Customer Reviews

The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706

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

 

 

The Kongolese Saint Anthony is one of the best books on a pre-colonial African heroine that I have read. In an engaging drama of spirutuality and politics, John Thornton invites us to look at Africa in a way that makes Africa a part of the unfloding history of Christianity. Anyone interested in both Africa and chruch history would do well to read this throroughly authentic biography of Dona Beatrice.

John Thornton distills some of his prodigious research on Kongo and Angola to tell a coherent and exciting story. Dona Beatriz was a young woman who inspired a religious movement against the internal wars which overwhelmed the Kingdom of Kongo in the Atlantic slave trade era. Her charismatic leadership ran afoul of civil authorities and the Catholic Church and she was executed in 1706, but echoes of the movement endured for several decades both in West Central Africa and the New World. The author answers important questions on cultural syncretism, womens' political and spiritual roles, and the adaptation of world religions to indigenous settings. The main drawback is the welter of unfamiliar KiKongo place and personal names, which will frustrate some readers. A future edition could address this with more detailed maps, a glossary and list of main actors. Thornton skillfully provides more context in "Africa & Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World."

Just finished reading it and loved it. Information on pre-colonial Africa is so hard to come by. Quality info that goes beyond the surface is even harder. John K Thornton always impresses. This is actually better than Warfare in Atlantic Africa. The best thing about this in my opinion (other than the narrative itself) is the use of footnotes rather than a clumsy reference page at the back. Anywayz, i highly recommend it.

This book was painful to read. His writing style is incoherent. He saturates the text with unnecessary details, which make the book almost impossible to read. Thornton is very knowledgeable and includes a lot of good information in his book but he needs to learn how to write. He just lists fact after fact without providing enough information on specific events or people. I do not know who wrote the other reviews on this book because it is certainly not "engaging." Thornton takes a good story and muddles it with hundreds of unnecessary details. He mentions dozens of people and places on each page but he does not actually discuss them or their importance.

Informative, but very longwinded. He's managed to make an interesting subject very difficult to follow. Seems very conscious not to influence the readers judgement in any way, but the affect of this is ruined by the limited number of european sources available to him.
Its hard to follow the plot when you've not been allowed to get to know any of the characters.

This book was pretty cool for exploring the life of Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita, and her importance to the Antonian Movement. Thornton does a good job transitioning from more general details of Kongolese Christians to the microscopic details of Beatriz's life, in his effort to formulate a cohesive narrative. Thornton does not, however, give any insight into the role of cats in Kongolese Christian practices. That was the only shortcoming of this book. My roommate Natasha "Mandu" Gaventa enjoyed it more than I did, but she doesn't like cats (pooh on her!)

I was required to read this book for a class, and I can say without a doubt that it is the worst book I've ever read. The author just keeps throwing out various names and babbles on and on about stuff that doesn't make any sense. Everyone in my class complained about how boring and hard to follow it was. I promise that you would have a better time reading an encyclopoedia - I only wish I could give it zero stars!