Post: #1

Has anyone read any African literature? I have heard of Achinua Achebe, Ben Okri amongst others. Just curious to know whether African literature is known in other parts of the world.

Post: #2

Wilbur Smith's more my speed, but anyway...

Post: #3

I read and love Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

I heard that Wole Soyinka and Christopher Okigbo are good even though i never read them.

Are North African literatures, e.g. Egyptian, Moroccan literature consider African literature or Arabian Lit? or both?

Perhaps there should be a thread for Arabic literature

Post: #4

I've read quite a few. I like the graphic novel of Aya of Yop City based around the life of a young lizard in Cote D'Ivoire.

I've read all of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's books, a female Naija author who penned the book behind the film 'Half of a Yellow Sun' based on the Biafra war in the 60s. She wrote 'Purple Hibiscus', 'The Thing they wear around their neck' and 'Americanah'.

I've had to read 'Things Fall Apart' in English class in the UK and I read 'Chike and the River' as well as 'Education of a British protected child'

Post: #5

"Things Fall Apart" is probably my favorite novel of all time and I'm a guy who isn't big into fiction normally. It seems kind of hit or miss with people. I've heard some people describe it as boring and complaining about how not much happens in the beginning which is true, the first part of the book has a lot of descriptions of daily tribal life which isn't pulsing action. Personally I loved the descriptions of the festivals, wrestling matches, the folk tales that were being told, and even just the passages about food and drink (yams and palm wine are a huge part of the day to day life of the tribe described in the book) so that's why I enjoyed even the beginning. It's really the arrival of the British missionaries that causes the plot to really start blazing ahead.

The story being told is a fairly simple one but I think that adds to it's beauty. Nothing everything needs Game of Thrones level of intrigue where you have to keep track of the maneuvers of every single character. Without spoiling it too much, it's a very classic Western civilization story about hubris and excessive pride but set in an African background. The author of the book is a Nigerian that was educated in the British university system so he's the perfect guy to tell it.

Post: #6

You should check out Naguib Mahfouz, Farag Foda and Taha Hussein, if that counts.

Post: #7

My favourite African book is Buchi Emecheta Joys of Motherhood. It almost brought me to tears.

Post: #8

I haven't read Achinua Achebe, but I'll be sure to give it a try.

Post: #9

I just finished 'No Longer at Ease' by Chinua Achebe.

Post: #10

^And?

Post: #11

(01-24-2016 03:07 PM)Pride male Wrote:  ^And?

Sorry, bro, I didn't know that we had to discuss the book. It was a story of the grandfather of Okonkwo, the protagonist in 'Things fall Apart'. His father was a devout Christian and he bore those principles strongly in his movements in life. He went to England to study (his village put up the money to send him there) and he came back with a degree. The book continued the struggles of him to merge Christian principles with his Igbo traditions. He tried to resist taking bribes to help people through his government job position. He was also in love with a woman from his tribe (different village though) who was a blight due to something their family did. In the end, she broke off their engagement and he began to take bribes and he got busted by the Nigerian investigative team.

Achebe writes his fiction like life..there is no Hollywood ending and no conclusion to his story. I think with American fiction which will follow American films which influences American culture, stories follow a similar format. There is a beginning, setting circumstances and it rises to a dramatic point, a climax and then it concludes..and everyone lives happily ever after. Appetisers, main course and dessert.

In life, you can get appetisers and dessert, no main course and no particular order. His books are the same but they are very well written and rich with Igbo proverbs.

I haven't done a book review since secondary school so please forgive me.

Post: #12

^Just wanted to know if you liked it or not.

Post: #13

I read Things Fall Apart and also recently finished No Longer At Ease, both great books but I liked the first one better. The two books are part of Achebe's "African Trilogy", the third is called Arrow Of God, I look forward to reading that one soon. Achebe's writing style is very interesting, he certainly mastered the language of his colonizers and his books are littered with interesting and sometimes hilarious Ibo proverbs and expressions.

Post: #14

^ I actually went to school with One of Achebe's nieces. Totally not relevant, I know, but I remember feeling like a bit of a fanboy because I had just finished "Things Fall Apart" that week then bumped into her so the book was fresh on my mind.

He was a hell of a writer. If I recall correctly, He passed in the last 5 years, right? It's definitely a book that has some relevance today. You see a tribal society going through colonization in the novel, but today you see the ex-colonizers getting taken by the people they'd colonized so long ago.

Post: #15

Fortis, that's whassup! My favourite still living African writer is Ngozi Adichie and she grew up in the same house that was owned by Chinua in Nsukka. She did an inspiring presentation in Oxford about the need for Africans to write their stories rather than allow others to write their experiences. I thought it was stunning.

Post: #16

I've got to think that there must be huge variety in the term "African literature." I mean, it's a huge continent...There probably is more like 15 or 20 different "African literatures."

Just shooting from the hip here, but we have a basic general division:

1. Maghrebi region, which is geographically in Africa but culturally part of the Arab world (as is Sudan).
2. Nigeria, which has a huge population (I think the biggest on the continent, right?)
3. Ethiopia, a very distinct civilization.
4. South Africa, which has a unique history.
5. West African coast
6. All the other sub-Saharan countries, about which I know little.

I would guess that each of these regions has produced literary output of high quality.

Post: #17

Anyone familiar with Ben Okri? He wrote Famished Road. I tried reading it but couldnt make it past the first chapter.

Post: #18

I haven't read him but there's J.M. Coetzee.

Post: #19

My favorite African book is by a Somali author based in Cape town named Nuruddin farax and the book is called secrets. It's set in the beginning of the Somali civil war.

Post: #20

Are Albert Camus and Augustine of Hippo considered Afro-Lit? They are both from Algeria.