A Grain of Wheat

Rating:
Summary: Uhuru at last?
Review: A brand new perspective upon the emancipation of so-called Third World Country! On the verge of Kenya independence, both colonizers and colonied were bewildered and confused. White colonial agents lost faith on their lifelong commitment, and Kenyans were cast into a precarious future which they had been longed for and at the same time, worried about. National passion became a nostalgia censorship, and those who did not contribute to this "exploit" or those who chose to save his own skin or family and betray his to the movement bore a brand "Cain" on their forehead forever. A vivid description of the struggle between nation and individual.

Rating:
Summary: An even-handed, complex, masterful study of a revolution
Review: A Grain of Wheat is a remarkable book, which manages to intertwine personal tragedies and joys with national ideologies and events quite effortlessly. The novel is partly the story of a nation - of Kenya's (ultlimately successful) struggle to rid itself of British domination - but mainly the book deals with the toll that this long fight has taken on individuals; the impact, both for good and evil, that it has made on individual lives.

Another reviewer mentioned that the book's fluid chronology - which keeps flashing back and forth between present and past - made the book difficult to follow. For me, this style of writing only enhanced the book's strengths - throughout the course of the story you are allowed to see the same events through many different sets of eyes (and it is amazing how different the same thing can look to a British Army officer and a Kenyan freedom fighter.)

To sum up - A Grain of Wheat works very well, both as an exploration of Kenya's painful history, and as a realistic look at the toll that any war will take on the people who fight in, and live through, it. Definitely reccomended!

Rating:
Summary: Compelling story w profound moral msg for all activists
Review: I loved this book. The story itself is compelling, detailing both African and European characters' perspectives on Kenyans' struggle for independence from Britain. Just for the story alone, the book is an intriguing page-turner that completely satisfies. But beyond that, it has a powerful and inspirational moral message that I have taken with me and hope never to forget.

Each of the major characters commits an act of betrayal to attain a greater goal, whether it's the British officer who wants to create a happy, harmonious colony and finds himself torturing and murdering in pursuit of this vision, or whether it's the Kenyan rebel who betrays his comrade to save his own life, feeling that he must survive to perform important tasks for his people.

Each one chooses less-than-perfect means to an imagined end. But what we and they learn, is that the "end" never comes, and we are left living day-to-day in the rubble of our "means." The betrayals that crisscross the novel scar all the characters with heavy losses, representative of the losses and betrayals that scarred Kenya as it stood on the threshhold of independence, divided between those who had collaborated with British occupation and those who had rebelled. And yet the final note is one of hope, that somehow reconciliation and transcendence of past injuries can be attempted.

I took to heart two messages: that those of us who struggle for justice in today's world must never betray our own principles in pursuit of some supposed higher good--because we too will be left only with our betrayals and no higher good in sight. And, that even after betrayals and years of conflict, there is still a spark of hope for renewal.

Rating:
Summary: Close, but not quite
Review: James Ngugi, A Grain of Wheat (Heinemann, 1967)

Another entry (the thirty-seventh, to be precise) in Heinemann's always above average African Writers Series. Ngugi gives us the story of Kenya on the verge of independence (the action takes place in the days before, and the day after, Uhuru). While the book's main focus purports to be on one of his principal town's inhabitants, Gikonyo, it soon becomes evident that the story is about the town itself. And this is where Ngugi falls short.

The structure itself could have been, handled deftly, exceptionally clever. Make Gikonyo synecdochic of the town, which is synecdochic of the region in which the town lies, which is synecdochic of all of Kenya. Unfortunately, the complexities waylay the book quickly, and while Gikonyo and his travails are never completely displaced, too much else is going on for him to be the book's main focus. Ngugi tries to compensate by having other main characters whose struggles mirror other parts of the Kenyan experience, but the whole thing gets confusing time and again.

This is not to say the book is bad; the stories therein are engaging, and Ngugi's style is a page-turner. There's just a lack of continuity that can be disconcerting at times, and lengthy sections of flashback tend to leave the reader unaware of exactly what time frame he's supposed to be thinking about some of the time. It could have used a good editor, and perhaps a little rearranging to make things clearer.

Hard to give a succinct recommendation to this one. As should be obvious from the above, it's not an easy read, and it's laden with symbolism, so if you're looking for something light, this isn't the place to stop. Still, getting through it is something of a rewarding experience, and when the symbolism is firing, it's wonderful; each of the major characters is there for a reason, and after a few days of digestion, as the main thrusts of the book sort

themselves out, it becomes clear what a powerful work this book almost is. If you're the kind of person who can listen to a badly-recorded bootleg tape and not mind the recording quality because you get so caught up in the music itself, you'll probably be able to appreciate this. ** 1/2

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece - captivating
Review: Ngugi expresses himself in prose. His style is simple but conveys deep meaning and the crude reality of the people. It has a language of power, violence and patriarchy. There is the intrusion of the African language. He creates suspense throughout the novel which captivates the reader's attention. The style of writing is open-ended, which leaves the reader to speculate and draw his own conclusions. A Grain of Wheat becomes a work of art as Ngugi portrays realistic themes (violence, betrayal, etc), and he show the feelings of the people. He describes the Mau Mau movement and mentions people like Jomo Kenyatta. He makes use of symbolism. The `grain of wheat' is the seed of rebellion which is represented by the Mau Mau. This eventually leads to the freedom from colonial rule. Ngugi shows how colonialism had different impacts on different people. It is a complex and traumatic experience for each individual. We also have all-rounded characters. The book has a fluid chronology, far from being linear in structure. The style of writing only enhances the real events. There is also a lack of continuity, and the lengthy sections of flashbacks tend to leave the reader unaware of exactly what timeframe he/she is supposed to be thinking. All the major characters are there for a reason. The songs/dances indicate that Ngugi is trying to bring his African culture in the novel. The novel shows the African reality. The reader discovers/is informed about the atrocities of concentration camps - violence against the African people and eventually rebellion for freedom from the Whiteman's control. The reader is also informed about the colonising power. Characters are unfolded through various events, and the events illustrate the characters; the plot and the characters are inter-dependant. The plot achieves tragic effects, and satire mingled with comedy. It is a narrative plot with monologues and dialogues. There is the element of suspense (Mugo at the beginning). The plot is artistic as a whole. It is up to the reader to connect the scenes together since the author often uses flashbacks to narrate various episodes. The story has a circular pattern (it starts with, and returns to, Mugo) and it is only by connecting the bits and pieces that we have the whole story. The narrator probes deep into theses characters (through monologues which reveal the innermost feelings of the characters). He uses the characters to lash out his own feelings about the issues. The use of humour to accentuate the seriousness of the situation (e.g. Karanja's dream with the Queen, lashing out bitterness about her).

Rating:
Summary: Exodus from Africa
Review: Ngugi wa Thiong'o, born into Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Gikuyu, in 1938, was educated at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and the University of Leeds. His "Weep Not, Child," published in 1964, was the first novel in English to be published by an East African author. "A Grain of Wheat," Ngugi's postcolonial novel of political, social, sexual, and religious struggle, death, and rebirth, was published in 1967, when he had begun working, first, as a reporter and, then, as a university professor. In December 1977, shortly before the death of Kenya's first president Jomo Kenyatta, vice president Daniel arap Moi, who would later rule Kenya with an iron hand, had Ngugi detained for a year as a political prisoner for what Moi regarded as the unsettling political message of Ngugi's popular play "I Will Marry When I Want". With the play, Ngugi turned his attention from Kenya's emergence from British occupation to the political corruption of independent Kenya. After his release from prison, Ngugi was unable to resume his university post. He left Kenya in 1982 and now publishes exclusively in his native Gikuyu, because he views the structure of the English language as containing a European, and hence foreign, vision of Africa. Ngugi is regarded as one of the leading African authors of the last half-century.

"A Grain of Wheat" is not realism in the Western style. It does not set out to tell one story from one character's point of view. It does not rely on finely drawn character development, interior monologue, dilemmas established early and worked out late, and the sort of rational choices which characters exercising free will make in Western fiction. Rather, it is fiction in a Marxist-Homeric style with Biblical overtones, told from many points of view, and crossed, perhaps, with an African oral tradition. In "A Grain of Wheat" birth is destiny, struggle is inevitable, the Lord disposes, and until the very end of the novel destiny is therefore imposed on each of the imperfect village characters, rolling over them, grinding them into an "earth smoked grey like freshly dropped cow-dung", reminding them of dogs tearing the limbs off a rabbit and running "with blood-covered pieces" in different directions. (215, 229)

Kenya, Kenya's history since the late 19th century, and Kenya's emancipation from the Brits during the 1950s is the story of "A Grain of Wheat," and that story is told through the complex interactions of Kihika, a resistance leader; his beautiful, universally desired sister Mumbi; their friend Mugo, who wrestles with his conscience even as he is revered as a hero of the resistance; Kajanga, a quisling who becomes chief of their village and lusts after Mumbi; and Gikonyo, the husband of Mumbi, who, after seven years as a political prisoner, rejects his wife when her single flaw is exposed. Primal emotions fluctuate and move them. The changes of point of view are abrupt. The effect, kaleidoscopically, is to create a picture of an entire society in turmoil.

It may be difficult for Westerners to bond with the central characters. Their actions may sometimes seem strange. There is no program to identify them and no roadmap for the gradually developing plot. But it is a wonderful tapestry Ngugi creates, the politics are provocative, and the unvarnished images of Africa roll off Ngugi's pen like the waves of a wine-dark sea. This book is well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Exodus from Africa
Review: Ngugi wa Thiong'o, born into Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Gikuyu, in 1938, was educated at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and the University of Leeds. His "Weep Not, Child," published in 1964, was the first novel in English to be published by an East African author. "A Grain of Wheat," Ngugi's postcolonial novel of political, social, sexual, and religious struggle, death, and rebirth, was published in 1967, when he had begun working, first, as a reporter and, then, as a university professor. In December 1977, shortly before the death of Kenya's first president Jomo Kenyatta, vice president Daniel arap Moi, who would later rule Kenya with an iron hand, had Ngugi detained for a year as a political prisoner for what Moi regarded as the unsettling political message of Ngugi's popular play "I Will Marry When I Want". With the play, Ngugi turned his attention from Kenya's emergence from British occupation to the political corruption of independent Kenya. After his release from prison, Ngugi was unable to resume his university post. He left Kenya in 1982 and now publishes exclusively in his native Gikuyu, because he views the structure of the English language as containing a European, and hence foreign, vision of Africa. Ngugi is regarded as one of the leading African authors of the last half-century.

"A Grain of Wheat" is not realism in the Western style. It does not set out to tell one story from one character's point of view. It does not rely on finely drawn character development, interior monologue, dilemmas established early and worked out late, and the sort of rational choices which characters exercising free will make in Western fiction. Rather, it is fiction in a Marxist-Homeric style with Biblical overtones, told from many points of view, and crossed, perhaps, with an African oral tradition. In "A Grain of Wheat" birth is destiny, struggle is inevitable, the Lord disposes, and until the very end of the novel destiny is therefore imposed on each of the imperfect village characters, rolling over them, grinding them into an "earth smoked grey like freshly dropped cow-dung", reminding them of dogs tearing the limbs off a rabbit and running "with blood-covered pieces" in different directions. (215, 229)

Kenya, Kenya's history since the late 19th century, and Kenya's emancipation from the Brits during the 1950s is the story of "A Grain of Wheat," and that story is told through the complex interactions of Kihika, a resistance leader; his beautiful, universally desired sister Mumbi; their friend Mugo, who wrestles with his conscience even as he is revered as a hero of the resistance; Kajanga, a quisling who becomes chief of their village and lusts after Mumbi; and Gikonyo, the husband of Mumbi, who, after seven years as a political prisoner, rejects his wife when her single flaw is exposed. Primal emotions fluctuate and move them. The changes of point of view are abrupt. The effect, kaleidoscopically, is to create a picture of an entire society in turmoil.

It may be difficult for Westerners to bond with the central characters. Their actions may sometimes seem strange. There is no program to identify them and no roadmap for the gradually developing plot. But it is a wonderful tapestry Ngugi creates, the politics are provocative, and the unvarnished images of Africa roll off Ngugi's pen like the waves of a wine-dark sea. This book is well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: An even-handed, complex, masterful study of a revolution
Review: Ngugi Wa Thiongo who is one of the best African writers describes the situation in his native Kenya at the threshold of independence.The story is told through the lives of 5 main characters who came of age then Kahiki the revolutionary,Gikonyo and Mumbi who provide a compelling love story in the midst of the chaos.There is also Karanja and Mugo.The story is told from an African perspective,it also deals with the Emergency period during the Mau Mau revolution of Jomo Kenyetta.It describes also the issues faced by the British as they withdraw from Kenya.This novel takes numerous twists and turns but gives a clear picture of the situation then.I wholeheartedly reccomend it.

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Read
Review: This book was very interesting.Despite Ngugui's flashback format A Grain Of Wheat is certainly an attention keeper. Kenya at the brink of Uhuru (freedom) from the British, as experienced through the eyes of some interesting and greatly entertaining characters. Amazingly in the midst of this historical event the story is filled with love and betrayal.