Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, funny insight into post-colonial Africa
Review: What makes this book worth reading -- aside from a captivating style and humorous content -- is precisely what separates it from other excellent books about similar subject matter (Godwin's Mukiwa, Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions): the fact that Fuller makes no attempt to analyze, excuse, or explain the racism and insanity of her family history. Rather than rationalizing her parents' racist attitudes, Fuller chooses instead to simply describe in her wry, matter-of-fact voice precisely how the end of the colonial era was experienced by people implicated in it. She does not try to gloss her childhood experiences with politically correct hindsight, and in so doing thrusts the reader into the desperation and the joy of rural African life in the last three decades. Bobo's mother is one of the most memorable and remarkable personalities I've encountered in African literature. The book is worth reading entirely for its hysterical concluding scenes. Fuller's characters are real and human, in all their extraordinary bizarreness!

Having spent many an hour, like Bobo Fuller, poking grass into ant-lion holes in the hot dusty veld, this moving story captivated me and painted a moving portrait of people fighting the cruelty of the African landscape. Myth and reality are intertwined in a witty and beautiful story. Everyone should read this book!

Rating:
Summary: A quixotic quest for happiness
Review: Alexandra Fuller, Don't let's go to the dogs tonight. An African Childhood.

Alexandra Fuller's book, Don't let's go to the dogs tonight, relates the story of the author's childhood in Africa through the eyes of the child she was. It's the kind of book I read more slowly towards the end, in an attempt to make the pleasure last. I also kept rereading certain passages and turning back to the small pictures adorning the book, almost with the impression that they represented old friends.
Although Fuller's childhood in Africa could be qualified as harsh and even deeply tragic, her tone is unsentimental and at the same time deeply moving. She describes events and
people with great candour and the result is often extremely funny. Certain scenes, like the visit of two American missionaries to her parents' remote farm, made me laugh out loud.
This book is much more than just another childhood biography. It touches on a lot of political subjects and documents the losing battle for white supremacy in Africa. In the end, the relentless struggle for survival of a family of white farmers, first in war-torn Rhodesia, later in Malawi and in Zambia takes on almost mythical proportions. It epithomises the struggle of man against
nature, of mind against madness in the beloved and dreaded continent one can feel, smell and taste on every page.

Rating:
Summary: Disconcerting and upsetting
Review: For some time I've heard many good things about DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT, Alexandra Fuller's memoir of growing up in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) circa 1970's in the midst of civil war and political instability. As a result I didn't hesitate to search for a copy for myself to enjoy. I was enthralled by Fuller's ability to make the wild African landscape come alive with its varied smells, touches and sights. There were many passages in which I felt transported to the Rhodesian rugged and often-inhabitable landscape. But I became increasingly saddened how Fuller's narrative revealed her family's poor treatment and racist attitudes towards Africans. The structure of this memoir enabled Fuller to include retrospective thoughts about her childhood and how her family, especially her mother, continued to possess racist attitudes towards Africans. Her failure to address these concerns bothered me immensely. The history of Rhodesia is rifted with decades of minority white rule and violence towards Africans who stood up for their rights. Only recently have Africans been granted land rights as they are entitled and whites have been asked to leave. It is indeed sad that Fuller never made friends with native Rhodesians (except her family's servants, of course) and that her vision of Africa includes only non-human qualities. What a world she missed out on. I really wanted to like this memoir but the racism and bigotry left me with a sour taste in my mouth. 2.5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Wish I could give TEN stars!
Review: God, I loved this book! Smart, funny, sad... I love her writing style. She makes you feel, smell, taste and touch Africa. I wish I could write like this. I'm recommending it to everyone I know, and hope that Fuller's latest, "Scribbling the Cat," is as good. Even if it's only half as good, it'll be worthwhile!

Rating:
Summary: This is a real eye's Africa
Review: This is an interestingly rich book about small, real lives in big Africa. Fuller captures the continent from the eyes of a white, definitely not rich, farm family around the time of the collapse of colonialism and the rise of strange despotism. There are no apologies for racism, for warmth, for mistakes, for family, for violence, for nature, for politics, for life. She takes you to hot, humid, dusty, rainy, cold Africa, makes you live there, makes you feel hot, humid, dusty, rainy, cold. I lived there; I recognized the feelings she was presenting as soon as I understood her quirky, understatedly complex style.

The picture on the jacket (ruined by Amazon's marketing in the picture of the book on this website) is the best photo I've ever seen on a book. Before I read, I thought it was just a quirky, stylish picture. After I read a few chapters, I could see it lists the style and story exactly. A black-and-white of a scrubby, dirty stone wall, stained, rutted road, littered with unkempt grass and detritus. You can smell the sheep, the lions, the pee, the dampness. A little girl, dressed in a scruffy playsuit, hair discombobulated by play and let drift by a mother with love but other things to accomplish, grins noisily just inside the photograph. The photographer caught perfectly the solipsism, trust, joy and candor of her. She exists as if someone pasted her picture on the picture of the background, but clues inform you the image fits seamlessly. Then you notice that the wall is where she lives, and that her comfort is because she knows where she is.

Ms. Fuller's child lives in Africa. She only has adventures that involve living, not a grand romance. It's just that her family's living is in Africa, not Montana or London. Africa shapes just living into small heroism. It's a small great book.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Written, Extraordinary Memoir
Review: I've been fascinated by Africa, particularly since reading Kingsolver's 'The Poisonwood Bible' several years ago, so when I saw this book and its engaging cover, I grabbed it! I just LOVED Fuller's memoir and, like so many others, just hated to see it end (but unlike others, I read it slowly, with extra maps in hand, savoring every page). It's easy to pick up any part of it and get involved all over again...

I was so impressed by the quality of Fuller's writing, as I'm always looking for well-written fiction (and no, this isn't fiction, but it reads like an absorbing novel). There isn't a false note in this well-crafted debut--it's so crisply honed (not an extra word anywhere!, and she knows just when to end an episode), with wonderful dialogue and vignettes, and an equally wonderful, fresh use of the English language; Fuller often uses her own original compound words, for example, to narrate her story of growing up in three African countries, with a chaotic and ever-interesting family, with Africa itself always there, always one of the characters, too.

I thought the story succeeded so well because Fuller doesn't 'whitewash' her parents or family at all. Nor does she judge them. While I winced at yet another drink in her mother's hand sometimes, or the fact that no one ever processed anything with young Alexandra (Bobo) after her baby sister's death, it's obvious that this is a family that has a great affection for each other, though Fuller keeps this tightly understated. I was caught up in the relationships between family members, their use of nicknames (used affectionately), the complexity of Fuller's mother--what an incredible character!--and the way Bobo seemed, to me, to be the son her father never had. And yes, these are 'racist' parents who you may not always agree with, but you love them just the same, despite their lapses (or maybe because of them).

I did wonder about all the alcohol and hard-drinking, which is often amusing, but sad, too, and wondered if it was central to surviving in Africa, as not only is alcohol and alcoholism a factor in Fuller's own family, but the other 'expats' seem to all get drunk, too, and so do the black Africans. Is it a way of coping with a place, a continent that seems to be, by its very nature, excessive and unpredictable?

I also wondered, because Fuller is yes, so amazingly candid and detailed in her portraits of the family and their life, how her parents and sister let her publish such unvarnished depictions (let's hope they're all still speaking to each other! But hats off to them all, for letting Alexandra tell it the way she saw it...).

Like other reviewers, I also loved learning more about this part of the world, and you do learn about the backdrop of Rhodesia's civil war (and true, you wonder why the Fullers stay--I thought there were answers in the book, though), and about the landscape and 'personality' of Africa, which are so vividly and urgently present. I also appreciated the many layers that are there to be had in this memoir--yes, it's a story of one person coming to terms with her identity, her growing up years and her family, but it also raises questions about Africa's future and the place of whites in it, to name just one thing I thought about while reading this memoir.

I liked the extra pieces at the end of the book ('My Africa' and suggested further reading, both of which the author adds in the paperback edition), and the many pictures from the Fuller family photos drew me in even more into Fuller's story.

The one thing that bothered me somewhat in the book is that I so wished Fuller had put a few more dates in; I didn't mind that she jumped around, but just wanted to know how old she was at various times, wanted to get a more accurate sense of her chronology and the family's moves (I did reread the sections in order later, but still, a few more dates would have helped, I think).

Hopefully, this will be a writer we'll be hearing more from. She's too good to have only this one book in her! And I'm ending this review thinking I haven't done justice to the book--it really is one of the best books I've read in ages, and I hardly ever read non-fiction anymore! If nothing else, read it for the fine, tightly beautiful writing, or for the fact that it's difficult to find a memoir that's so unsentimentally, honestly and freshly drawn.

Rating:
Summary: Not your typical family
Review: Alexandra Fuller delivers an intense recollection of her childhood in Rhodesia during the 1971-79 civil war. Her parents, originally from England, manage to thrive working on ranches and farms while rearing their children to be hearty, self-sufficient and weapon savvy. This is not a life style a typical family could handle, but their ability to find humor, love and appreciation for the land they live on is evident in their commitment to stay no matter what the cost.

The author has an amazing ability to reconstruct the sights, smells and people of the many towns and villages in which they lived. With great humor she reviews "ranches or farms" her father and mother chose to buy or rent. Beautiful compounds, complete with swimming pools, tended gardens, barns, corrals and servant quarters fallen into unimaginable states of disrepair serve as home for the family. It is difficult work to rehabilitate these places, and the endurance of the family is remarkable.

Danger and risk appear to be the spice for this family. Choosing to remain firmly planted as the war accelerates is an astonishing decision, especially in light of the quirky parental personalities standing at the helm. Ms. Fuller remembers her life with humor, sensitivity and a palpable love for her African childhood.

Rating:
Summary: Read it while flying from ATL to ONT
Review: I bought this book at the airport in Atlanta GA for a non-stop flight to ONT CA. I wasn't sure if the book was going dwell upon the oppressions of the Evil White Man in Africa; or the political, social and economic disaster of post-colonial Africa that continues to today. It was about both, yet neither. It is a rare book about pre- and post-colonial Africa as seen through the eyes of a child growing up in what was once Rhodesia; a book that refreshingly tries not to preach to the reader. I simply could not stop reading it, finishing it moments before landing in Calfornia. The author paints a startlingly vivid picture of Africa: the sights, the sounds, the smells. The good times and the bad, the sane and insane; the corruption and oppression of new regines that followed the corruption and oppression of the old regimes. It is the story of a family, dealing with extreme hardship, the joy of life, and the pain of death. Want to justify colonialism in Africa? Read this book. Want to justfy the demise of colonialism in Africa? Read this book. Want to read about the joy and horror of growing up in Africa? Well.... you know what do to.

Rating:
Summary: Alexandra Fuller's Childhood
Review: I enjoyed Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller. The author, Fuller, tells of her experience living in segregated Africa. Her family was not the best; her father and mother were both drunk a majority of her childhood. At one point her mother has a nervous breakdown and also suffers from depression because only two of her five children survive due to various causes. Alexandra writes about how Native Americans were treated and also about the Rhodesian civil war. She speaks a little about her life during college in Canada, her sister's life, and when she met and married Charlie.

This is a great book, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about a person's life growing up in a different country and/or continent. The book does jump from one subject to another, which makes it more interesting, and not like a regular biography. Even if people do not like non-fiction books, this book seems like a fiction book because of the events that are not realistic.

Rating:
Summary: Not racism but realism
Review: This book takes me back to the 12 years I spent in Southern Africa. Africa is where it all started and there is something in the blood that draws me back there.

The descriptions are evocative and beautiful, and convey something of the problems people encountered when trying to survive in Africa. Despite all the corruption and problems I can't help loving the people there, of all races. I can't say the same about politically correct critics that have never even been there. For your information there was, for all its faults, more freedom and justice in 1970's Rhodesia than in many black African countries and a hell of a lot more than there is in Zimbabwe now. Not to mention enough food to feed everybody!