Africa Books

I started this book at the beginning of a long drive home from New Jersey after Thanksgiving. Seven hours later, I was amazed to see that we had arrived home. The time flew by as McCord drew me more and more deeply into Katie's life. I highly recommend this wonderful book!

The Calling of Katie Mankaya has a profoundly personal history for me. Ms. McCord, during the past twenty of the 40 years of her work's history, had read selections of her work in progress to a group of writer friends, of which both my parents were part. My mother would bring me to these "writer's meetings" where I would sit, silent, rapt, listening to voices and words and worlds fantastic and strange and tragic and joyous. Ms McCord's work is the most vivd of my memories; her words would spill across the evening's fabric, her syntax gripping, her accent hypnotising, her diction flawless. I've been waiting for this book for a long time. Much has come to pass since. South Africa is free. The writers have grown distant. My mother is gone. And, at last, the Calling of Katie Mankaya has found it's voice, it's manifestation, gathering awards and praise with effortless ease. The Calling of Katie Mankaya has fallen into place like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle, a nexus of parts, completing the matrix that enmeshed it, or perhaps gathering that in which it radiated. Ms McCord's published work is a fifth of her orginial manuscript. Perhaps some of Ms McCord's selections of Katie's life's fragments are too personal, too esoteric for an epic, historical novel, but then again, perhaps it is this intimacy of Katie's life that makes Katie herself all the more real. It is a human story, rather than a sweeping Michenerian saga. It is towards the end of the book where Ms McCord refuses to hold back, and well, frankly, emotionally milks the moment for all it's worth. And it is this ending, as an elderly Katie looks back on her life, her loves, her losses, her regrets and triumphs, her tragedies and joys, it is here when the reader is offered a sort of mirror, in which they are allowed to view their own lives, of what was, of what is, and what could be; life in perspective, with Katie's story a frame of reference, an offering all the poignant knowing Katie's story to be true. The Calling of Katie Mankaya is an important work, especially now with a new South Africa arising from the ashes of division and hatred. But it is also an important work with regards to the timeless pathos of the human spirit, of the dying art of a mother's love, and the rarified grace of human dignity. It is an homage towards nobility on a level of everyday existence; ordinary life made anything but ordinary - rather, extraordinary. It is also an important book for that 10 year old boy who was captivated by the words that unfurled across those forgotten rooms, spilled across endless unpublished pages, who has seen the foundation on which many a personal dream were build on at last find it's place in this unyielding world we ponder through, like a book. Sorry you missed it, Mom. You would have loved it.

I thought this novel would be a bit boring, but it turned out to be a fascinating read and a wonderful glimpse into a woman's life in a time and place most Americans would never think about. I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

The fine illustrations show marketplace details showing a lifestyle very different from ours. The story is entertaining to children because of the mischevious goat. I bought it for my grandchildren because I want them to understand that there are many styles of living.

I decided to buy this book for my grandchildren after first seeing it in the public library. The story is very understandable. The illustrations show very well the marketplace, the activities there, and a different style of living. I highly recomend it.

Children of today are growing up in a world more unified than ever before! Help your little ones understand life the world over with this lively glimpse into a Nigerian marketplace. It's colorful and fun, full of cultural references, unusual language, and wonderful terms of respect (for example, Ayoka talks to 'Oni Breadi' aka: man older than me who sells bread!). This book made my four year old want to visit Nigeria!
We also recommend Elephants Aloft by Kathi Appelt

You can feel the love of chams in every word and in every picture.
It's a fun book, entertaining, informative, inspirational.
Thank you, Mary Lovein, for bringing such a delightful book into
the world.

Fantastic depth and color on each page of the this fine "coffee table" book. Mary Lovein has a way of capturing unreal colors in nature. The pages are thick and glossy. Most pictures are set in a deep black background, that brings out rich color.
You don't have to love chameleons to love this book.

I also own CHAMELEONS IN THE GARDEN, and I have been priviledged to visit Mary's garden many times!! Mary's sanctuary, perched on the side of Hualalai volcano, is a special and totally natural haven for the residing chameleons. Jacksons Chameleons came to Hawaii totally legally, and have survived in this special environment, which is fortunate -- because they're in danger of extinction in their native Kenya. Hawaii is the last bastion of hope for this species, and Mary's Garden, an especially special enclave for these wonderful creatures. No one should miss the opportunity to observe these magical creatures, and Mary's book is the next best thing to being there.

This book took me by surprise, drew me in and made me feel like I was IN the authors life, watching her grow up. I could hardly put it down. Growing up in Harlem in the 1940s and 50s, full of the stubborn pride and determination that carried her up and out. Beautifully written.

Chewed Water is a book that stayed with me long after I read it. It's the story of,Virgina, a foster child growing up in Harlem in the 1950's. Though the book is labeled a memoir it has a novelistic quality that sets it apart from other memoirs that I have read. Rahman's language is rich and lyrical and she beautifully evokes a place and time that we do not hear much about, especially from the perspective of a young African-American girl. I found myself immersed in Rahman's world where colorful characters, musical rhythms and the politics of the day, make-up the vivid background of a heart-wrenching coming of age story. But the book rises above the tell-all tale of painful youth and through Virigina's eyes we enter a world that is sometimes cruel, often humorous and always fascinating. Rahman wickedly comments on the world around her as she shares her story of growing up, longing for the mother that she doesn't have and surviving the one that she does have. I laughed out loud reading this book and it also brought tears to my eyes. I highly recommend it.

Chewed Water is just that and more. It is smooth, it is rough it will make you swallow and leave you thirsting. It will quench that voice of recognition way down deep. It will reverberate -- vibrate as water does - long after the read is through. Aishah Rahman lifts her prophetic voice to tell the haltingly human story depicting the mythical angst of a young girl, growing up in Harlem in the forties and fifties. It is a breathtaking tale of her long and winding journey to herself.

Chewed Water is a telling social commentary told without compromising the artist's aesthetics which are indisputably unshakeable. Aishah Rahman's joy/sorrow-stricken prose liltingly lifts us out of the depths of our unknowing, porting us into the world of the protagonists -- mixing our hues with the blue, black and brown of her characters. This memoir, masterfully woven, is apopros given the turbulent time in our world. The birth of a son to a young, unwed mother echoes the historical forces sweeping the nation. Cycles of violence, dispossession, disinheritance are relived in three generations of lives, in the neighborhoods of Harlem, and in African descended homes from Barbados to North Carolina. We can learn, re-learn, un-learn deep lessons by reflecting on these forces. We must take the time to ruminate as Virginia come Aishah does, the source of her disrepair. And most important, lessons on how she came to embrace the bitter and the sweet in a loving reclamation of herself.

Chewed Water is an evocative Poetics of the Survival of the Human Spirit. The ultimate message: all is not lost. Where there is life, there is the will to live. This is the gift that grandmother passed to mother passed to daughter passed to son. Despite the unknowing, the unseen, the unheard. Despite the condition of a family, a multitude of families, scattered all across the landscape of the American dream - separated by economic constraints, lack of opportunity, the search for a better life - separated. Despite the demise of the Black family, the demise of the Black father who is not able or not present to care for his wife and children, the demise of the Black mother who knows that her child will have a better chance in an institution than in the bosom of her undoing. Despite these inimical forces, the message is one of survival. Where there is one individual, there is an army of Ancestors standing by - seen or unseen, spoken or unspoken -- they are there. They live. They live! We are never alone in this world and never forgotten especially by those who live through us. Thank you Aishah Rahman for writing your memoir, in so doing, you have unlocked a masterful, moving work of art.

A fantastic collection of African wildlife photographs.
Well worth having for the coffee table!

Anup and Manoj Shah have distinguished themselves in the populous field of wildlife photography by producing expressive and beautiful portraits of wild animals that document the individuals' lives while achieving impressive aesthetic grace. Many of the brothers' photographs are simply unforgettable works of art that I never tire of looking at. "The Circle of Life" is a massive book that contains 235 photographs of wildlife on the African Savannah. About 40 species of mammal are represented, as well as some birds and reptiles. In the most comprehensive photographic essay of wildlife that I have ever seen, the Shah brothers document the lives of the many animals who live and die in this vast African ecosystem that spans much of Kenya and Tanzania. The authors have organized this photographic odyssey by dividing the book into 20 chapters, each showcasing one aspect of life on the Savannah. The early chapters show us the basic elements that create and sustain life. Some example chapters are: "Driven by Wet and Dry", "Light and Energy", and "Shaped by Fire and Elephants". The book then moves on to the subjects of birth and growing up on the Savannah. "Natural Selection", "Adaptation and Diversity", "Peaceful Coexistence", and "Mother and Offspring", for example. Then we see the lives of adult animals. Some examples are: "Herds and Social Groups", "Grazers and Browsers", and "The Hunters". And finally these animals die, returning to the earth, and the "circle of life" begins again: "Scavengers and Decomposers", "Land and Life". Each chapter begins with an essay written by Anup Shah that explains what that particular facet of life on the Savannah entails and how it fits into the greater life cycle.

The photographs in "The Circle of Life" are mostly one-to-a-page, but there are also 2-page spreads and pages containing two photographs. The reproduction quality is good. All photographs have detailed captions. An index in the back of the book allows the reader to locate text and photographs by species or topic. The index is most helpful considering the size of this volume. If you're familiar with the work of Anup and Manoj Shah through "Nature's Best" magazine, most, but not all, of their "Nature's Best" photographs are included in this book. "The Circle of Life" is a record of wildlife on the African Savannah that is impressive in its size, scope, and beauty. Only photographers who spend an extraordinary amount of time in this environment could have captured so much of the lives of so many species. It's a pleasure to see the results of Anup and Manoj Shah's experience and persistence in one volume. "The Circle of Life" is a fantastic coffee table book for nature photography fans, as well as a great visual resource for anyone studying this ecosystem.

These are simply amazing wildlife photos, all from East Africa, where the Shah brothers live. This large-format book is beautifully printed, and these photos are about as good as wildlife photography gets. Lots of everyone's favorite (mine anyway), baby animal photos! Now, almost anyone (even me) can take a cute photo of baby cheetahs in their furpunk soft-Mohawk glory. But the Shahs can photograph a baby *hippo* and make it look cuddly (p. 146)....

The Shahs have the unfair advantage of living in Kenya, so their photos represent literally years of fieldwork in their own backyard (big backyard!). Which wouldn't matter except that they may well be the finest photographers of East African wildlife so far. Astonishing work, absolutely not to be missed. I know, I'm stuck in superlative mode here, but these guys are really, really good, and Harry Abrams has done them up proud.

You've almost certainly seen some of the Shah's photographs, likely in National Geographic -- though if you're as oblivious as me, you may not have noticed their names. I've uploaded a couple of images to jog your memory. Most highly recommended for anyone who's interested in African wildlife. And yes, you should save up for a trip to East Africa someday....

Happy viewing--
Peter D. Tillman

I have been an Elizabeth E. Wein fan since I discovered Winter Prince a few months ago, and I think this book is amazing. I really like the character of Goewin; she's tough and smart and she is not afraid to try things a woman in her time did not do. I admire that, and I also like her stubbornness. :) I enjoyed the plot, the dilemmas involved in the succession of kingship (especially for Goewin), though initially I had to keep looking up the Ethiopic terms in the back. But I found the whole book enjoyable, and I feel as if I know and care about all the characters at the end. I hope Ms. Wein continues this series for many more books, because I can assure you I will read them all!

Wein has pulled together the finest fabrics of fiction and brought them together in one masterpiece of a novel. The book is thick with lush description of the colorful Aksum and equally enthralling characters.

Princess Goewin is swept off to Africa, where she is to marry Constantine, after her family is killed. Here we meet Priamos, son of Caleb; Telemakos, Goewin's enchanting young nephew, son of her half-brother; and Candake, the "queen of queens," and many more. As the story progresses, Goewin learns much from Aksumite people and takes matters into her own hands.

Over all, this is an excellently written book that will leave readers of all ages waiting for the next companion book (The Sunbird).

I read The Winter Prince six or seven years ago and I didn't know a continuation was in the works until a few months ago. Which is probably a good thing considering how annoyingly slowly those months passed. It was not the sort of book you forget.

I read A Coalition of Lions in a day. It's a fast read and actually a good deal lighter than The Winter Prince, though that's not saying much. Though the books follow many of the same characters, the narrators are different and I thought COL was not nearly as intense. The history, descriptions, and imagery in this book were wonderful. There are some clever connections, excellent lines, and memorable moments as well.

While it deserves every one of those five stars, I couldn't conceive of saying it is as good as The Winter Prince. But this in a sort of Joseph Heller sort of way. When people tell him he never wrote anything better than Catch-22, he responds with "Who has?" My favorite part was Medraut hitting the target (well, no not really but that was great). He didn't get many lines, but I would (and did!) wait six years for him, too. Speaking of waiting, let's hope the next book is on its way to the printers.

I was surprised that I liked this book (having been an apalled visitor to South Africa in the early post-apartheid days), but I love it.

Bosman is THE literary genius of South Africa. By turns, funny, ironic, sad and engry, he reveals all the foibles of South African rural Afrikaner life in the first half of the 20th century. If you can read only one South African writer, make it Bosman, you will be well rewarded.
The challenge is that Bosman is so little known outside South Africa, yet he remains perpetually in print in South Africa.

I grew up with Bosman on the family bookshelf, and launched into his tales of South African life at an early age - my family have teethed on his stories as he attended the same high school as my father, which therefore makes him almost part of the family I guess!

He gives a unique insight into the humour and pathos which characterised that country in the days before the second World War. Although he is best known for his short stories and poems of South African life, there are two of his book-length stories included in this Collection - Mafeking Road (perhaps my most favourite) and Cold Stone Jug (from his time spent in jail).

Some of the short stories are depressingly sad, but no matter whether they are sad or filled with humour - they do give you a realistic impression of what life was like in the years of apartheid in which he lived. Bosman has not always been popular with his fellow countrymen, mainly, I think, because of his ability to scratch below the veneer of their life-surface and expose their soft uderbelly. He pokes his finger with a toungue-in-cheek look at South African (mainly Afrikaans) life and relationships between the different colour and ethnic groups.

I was sad to learn that this book is out of print, as my copy is badly in need of replacing now ... might be worth a re-think by the publishers, perhaps!

I haven't read a better book in recent times. It's another great piece of work from a person so talented. A must read.

The source of "The Fire and the Rain" lies, as is common knowledge in The Mahabharatha. It is an obscure story which a certain sage narrates to the Pandavas, and to a lay reader, passes off as insignificant.

What however, Girish Karnad has done is to transform it into a masterful piece of drama by depicting conflicting human emotions through the characters. It is an excellent combination of the elements--human, metaphysical and supernatural that constitute the core of the play. Karnad successfully makes use of the divine element--especially in the climax where the hero holds a conversation with the Gods, and the final result of the rain pouring on a drought-ridden land.

The play also focusses both on the negative and positive human emotions--jealousy, betrayal, deceit, as well as selfless love (evidenced by the hero and the heroine, Nittilai)and sacrifice. The hero, like most of Karnad's heroes is a man torn between moral righteousness, love and duty. It is interesting to trace this path of the hero to its fitting end.

Karnad has stated that "the play lived in my mind for 37 years" before assuming its present form. It is in short, a splendid culmination of his creative intelligence. As stated earlier, the story is so obscure that none gives a second thought to it, and to translate the same to a play requires immense skill, which is evidenced by the book. It only shows that with each of his play, Girish Karnad is only getting better.

A must read!

This is probably different from other book reviews because I have read the play, and seen an excellent theater production of it too. It is the combined effect of the two that remains in my mind; during both phases the experience was gripping and the effects linger even today.

I have waited for a long time for Girish Karnad to return to his roots in theater, after his sojourn in the world of cinema and commercial movie making. In my opinion, he has exceeded all expectations. The Fire and the Rain is a complex play that weaves contemperory and ancient, Indian and European themes and metaphors.

It is a must read (and perform) GrecoVedic tragedy for theater buffs of all cultures around the world. It is so insightful in its observation of fundamental human behavior, and theatrically so malleable that its relevance to local contexts and audiences, worldwide, will be obvious. It is truly a play for global audiences, transcending political, cultural, and geographic boundaries.

I read this book about fifteen years ago and even after all these years, the power of the words and images has stayed with me. It is an amazing story and provides important and compelling insights. It gives the reader a true sense of being there -- in South Africa -- under apartheid. Reading this book truly changed my life. I was 15 when I read it and it enabled me to fully understand the issues and challenges that people all over the world face.

I would recommend it to high school students interested in world affairs, current events, history, civil rights, African history, or civil disobedience. I would recommend it to the college student and the adult.

I think it is a must-read. It is a moving, uplifting, powerful story. It is an example of how the human spirit can overcome all. Enjoy!

William Finnegan, an American, has authored an utterly absorbing look at life - particularly black life - in Apartheid-era South Africa. As an American intimately familiar with the political culture of that troubled country, it and the resistance it engendered is an ongoing source of wonder that the South Africa of 2007 could have emerged as a "light unto the world" given the violence, racism and depravity of its first three centuries of history.

When this volume was written, Nelson Mandela was a Robben Island prisoner, P.W. Botha was president of the world's preeminent para-fascist and unashamedly racist state, and black aspirations toward freedom, equality and dignity were answered with the bullet, the bullwhip and the hangman's noose.

"Crossing the Line" provides important and compelling insights: the sights, smells and sounds of everyday life in the face of oppression that can only be labelled monstrous, the unimaginable courage of the people - particularly the children - that fought it, and the desperate, despicable character of those who sought to keep in place a system whose evil and efficiency have only been rivaled by the likes of the Third Reich.

Finnegan's account of life in a "coloured" suburb of Capetown is sensitive and poignant. The reader is drawn into his wonderfully textured account of some essential elements of life in apartheid South Africa.

I would unhesitatingly recommend this book to any American who seeks to understand what precisely apartheid was and how it functioned, particularly to students (Finnegan chronicles in detail his year of teaching in a Capetown "coloured" high school) interested in world affairs, current events, civil rights, and the use and limitations of civil disobedience. It is a brilliantly uplifting and powerful story, offering the reader a textured account of the indomitability of the human spirit.

Finnegan's discovery of life in Cape Flats, S.A. is poignant and thoughtful. As the reader, you are drawn into his understanding as he captures some essential elements of life in apartheid South Africa. The rampant racism, segregation and human misery contrasts remarkably with the "other side of the tracks." I teach African studies in high school and have always used this novel to bring to life the educational system of the old South Africa and the disparities that persist there. Finnegan's thoughtful, caring concern for his students becomes evident in his approach to his writing...in the care he takes to bring Cape Town & Flats to the reader. Wonderful book!

This reading is exceptional. The reader's soft voice and African accent add so much to the story. After listening to this, I bought everyone in my family a copy of the book for Christmas.

Whether you've read this book before or not, listening to this reading is well worth your time. I had read it, but didn't really feel the novel or understand its depth until I listened to this reading by the excellent Maggie Soboil. Believe me, you won't regret it.

Cry, The Beloved Country is my favorite novel, and Maggie Soboil is an incredible narrator! I love the honest humanity of this novel. It deals with hard issues in an unflinching way. Moreover, Ms. Soboil's voice strengthens the novel, with accurate pronounciation and accent -- you feel that she has transported you to South Africa.