Customer Reviews

The Civilized World: A Novel in Stories

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Comprised of nine stories told from the perspective of five female characters, "The Civilized World" is a tapestry of interwoven lives that fascinates from beginning to end.

The characters include Janice, an American working in Africa for a health organization; Adjoa, a Ghanian who goes to work in the Ivory Coast to raise money to open a beauty salon back home; Ophelia, an expatriate who is adjusting to living on another continent; Comfort, a new widow, and Linda, Comfort's American daughter-in-law.

Because there are several characters and settings, the novel provides a snapshot of everyday life in Africa, both from the perspective of an insider and that of an outsider. Despite the breadth of characters, however, there is no shortage of depth, and the reader gets to know each character well. As the novel progresses the threads are pulled more tightly together until we see how interconnected these women really are.

A fascinating exploration of culture, a thoughtful meditation on what it really means to be civilized, and a touching portrait of the bonds between women, make this a thought-provoking and highly enjoyable read.

you can be comfortable with--and thoroughly enjoy--Wyss's storytelling. Plots/subplots, characters, scenes are very clearly and vividly presented, and yet you almost have the sense that the stories are happening in real-time/real-life and that nothing is guaranteed or all worked out, further along in the pages, simply waiting for you to discover it. To me, that is exciting. You are as much on your own as are the characters in trying to navigate their own paths through complex personal and social situations. But Wyss makes sure we have time to do a little sight-seeing along the way--treating us to many beautiful and provocative views of the unfamiliar (to many of us) African countries where most of the novel takes place. Looking back on the book, I am always struck by how visual my recollections are, as happens with a good movie whose most powerful images and moments file themselves away among those from your very own life, as though you went through them yourself. I can understand the previous reviewer's comment about passion, but each of the main characters in Wyss's book is whole-heartedly pursuing her desires. However, she is doing so--whether through wisdom/experience, self-discipline, wariness, whatever--with a healthy respect for things that are beyond her control or understanding. And there are many. This is a truly unique and worthy read.

Civilized World is a moving and extremely satisfying set of stories. It provides heartfelt insight into the world of African women in their homeland and America and American women in Africa and the US. Having straddled both worlds, I was particularly struck by how amazingly real the characters felt - it was like I knew them all while at the same time I was gaining new insights into people I had met in the past and maybe never really "saw." The author does an amazing job of making each story feel complete on its own yet also part of the larger whole. You can't help but feel empathy and compassion for the characters as they struggle with choices about love, parenting and beyond. This is a powerful and beautiful read - take it with you on your next trip, whether abroad on some adventure, or just to the beach!

Susi Wyss's novel is a quiet joy to read. Not flashy or full of action, but full of reflections of real, lived experience, recognition that while people experience a few heart stopping moments in their lives (loss of a loved one, violent crime) much of our lives are engaged with less exciting but no less important experiences and negotiations (caring for a grandchild, hairdressing, attending a wedding). The engaging aspect of the book for me is Wyss's observations of human character, through the presentation of both the everyday and the extraordinary experiences of the women in this book. The book captures both negative and positive reflections of the women in their actions and thoughts, but in the end is a "feel-good" book in that the women are portrayed with a generosity of spirit. We forgive them their shortcomings, want resolution for them, and are granted resolution in a unpretentious way.

In addition to the realistic but generous depiction of her characters, Wyss has also succeeded beautifully in bringing the setting to life for the reader. In reading, we feel the wind move, smell pungent smells, feel the brush of a butterfly, feel the spray of a waterfall. We experience the delightful, like unusual names, and the comforting, like a conversation while having hair shampooed in a salon.

Reading the book is a treat. For readers who love warm and descriptive prose, musing on human nature, Africa, and have faith in the overall though complicated goodness of people (and especially women)...I bet this will be your favorite read of the year!

This is intriguingly called "a novel in stories". It consists of nine short stories, each that tells of an event that happened to one of the main characters. The stories and lives of the women intertwine and form a very imaginative new type of novel.

The stories are all very quiet, written in the style of many African based books. Although the stories each tell important events in the lives of the women, none of them are presented in a very exciting way. If you like this style, also found in books like the "Ladies Detective Agency" series and ""Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight", you may like this. I prefer books with more palpable excitement or passion, so I found this book good, but falling short of 5 stars. Still it was refreshing to read about normal African life without focusing on the horrific wars or illnesses that plague so much of the continent.

Sweet read! I tried very hard to contain myself and read thoughtfully, digesting each page, but I ended up with juice on my chin, scarfing up the entire book in one sitting! Luckily it did not leave me with a stomach-ache or bitter taste after over-indulging! Wonderful stories, beautifully connected without appearing contrived. Remarkable character development for a series of short stories. Illuminating insights into the expatriate community. A definite book club recommendation!

I actually received The Civilized World from the publisher months ago and shame on me for taking so long to read and review it.
This novel is quiet and beautiful and it drew me into it's pages straight away. I finished reading it in a single day. It will make it to my top reads of 2012 and I'm happy to have found a favorite so early on in the year.

I enjoy stories set in Africa and this novel swept me away for a little while. It is written in the form of intertwining stories surrounding five different women. I liked that I didn't know where the stories were going and I felt as if the stories were slowly revealing themselves to me.
As I read, I got to see how these women's lives were somehow interwoven. Each of these women seemed real to me and each story felt real. This book just flows, the narrative style is engaging. Where one story will wind off, another will pick up and yet another, until a previous one will start again where it left off. None of it was jarring however, it all reads smoothly.

For the most part, the stories revolve around motherhood and family, strife, heartache and forgiveness. The stories take place in modern day Africa as well as in America. An infertile American couple who want to adopt an African baby, a grandmother from Ghana whose son married an American woman and left for the States to raise his family, an African woman whose twin and soul mate was killed too young; these are just some of the people inside these stories.

I highly recommend The Civilized World to fans of quiet women's fiction. This is a book will slowly draw you into it's pages and that you will savor as you read. It's not a long book, but at 226 pages, I wish it was longer. The author makes you care about these characters.

On a final note, I love this book cover. It's simple yet beautiful, just like the book itself.

"What did it feel like to have such a strong sense of home, a bond to a place as strong as an umbilical cord?"
p. 63, The Civilized World

Cheers to a truly smart, entertaining, emotional novel! Reading "The Civilized World" I enjoyed FEELING so many things (joy, fear, huge page-flipping curiosity, sometimes quiet relief); each of the central female characters is engaging...and each busy answering/working through an important life question. These women feel real to me. They share much in common despite their cultural differences. I lived vicariously through them, and didn't want the book to close. To Janice's trauma I felt I could relate, and her idiosyncratic thought process, too; enduring Ophelia's struggle, I gripped the book harder, and wanted to cheer her on; Comfort's wisdom brought me comfort; Adjoa's ambition and her faithful heart won me over. I recommend this very readable book if you enjoy dramatic (and poetic) stories about strong women and want to learn more about the amazing land author Susi Wyss obviously knows well. No wonder this book got a recommendation from Oprah herself. When will Wyss' next novel be published, anyone got the scoop?

This book is wonderful!! As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again!
You will read about the goodness in people, their daily struggles with life, how
they wrestle with their decisions and what path they end up walking down. I am left
with wanting many more stories from Susi. The added bonus for me is knowing she wrote
stories about people, places, and events that happened while she lived in Africa.
This is a five star book from page one!

Ms. Wyss weaves together the stories of five women in this very warm and relatable novel. Janice; Adjoa; Ophelia; Comfort; and Linda, Comfort's American daughter-in-law all have stories to share. The Civilized World is a complex telling of the common bonds between women. Well-develped and absorbing; beautiful and timely, this was a great read.