tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34257014.post200759759050270456..comments2023-10-21T10:37:58.087+03:00Comments on Africa Expat Wives Club: AEWC recommended books and films on KenyaAfrica Expat Wifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05585705819604120636noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34257014.post-6065432356866476852013-03-26T16:09:54.577+03:002013-03-26T16:09:54.577+03:00Did you just leave out Chinua Achebe? I think he s...Did you just leave out Chinua Achebe? I think he seems to see issues from a different angle. Best African writer ever.<br /><br />MaxAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34257014.post-3690425003664863652013-03-21T06:02:21.443+03:002013-03-21T06:02:21.443+03:00West with the Night is a beautifully written memoi...West with the Night is a beautifully written memoir by a remarkable woman, an underrated writer. Somewhere in there she says , "Nairobi has a country cut to its clothes and it wears a broad-brimmed hat, but it tends an English garden." That one sentence, written sometime in the 30's I suppose,for me captures the essence of colonial Kenya (pronounced Keenya, a country I was born in, as opposed to Kenya, the country I grew up in). Beryl Markham, the old lady, from what I can remember, was attacked in the looting during the attempted coup in '82.<br /><br />" Vikram Lall" is the story of my family, and many such Asian families for whom Kenya was home for many generations. He describes my grandfather's, my father's and my Kenya. I left 20 years ago, and upstate New York is home now, only to discover that we all live in Inbetween worlds, all of us. I will presume that you and your family can identify with some of that. We may leave places, but places don't leave us.<br /><br />"Down River Road" is gritty, as they say. Not sure if it's even in print now, I hope it is. Urban Nairobi of the 70's , 80's if I remember . Enjoyed it. Not as intense as Ngugi wa thiongo's "A grain of Wheat," or "Petals of Blood", serious writing. Not comedies, then, as Blackadder would say.<br />I look forward to reading Binyawanga, though not enamoured by his chippy attitude. The Sheldrick autobiography should be interesting. "My Pride and Joy" by George Adamson remains the greatest auto biography I've ever read, by anybody.<br /><br />May I say I'm glad you're blogging again. I followed your blog off and on over the years, and it's been my main source of not just information, but a sense of life on the ground in suburban Nairobi. I enjoy your writing. My many thanks.<br /><br />SandyDaktarinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34257014.post-15814842936088155192013-03-19T13:54:01.060+03:002013-03-19T13:54:01.060+03:00Thanks so much for the valuable the additions to t...Thanks so much for the valuable the additions to this list. <br /><br />I have read 'The Inbetween World of Vikram Lall" but not 'Down River Road' - or 'West with the Night'. <br /><br />I was also feeling guilty about not including Daphne Sheldrick's recently released autobiography...Africa Expat Wifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05585705819604120636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34257014.post-13978501950800795792013-03-19T08:10:39.392+03:002013-03-19T08:10:39.392+03:00Good collection. Others that come to mind are:
The...Good collection. Others that come to mind are:<br />The Inbetween world of Vikram Lall by MK Vassanji ( fiction)<br />Down River Road... Meja Mwangi, that's an old one, fiction as well<br />West with the Night....a memoir by Beryl Markhamdaktarinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34257014.post-57951043148956247112013-03-18T00:54:47.427+03:002013-03-18T00:54:47.427+03:00Thank you! This is wonderful.
AngelaThank you! This is wonderful.<br />AngelaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com