| Title | : | Weep Not, Child |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0435908308 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780435908300 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 136 |
| Publication | : | First published May 1, 1964 |
Weep Not, Child Reviews
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The story is set in Kenya around the time of the Mau Mau Rebellion (1952-1960) when the nation was still a British colony. The blurbs call this book the author’s masterpiece.
The main character is a bright young Christian boy, the only boy in his village who will pass school exams to go on to high school and then perhaps to college in England. When he gets to the high school level, it is the first time he has interacted with white people - the monks who teach at the school. Meanwhile all his older brothers (4 or 5 of them because his father has two wives) become involved in the rebellion and are hunted down and in some case tortured by the British authorities.
A British man controls the big farm in the area at which his father works. The white man also controls the black tribal village chief. Of the wealthy chief, who lives in a European-style house, the boy’s father says: “A white man is a white man. But a black man trying to be a white man is bad and harsh.” Of the lost land, the tribal leaders say “The Bible paved the way for the sword.” When the rebellion begins it was said of the white man “The machine he set in motion was working. The blacks were destroying the blacks. They would destroy themselves to the end.”
As the young boy matures, he is amazed to learn that it wasn’t always this way – village elders remember the time when the white man’s land was their own land. Local black men were also conscripted as servants to white soldiers in WW I and as soldiers in WW II. They see these European wars as “white men’s Wars.”
Young love is another theme. The main character and the tribal chiefs daughter are in love but the class difference keeps them apart as does his brothers being in the rebellion against men like her father. The violence gets so atrocious that she writes to him at school: “Fear in the air. Not a fear of death – it’s a fear of living.”
A snippet of dialog I liked:
“I wonder why he left England, the home of learning, and came here. He must be foolish.”
“I don’t know. You cannot understand a white man.”
A good story of developing African independence and rebellion against colonialism. A short read, less than 150 pages.
top photo: ebony.com
bottom photo: blackthen.com -
A complicated story told simply through the eyes of a child.
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Described in many reviews as 'a simple story', this book only appears so, I think, because it's written in an economical, limpid style reminiscent of folk tales or anecdote. The narrative follows Njoroge as he grows from a small child to a young adult, locked in his time like a balloon in the wind, and we most often see things from his perspective, but sensitive critique of his naïve and sometimes ignorant viewpoint, and those of others, is implicit throughout. When Njoroge finds 'Lucia' a nice name, unlike, say, 'Mwihaki', I began to suspect the influence of white supremacy. This was confirmed a few pages later in the reflections of Njoroge's mother, Nyokabi:
It was to her the greatest reward she would get from her motherhood if she one day found her son writing letters, doing arithmetic and speaking English. She tried to imagine what the Howlands woman must have felt to have a daughter and a son in school. She wanted to be the same. Or be like Juliana. Juliana... must surely have felt proud to have a daughter who was a teacher and a son who would probably be flying to foreign parts soon. That was something. That was real life. It did not matter if anyone died poor provided he or she could one day say 'Look, I've a son as good and as well-educated as any you can find in the land.'
I can imagine
Buchi Emecheta reading this passage and responding by writing
The Joys of Motherhood. Njoroge loves school, but there is an ominous sign: he asks Nyokabi to tell him a story, because when he had to tell one in class, 'all eyes were fixed on me - I lost the story'. The idea that one might lose something in the process of education is hinted at by Njoroge's self-comparison with his brother Kamau, who has trained as a carpenter and become strong and skilled. Njoroge becomes more and more convinced of the benefits of education and his whole family makes sacrifices to support him in continuing despite bad turns of fortune. However, the only effect education seems to have on Njoroge is that he becomes more deeply invested in Christianity and its pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by optimism. The content of this education cannot be very substantial. The only lessons shared with the reader are the first, exciting lesson in which the engaging teacher Isaka shows the beginner class the alphabet, and an early English class where the class get into a muddle conjugating the phrase 'I am standing up'. This confusion about who is standing up in the language of the coloniser could be a hint. Who benefits from learning this language? Njoroge believes that knowledge of English is the measure of a person's education and that 'our country needs us' (ie educated people), but when his best friend Mwihaki asks him what for, he has no answer for her; he has no idea what concrete benefit will come from his education.
This problematisation of language creates a tension, because the book is written in English, clearly rendering Gikuyu dialogue into that language. The tension pulled me back from the text, sometimes into the self-questioning mode that I have when reading in translation.
In contrast to Njoroge with his naïve optimism and lack of a concrete plan, Kamau works hard at his craft and brings in money to support the family. Kamau has a stock explanation for selfish and exploitative behaviour; privileged people want to keep their advantages. While the narrative seems to generally affirm this, it is nuanced particularly within the black community. Character development is usually brief (as in folk- or fairy- tale) but the careful positioning of each person gives room for imaginative extrapolation. My general impression of the book is an openness that invites elaboration and reply. For example, the racist portrayal of the Indian people, deliberately shallow and ignorant as that of an outsider looking through a lens clouded by white supremacy, invites reply from the Kenyan Indian community; M.G. Vassanji takes up this invitation in
The In-Between World of Vikram Lall and I explore their dialogue a little in
my review of that book. The child Njoroge accepts a sweet from a friendly Indian boy, and is rebuked by his mother. This is clearly a missed opportunity, limiting his experience and perspective.
The violence of the struggle negatively impacts the whole family; they cannot avoid becoming involved. First the African people call a general strike, but this is put down violently and the man who owns the land Njoroge's family lives on is made a Chief. This means he is on one hand a stooge of the increasingly abusive and violent Serikali (colonial government) and on the other, further empowered to serve his own interests. A curfew is imposed, people are taken to the woods and killed so that the police can declare 'victories' over the Mau Mau, and the white authorities torture those accused of dissent. Mau Mau threats of violence terrify the community, but all of the physical violence comes from the Serikali.
Central to the book is the historical and cultural framework from which the Mau Mau struggle emerges. This is introduced right at the beginning with the gossip between men at the barber's, contextualising the community's shared standpoint. Later Njoroge's father, Ngotho, a peaceable man, tells a creation story, which causes his son, Boro, Njoroge's much older half-brother, to get angry with Ngotho and his generation for losing their ancestral, god-given land to the white colonists. Boro was conscripted to fight for the British in WWII alongside his beloved half-brother Mwangi who was killed. Throughout the book, Ngũgĩ links Boro's motives and feelings to his experience in the war. Ngotho himself was drafted in WWI, but African conscripts were not armed then, but took part as porters and so on, so his experience was different. Ngotho believes the prophecy that foretold the coming of the whites and their departure will be completed; he waits for the white man to leave. The younger generation is disillusioned and critical of this attitude, leading to uprising.
Ngotho's story reflects a cosmogony joining people to land believed by the Gikuyu people. In the present context of racialisation, this cosmogony is interpreted as racial, with negative consequences. Thus, racial essentialism is critiqued even as it fuses with traditional knowledge. Much worse though is the coloniser's theft: Ngũgĩ contrasts Ngotho's feelings about the land with that of his white employer. Mr Howlands loves the shamba, but his attitude is clearly colonist: “he alone was responsible for taming this unoccupied wildness”. Ngotho 'felt responsible for whatever happened to this land. He owed it to the dead, the living and the unborn of his line, to keep guard over this shamba'
Later, Mr Howlands says 'This is my land' and the author comments 'he said it as a man says “this is my woman”'. I read this as another invitation to extend critique of the proprietary attitude towards the body of the land to the same attitude to the bodies of women. Decolonisation must be feminist! Having read
Wizard of the Crow I am happy to say that this feminist strand in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's thinking became more explicit and developed in his later work.
Not a just a simple story; a deep, complex, troubling, provocative and influential work. -
Ово је први роман кенијског писца Нгуги ва Тионга, који је написао још као младић, а спомиње се и да је ово први роман источноафричке књижевности. Тема је амбициозна – деколонизација кенијских народа, борба за независност и протест против угњетавања. Писац је желео да да једну широку слику сиромаштва локалног народа наспрам богатства колонизатора и домаћих удворника, али су ликови, као и радња остали више на нивоу скице.
Протагониста је млади, сиромашни занесењак Нџороге који сања да образовањем унапреди положај своје породице, али и да уради „нешто велико“ за свој народ. Сиромаштво и подређени положај према колонизаторима, а потом и неуспех устанка против истих ће ипак одредити другачију трасу његовог живота. Поред тога, ту је и забрањена љубав према газдиној ћерки, која га тишти. У позадини се дешавају политичка превирања у које је Нџороге посредно укључен преко реакционарних активности своје старије (полу)браће. Спомињу се у назнакама Мау-Мау устанак, Џомо (Кенијата) – први премијер и председник независне Кеније итд, али свe то „на кашичицу“.
И поред свих недостатака, ово је једно вредно сведочанство о времену рађања кенијске државе. -
Schedario-repertorio (luoghi, tempi, nomi, titoli, domande)
1) Luogo del racconto: Kenya.
2) Luogo del racconto, più precisamente: «In a country of ridges, such as Kikuyuland, there are many valleys and small plains»...
3) Tempo del racconto: all'inizio della sollevazione anticoloniale dei Mau Mau, quindi inizio anni Cinquanta («No, Mau Mau is not bad. The Freedom Boys are fighting against white settlers. Is it bad to fight for one’s land? Tell me that.»)
4) Tempo della prima edizione: 1964.
5) Tempo dell'edizione che ho letto: 2012.
6) Tempo delle origini: «Now, you know that at the beginning of things there was only one man (Gikuyu) and one woman (Mumbi).»
7) Nome dell'autore al momento della prima edizione: James Ngugi.
8) Nome dell'autore dell'introduzione nell'edizione che ho letto: Ben Okri.
9) Nome dell'editore della prima edizione: Heinemann.
10) Nome dell'autore a partire dagli anni Settanta: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
11) Nome di un gruppo musicale che ascoltavo parecchio, anni fa: Mau Mau.
12) Titolo della prima edizione italiana: Se ne andranno le nuvole devastatrici
Se ne andranno le nuvole devastatrici? Se ne andranno le nuvole devastatrici? Non piangere, figliuolo.
13) Provenienza del titolo originale: da On the Beach at Night di Walt Whitman:
«On the beach at night,
Stands a child with her father,
Watching the east, the autumn sky.
[...]
Weep not, child,
Weep not, my darling,
With these kisses let me remove your tears,
The ravening clouds shall not long be victorious,
They shall not long possess the sky, they devour the stars only in apparition,
Jupiter shall emerge, be patient, watch again another night, the Pleiades shall emerge,
They are immortal, all those stars both silvery and golden shall shine out again,
The great stars and the little ones shall shine out again, they endure,
The vast immortal suns and the long-enduring pensive moons shall again shine.»
14) Titolo di un altro libro che usciva nello stesso anno della prima edizione e che io ho letto molti anni prima di questo: African Stories di Doris Lessing.
15) Titolo dei due libri successivi pubblicati da Ngugi: The River between (che non ho letto), A Grain of Wheat (
che ho letto).
16) Governi nell'anno della prima edizione: 1 giugno: il Kenya diventa repubblica, Jomo Kenyatta presidente. 26 giugno: in Italia dimissioni del primo governo Moro, 22 luglio: secondo governo Moro; ottobre: elezioni generali nel Regno Unito, Harold Wilson primo ministro; Brežnev diventa segretario del Pcus.
17) Fantasmatica-mitica-trasfigurata presenza del futuro presidente nel presente della narrazione: «there was growing up in his heart a feeling that the Gikuyu people, whose land had been taken by white men, were no other than the children of Israel about whom he read in the Bible. So although all men were brothers, the black people had a special mission to the world because they were the chosen people of God. This explained his brother’s remark that Jomo was the black Moses.»
18) Nomi dei personaggi e legami tra loro, in poche brevi frasi: «Boro, Kori, and Kamau were all sons of Njeri, Ngotho’s eldest wife. Njoroge’s only true brother was Mwangi who had died in the war. But they all behaved as if they were of one mother»
19) Domande all'origine della sollevazione anticoloniale: «How can you continue working for a man who has taken your land? How can you go on serving him?»
20) Forma della semplicità del romanzo secondo Okri: «The novel is disarmingly simple and direct. [...] The writing is clear, unpretentious, but shaped with the noble cadences of traditional speech.»
21) Significato della semplicità del romanzo secondo Okri: è un romanzo «about loss. It moves through many losses, beginning with the loss of land.»
22) Sentimenti provati nella lettura: curiosità, simpatia per alcuni personaggi, raccapriccio in un momento di passaggio fondamentale, malinconia indefinita.
23) Curiosità oziosa: ma c'è qualche elemento di autobiografia in quel ragazzino (Njoroge) che pensa sempre a studiare in mezzo a tutto il casino, perché ha fede nell'educazione, attraverso la quale vuole diventare protagonista nel rimettere in piedi il suo paese dilaniato? -
This is the great Ngugi's first novel, published over 50 years ago! The book showed his immense potential and talent as an imaginative writer. Though the novel is based on the shattering reality of the Mau Mau movement in East Africa. The author creates quite a number convincing characters, not only blacks. Njoroge, a youngster is apparently the main protagonist as his family is affected profoundly by the sombre, even violent events, and much of the action is filtered through him. It might be harsh, but he does not come across as a brave person, and his touching yet infantile love affair does not get him anywhere. We see how important LAND is in the society, for the black people, and also the whites. The violence and cruelty seem gratuitous many times, making the reader wince. Our young "hero" realises western education can be very important, but it does not seem relevant many times under the horrifying circumstances.
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These past few days found me wagging an accusing finger at Penguin for the synopsis/cover of this book + the dismal offering of their African Writers Series. My criticisms still stand but I’ll admit the one good thing going for this edition is the introduction by Ben Okri which is pure gold. It alerted me to what I should be paying attention to without giving anything away which added so much more depth to my reading, understanding and interpretation of this classical work.
𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘕𝘰𝘵, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 tells the story of a young boy growing up during a period of civil unrest between British colonial authorities in Kenya and the Mau Mau fighters. The prose is direct, without subtleties, and makes the most of internal monologues. Through the author’s light pen we see an ancient land, a town full of traditions, customs, legends, beliefs and where family and land are the most important thing a man can have, and how armed conflicts often harm those who are weaker and without any fault.
The use of third person narration gave Ngūgī plenty of room to navigate different perspectives and show how multi faceted the struggle for independence was, not just the white settlers the black population but also black man against black man, father against son, Christianity against the indigenous belief system. We view the protagonist’s coming of age and how his dreams wobbled and collapsed like a fragile house of cards, a white settler sowing seeds of discord between black men, a Kenyan land owner who supports the white cause, and my favorite character - a man with firm belief in Gikuyu mythology and the traditional way of life who suddenly finds himself usurped of his land, dignity, manhood and his standing as the head of a the family. The precarious state of not belonging that second generation settlers (Kenya Cowboys as they’re commonly known here) experience was also explored - not quite Kenyans, not fully British. All this is a testament to Ngūgī’s skill in creating nuanced characters using disarmingly simple prose but I felt this very same quality lacking when it came to the female characters who were mostly invisible. I’ve read Ngūgī’s later work 𝘈 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 in which the female characters were a lot more fleshed out so I’m willing to give my fellow countryman the benefit of doubt and attribute this flaw to a first time writer finding his footing.
The language used has the cadence of traditional speech, for example, he writes 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 for forgetting the sequence of a tale or 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦 to describe a grazed knee which was not only delightful to read but also reflective of the literal translation speech that sometimes unconsciously seeps out of Kenyans. I interpreted it as an act of defiance by infusing elements of traditional speech in the colonizers language, and it also hints at Ngūgī’s later decision to do away with English and write in his native tongue.
This aspect language gave me a whiff of Tutola’s 𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘋𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘢𝘳𝘥 and I felt the ending was a nod to Achebe’s 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘈𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 in highlighting how colonialism crushed one’s spirit and forced a strong willed person to attempt suicide. While Achebe’s protagonist was successful in his suicide, powerfully symbolizing the death of a culture, Ngūgī’s choice of giving his protagonist another shot at life was just as powerful and perhaps a reflection of the young Ngūgī’s (he was only 28 when he wrote this) hope for a new Kenya free of colonial rule. To keep on persevering and hoping for a better tomorrow in the midst of ongoing brutality is perhaps the greatest strength. The book takes its title after a line from Walt Whitman’s poem 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 and it, too, alludes to a hopeful future.
𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥,
𝘞𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨,
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴,
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. -
Weep Not Child by Ngugi wa Theong'o is an early novel by one of Kenya's more prominent writers, someone who came of age as an author just as the struggle for independence was causing both considerable intellectual ferment and widespread bloodshed during the time of the Mau Mau insurrection, called the Emergency by the white colonial administration and the many British settlers, especially those in the so-called "White Highlands" of Kenya.
I'd read this book while living & teaching in Kenya just a few years after its independence from Great Britain but in rereading the Ngugi novel found it much more complex than I'd remembered. For, while it is definitely a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, it also rather nicely encompasses Kenya's history in the period just prior to independence and includes a kind of Romeo & Juliet love story as well, with contrasting visions of the importance of the land as a primary focal point.
The main character, Njoroge, growing up in a large but poor Kikuyu family, aspires to follow the advice of his father, Ngotho, that "Education is everything", becoming the first in his family to attend a school of any sort, eventually succeeding as a primary school student & gaining a place in a very competitive secondary school in the capital, making not just his family but the entire village proud, this at a time when there were few schools and none of them tuition-free.Njoroge listened to his father. He instinctively knew that an indefinable demand was being made on him, even though he was so young. He knew that for him education would be the fulfillment of a wider & more significant vision--a vision that embraced the demand made on him not only by his father but also by his mother, his brothers & even the village. He saw himself destined for something big & this made his heart glow.
In the midst of being a child in a poor family but seemingly with great promise for the future, a strike is called for by workers on the large estate of a white landowner, Mr.Howlands, also involving a man named Jakobo, a comparatively wealthy African on whose property Njoroge & family have their huts. With Jakobo & Ngotho taking opposite sides in the struggle, life becomes increasingly complex for all. A further complication is the close relationship between young Njoroge & Mwihaki the daughter of Jakobo, something that reminded me at times of the discord between Shakespeare's Capulets & the Montagues.
Beyond this, Mr. Howland & Njoroge's father, Ngotho have both lost a son during WWII but with the ownership of the land ultimately at stake, there is no bond between them. Howlands has poured his heart & soul into the land & it has become his only love, while Africans feel alienated from what had once been their land & marginalized by mistreatment & poor pay by the white ruling class. Much is at stake for all concerned...It was no good calling on the name of God for he, Howlands did not believe in God. There was only one god for him--and that was the farm he had created, the land he had tamed. And who were these Mau Mau who were now claiming the land, his god?
Meanwhile, Njoroge & many of the Africans see themselves in Biblical terms, with the Kikuyu & other tribes seen as the Israelites and Jomo Kenyatta as their Moses. Though expressing non-violence, Kenyatta, the future first president of independent Kenya is seen as a ringleader of the Mau Mau movement & is quickly jailed.
Life as everyone once knew it has been torn asunder with the white colonials, the poorest Africans & a group of landowning wealthier Africans all forced to take a side in the increasingly bloody battle for the land & the hope for a country independent from Great Britain, removed from white rule. Ngugi wa Thiong'o does a masterful job of allowing the reader to view the boy, Njoroge, as someone strong of faith & with a sense of destiny but almost overwhelmed by the various forces in his midst:War, diseases, pestilence, insecurity, betrayal, family disintegrations--he had seen all of these. But Njoroge believed in the righteousness of God. Therefore, he thought all of this would work out in the end and he felt that he had been chosen to be the instrument of His Divine Service. Njoroge still believed in the future, of a better day he could give to a weeping child. He did not know that this faith in the future could be a form of escape from the reality of the present.
Within what initially seems a fairly simple story is very well-crafted language and a tale that unfolds with gradually increasing complexity. The reading of this novel would be enhanced by some background knowledge of the Mau Mau era in Kenya & of that country's struggle for independence. There were some Kikuyu words that went untranslated in the book but this was a small distraction & I recommend the book highly to anyone interested in exploring the literature of Africa.
When I first read the novel, the author was known as James Ngugi and some 20 years after it was published, he appeared at a small, now long-gone bookstore walking distance from my home, on the occasion of the publication of his new book, Petals of Blood. I brought along the old copy of Weep Not Child & Ngugi wa Thiong'o regarded his early book & the image of his former self on the dust jacket, paused, shook his head & then ultimately signed both books. It may have helped that I'd greeted him with my faltering mastery of Swahili.
*This was the first published novel by an East African author. **The book's title is from a Walt Whitman poem. -
“Nyokabi lo llamó: – ‘¿Te gustaría ir a la escuela?’
- ‘¡Oh, madre!’ – exclamó Njoroge con un grito ahogado. Casi temió que la mujer pudiese retractarse de sus palabras.”
Para el pequeño Njoroge, que vive en una familia pobre, estudiar es su mayor anhelo y esperanza. También es un proyecto familiar y el del pueblo kikuyu, que percibe que la educación es el camino para superar la pobreza.
Como en los demás países de África Oriental se vive en una sociedad de castas, en la que los europeos son los dueños de la tierra; los indios (en otros, los árabes) son los dueños del comercio; y los africanos son mano de obra, prescindible.
Transcurren los años ’50; varios integrantes de la familia y del pueblo han vuelto, cambiados, de su participación en la Guerra Europea; y en Kenia crece el anhelo de dejar de ser una colonia británica. Vendrán años turbulentos, y la creciente espiral de violencia dañará profundamente el tejido social y amenazará los planes de Njoroge.
Una novela interesante, bien escrita y con personajes bien construidos; y una excelente postal de la vida en esos tiempos agitados.
Ngugi wa Thiong'o es un escritor keniata, que luego de haber pasado por la cárcel y sido expulsado del país, es actualmente docente universitario en EEUU; aparece frecuentemente entre los candidatos al Premio Nobel de Literatura. -
This book describes generally the life in Kenya during the Mau Mau revolution and the struggle of the black people to get their freedom and dignity from the English colonist. Ngugi Wa Thingo follows Njoroge's familly, hoping for a bright future and regaining their stolen land.The Mau Mau uprising had a damaged impact on all the member of this family.
Throughout the troubled time, Njoroge fought against his bad conditions; making his dreams come true was only the idea that gripped him and made him carry on his hard work on school in order to be an important and well educated person in the future to rebuild his poor country Kenya because his faith of getting the freedom in the future grew stronger everyday. Unfortunately, the English colonist tore apart his whole life; hopes,dreams, his unique love and even the unity of his family.
In despite of the sadness and the bleak side of the story, I really enjoyed reading Ngugi's first book ever. I felt like I belong to those characters and his people belonged to me. I sympathize with any population that fights against the enemy. The old Algerian generation had experienced the French colonization, we lost over one million and a half martyrs in the war against the cruel colonist.
Weep not Child but be strong and faithful instead because bloodshed, death, pain, and the injustice won't last forever in the world, you deserve to be free, educated, happy and loved, the sun will rise tomorrow surely....
The book was beautifully written, it rejoiced me a lot and made me grateful for all the graces that the Almighty had given me while some people had to fight to get what I have in my life.... Highly recommend :) -
This was mandatory read back (way back) in secondary school but the struggle in Kenya pervades today's disenfranchised "Africa" resulting in the kidnapping of the "Nigerian Chibok girls" to the west; hijacking of ocean liners by Somalian pirates in the east; economic mismanagement by leadership of most African countries and many more tragic situations which have led to citizens being displaced and corrupt government officials being celebrated. I can't help but think of the irony that is Walt Whitman's poem which prefaces this book.
Weep not, child
Weep not, my darling
With these kisses let me remove your tears
The Ravening clouds shall not be long victorious
They shall not long possess the sky
The British/French/Germans long since left, but the calibre of today's African leaders are worse than any colonial master. I am African and I stand by that statement. -
Weep Not, Child is a beautiful book about how colonialism in Kenya tears apart families. It is stark, simple, and lovingly executed. This book can also be read in one sitting, which is another of its attributes, because that allows its full emotional impact to work with intensity on the reader. Ben Okri compared Weep Not, Child to Romeo and Juliet. By the time I finished reading this novella, I agreed with Okri's assessment, in spite of the two works' clear differences. Weep Not, Child is a moving story and a great introduction to an important Kenyan writer and to the issues of colonialism and the Mau Mau uprising. I highly recommend it.
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A short but not-sweet story of Kenya during the Mau Maus and the coming of Jomo Kenyatta.
The locals have been sent by England to two World Wars. They have seen their lands taken over by the whites. Unrest stirs.
The book highlights the divisions between the whites and blacks but more so the divisions amongst the locals, the success of the divide and conquer strategy of the English and the various tragedies as each group struggles for dominance.
A memorable book of this era of pre-independent Kenya. -
I read this book as a child growing up in Liberia, West Africa. I remember loving the language and the rich culture that very similar to my own. I look forward to reading it again as an adult and growing a deeper appreciation for it.
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I love this.
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Το ντεμπούτο του μεγάλου Αφρικανού συγγραφέα προσφέρεται για αρκετές κ διαφορετικές ματιές. Κατά μια έννοια θα μπορούσε ο αναγνώστης να το δει ως μια εκδοχή του Ρωμαίου κ της Ιουλιέτας κ να έχει δίκιο. Το βιβλίο το διαπερνά η σχέση του νεαρού αφηγητή με την κόρη του πιο πλούσιου μαύρου της περιοχής, ενός προδότη του τόπου του. Λόγω της εφηβείας των ηρώων κ των φυλε��ικών διακρίσεων που χαρακτηρίζουν τις ιδέες του βιβλίου, θα μπορούσε επίσης κανείς να το διαβάσει ως μια άλλη εκδοχή του Όταν Σκοτώνουν τα Κοτσύφια. Τα βιβλία άλλωστε του Thiong'o φέρουν για τον τόπο του την ίδια βαρύτητα που είχε για τους Αμερικανούς το μέχρι πρότινος μοναδικό βιβλίο που είχε εκδώσει η Lee. Τέλος, το πολιτικό σκέλος-σχόλιο του συγγραφέα (ο κόπος των ιθαγενών κι η εξίσωσή τους με τα ζώα της φάρμας κτλ.) θα θυμίσουν αρκετά τα Σταφύλια της Οργής του Στάινμπεκ. Όλα τα παραπάνω είναι σωστά.
Το βιβλίο το έπιασα μόλις είδα ότι στο εκδοτικό πρόγραμμα του Καστανιώτη για το 2017 υπάρχει η μετάφραση του Petals of Blood, του βιβλίου δηλαδή που οδήγησε το συγγραφέα σε φυλακή υψίστης ασφαλείας για ένα χρόνο. Το ξεκίνησα στο αεροπλάνο για Λονδίνο σε ένα PDF της κακιάς ώρας (αν κολλήσεις να διαβάσεις κάτι το διαβάζεις κ σε χαρτοπετσέτες) κ αρχικά στραμπούληξα τη γλώσσα μου με τα ονόματα των ηρώων (Ngotho, Njoroge, Mwihaki κτλ.) κ έβγαλα τα μάτια μου στην οθόνη του reader. Αλλά για καλή μου τύχη πέτυχα σε ένα καλάθι αυτή την όμορφη έκδοση της Penguin με το ηλιοβασίλεμα κ την κατατοπιστικότατη εισαγωγή του Ben Okri, καθώς κ το πρώτο μέρος της τριλογίας-αυτοβιογραφίας του συγγραφέα κ τα πήρα τρέχοντας κ τα δυο (8 λίρες μαζι!!!).
Το βιβλίο έχει έντονα αυτοβιογραφικά στοιχεία όπως φαίνεται κ απ'τις πρώτες σελίδες της αυτοβιογραφίας του που έχω διαβάσει κ εστιάζει στην περίοδο που οι κάτοικοι αυτού του κομματιού της Ανατολικής Αφρικής εξεγείρονται απέναντι στους αποικιοκράτες Άγγλους κ τους μετρημένους στα δάχτυλα γαιοκτήμονες-συμπατριώτες του. Το ιστορικό πλαίσιο δίνεται επαρκώς απ'τον Thiong'o κ αν ο εκάστοτε αναγνώστης βγει απ'το πρόγραμμα του κ ψάξει την ιστορία για μια πιο σφαιρική αντίληψη είναι θεμιτό. Πάνω απ'όλα, το βιβλίο γοητεύει με τον απίθανο ρυθμό του κ σε γραπώνει στο δεύτερο μισό που κορυφώνεται η ιστορία. Από κει πέρα διατηρείται σε βασικές προβληματικές, πιστές στην ηλικία του πρωταγωνιστή (η δύναμη της οικογένειας, της εκπαίδευσης κ της νιότης, πως το πολιτικό μπορεί να έχει χειροπιαστές επιπλοκές στην καθημερινότητα του καθενός, η σημασία της συμμετοχής κ της αντίστασης κοκ) κ συνολικά είναι ένα βιβλίο ιδανικό για νεώτερους αναγνώστες που ψάχνουν σφαιρικές λογοτεχνικές κ ιστορικές γνώσεις.
Έχω διαβάσει πριν άπειρα χρόνια το Matigari με το οποίο είχα ενθουσιαστεί τότε κ ίσως να το ξαναδιαβάσω. Είναι σίγουρο ότι ο υποψήφιος Νομπελίστας (είναι μάλλον δεδομένο ότι όταν η Σουηδική Ακαδημία αποφασίσει να δώσει το επόμενο βραβείο σε Αφρικανό συγγραφέα αυτό θα πάει στον Thiong'o) θα απασχολήσει τους αναγνώστες της μεταφρασμένης λογοτεχνίας κ πολύ καλά θα κάνει. Προσωπικά, το αναγνωστικό πρόγραμμα μου για το 2017 θα ήθελα να έχει κ άλλους αφρικανούς κ ασιάτες συγγραφείς. Να δούμε αν θα τα καταφέρω. -
I am not a fan of Classics but the synopsis caught my interest. It was good in the beginning but then the character soon became dismiss able as the pages turned. My main problem with this book was the lack of characterization and how silly it came across. There was absolutely no direction or anything that motivated me to continue reading. This book only emphasized why I do not read many Classics, cause most of the time I am disappointed with the execution.
Oh well it was "okay" but I doubt I would be reading novels by this author. -
3.5 stars.
Read without placing it in relevant contexts, this book will seem nothing special. The writing reminds me of R. K. Narayan, which if I refuse to think beyond that would put me off. But there's a reason why the writing of Ngugi's first English novel and R. K. Narayan's work in English is so simple and direct. There's a reason why their stories aren't all that special. They bring to life the first generation of what was to evolve into proper postcolonial literature. There's power in that. Maybe it's the lit student in me talking, but you gotta value that power. You just do. -
Like most people faced with challenges-this book is all about them and how much dreams are blurred by brutality and how the only people who you think have lost it all still gain the strength to hope for another day.
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لا تبك أيها الطفل
رواية من الأدب الأفريقي الذي يتحدث عن الاستعمار. تقدم الرواية قصة جميلة من كينيا، من حياة الرجل الأسود الواقع تحت سلطة الرجل الأبيض الذي استولى على الأرض.
نرى عائلة نوثنغو، حيث هناك تعدد في الشخصيات، بين الأب الذي فقد سلطته ومكانته التقليدية كرأس العائلة، بعدما فقد أرضه وكرامته لصالح الرجل الأبيض، وهو يأمل حصول معجزة تخلصه من الرجل الأبيض وتعيد له أرضه، لكن الأمور لا تكف عن أن تسوء بالنسبة له. وهناك الأبن الذي حارب في الحرب العالمية الثانية مُجبرا لصالح البريطانيين، وعاد بنزعة مستمرة لممارسة العنف والقتل، فإنضم للمجموعات القتالية المتمردة ضد المستعمر، التي لا تتورع عن ممارسة العنف تجاه السود ذاتهم. ترسم الرواية التحولات في العلاقات بين أفراد الأسرة، التوتر بين الأبن المتمرد والأب الخاضع، والنقلة في علاقة العمل بين الأب العامل عند الأبيض السيد، حتى صار هدفا للإنتقام والخصومة بعد مشاركته في الاضراب العام.
وفي قلب الرواية هناك قصة الطفل نجوروغي الذي وضعت العائلة أملها على تعليمه، الطفل الوحيد الذي أمكنهم إرساله للمدرسة ليتعلم، بما في ذلك تعلم اللغة الانجليزية، لغة المستعمر، ليتمكن من صنع مستقبل آخر له ولهم. طوال الرواية، وحتى عندما كانت الأمور تسوء تمسك نجوروغي بالأمل أن الشمس ستشرق في يوم جديد، وترينا الرواية في فصولها الأخيرة التحولات التي طرأت على هذا الأمل.
في الرواية شيء من الممارسات الظالمة والخبيثة للمستعمر، سياسته التي تتعمد خلق الصراع بين أهل الأرض لكي يسود. هناك أيضا العلاقات الإنسانية التي تحاول أن تنشأ بين الخصوم، تقاوم الخصومة، تتأثر بها أحيانا.
في خاتمة الرواية يبدو كأن دائرة تكتمل، فالرواية التي افتتحت بالأم تفتح بابا للحياة لإبنها بالتهيأة لدخوله المدرسة، انتهت بها تفتح له بابا آخر للحياة حين اعتقد أن الأبواب كلها قد أوصدت.
السرد في الرواية بسيط ومباشر، والترجمة ممتازة. -
Os seré sincera: no conocía esta historia. Las palabras «Mau Mau» despertaban un recuerdo tímido en mi cabeza, de algo quizás aprendido por encima en el colegio, pero la cosa no iba más allá. Y tras la lectura y comprensión de todos los sucesos, una no puede evitar una enorme tristeza, tanto por no conocer la historia con anterioridad como por el hecho de que se trata un relato de privaciones y vejaciones constantes, contado por un experimentado narrador con una voz impecable y un gusto exquisito para escribir. Wa Thiong’o escribe de una forma muy directa, sin sutilezas, pero exprimiendo al máximo el monólogo interno y la sencillez de las intervenciones de los personajes para que el relato adquiera un estilo muy cercano pero cortante, familiar pero rompedor. Crítica completa:
http://www.libros-prohibidos.com/ngug... -
This is a very good and short novel that addresses the stress and anguish of late colonialism in Kenya. This text is rich on many levels as it deals with hope, despair, injustice, redemption, etc. I'm going to teach this in both African history and World History.
I’m teaching it in my Honors World History Class now.
I just completed my third reading of this book, and it was nearly like reading for the first time. I found it more heart-wrenching and sharp in its criticism of British colonialism. I noted how racism and white supremacy run through this text. -
This book was a jumbled mess that had a lot of potential. The writer's style was too simple, and the direction of the story was horrible. That's as much critique as I can muster. It was a waste of reading time.
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কেমন হবে যদি পুরা পৃথিবীর পরতে পরতে লিখে দেয়া হয় হুইট ম্যানের ওই লাইনটা, উইপ নট চাইল্ড।
কলোনিয়ালিজম যুদ্ধ আফ্রিকার নদী আর জীবন থেকে সেই বেঁচে থাকার রহস্য ভেদ করতে পারে নাই, আফ্রিকার গ্রামে সাদা এক খন্ড সেলিকো গায়ে জড়ায়ে জিয়োগো যখন স্কুলে যাইতো ওই স্বপ্নটা একটা বহু প্রাচীন এঞ্চেস্টরাল শক্তি বহন করে, এটা টিকেই থাকে, আফ্রিকা চলতে থাকে এক আকাশি গতিতে।
কি সুন্দর আশ্রয় নিয়ে নেয়া আকাশ আর মাঠ আর কালো মানুষগুলোর কি সুন্দর প্রেম! সবুজের মধ্যে কালো কালো ফুল ভেসে বেড়াচ্ছে আর হেসে বলে যাচ্ছে সেইসব বিস্তৃত স্মৃতিকাতরতা, শত আঘাতেও তা কেউ নিয়ে নিতে পারবেনা। -
*spoiler alert!
Ngugi gives us an intimate account of how real people and families were effected by the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya in the 1950's and how the same interests of preserving land rights got cast as vastly different and racialized interests, resulting in the deaths of many. Following Njoroge through his coming of age,we see him first as a young boy who believes that through education and learning, he can save his country, then as a devout Christian who sees himself as God's chosen one to deliver his people from the evils of the war, and finally as a disillusioned young man who can't even hold on to the woman he loves and attempts suicide on the last pages of the novel. Ngugi's ability to interweave the stories of Mr. Howlands, a white expatriate originally from Great Britain, but who claims Kenya as his home, Jacobo, a black land owner who "sells out" and supports the white cause in the conflict, and Ngotho, a traditional Gikuyu man who believes the prophecy of his people long ago that blacks will reclaim ownership of the land that was stripped from them when white European settlers arrived. Ngugi complicates the story by focusing on two generations involved in the battle over land rights. Njoroge's brazen brothers Kumau, Kori, and Boro, are hostile, reckless supporters of the Mau Mau, while younger and more innocent Njoroge remains steadfast in his ideas that education is the answer. While his brothers support strikes and Boro becomes a plotted murderer, Njoroge remains in school, excelling in his class. Mwihaki, the gentle daughter of Jacobo, becomes the unfailing companion of Njoroge from a young age, but because of the differences in their families' beliefs and the ultimate deaths of both of their fathers, they cannot be together in the end. Ngugi fills the rest of the novel with other archetypal revolutionary figures such as the barber and Teacher Isaka who both get assassinated because of their fundamental belief that the Gikuyu people should claim right to their land, as their ancestors did. At the same time; however, we get an intimate portrayal of Mr. Howlands and how he passionately sees Kenya as his home, the land rightfully his. Surely, he believes "the blacks" to be "savages" and intends to pit them against each other to better his cause, but he is human just like they are, desiring to hold his fragile family together as it fractures like Ngotho's family. The background of World Wars I and II in the novel help to establish the historical context of the Mau Mau Rebellion. There existed an entire generation of Kenyan veterans who were not given proper compensation for their role in helping the British fend off the Germans and other world powers, thus fueling their desire to take back their rights. The first half of this novel is less palatable to me than the second; perhaps because Ngugi is setting up the context and the players. The second half of the novel traces the mental and ideological downfall of his major players and is much more affecting to read. I did feel a hint of Achebe's Things Fall Apart at the end when Njoroge tries to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree, but Ngugi's new contribution to this ending is that Njoroge was never of the generation who valued tradition and the ancestral spirits, pointing to the fact that colonialism inflicts potentially brutal consequences on younger generations as well. The fact that Njoroge does not go through with the act could either point to a hope that he will go on to serve as a savior to his people or a scathing critique that the newer generation is not as courageous and masculine as its father's. I was searching for more female voices in here, and though Ngugi gives Ngotho's wives Njeri and Nyokabi some space in which to speak about the tragedies of the war, and Mwahiki occupies a lot of lines in the novel, this is what is really lacking for me as a reader. Certainly there were female revolutionaries who supported the rebellion, but we don't see any of them here. -
Published in 1964,
Weep Not, Child by
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o tells the story of a young boy growing up during a period of civil unrest between British colonial authorities in Kenya and the indigenous population—a period of escalating tensions and the Mau Mau uprising. The events are seen through the eyes of a child.
As a young boy, Njoroge is full of hope and potential. His ambition is to obtain an education. With family support, he passes the required exams and is the first boy in his village to attend high school. He feels the weight of the village on his shoulders and dreams of his education as a means to better equip him to support his people. Meanwhile, the country suffers from escalating tensions between the indigenous population and the white government; harsh repercussions for workers striking for a living wage; increased brutality; killings; the Mau Mau uprising; disappearances; and torture.
The struggle is multi-faceted. It pits one family member against another. It is a struggle over land appropriated by the white colonists from the original owners. It is a struggle to control resources. It is between Kenyans co-opted by the colonial powers to fight against their own people. It is between Christianity and the indigenous belief systems. It is between those who believe Western education as the only weapon to achieve justice and those who take up arms against the oppressor. It is between those who have hope in the future and those who have lost all hope.
Njoroge is swept up in forces completely beyond his control. He witnesses the collapse of village ties and the disintegration of his family. His father is tortured to death; one brother is incarcerated; and the remaining brothers have been killed. His hopes of an education are dashed, and his one love rejects him. He changes from being a child full of hope and promise to young adult full of despair. The outcome is bleak.
Told in simple, almost rhythmic language,
Weep Not, Child is a complex, multi-layered exploration of the deleterious impact of colonialism on every aspect of the lives of the indigenous population. It also shows how the colonizer becomes increasingly brutalized in a desperate attempt to hold on to what he deems is rightly his. For a short, quick read, the novel packs a powerful punch.
Recommended.
My book reviews are also available at
www.tamaraaghajaffar.com -
Se trata de una novela cuya historia se enmarca en la época colonial de Kenia, concretamente en el período en que se empezaron a dar levantamientos contra "los blancos" y "el Gobierno".
Las ideas que destacaría de la novela son la falta inicial de una conciencia colectiva de pertenencia del territorio hacia la comunidad negra como colectividad y la no identificación del origen de "los blancos" como resultado de un proceso político colonozador por parte de amplias capas de la sociedad. Resulta interesante la tesis que el autor plasma del origen del movimiento Mau Mau: se da a entender la existencia de una connivencia siquiera parcial por parte del poder establecido y una voluntad de eliminar a las antiguas figuras de poder locales. Nadie sabe muy bien de dónde surge el movimiento, pero casi todos sienten la necesidad de formar parte de él.
También me ha impresionado cómo una vez más se identifica la idea misma de civilización y progreso con la asunción de caracteres propios del "nuevo orden vigente" tales como el inglés y la religión. Es de destacar igualmente la referencia que se hace en la parte final del libro a cómo en caso de peligro debemos atender más a nuestro propio criterio que a ideas que nos pueden venir en el momento y que el autor identifica en la cobardía del protagonista por no decidir marcharse del país.
No deja de ser curioso observar cómo esta nueva sociedad keniata a la espera de ser independiente del Reino Unido, ha vivido experiencias como la introducción de una nueva lengua que permanecerá hasta el día de hoy en el país, una nueva religión y un sentimiento un tanto colectivo como país/raza más que como tribus diversas. El autor también identifica en la colonización británica la interiorización de ideas tales como la voluntad de movimiento entre países como forma de progreso personal, si bien esto sólo queda plasmado en Nwihaki.
Se trata, en definitiva, de una historia que se sigue con facilidad, con cuyos personajes se empatiza fácilmente y en la que hasta cierto punto consigues adentrarte. La recomiendo como una primera toma de contacto con el autor.
NOTA: 9/10 -
“Weep Not Child,” Nugugi’s first novel published while he was attending school in England, presents as a very simple work given its brevity and its straightforward verbal style. Actually, there’s a lot here.
It’s set in the British colony of Kenya at the time the Mau Mau uprising is taking root, propelled arguably by the imprisonment of Jomo Kenyatta, the so-called “Black Moses” destined, as depicted in the novel, to deliver the blacks from oppression of the white interlopers who took their ancestral lands. Linkages between Kenyan blacks and the Israelites in Egypt abound, but the comparison never reaches a 1-to-1 analogy. I saw parallels in Nugugi’s depiction of the Mau Mau with the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) in South Viet Nam and that groups’ clashes not just with the U.S. but with South Vietnamese who worked with the U.S. The Mau Mau not only fought the whites, but also the blacks who worked with them and who, according to characters in the novel, were the ones who made it possible for the whites to take over in the first place. Protagonist Njoroge sees education, rather than guns, as the way to the future, but that’s easier said than done in the world in which he lives.
It would be easy for a work lie this to come off as pedantic and preachy. Nugugi’s style prevents that from happening. He offers up the basics in a way that makes it easy for the buildup to occur naturally in the minds of the readers. -
Wow. This novel.
Simply put, it is masterful storytelling.
Thiong'o manages something most novelists only strive toward - perfect pacing, character tone, poetic descriptions, complexity hidden in simplicity. His characters seem only sketched out characterizations, but they take deep living giving breaths when we first meet them and grow (or shrink) as frail, viable human beings. Thiong'o creates a three dimensional chess board, deftly moving his narrative between levels, complicating the apparent straight-forwardness of his storytelling.
Nothing is as it would be. Parents disappoint themselves trying to redeem their sons. Sons are brought low by political events. A simple act of defiance is overshadowed by a white guilt sadism that cannot be explained or excused. Meanwhile, every line of prose explodes some event toward a historical conclusion.
I could go on, about how this English Language novel is subverted by the interruption of italics. How Thiong'o subverts Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet trope, masterfully. Snidely claiming how all love depends on cowardice - meanwhile showing violence as a redemptive force (brought by and to bear on the white man).
Meanwhile, the Mau Mau competes with the Bible for the future soul of Black Kenya...
Truly, an amazing book.
