<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful book, truly moving and enthralling!
Review: I started reading this book at 9:00 am this morning and finished it 12 hours later, no one could pull me away from this gem! What a wonderfully written book... if one doesn't know much about Africa and the political, cultural, religious conflicts that are so much a part of my continent, then this book is for you. Make no mistake, though, this is no boring, uncaptivating book, it is extremely entertaining, yet also very informative. At times I found myself laughing out loud and re-reading passages over and over again, at other times, I felt a cold shiver creep down my spine, reminding me of the Ugandans I met when I was growing up in Africa and recounting the horrirific stories they told me. If you are to buy just one book in 2002, let it be this one. Be warned, though, when you pick it up to read, make sure it is on a day when you have nothing else scheduled to do. You will NOT be able to put it down. Moses Isegawa is a marvelous writer, I cannot wait to see what he will come up with next. This is the kind of book that deserves the Booker Prize....but then again, that's all political...isn't it?
Rating:
Summary: The African Voice We All Were Waiting To Hear
Review: Moses Isegawa knows how to catch a reader with a powerful first paragraph; While dissapearing into the jaws of a crocodile, a man remembers three things, and with the capricious nature of memory, those three things are very different from each other. Why the image of the rotting corpse of an ox (maggots and all, showing the reader, from page one, what a dexterous novelist Moses Isegawa is) would have a place next to the face of one beloved? The protagonists' memories are the answer. This is a novel narrated by remembrance, punctuated by glimpses so sensual (the ambience of the coffee plantation of Grandfather when it goes to seed, for example) that the vividness of this novel is in close league to the stories of Gabriel García Márquez, of Salman Rushdie and of Juan Rulfo. It belongs with them too, in the sense of how the magical is interwoven with the historical; we knew of the history of Colombia, of India, of México, and in this case of Uganda, trough the fantastic realities created in these novels, where the historical was more unbelievable than the magical. The lushness, the cruelty, the outrageous, all combine seamlessly in a language so terse and beautiful that the reader will be dazzled.
Rating: 
Summary: great "Life inside of ..." details but cynically colored
Review: Perhaps the definitive African novel of our generation ... a story that traces the lives and tragedies of a Ugandan family from the sixties through present time. While the first half of the novel reads somewhat like a Dickensian novel, chronicling the oftentimes abusive youth and adolescence of the book's central protagonist, the second half reads more like a history of this African nation, with vivid often horrifying descriptions of the chaos and senseless violence that took place during Idi Amin's regime and subsequent overthrow. For this reader, however, the book's most effective passages detail the devastating impact of AIDS in Uganda in the mid to late 1980's, especially as it affects the lives of the novel's central family.I hesitate to give this book a full five star rating only because I found the last chapter, which brings our "hero" to Amsterdam, lacking in the dramatic urgency of all that's come before, culminating in what was for me a rather weak and disappointing ending. Otherwise, I would rank this as among the best books I've read in the past several years. Kudos also to the book's translator. Originally written in Dutch, this translation reads as smoothly and effortlessly as if English was it's original language.
Rating:
Summary: Is Moses Isegawa a Ugandan Bellow?
Review: There are some authors whose books I feel compelled to read: Saul Bellow, Garcia-Marquez, Isabelle Allende are examples- the writing is so immediate and beautiful. To this group I am adding Moses Isegawa. His story is fascinating- I take it that this is autobiographical. He understands life in terms of power struggles- first his Edenic existence with his grandparents, particularly his midwife grandma, whom he assisted; then his life with troubled and tyrannical parents, school bullies, an oppressive stint at Catholic boarding school, later adventures in business, avoiding trouble during the Amin years, subsequent emigration to Europe. At every turn there is someone trying to thwart him and whom he outsmarts with stealth and patience. There are a host of eccentric characters and natural disasters to be coped with. The customs of Uganda are so different from what we Americans are used to, yet the author conveys how the people are so like us in feelings and motivation. He might be called cynical, but it's just reality that he describes - and he is likeable. The writing is superb. The idiom seems American- do they really talk like us over there? How does he do that? I enjoyed this book as much as Bellows' whose midwestern Jewish background I share.
Rating:
Summary: One of my top 10 all time favorites
Review: This book is a must read before travel to Uganda. It contains wonderful character development and provides a learning experience about life in Uganda and its history. Written from a Ugandan perspective. I read this book and the Brandt travel guide on Uganda before a 8/04 trip to Uganda and was enthralled with both. Much better than "Gravity of Sunlight". Read Abyssinian and be prepared for hours of fascinating people, culture and history.
Rating: 
Summary: In Praise of Vice
Review: Written by Moses Isegawa, "Abyssinian Chronicles" is the story of Mugezi, a village boy from rural Uganda and his life in revolutionary Uganda. We follow Mugezi from his earliest days in his home village through his move to the capital city of Kampala to his journey to the Netherlands. There are few books that I have read that are as awful as this one. From both a story and technical perspective this book comes up way short. First, the main character, Mugezi, is less than an appealing character. He is a liar, cheat, thief, abuser of women, and corrupt user of Uganda's people. Early on he admires the vicious dictator Idi Amin and only seems to stop admiring him because he loses power, not because Amin is a detestable man. After all of his wayward behavior Mugezi never comes to accept the wickedness of his actions. He never even thinks about the things he has done in any critical way. To him, committing these evil acts is like water off a duck's back. Also, from a technical standpoint, Isegawa has erred immensely. "Abyssinian Chronicles" is written in the first-person perspective of Mugezi. However, there are many times in the story when Mugezi describes the inner minds of various characters without there being any discernable way for him to know what those people are thinking. In one particularly egregious instance, he describes what his father, Serenity, is thinking right before he dies. There is no possible way that Mugezi could know what is going through his father's mind at that particular moment. It is impossible. "Abyssinian Chronicles" is a book that offered so much but came up way short.
Rating:
Summary: In Praise of Vice
Review: Written by Moses Isegawa, "Abyssinian Chronicles" is the story of Mugezi, a village boy from rural Uganda and his life in revolutionary Uganda. We follow Mugezi from his earliest days in his home village through his move to the capital city of Kampala to his journey to the Netherlands. There are few books that I have read that are as awful as this one. From both a story and technical perspective this book comes up way short. First, the main character, Mugezi, is less than an appealing character. He is a liar, cheat, thief, abuser of women, and corrupt user of Uganda's people. Early on he admires the vicious dictator Idi Amin and only seems to stop admiring him because he loses power, not because Amin is a detestable man. After all of his wayward behavior Mugezi never comes to accept the wickedness of his actions. He never even thinks about the things he has done in any critical way. To him, committing these evil acts is like water off a duck's back. Also, from a technical standpoint, Isegawa has erred immensely. "Abyssinian Chronicles" is written in the first-person perspective of Mugezi. However, there are many times in the story when Mugezi describes the inner minds of various characters without there being any discernable way for him to know what those people are thinking. In one particularly egregious instance, he describes what his father, Serenity, is thinking right before he dies. There is no possible way that Mugezi could know what is going through his father's mind at that particular moment. It is impossible. "Abyssinian Chronicles" is a book that offered so much but came up way short.
<< 1 >>
|
