776. Matigari

Matigari
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
1986
Around 160 pages

Rivers of Blood made me want to scrub my brain clean, but this was more...well, enjoyable isn't really the right word. It feels a little weird that the author made such a point to not write in English, and then I read the English translation. Sorry Ngugi.

The story begins with Matigari burying his weapons under a fig tree after killing imperalist Howard Williams. Matigari resolves to handle conflicts peacefully going forward. However he is appalled by the current state of the country, as he thought that after his fight for freedom his people would have better lives. He then decides to dig up his weapons and fight for his country with violence.

Ngugi is a badass, and I'm unsurprised that he ended up having to flee Kenya. The pacing was good. Muriuki, the boy who lives in a wrecked Mercedes so thinks he is better than the other boys who rummage the scrapyard, is a character that is definitely going to stay with me. 

He nails the ending too. It's heavy handed, but effective.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

He subsequently renounced writing in English, and the name James Ngugi as colonialist. By 1970 he had changed his name to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and began to write in his native Gikuyu.

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689. Petals of Blood

Petals of Blood

Ngugi wa Thiong'o
1977
Around 435 pages

I like to think by the end of this List we will have spent time in every corner of the globe, even if we spend more time in some countries than others. 

The story follows four main characters: Munira, a teacher who is having trouble getting the community to trust him; Karega, a teaching assistant who becomes enamored with socialism; Wanja, the woman in the story who naturally has to be the victim of sexual violence; and Abdulla, a shopkeeper who lost his leg in the Mau rebellion. 

The author is heavy-handed in his politics, and I wish men would stop writing about women being raped. Of course, I don't like it when women do either, but it feels less gratuitous. It's a messy story, with flashbacks and an omniscient narrator that doesn't fully succeed at fleshing out any of his characters.

My List time in Africa is never very fun. It would be great to read a real celebration of the people there that isn't steeped in oppression and misery. I'm not sure if those stories even exist, or if Western culture just ignores them. Probably the latter.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

The title Petals of Blood is derived from a line of Derek Walcott's poem 'The Swamp."

John Updike suggested that Ngugi's desire to permeate the plot with political ideas detracts from his writing.

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584. The River Between

The River Between

Ngugi wa Thiong'o
1965

Around 155 pages

Who had female circumcision on their misery bingo card? The List has really put us through it lately. Vonnegut, give me strength.

Waiyaki's father believes his son is the savior of his village, and eagerly sends him to missionary school. The missionary school is controlled by the colonists, who are vehemently against the female circumcision practiced in Waiyaki's village. Children whose parents still support the tradition are expelled from the school, so Waiyaki builds his own school for those students.

Female genital mutilation is evil, but I don't want to root for the colonists either. So the entire story was very upsetting. I've just about had it with crazed relatives believing they or their family are the messiah. It's weird that it's happened enough that I can say that.

One of those important reads that are miserable to get through.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Part of the African Writers Series, a collection of books written by Africans. 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003.

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