes, Manu! I'm still waiting for my (abridged) copy from the library...
Manu, what quotes/ They had me gulping for air. It doesn't matter if these thoughts are out-of-date; they are shocking nevertheless.
Great African Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
Travels in West Africa (other topics)Mema (other topics)
Mema (other topics)
Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, with Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chace of the Gorilla, the Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus and Other Animals (other topics)
On the Edge of the Primeval Forest/More from the Primeval Forest (other topics)
More...
Our next stop is Gabon on the coast of west central Africa, quite a journey! It shares borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. Here are some suggestions for the shared book read...
"Travels in West Africa" by Mary Kingsley, a lengthy but apparently very funny and insightful account of African exploration. It's based on Kingsley's second journey to Africa, and besides Gabon, the book also covers her travels to Sierra Leone, Ghana, parts of Equatorial Guinea, Lagos and Cameroon.
Other suggestions... (all non-fiction)
"One Dry Season" by Caroline Alexander
"The Rainbird: A Central African Journey" by Jan Brokken
"Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa" by Paul du Chaillu
"My Days with Albert Schweitzer" by Frederick Franck
"On The Edge Of The Primeval Forest: Experiences And Observations Of A Doctor In Equatorial Africa" by Albert Schweitzer
Any ideas for novels set in Gabon or by writers from Gabon? Post your suggestions by April 5, and I'll then set up a poll for voting.