Customer Reviews

The Book of Not: A Sequel to Nervous Conditions

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A very engrossing read but not an easy one. I am left tangled in knots from the story of Tambu. There are so many issues this young protaganist faces growing up in colonial Africa while a guerrilla war is raging. Inner turmoil everywhere she turns, with every expectation (her own and her elders) a new struggle of what to do, and no one to guide her through puberty and yound womanhood. Her self-effacing character made my heart break. Please, Ms. Tsitsi Dangarembga, I pray you are writing a sequel now to The Book of Not.

It is a good sequel, I never understood the first book. I thought it was just a period piece on African relations between middle class and poor class citizens in a Colonized Nation but with this sequel Tsitsi goes deeper and shows us the raw emotions of the entire story. One could say the character is rather sad, subservient and bemoan her fate at the end of the book or one could sympathise with her and see the book as the Story of a young woman constantly at odds both with her emotions and the world that seems to expect much from her.

Very pleased with prompt service, especially considering that the book was shipped from the UK during the holiday season. The book arrived sooner than expected!