Hey, Trekkie? Others Who Read About Africa?

[AGBF]

Hey Trekkie? Others who read about Africa? I promised my niece today that I would ask you if you had any book recommendations for her. I think she was looking for fiction, because she has plenty of non-fiction reading in her Ph.D program! She did not read all the books by Alexander McCall Smith, but she said she doesn't want to read any more from that series now that she has seen the DVD of the BBC production of "The Number One Ladies Detective Agency". (I think she is so smitten with the actors in that series that she wants to retain her memories of them.) She just finished White Dog Fell From The Sky, which is also about Botswana and is also fiction. (Her Senegalese husband is teasing her that Botswana is now her second favorite country in Africa.)

At any rate, it was fabulous seeing her today. She is through with her studies for this academic year and is going to start studying French this summer. (She is fluent in Spanish and Italian, which she is certified to teach in Connecticut) and also speaks he husband's Senegalese dialect of Wolof. We spent lunch talking about Africa and African non-fiction writers. But I need some help here. Does anyone at all have good recommendations on African fiction?

Thank you all in advance!

AGBF

PS-We are aware of Queen of Katwe.

 

[Sungura]

Hey Trekkie? Others who read about Africa? I promised my niece today that I would ask you if you had any book recommendations for her. I think she was looking for fiction, because she has plenty of non-fiction reading in her Ph.D program! She did not read all the books by Alexander McCall Smith, but she said she doesn't want to read any more from that series now that she has seen the DVD of the BBC production of "The Number One Ladies Detective Agency". (I think she is so smitten with the actors in that series that she wants to retain her memories of them.) She just finished White Dog Fell From The Sky, which is also about Botswana and is also fiction. (Her Senegalese husband is teasing her that Botswana is now her second favorite country in Africa.)

At any rate, it was fabulous seeing her today. She is through with her studies for this academic year and is going to start studying French this summer. (She is fluent in Spanish and Italian, which she is certified to teach in Connecticut) and also speaks he husband's Senegalese dialect of Wolof. We spent lunch talking about Africa and African non-fiction writers. But I need some help here. Does anyone at all have good recommendations on African fiction?

Thank you all in advance!

AGBF

PS-We are aware of Queen of Katwe.

How surprising Deb. First you have a niece who studied at my Alma Mater, Trinity (I was class of '85 though) and now you have a niece interested in African fiction, one of my great passions !! It's late now but I'll come back tomorrow with a list of recommendations. I used to live in Tanzania but I read fiction from all over the continent.

- Sungura

 

[AGBF]

How surprising Deb. First you have a niece who studied at my Alma Mater, Trinity (I was class of '85 though) and now you have a niece interested in African fiction, one of my great passions !! It's late now but I'll come back tomorrow with a list of recommendations. I used to live in Tanzania but I read fiction from all over the continent.

- Sungura

Wow. Just wow. Thank you, Sungura!!!

I have been scouring Amazon. I found three books that I think I will have Amazon send her tonight. I would like your opinion of them (and anyone else's) of course. She flew out to Connecticut just for a short weekend to visit her grandfather (my father) who is 96. She is just a doll. I wanted to send her a little gift for being such a sweetheart. (She had not been East since she went to Ann Arbor in September, but her husband said, "What if something happens to your grandfather? Wouldn't you like to go see him?")

The books I (very blindly) chose off Amazon were:

So Long A Letter
Nervous Conditions
God's Bits of Wood

Deb

 

[Sungura]

Wow. Just wow. Thank you, Sungura!!!

I have been scouring Amazon. I found three books that I think I will have Amazon send her tonight. I would like your opinion of them (and anyone else's) of course. She flew out to Connecticut just for a short weekend to visit her grandfather (my father) who is 96. She is just a doll. I wanted to send her a little gift for being such a sweetheart. (She had not been East since she went to Ann Arbor in September, but her husband said, "What if something happens to your grandfather? Wouldn't you like to go see him?")

The books I (very blindly) chose off Amazon were:

So Long A Letter
Nervous Conditions
God's Bits of Wood

Deb

You did a great job on Amazon. If I could, I would leave out God's Bits of Wood and add in a short story collection like The Granta Book of the African Short Story (Helon Habila). So Long A Letter is a fabulous choice and I'm glad you selected a Senagalese author. It's a classic. I don't know God's Bits of Wood but it is from the first generation of African writers and those tend to be very heavy reads. Since you already have So Long a Letter from the first generation and Nervous Condition from younger author. I suggest the anthology of short stories because, well, they are short so even the heaviest reads will be easier to handle in short form. Also this particular anthology features both newer authors and first gen authors. Also has both African writers from the diaspora as well as those living on the Continent.

 

[AGBF]

You did a great job on Amazon. If I could, I would leave out God's Bits of Wood and add in a short story collection like The Granta Book of the African Short Story (Helon Habila). So Long A Letter is a fabulous choice and I'm glad you selected a Senagalese author. It's a classic. I don't know God's Bits of Wood but it is from the first generation of African writers and those tend to be very heavy reads. Since you already have So Long a Letter from the first generation and Nervous Condition from younger author. I suggest the anthology of short stories because, well, they are short so even the heaviest reads will be easier to handle in short form. Also this particular anthology features both newer authors and first gen authors. Also has both African writers from the diaspora as well as those living on the Continent.

I thought you were retiring for the night!!! Thank you so much, Sungura! Tomorrow you have to tell me more about yourself!

I really, really appreciate your help. You may even teach me a little about African fiction before we are finished here! (And I know nothing.)

Gratefully,
Deb

 

[Sungura]

I also meant to say that I am so pleased your niece came east to see her grandfather. I'm not surprised her husband nudged her. It seems that many cultures outside the US have great respect for elders. I wish we had more of that here.

 

[AGBF]

I also meant to say that I am so pleased your niece came east to see her grandfather. I'm not surprised her husband nudged her. It seems that many cultures outside the US have great respect for elders. I wish we had more of that here.

Thank you for your good wishes. My niece and her husband both allude to this (the respect for elders in other cultures). I know that there is an element of this always present in my nephew's attitude, but he is also just a tender hearted man who loves completely. My niece and he are very, very lucky to have each other. And we are as lucky to have him in our family as we are to have my niece. They are very plain and simple people...just good.

Deb

 

[Sungura]

Before the day gets away, here are the recommendations I typically give to people interesting in reading African fiction.

Skim these three short articles about African Fiction - great for context setting

• What Defines African Literature http://www.herald.co.zw/what-defines-african-literature/
• How Not to Talk About African Fiction https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/06/how-not-to-talk-about-african-fiction
• How to Write About Africa Satire, but a critical read https://granta.com/how-to-write-about-africa/

My Favorites

The River Between by Ngugi Wa Thiongo (Students at my secondary school in Pommern, Tanzania were required to read this book so I did too. A short novel by the iconic Kenyan author Ngugi Wa Thiongo

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. There is a reason this book is always at the top of any African Fiction list. Not too long and just wonderful.

Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol by Okot p'Bitek. An epic narrative poem. Originallty written in rhyming couplets in Acholi language (Uganda) Stories in many cultures started out as songs or poems so they would be easily remembered and passed down. I loved reading African Fiction in this format.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie I love anything this author writes. Her writing style is very accessible.

The Famished Road by Ben Okri Is is an accomplishment just to finish this Booker Prize winning novel. I compare it to A Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez in that it is somewhat like magical realism, its really long and its complicated to read - but what an experience.



I have a few more links to share. I'll post later

Best,
Sungura

 

[AGBF]

Thank you for the essay above, Sungura. I will send all of it to my niece and I know that she will truly appreciate it. We did talk about Things Fall Apart a little at lunch yesterday. It was assigned to me to read in the 1970's when I was taking African history classes. And my niece already read it in high school. She said that she needs to read it again. (Although she is in the Spanish department, her dissertation is going to be about African immigration to Spain and she is taking some classes within an African division. She believes that this will allow her to travel to Senegal at some point on the University's dime to do research.) But I digress. Only yesterday did I realize how many books Chinua Achebe has written. I really had no idea at all until I got onto Amazon!

What have you studied and what do you do? You are a fascinating woman!

Again, I thank you.

Deb

 

[Trekkie]

What a lovely thread! I see so many old favourites and so many new books I would like to read - thank you for starting this thread!

If your niece enjoys reading about Botswana, perhaps she might enjoy reading about South Africa too? One of my all time absolute favourite books is The Madonna of Exelsior by Zakes Mda. I won't give away too much, but it's very raw and had me in tears at several points because it brought home just what my parents faced by having me.

Another book she might enjoy is Coconut by Kopano Matlwa. My husband feels you have to be South African to really understand this one, but I think by now your niece might have enough insight to enjoy it.

I look forward to seeing what others suggest!

 

[AGBF]

What a lovely thread! I see so many old favourites and so many new books I would like to read - thank you for starting this thread!

If your niece enjoys reading about Botswana, perhaps she might enjoy reading about South Africa too? One of my all time absolute favourite books is The Madonna of Exelsior by Zakes Mda. I won't give away too much, but it's very raw and had me in tears at several points because it brought home just what my parents faced by having me.

Another book she might enjoy is Coconut by Kopano Matlwa. My husband feels you have to be South African to really understand this one, but I think by now your niece might have enough insight to enjoy it.

I look forward to seeing what others suggest!

I am so delighted that you posted here, Trekkie! I first saw what you posted in another thread and was afraid that you might stop by here. My niece has not, until recently, had much knowledge about South Africa (or, indeed, Botswana). She first became interested in Botswana when I gave her and her sister the The Alexander McCall Smith BBC series and gave her sister the books. She has gradually immersed herself into more and more of the books behind that series and other fiction about Botswana like White Dog Fell from The Sky. I think she learned more about South Africa by listening to and reading about Trevor Noah, whom she adores, than any other single source, although she has now started to take some classes here and there that mention South Africa (like an African film class) at school. She is still finding apartheid shocking. I do not mean repugnant, which all decent humans must find it, but shocking, which it still is to some of us Americans when we try to wrap our heads around how recently it was the law in South Africa.

At any rate, thank you so very much for adding your suggestions! She will be delighted. And she will have to read them this summer. By the fall (which is September here) school will recommence and she will have no time to read for pleasure!

Big hugs to you, Trekkie!!!

Deb

 

[Sungura]

Hi Trekkie - I just downloaded Coconut. I'm so excited to have a recommendation for South African fiction. Honestly I have become stuck reading works from the East and West. I was living in rural Tanzania in the early 90's when Tanzania welcomed ANC soldiers to train there. The soldiers would come by our boarding school to play football (soccer) with the boys and try to pick up the girls. They were very aggressive and angry with me when I rejected their advances (so different from Tanzanian guys). I was initially really confused but them I realized they grew up under apartheid so race was a factor sadly. So I refused to speak English and suggested they treat me like a Tanzanian woman and then things got better and enjoyed hanging out with some of them. I probably should have looked for a book like Coconut years ago

 

[Sungura]

We did talk about Things Fall Apart a little at lunch yesterday. It was assigned to me to read in the 1970's when I was taking African history classes. And my niece already read it in high school. She said that she needs to read it again.

Deb - I didn't really see the genius of Things Fall Apart the first time I read it. I don't think we have enough context or life lived when we read these types of books in high school or college. I was privileged to attend this celebration (below) of the book's 50th anniversary back in 2008. I read it again and I may read it again this year too. It's timeless. If your niece wants to read it again I suggest she listens to some of this tribute. It will provide some really helpful context.

https://pen.org/event/a-tribute-to-chinua-achebe/
audio from event: https://soundcloud.com/search/sets?q=pen america chinua achebe

 

[Sungura]

What have you studied and what do you do? You are a fascinating woman!

Yikes Deb - I'm no more fascinating than anyone else but here is the brief: At Trinity I studied Engineering (engineering at liberal arts school is such a great foundation for a career in just about anything) My career has been roughly a third in consulting (Accenture) a third in the Pharma industry and third in non profit. My specialty is Change Management. My interests are African Lit, Color in all forms (but mostly colored stones and garden design) and learning languages/extreme travel (I have studied 13 and speak 5 well and tweet in 3. I'm married to a Colombian and we live bilingually and biculturally in NJ a stones throw from NYC. No kids - perhaps my only regret. I usually hang out in Colored Stones but I have been stalking Hangout for a while