Book Description
In Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller remembers her African childhood with candor and sensitivity. Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, it is suffused with Fuller’s endearing ability to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller’s debut is unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time.
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In Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller remembers her African childhood with visceral authenticity. Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, it is suffused with Fuller's endearing ability to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller's debut is unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time.
From 1972 to 1990, Alexandra Fuller -- known to friends and family as Bobo -- grew up on several farms in southern and central Africa. Her father joined up on the side of the white government in the Rhodesian civil war, and was often away fighting against the powerful black guerilla factions. Her mother, in turn, flung herself at their African life and its rugged farm work with the same passion and maniacal energy she brought to everything else. Though she loved her children, she was no hand-holder and had little tolerance for neediness. She nurtured her daughters in other ways: She taught them, by example, to be resilient and self-sufficient, to have strong wills and strong opinions, and to embrace life wholeheartedly, despite and because of difficult circumstances. And she instilled in Bobo, particularly, a love of reading and of storytelling that proved to be her salvation.
A worthy heir to Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham, Alexandra Fuller writes poignantly about a girl becoming a woman and a writer against a backdrop of unrest, not just in her country but in her home. But Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight is more than a survivor's story. It is the story of one woman's unbreakable bond with a continent and the people who inhabit it, a portrait lovingly realized and deeply felt.
"This searing memoir of a white family clinging to lives in Africa as Rhodesia became Zimbabwe lays out, without moralizing or sentimentality, the way in which turmoil and injustice in society distort the lives of families and individuals."
MARY CATHERINE BATESON, AUTHOR OF COMPOSING A LIFE AND FULL CIRCLES, OVERLAPPING LIVES
"Nobody has ever written a book about growing up white in rural Africa the way Alexandra Fuller has. Her voice is mordant, her ear uncanny. Her unsentimentality is a pleasant shock. Her sense of humor is extremely sly. Without a trace of pretension, she quietly performs what is really a major literary feat-nailing both the poetry and the myopia of a child's experience in a brawling, bad-luck family on the losing side of an anti-colonial war."
WILLIAM FINNEGAN, AUTHOR OF CROSSING THE LINE: A YEAR IN THE LAND OF APARTHEID AND COLD NEW WORLD: GROWING UP IN HARDER COUNTRY
Customer Reviews:
A Traumatic Childhood?.......2007-10-02
I read this book before Ms Fuller's "Scribbling the Cat". I am the same age as Ms Fuller, and also grew up in small Rhodesian towns. I found the racism and generalisation that all white Rhodesian are racist very offensive. Some of my best friends when I was growing up were black children, and if I or my siblings had behaved towards black people the way Ms Fuller and her family did we would have been severely disciplined. This book made me ashamed to be a white African, and I actually have no reason to feel that way.
Horrible, Horrible........2007-09-29
This is one of only two books I've ever bought that was so boring and weird that I could not finish it...and I've been stuck in a hotel room in Mexico for 2 weeks with nothing else to do! It is fully of details of bodily functions; it's crude; and it's just plain dull. This is one of the worst books I've ever bought.
Fascinating setting, frustrating storytelling.......2007-09-10
This memoir really brings its setting to life. It pulses with the sights, smells and sounds of Africa, and does a great job describing civil war, droughts, dysentery, fleas, floods, poachers, scorpions, terrorists and very bad roads. I actually cringed when I read how the putzi flies lay eggs on clothes, which then burrow under the skin, "becoming maggots, bursting into living, squirming boils, emerging as full-blown, winged flies."
Unfortunately, the narrative is weak. The author has a staccato writing style that really gets in the way. In fact, that, and the book's casual racism, made it hard for me to keep reading. It didn't help that so many of the characters are impossible to respect. The alcoholic parents seem to revel in putting their children in harm's way. The mom in particular is hard to take. I kept wanting to slap her, and tell her to stop crying in her beer.
-- By Julie Neal, author of The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World.
Remembering Zambia.......2007-08-23
We can recommentd this book to anyone who has lived in Zambia during and post UDI. We have sent copies to our friends in UK who were with us during our stay there. We all know people who we can relate to with the characters in this book. The story took us all back to places like the "Elephant's Head" in Kabwe - a stop on our treks to Lusaka from Ndola.
A favorite.......2007-07-28
I'm and avid reader, and i must say this book is one of my favorite reads, if not my favorite. I lived with a family in Malawi Afrifca for awhile, so the book, for sure, draws my sentiments. But Alexandra Fuller spills guts and soul into the sharing of her African childhood experience. As a child, she writes with a child's voice, a child's soul, and as she matures, so does her expression. What a gifted writer! Her writing rings true, and I am hungry for more!
Book Description
After his father's heart attack in 1984, Peter Godwin began a series of pilgrimages back to Zimbabwe, the land of his birth, from Manhattan, where he now lives. On these frequent visits to check on his elderly parents, he bore witness to Zimbabwe's dramatic spiral downwards into thejaws of violent chaos, presided over by an increasingly enraged dictator. And yet long after their comfortable lifestyle had been shattered and millions were fleeing, his parents refuse to leave, steadfast in their allegiance to the failed state that has been their adopted home for 50 years.Then Godwin discovered a shocking family secret that helped explain their loyalty. Africa was his father's sanctuary from another identity, another world.WHEN A CROCODILE EATS THE SUN is a stirring memoir of the disintegration of a family set against the collapse of a country. But it is also a vivid portrait of the profound strength of the human spirit and the enduring power of love.
Customer Reviews:
This is how to learn about Africa's tragedy.......2007-10-16
The author was born in Rhodesia ( Zimbabwe). His parents had emigrated there from Europe after WW II and created a wonderful life, as did many other Caucasians. At one stage Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa and an example country. Then came Robert Mugabe and his thugs. This is a reflection on 20 yrs of Mugabe after four years of civil war. It is a tale of wonderful country and chilling facts. I could not put the book down.
Fantastic read.......2007-10-11
Being a "White African" who has since moved to the States I completely appreciate Peter Godwin's perspective on current day Africa. This book is written with tremendous feeling however the author maintains a sense of objectivity that also makes for an extremely informative read. The story of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe is heartbreaking and Godwin parallels the sharp degradation of the countries economy and infrastructure with his fathers' health and his parents struggle to adapt to their rapidly changing environment. The book flows beautifully, the descriptions of the people and country of Zimbabwe are on point and vivid. The book touches on a wide range of issues such as cultural identity, racial integration and economic policy as well as the larger issues of power, money and democracy. I highly recommend the book to anyone however people who have experienced Africa will truly appreciate the writing and the emotion that it evokes.
Wonderful!.......2007-09-11
This was a wonderful memoir. Oh Africa! The complexities, the beauty, the paradox's. The writing made one feel as if we were hearing the night sounds, feeling the heat, smelling the aromas of this complex country. A hard-to-put-down memoir which made me hungry for more. Unforgetable.
When a crocodile eats the sun: a memoir of Africa.......2007-09-10
It is not news that the world has forgotten Africa. However, reading this wonderful book clarified the issues and struggles on a very personal level. How a country that fed half of Africa is now facing a humantarian crisis is a tragedy. What people forget is the fact that "white" farmers continued to feed and employ Africans for over 20 years after independence. However, in the past 7 years of a stupid brutal and unnecessary policy, a country has been allowed to die. It is only now that there is a crisis the world takes notice. Well written and poetic.
Read it!!.......2007-09-03
This book is probably the most objective, non-political account of the effect events in Zimbabwe have on ordinary people, with nary a nod to self-pity even though there is ample reason for it, that is available in the shops today. In South Africa we read about these events in newpapers, heard live reports on radio (very little on TV) but most profoundly, heard the stories from the mouths of the victims - both white and black - who have fled south. But those people were homeless, abused, stripped of possessions, often leaving murdered family behind, and their words were understandably filled with anger, fear, despair, hopelessness, and yes, hate.
The author's background as a journalist enables him to report the atrocities calmly without the emotional distress he most certainly felt, and therefore, this book is so untouchably credible. The fact that he has chosen to interwove the story with the discovery of his surprising heritage, the honest and painful rendering of watching his parents grow old, and the unsuccessful struggle to break through to his father's emotions, strengthens the book in so many ways. This is a real story, about real people, with real suffering and the irony is, these things are still happening, only more terribly.
Drive down the main street of Harare (Salisbury) and you will see affluence - new 4x4's (SUV's), Mercedes's, young men in business suits and silk shirts hurrying from one glasscovered skyrise to the next, leather briefcase swinging in his hand. Drive up into the hills and you will see the mansions, even by American standards, with the impeccable lawns, the palms, the blood red Erythrina trees. Hard to believe that the events of this book did not bring about prosperity. Do yourself a favour. Drive into the country. Take the dirt roads and look. Of course you won't be able to get fuel, so perhaps come to Johannesburg, and talk to the Zimbabweans streaming through the river east and west of Mussina. Then ask yourself some questions about basic human rights, international diplomacy, and parallels to South Africa........
If you don't read any other book about Africa, read this one.
Customer Reviews:
Children from Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World.......2007-01-15
I use this book in my grade 4 classroom. The pictures and writing help my United State's students better understand the world around them. This book is a favorite in my classroom.
Put this in your car.......2005-11-13
Stunning photographs, concise maps, and simple text that introduces the basics of a culture, a country, and a way of life make this book great "back seat" reading. Kids shouldn't be watching tv in the car anyway. Books like this will make the ride more enjoyable and enriching. It also would be a great addition to a pediatrician's waiting room, or a dentist.
Book Description
In 1997 foreign correspondent Neely Tucker and his wife, Vita, arrived in Zimbabwe. After witnessing the devastating consequences of AIDS and economic disaster on the country’s children, the couple started volunteering at an orphanage where a critically ill infant, abandoned in a field on the day she was born, was trusted to their care. Within weeks, Chipo, the baby girl whose name means “gift,” would come to mean everything to them. Their decision to adopt her, however, would challenge an unspoken social norm: that foreigners should never adopt Zimbabwean children. Against a background of war, terrorism, disease, and unbearable uncertainty about the future, Chipo’s true story emerges as an inspiring testament to the miracles that love—and dogged determination—can sometimes achieve.
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Foreign correspondent Neely Tucker and his wife, Vita, arrived in Zimbabwe in 1997. After witnessing firsthand the devastating consequences of AIDS on the population, especially the children, the couple started volunteering at an orphanage that was desperately underfunded and short-staffed. One afternoon, a critically ill infant was brought to the orphanage from a village outside the city. She'd been left to die in a field on the day she was born, abandoned in the tall brown grass that covers the highlands of Zimbabwe in the dry season. After a near-death hospital stay, and under strict doctor's orders, the ailing child was entrusted to the care of Tucker and Vita. Within weeks Chipo, the girl-child whose name means gift, would come to mean everything to them.
Still an active correspondent, Tucker crisscrossed the continent, filing stories about the uprisings in the Congo, the civil war in Sierra Leone, and the postgenocidal conflict in Rwanda. He witnessed heartbreaking scenes of devastation and violence, steeling him further to take a personal role in helping anywhere he could. At home in Harare, Vita was nursing Chipo back to health. Soon she and Tucker decided to alter their lives forever -- they would adopt Chipo. That decision challenged an unspoken social norm -- that foreigners should never adopt Zimbabwean children.
Raised in rural Mississippi in the sixties and seventies, Tucker was familiar with the mores associated with and dictated by race. His wife, a savvy black woman whose father escaped the Jim Crow South for a new life in the industrial North, would not be deterred in her resolve to welcome Chipo into their loving family.
As if their situation wasn't tenuous enough, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was stirring up national fervor against foreigners, especially journalists, abroad and at home. At its peak, his antagonizing branded all foreign journalists personae non grata. For Tucker, the only full-time American correspondent in Zimbabwe, the declaration was a direct threat to his life and his wife's safety, and an ultimatum to their decision to adopt the child who had already become their only daughter.
Against a background of war, terrorism, disease, and unbearable uncertainty about the future, Chipo's story emerges as an inspiring testament to the miracles that love -- and dogged determination -- can sometimes achieve. Gripping, heartbreaking, and triumphant, this family memoir will resonate throughout the ages.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderfully Satisfying.......2007-10-17
This was fantastic! I was routing for them the entire book. Moving & emotional - I felt like I was experiencing their pain and frustration and then joy - what an experience!
how can I get you to read this book?.......2006-06-20
Fabulous from the start. So much intermingles in this book - history, politics, personal struggle, life in Africa, bi-racial familes, adoption - that to narrow it down to a memoir wouldn't be doing it justice.
Following the writer as he pushes you through each page, you find yourself involved in the world through the eyes of this family. It's one of those books that you rush to get through and then you regret what you've done once you see there's only a few pages left.
When I find an author of this caliber, I stick with them. And Neely Tucker sure can write.
Three cheers for Chipo!!!!!!!!!.......2006-06-11
This memoir goes to show on how faith and love can conquer all odds. It has opened my eyes on the issue of AIDS and the politically unstable country of Zimbawiae. A very touching love story of father and daughter.
Makes you wake up.......2006-05-23
In dealing with their personal frustrations, the author shows us the hurdles and challenges of wanting to help in nations that need it the most. It is a good read, heartwarming. But unlike most books, it left me in search of an organization that can break through and really offer help to children touched by AIDS.
Great book.......2006-03-06
"By noon, the ants had found the girl-child."
From the first paragraph, this book had us hooked. Not only is it a great story, but very well written. My wife and I are in a similar situation, living in Africa and trying to adopt a child we've had for years, and the book seems pretty realistic to us. Of note, the author is neither cynical nor romantic about his family's experiences, and gives us a very good picture of the struggles of his heart as well as the external struggle for adoption.
Book Description
This is a story about a paradise lost. . . . About an African dream that began with a murder . . .
In 1978, in the final, bloodiest phase of the Rhodesian civil war, eleven-year-old Lauren St John moves with her family to Rainbow's End, a wild, beautiful farm and game reserve set on the banks of a slowflowing river. The house has been the scene of a horrific attack by guerrillas, and when Lauren's family settles there, a chain of events is set in motion that will change her life irrevocably.
Rainbow's End captures the overwhelming beauty and extraordinary danger of life in the African bush. Lauren's childhood reads like a girl's own adventure story. At the height of the war, Lauren rides through the wilderness on her horse, Morning Star, encountering lions, crocodiles, snakes, vicious ostriches, and mad cows. Many of the animals are pets, including Miss Piggy and Bacon and an elegant giraffe named Jenny. The constant threat of ruthless guerrillas prowling the land underscores everything, making each day more dangerous, vivid, and prized than the last.
After Independence, Lauren comes to the bitter realization that she'd been on the wrong side of the civil war. While she and her family believed that they were fighting for democracy over Communism, others saw the war as black against white. And when Robert Mugabe comes into power, he oversees the torture and persecution of thousands of members of an opposing tribe and goes on to become one of Africa's legendary dictators. The ending of this beautiful memoir is a fist to the stomach as Lauren realizes that she can be British or American, but she cannot be African. She can love it -- be willing to die for it -- but she cannot claim Africa because she is white.
Customer Reviews:
Life in Rhodesia.......2007-09-19
I grew up in Rhodesia and can relate to all the animals and the terrorists and see the Rhodesia troops know someone who was in the army. Fortunately for those who grew up in the Rhodesia Era, have a better understanding of the meaning of life. No computer games, but real life. One thing that I hope to pass on to my kids is the love of animals, and how to survive without all the time spend in front of the TV and computers and be a real kid. Living in Bannockburn, traveling to Bulawayo, or Salisbury, stopping in Gweru, the Victoria Falls, Kariba, and buying mealies cooked on the side of the road, the braais, Renaults, the food, the wildlife, the smells of freshly rain on ground, elephants crossing the road on the way to Victoria Falls, and Matopus, all the baboons and monkeys running around, the rhino, giraffe, the lizards stealing food. The good life.
Growing up in Rhodesia makes me live life, like it were overflowing. The good times, the best of times, the real times.
Been there, done that........2007-08-23
I lived in Rhodesia in the time period this book was written. Although some minor facts are not quite correct, it gives an excellent feel for what it was like to live there and experience the multitude of changes.
Rainbow's End.......2007-08-14
This book is very good. I was a teenager in America when this was happening in Rhodesia. I remember it changing names and I remember there being some type of war, but I don't remember much else. I was shocked at some of the things that happened, but I really enjoyed the book. It should be required reading for anyone studying histories. I have passed this book on to some one who was born in that country and was just a few years older than the author and she has other memories, but she also said it was good. I definately recommend this book for anyone who likes books about history. It was very personable. The author made you really visualize the scenes as she described them.
Another Farm in Africa..........2007-07-30
Lauren St. John's tale of family life, strife and growing up in Rhodesia during "the War" -- the guerrilla war that lead to the creation of Zimbabwe and Mugabe dictatorship, is beguilling and frustrating. She talks several times about her unprounouncable Dutch name, but I'm not sure if I ever saw it in the book. She says that the entire family changed names by deedpole, but they all took different surnames, hers being what she now uses, St. John. Wha? Everybody in the family changes their names and no details? After black rule is established, St. John undergoes an eleventh hour realization/guilt trip about her previous life. She feels sympathy toward her black African compatriots and understands some of their excesses after "liberation." But the book glosses over the real twists in the plot. Something is going on between mom and dad, Mom is always getting on a plane and flying around the world, but we dont find out until almost the end of the book. Even then, she doesn't do more than hint until the last few pages. Dad was unfaithful. Why all the secrecy? She tells us anyway, but makes us roll our eyes first. For all her tiptoeing around family disputes, St. John is ultra-descriptive about her daily life, from the vanilla-licious Cerelac she had for breakfast, to her particular preferences in biltong. The book is a fascinating look at a white paradise that, in later years, became more threatening, but still pampering to those fortunate enough to be white. As Lauren undergoes her sudden realization about the Realities of Black Life in Rhodesia, she sees former heroes as less than noble...the Selous Scouts, honored soldiers during the war, are revealed to be something else indeed. The glitter comes off a lot of the gold, but the book is still a entertaining insight into a life, a lifetime, and a lifestyle. This book holds its own among the recent spate of books about the end of Rhodesia and its impact on white farmers and citizens.
Rainbow's End review.......2007-07-17
An excellent memoir of life during troubled times during the bush war in Rhodesia and birth of Zimbabwe.
Customer Reviews:
OK but..........2007-09-21
Thought it was interesting that all of the other reviews are by kids who know Andrew personally...
This book was bought for my school library and I quickly realized that all of the information given is available in almost any encyclopedia or website. Token details on each country and while the information is there and in one place, it really isn't worth the purchase price.
I showed it to our geography teacher and he basically said that it was OK, but certainly not something he would use a lot.
Interesting..........2006-01-05
I was roommates with the author at the 2004 National bee, and while he was away getting interviewed, I managed to sneak a peek at his book. I was overwhelmed by the information presented in just the first few pages I read, and while I have yet to read the actual published work, I can definitely say that this book is an asset to any geography classroom or geobee contestant, and that the author deserved his win (well, maybe I deserved it more :-P).
I Love Wojo!.......2005-10-19
This book really is great. If you are looking for a reference book for ANY type of social studies, geography, history, area studies or just any class at all, this should make your wish-list. It is laid out well in an appealing format, and the information is all there. The author compiled it to study for the National Geography Bee, and then went on to win both that competition and even the International Geography Competition. I know him personally, and he put a ton of work into this book. It truly shows, and this book is definitely worth waht is charged. This book is a must for schools, as it will help anyone to study anything at all pertaining to geography or world cultures. I enjoyed reading this book, and I wholeheartedly believe you will too.
AWESOME!!!.......2005-08-08
This book is crazy awesome! It has all the information that one would ever need about geography. Everything from basic facts to unique details about an assortment of countries is neatly compiled into an easy to use guide. Anyone remotely intersted in geography should buy this book. Also anyone that needs to know anything about geopgraphy for a class or report should buy this book. It is worth much more than it costs!
Product Description
This full color coffee table sized book about Zimbabwe's geography, history, culture and of course the Shona sculpture produced there is one of a kind. It is the first book published in the West about Shona sculpture and the Shona artists. It is also perhaps the only full length book on Shona sculpture ever printed in full color. A perfect balance of rich text and beautiful photographs taken by award winning travel photographer Robert Holmes (winner of "Travel Photographer of the Year" and also a National Geographic Photographer). Not just a book on Shona art, the history from ancient times to modern day is touched on in this book as well as other items such as geology which all contribute to a greater understanding of the current Shona sculpture art movement. This is the 2nd printing of the 2nd edition.
Customer Reviews:
Book about the background of Shona sculpturing art.......2006-08-30
This year for the third time I followed a sculpture workshop by a Zimbabwian artist called Samuel Masakwa. Teh reason for me to buy this book was to learn more about the background of this form of art. And for that it's a great book. It tells the history of Zimbabwe and of Shona art, the artists and how they consider their art form, the frequently useds themes (gods, animals, family etc.) For me it was a very valuable book, nicely illustrated as well and next year when Samuel Masakwa comes back to Holland to give his workshop, I will attend it differently, because I know much more about this art form and I will let the stone speak more to me.
Els de Bruijn
Wholesalers of Shona Sculpture.......2004-05-24
I have been involved with the export of Shona Sculpture for over 4 years now through our website zuluexclusive.com and was given this book on a trip to the States last year. It certainly describes everything about shona sculpture in great detail and shows many beautiful pictures. We recommend this book to everyone that we supply sculpture to. If you have any questions about Shona Sculpture we would love to hear from you heather@zuluexclusive.com
This book does what is says, and superbly!.......2000-12-06
It was interesting to read the other reviews before purchasing this book. I was anxious to read it for myself, since it consistantly got high marks, yet also recieved criticism for not being comprehensive, an apparent dichotomy! Upon opening the book, I read the introduction, which some of the severest critics seem not to have done...for if they had, they would have seen that it clearly states that this is NOT the defintive book on Shona Sculpture, nor would it ever pretend to be! Rather it is an OVERVIEW, and introduction to the people, country, history, geology and culture that have produced this unique artform. The authors also CLEARLY state upfront that this book is THEIR own opinions, and that , as in all art movements, there will be disagreements as to the whens, whos, hows etc. Given this self-appraising clarification from the authors themselves, I found myself at ease reading this book, which has quite a lot of thoughtful and well researched content as well as many beautiful pictures!
comprehensive but not academic.......2000-10-21
This is a wondeful book for giving the background in Zimbabwe of the Shona people and a pictographic essay of Zimbabwe which feeds into the Shona sculpture. However, this is not an academic study, not does it give comprehensive biographies of each major Shona sculptor. In its favor, it shows a closeness to the people and an understanding of their history and daily life. It also does have an extensive listing of sculptors which is helpful.
Spirits in Stone: The New Face of African Art.......1999-12-15
I am one of the largest importers of Shona sculpture in the US. [ www.shonagallery.com ]I have traveled to Zimbabwe more than 12 times and have purchased thousands of wonderful sculptures from more than 200 artists directly. I believe this book to be the very best treatment of shona sculpture and its relationship to the Zimbabwean culture that I have seen. The people who put it together seem to have a similar perspective, as I do, on the art form and the people of Zimbabwe. As the country of Zimbabwe and Its people have evolved, so has the art form evolved. It is not an art form exclusive to the first generation artists and their styles. It is a vibrant expressive means of sharing cultural and spiritual feelings through stone. The young artists of Zimbabwe are some of the finest stone sculptors in the world today, and Spirits in Stone is a very inspiring reflection and that fact. It would be a wonderful book to have along with any piece of Shona sculpture one owns, or just a beautiful book to have around.
Book Description
Gathered here is a beguiling selection of folktales from Zimbabwe and Botswana as retold by the best-selling author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. This treasury contains most of the stories previously collected in Children of Wax and seven new tales from the Setswana-speaking people of Botswana.
A girl discovers that her young husband might actually be a lion in disguise, but not before they have two sons who might actually be cubs . . . When a child made of wax follows his curiosity outside into the heat of daylight and melts, his siblings shape him into a bird with feathers made of leaves that enable him to fly into the light . . . Talking hyenas, milk-giving birds, clever cannibals who nonetheless get their comeuppance, and mysterious forces that reside in the landscape—these wonderful fables bring us the wealth, the variety, and the particular magic of traditional African lore.
Customer Reviews:
For folktale lovers only.......2006-11-04
I love "The number one detective agency" series, and hoped for the same writing quality in this collection of folk tales. Unfortunately there was no narrative flow, making the stories stilted and un-interesting. Maybe a narrative explaining the lessons would have helped.
I suggest this book only for those interested in collecting african fables
...and?.......2006-05-09
I don't get it. These are stories that give us a glimpse into African culture, where "fat" is healthy, and watering holes are sources of life.
Some of the stories were like Brier Rabbit, adn were clever. But, unlike Western stories, I really wasn't sure what the moral of the stories were. Take the girl who married a lion. The brother thinks "It IS a lion," then he chases it away. And, here's the riviting part...(don't read this if you don't want the ending spoiled)...the children end up NOT being lions!
That's it.
End of story.
I just don't get it. I LOVE A-M-S's other books, they are brilliant. This one just doesn't do it for me.
Disappointing.......2006-04-06
I have read and enjoyed all the volumes involving the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." This was a book I eagerly anticipated, but found very disappointing. The stories seem to be simply retellings of very simple, but ambiguous, themes. It didn't have anything which stuck with me (except a quizzical expression on my face, I guess).
Thirty-three simply told African folktales; some will inspire, some will puzzle, some will just make you smile........2006-03-20
This is a delightful collection of folktales of Botswana and Zimbabwe re-told by that extraordinary Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith. Smith was born in Zimbabwe and spent many years on the African continent and even taught law at the University of Botswana. (Botswana is the home of that wise and traditionally-built lady detective, Mme Precious Ramotswe. Mme Ramotswe was kind enough to write a letter about the book that is included at the beginning of this set of tales.)
Smith states that he has taken certain liberties in the telling of these tales to make them more appealing to a broader readership. Animals and people are somewhat interchangeable in African lore and that is apparent in these stories. Examples of the titles are: Guinea Fowl Child; Sister of Bones; Children of Wax; The Girl Who Married a Lion; Two Bad Friends. Most of the stories have a lesson, although some are a little obtuse. Some of the stories bear some similarities to folktales of other lands; universal truths, as it were.
One of my favorites is Sister of Bones; another is Why Elephant and Hyena Live Far From People; another, Two Friends Who Met for Dinner (love this one!). This book is a good one to leave close at hand for a quick read or re-read of a favorite story. The stories range in number of pages from three or four to eight or nine, and are very easy to read. Some might be a little scary for youngsters, but, then, so are the Brothers Grimm, and Bambi.
Carolyn Rowe Hill
tales to cherish a lifetime.......2005-11-23
the tales in this book are ones to be passed on for many more generations and learned from and cherished
Amazon.com
In 1980, Zimbabwe was the great hope of Africa, a place where blacks were supposed to realize their postcolonial destinies under the enlightened leadership of Robert Mugabe. But now the country formerly known as Rhodesia is an international basket case with a wrecked economy and a dim future. In this disturbing book by Martin Meredith, a British journalist with extensive experience in southern Africa, Mugabe transforms into a villain. "Year by year, he acquired ever greater power, ruling the country through a vast system of patronage, favoring loyal aides and cronies with government positions and contracts and ignoring the spreading blight of corruption," writes Meredith. "Power for Mugabe was not a means to an end, but the end itself." His reign has been so wretched, in fact, that some of the most sympathetic people in Our Votes, Our Guns are the white farmers who once supported apartheid-style rule but decided not to flee when Mugabe came to power. They were promised multiracial harmony; what they got instead was a racist dictator who thought nothing of using violence against them. Admirers of Philip Gourevitch--or, indeed, anyone with an interest in African politics--will appreciate Meredith's depressing but important story. --John Miller
Book Description
The story of what Robert Mugabe did to the once-flourishing African state of Zimbabwe: how it happened, why it happened, and its implications for Africa.
Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980 after a long civil war in Rhodesia. The white minority government had become an international outcast in refusing to give in to the inevitability of black majority rule. Finally the defiant white prime minister Ian Smith was forced to step down and Mugabe was elected president of a country now called Zimbabwe. Initially hopes were high that he had the intelligence, political savvy and idealistic vision to help repair the damage done by colonialism and the bitter civil war, and to lead his country's economic and social development. He was admired throughout the world as one of the leaders of the emerging nations and as a model for a good transition from colonial leadership. But month by month, year by year, Mugabe became increasingly autocratic; his methods increasingly violent. In recent years he has unleashed a reign of terror and corruption in his country. Like the Congo, Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Zimbabwe has been on a steady slide to disaster.
What happened in Zimbabwe? Now for the first time the whole story is told in detail by an expert. It is a riveting and tragic political story, a morality tale, and an essential text for understanding today's Africa.
Customer Reviews:
Scholarly and well done.......2007-01-12
The book is incredibly well researched, yet manages to keep it all organized and interesting. If you want to learn more about Robert Mugabe and his rule over Zimbabwe, this is the book for you.
Zimbabwe: from liberation to kleptocracy........2006-02-26
A nice book about the kleptacracy of present day Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe took a jewell of a country and turned it into a failed state. He has done this so he can enrich his family, friends, and supporters at the expense of the vast Zimbabwean people. Meredith describes the liberation of Rhodesia and the early promise of Mugabe's presidency. After the honeymoon, Mugabe gave jobs to his supporters and enriched his party, the ZANU-PF. Latest developments in Zimbabwe continue to show the mass exodus of the few remaining whites, and the poverty of the majority population. Mugabe enriches himself and his supporters, but leaves the rest of the population to fend for itself.
I couple of comments about what some of the other reviewers said. Zimbabwe is no longer a democracy. Hitler took Weimar Germany and made it into a Fascist state. Ferdinand Marcos took the Philippines and turned it into a tin horn dictatorship. Just because a country has some trappings of democracy, it is not a democracy. Remember the Soviet Union had elections, and they were not free. Zimbabwe may have elections and a somewhat free judiciary, but it is not a democracy any more than Rhodesia was a democracy. Mugabe is showing traits of a Fascist or Communist Dictator (i.e. hero worship of the leader). Mugabe is also showing signs of his racist nature. He often berates the former white leader Ian Smith, but Mugabe's leadership (or dictatorship) is worse. At least Smith gave up power, Mugabe wants to retain power forever.
Another comment made by another reviewer is that the West should not show debt forgiveness to certain Third World countries. I quite agree, why subsidize Zimbabwe so we can enrich the kleptocrats of the ZANU-PF and Mugabe's family. The West should have learned its leason with Mobutu and Zaire. Don't give Zimbabwe a dime until ZANU-PF and Mugabe are gone.
This is a good book from a great author. I am reading his latest work about the Fate of Africa, and this is a nice companion read.
A well told tragedy that still continues.......2004-11-27
This book puts into context better than anything I have read the major tragedy that has been occurring in Zimbabwe for over twenty years. The parallels with the Congo (as covered in the excellent book "In the footsteps of Mr Kurtz" on Mobutu's kleptocracy in Zaire) are matched here by the story of how a wealthy and well developed colony after a crippling war of independence came under Mugabe's control.
The saddest aspect is while matters started very promisingly with the country ripe for a muti racial experiment and very similar to South Africa, the early use of force to remove tribal opposition was then applied unremmitingly to the white minority with fatal long term effects on the country's economy.
That inequality existed and changes were needed on land distribution were clear - the redistribution when it occurred was done in such a manner that not only were the whites permanently alienated but the corruption and lack of planning as to what was to replace has had fatal consequences with mass poverty, unrest and a wealthy autocratic elite destroying the future prospects for the poorer native populace of the country.
The control of every facet by Mugabe's Zanu Party whenever challenged has been met with violence from local opposition using North Korean trained cadres to outright intimidation of the judiciary, one of the real heroes in this story.
A very well told and researched history.
Decline and Fall of Zimbabwe.......2004-01-12
This is a super-readable book about the career of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whose corruption, brutality, and paranoia have wrecked Zimbabwe's democratic institutions and have brought the country to the brink of economic ruin. The book is refreshingly free of cant, and the author has a sharp eye for political grotesqueries, which have abounded in post-independence Zimbabwe. My only complaint (and hence the rating of 4 stars) is the lack of footnotes or any real analysis of the social or economic currents underlying Zimbabwean politics. Instead, journalist Meredith is content to chronicle events newspaper-style.
Chronicling the Third World Tyranny of the Black Hitler.......2004-01-04
~Our Votes, Our Guns~ chronicles the tyrannical rule of Robert Mugabe, from his heyday as a revolutionary guerilla who was captured an imprisoned to a victorious leader in what was initially to be a coalition government in the 1970's with Ian Smith's Rhodesian white colonials, the various black factions, and Mugabe's ZANU party in unity. Recently he said he could be a "black Hitler ten-fold" in a political speech. By the early 1980's, Mugabe eschewed the idea of a coalition government, opting instead for total consolidation of rule by his party. Mugabe through Machiavellian manipulations managed to scapegoat the political opposition in the public eye. Thereafter, he justified purges ostensibly for the purposes of stifling his contrived threat of a coup d'etat. Mugabe's violence obviously only served to foment political opposition-both white and black-and browbeaten white farmers gradually dropped the conciliatory posturing as their farms were confiscated and family members were murdered. In his approach to counter-insurgency, Mugabe boldly proclaimed to his opposition, "We have to deal with this problem quite ruthlessly," with regards to resistance in Matebeland, so "Don't be surprised if your relatives get killed in the process..." Grim reports of Ian Smith's Rhodesian Apartheid regime knocking off guerillas pail in comparison to the horrors unleashed by Mugabe. Millions have been killed as a result of Mugabe's rule.
Robert Mugabe has secured his power base through a corrupt scheme of patronage to cronies while bribing armed cadres of murderous mobs to crush political opposition. Mugabe literally despises whites, but also shows his hatred for black minority opposition in his own nation. Espousing the familiar Afro-Marxist rhetoric of a demagogue dictator, he seemingly justifies any means requisite to purge his nation of the 'evil' vestiges of capitalism and colonialism. Mugabe rules with fanatical zeal and has morbid remarks in reference to his policies of forced famine and mass-murder, which are eerily reminiscent of Pol Pot. He offers no apologies for his cruel measures designed to solidify his rule. He has plundered the nation, stripped it of its productive capacity, and his made zealous efforts to confiscate and redistribute private farmland, which has utterly devastated the economy of Zimbabwe. He has reduced the productivity of a once largely self-sufficient agricultural nation to a destitute backwater republic. Besides utilization of political violence, Mugabe, much like the warlords of Somalia, holds onto power precariously by controlling the distribution of foreign aid and humanitarian relief through his spoils system of patronage. In doing so, he buys support from a loyal cadre of cohorts.
Recently, the fashionable thing amongst the media establishment and policymakers in the West-particularly Leftist cadres in the UK has been to tacitly support and praise Mugabe's efforts for land reform while conveniently ignoring the horrors of his regime perpetrated against both whites and blacks. The mass-media never does specials on ethnic cleansings in Zimbabwe. And unfortunately political correctness of leftist journalists in the West tends to extol leaders like Robert Mugabe (while ignoring his criminal track record as mass-murdering despot.) The one smug thing I really dislike about liberal journalist Martin Merideth is his initial enthusiasm for the good intentions of Mugabe when he first came to power... He acts as if socialism and anti-colonial wars of national liberation are all noble and admirable, but Mugabe simply came along and betrayed the principle. The communist bloc-the Soviets, Chinese, and North Koreans-launched anti-colonial propaganda campaign to fuel insurgent revolutions fusing nationalism with socialism in an effort to build a pro-communist, anti-Western bloc in the Third-World. Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela were among their minions. The red crown jewels in this endeavor included Ethiopia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zaire. The pictures documenting his torture and mass-murder at various web sites are repugnant to the human eye and conscious. Yet those champions of human rights, the UN and IMF, continue to bolster his regime with aid. Meanwhile, in the Western media turn a blind eye to the atrocities when reporting anything on Zimbabwe and only gloss over the need for the West to help arbitrate Mugabe's land reform proposals. Land reform in Neo-Marxist newspeak means confiscation and redistribution of private property. Mugabe's legacy is one of criminal mass-murderer who destroyed his country's economy while murdering and starving 'his people.' He is a murderous thug whose judgment may never come from some tribunal, but will when he meets his maker.
Many outside observers naively approach southern African politics and international relations with the idea that fighting is between blacks and whites. They ignore abuses by black revolutionaries against their own blood kin, but why should it be any less acceptable when perpetrated against whites? Nelson Mandella, the media darling, was a violent communist terrorist, but doesn't get exposed by the Western media, but rather is heralded as a patron saint. There is a book by a black clergyman Sipo Mzimela tied to the ANC opposition, which documents the murderous ANC-perpetrated terrorism and corrupt assent of Mandella called Marching to Slavery, which may be found on a used book search since it is conveniently out-of-print. Despite exposing Mugabe, Martin Meredith cannot bring himself to trample the sacred cow of Mandella's fictious legacy as a humanitarian hero in his other book.
Book Description
This book tells the story of how White Rhodesians, three-quarters of whom were ill- prepared for revolutionary change, reacted to the "terrorist" war and the onset of black rule in the 1970s. It shows how internal divisions--both old and new--undermined the supposed unity of White Rhodesia, how most Rhodesians begrudgingly accepted the inevitability of black majority rule without adjusting to its implications, and how the self- appointed defenders of Western civilization sometimes adopted uncivilized methods of protecting the "Rhodesian way of life." This is a lively and accessible account, based on careful archival research and numerous personal interviews. It sets out to tell the story from the inside and to incorporate the diverse dimensions of the Rhodesian experience. The authors suggest that the Rhodesians were more differentiated than has often been assumed and that perhaps their greatest fault was an almost infinite capacity for self- delusion.
Customer Reviews:
Rhodesia WASNT Super.......2003-04-26
This book piece by piece debunks the myrhs surounding the Rhodesian war and sociaty.
Itshould be made compulsory reading for all the ex Rhodesian when-we's who live around the world today.
If only some body would write a book this good debunking the myth of Mugabes noble freedom fighters
Fourteen Great Years?.......2001-12-13
"Rhodesians Never Die" is a comprehensive history of the European population that ruled pre-independence Zimbabwe. This book takes a cynical view of Rhodesia's struggle to maintain minority rule amid increasing outside and internal pressures.
Godwin and Hancock put together an amazing amount of information in this work that includes even the smallest detail. "Rhodesians Never Die" chronicles every event, argument, article and demographic affecting Rhodesia for more than a decade.
The only drawback to this exhaustive work is its critical view of Ian Smith and Rhodesia's so called 'way of life'. Reading this book I got the impression that the authors arrived with preconceived conclusions about Rhodesia that weren't supported by their arguments. This could be due in part to the fact that this book does not relate Rhodesians to international influences or to the black population. I would liked to have seen a more classical argument and counter-argument to Rhodesia's problems.
Nonetheless, those who read this book will be greatly surprised to see how moderately the authors portray Rhodesia's Prime Minister. Even though 'Old Smithy' is not shown favorably, he wasn't the extremist as he is so often labelled. That role was played by other segments of Rhodesia's political spectrum.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read Peter Godwin's "Mukiwa" or would like to learn more about the politics of southern Africa. This book was well worth the wait.
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