Customer Reviews

My Life in Search of Africa (English and English Edition)

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After hearing a speech of Clarke's on the radio, I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it let me down.

Clarke's writing lacks style - I frequently was wondering if I was reading a high school composition rather than a book by the great orator.

There is a complete lack of continuity and cohesion throughout the book. Topics change from paragraph to paragraph. One gets confused if he is writing about himself, his life, the people he has known or his unpublished books. Any given paragraph may include some or all of these in a rather haphazard manner.

In reading this, I especially hoped to sink my teeth into understanding more about Clarke, more about the Africana movement, more about the history of the African people. Instead, I got some anectdotal stories and superficial glimpses. There was no significant depth to the content of this book.

In spite of my disappointment with "My Life in Search of Africa," it is an important book to read. History has typically been approached from a European (white) perspective, and it is essential that we get beyond that approach, that we learn more of the rest of the world, and that we learn from and about the people enabling that knowledge.