Love a colorful library stack 😍
Love a colorful library stack 😍
Beautiful hearbreaking novel set in Senegal in the 1800's. Story about how even the love of white men kill the black africans. The book had a narrative structure that I found awkward. 3.5 🌟 He is an author I will read again.
An aspiring writer comes across an unusual book that captivates him, sending this crackling book into motion as we learn more about the book and it‘s author. It moves from character to character and place to place as the story of the book and author come together. I really liked this one; it moved along faster than I expected.
NBA longlist, translated fiction
After her father has died, Aglae finds hidden notebooks in which he tells her about his travel to Senegal as a young man and the events that transpired there. An interesting read, especially since it takes place in the 1700s, but ultimately I don‘t think it‘ll stick. Low pick for me.
NBA shortlist, translated literature
A very engaging non-fiction about the colonisation by the French of what is now #Senegal, #Guinea and #Mali, and its ramifications in modern-day France and Senegal, centered around the mythical sabre of El Hadj Oumar Tall, looted along with his treasure and library in 1890, at the sack of Ségou by the French colonial army.
The sabre (picture from https://chroniques.sn) was “lent back“ by France to the musée des civilisations noires in Dakar
I don't usually read the Goncourt nominées, but that was a présent 2 years ago. Giving it a shot and i have an easier book waiting after that.
This book confused me. I think it was supposed to be funny, but instead I found it mean-spirited and tone-deaf. I wanted more of 2015 Rae reflecting on her younger self with some growth, but there is none of that.
Second book for World Literature this semester finished! Senegalese teacher Ramatoulaye writes a long reflection on her struggles when her husband takes a second wife to her lifelong friend Aissatou, who decided to divorce her husband under similar circumstances. One of the first feminist African novels, this book weaves larger arguments about colonialism, independence, and women's rights into intensely personal dramas.
#JumpStart2023