Customer Reviews

The River Between

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With every work of Ngugi's that I read, the more impressed I am. I first came across his "Petals of Blood" by chance in a used bookstore years ago, and ever since I've kept an eye open for other books of his. I admit that I've only read his novels, though; reading plays (as opposed to seeing them performed) for the most part doesn't move me nearly as much.

In "The River Between", Ngugi once again arrives at a viewpoint of tolerance while denouncing corruption in society; he manages to do so without demonizing the people on either side of any particular issue. He recognizes the strengths and weaknesses, the convictions and the doubts with which most human beings are imbued. He doesn't automatically blame all of his country's or his continent's problems on the "White Man", but rather he recognizes that the corruption and venality that continue to plague his society are things which are rooted in the universal human condition, not imports from Europe or the USA. He manages here to deal with a highly charged issue, as provocative and controversial now as it was at the time he wrote this book, namely "female circumcision" or "female genital mutilation", depending on your point of view. Almost uniquely, it seems, among Kenyan intellectuals he questions the absolute necessity of the practice to the maintenance of traditional social structure and values; but he does so while neither fervently condemning nor acclaiming it. As I've come to expect from Ngugi, he finds a road between extreme and fanatical stands - or a "river between", if you prefer; the protagonist attempts to make up his own mind rather than unquestioningly accepting received teaching about the absolute rightness or wrongness of either traditional practices or revolutionary knowledge. He recognizes that not all traditional practices are necessarily "better" or more "pure" than new ways of thinking, but that neither can they be eliminated by fiat without disastrous consequences for society, that education and time are necessary for peoples' thinking to evolve and for other values to be allowed to take the place of some of those that have been cherished since time immemorial. I confess that I was a little leery when I began reading this book; I feared that Ngugi would follow the line of so many other African writers in fervent support of female circumcision or FMG. That was the staunch rock of faith upon which I foundered when reading other books such as Jomo Kenyatta's "Facing Mount Kenya" and Camara Laye's "The African Child". I was suitably heartened to find that Ngugi once again finds his own mind, something I've come to see as the hallmark of his writing. But his protagonist doesn't arrive at the journey's destination by easy paths - I'm reminded of a line by the great singer-songwriter Silvio Rodriguez, that "la angustia es el precio de ser uno mismo" ("anguish is the price of being oneself").

The River Between is a subtle tale that manages to comprehensively deal with a variety of themes including the challenge of leadership, the values of traditional heritage, the destructive nature of rejection of culture and finally, the multi faceted dimensions of the human personality.

As an African woman in the Diaspora, the writing of African writers from the Continent is a very important and an integral means of connecting with a heritage that I am routinely forced to ignore and misunderstand. This novel, amongst many other African novels, is an important tool in the re-education of the mind, forcing you to understand the dynamics of the many diverse African cultures as well as introducing you to the unique mode of storytelling that African writers illustrate so well, and Ngugi is a particularly accomplished story teller.

A River Between, although set amongst the Gikuyu, has lessons for all African people everywhere fighting for self-determination, survival and most importantly, global unity amongst African people. The way in which Ngugi deals with the issue of Female Circumsion is one that I have to respect. He does not simply demonise the practice but puts the practice into the context of tradition and heritage. Indeed, he highlights the perils of literally `white' washing African cultures through the character of Joshua who ultimately loses both his children.

One of the most memorable quotes for me occurs in Chapter 25 when Waiyaki thinks to himself about Joshua, the `white' man's horse:

"He had clothed himself with a religion decorates and smeared with everything white. He renounced his past and cut himself away from those life-giving traditions of the tribe. And because he had nothing to rest upon, something rich and firm on which to stand and grow, eh had to cling with his hands to whatever the missionaries taught him..."

Overall, River Between is a beautifully written story that illustrates the complimentary nature of duality or seemingly apparent opposites. It is subtle and yet bold; inspirational but also cautionary. Everything is intricately interwoven and you realise that all elements of life is steadfastly connected with each other, you can not successfully separate love from social responsibility, or heritage and legacy from the present and future.

I re-read the river between for literature and I was just touched like I was at the very first time. The quality anthropology aspects that Mr wa Thiong'o builts in his books (like many other African writers too) makes the reader come into the setting and be part of it. The book managed to win my sympathy for the 'oppresed' Kikukyu and reminded me of the many evils done to the colonised people all over the world. Christianity seems not able to escape blame in the whole operation because of its readiness to inflict suffering to the people so that they could join the religion.
Today the book is still relevant, though the position of the whites has been taken by the ruling class and the rich.
The book is worth reading in any case.

Melancholiness pervades this novel in a very peculiar way. Waiyaki alone is a great yet contradictory leader torn between two forces he does not understand. Daughters of the Christian fanatic Joshua, Muthoni and Nyambura, rebel because of their father's stifling brand of Christianity. Kabonyi and Kamau, the father-and-son team who are always playing second fiddle to others, seem bent on polarising the opposing factions, the Gikuyu people and the whites. In the midst of all this, Waiyaki and Nyambura's relationship develops.

It is a sad novel because it is the first I have read which ends on such a depressing, inconclusive note. You feel that justice has not been done to Waiyaki, that Nyambura should not have been dragged into it. Yet if you are an African, you would probably see that the scenes will happen like it did. And that is probably why this text is used as a literature text - it is open to diverse interpretations.

Ngugu wa Thiong'o's two ridges are rivals to the political and spiritual salvation of the Kikuyu. Waiyaki stands between the two worlds. Indeed, he sees that both the traditionalist's view and the tribe and the new Christian view each hold a modicum of merit. Waiyaki attempts to bridge these worlds to strengthen the tribe and connect with the good of the modern world.
The man caught between two worlds is a common theme throughout literature and may be seen as trite. Yet, as usual trite themes are only bad when done by bad writers. Ngugu, however, is a fantastic writer. He is to the Kikuyu what Achebe is to the Ibo. This book is thoroughly enthralling; not only do I give this book 5 stars I would put it in must read.

this is the first novel i've read by an african author. after i got used to the tricky names and got into the narrative, i couldn't put it down. it does much more that tell a story of the invading white man, it explores themes of family and love that cross cultural boundaries.
i think the strength of this piece is that there are no white characters in it, so it doesn't just rehash out the same old invasion narrative.
good book.

The River Between by Ng'g' wa Thiong'o is 152 pages and can be purchased at Amazon.com for as low as $9.21. I will begin this review with some background on the author: Thiong'o was born in Kenya in 1938 and is a campaigner for the Gikuyu language (which predated Kenya's borders), and is a theme consistent with The River Between (1965), his second novel, which is about the Gikuyu people. The River Between is certainly related to the Mau Mau Rebellion by the Gikuyus against the British Colonialists, which occurred just a few years before Thiong'o's writing of this book (Atieno-Odhiambo 302). His other works include various other novels and numerous, stories, plays, and essays. He is an activist and conceived his novel, Devil on the Cross (1980), while being held in detention for a year over the performance of his play, I Will Marry When I Want. He is currently a Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine (Thiong'o). The rest of my review is here: [...]

Critic Fredric Jameson is (almost always) right--all fiction seems to be pure allegory. The river, the 2 communities, the 2 lovers, the 2 continental cultures, etc. Can we escape binary combinations?

I'd say this novel starts with female genital mutilation and other circumcisions and makes an effort to end with independence movements. The result is mixed. Can we talk about culture without talking about politics, namely, African emancipation? The answer has to be no, but the plot tries to resolve this too late, as if it was avoiding the question altogether. Hence, the open ending. The reader is left in a sort of state of suspense, but we all know the results.

On the other hand, the novel is interesting from this contradictory perspective--it adopts a very modern Western moral framework to tell a story that cannot tell itself. The real story lurks in the background: it's the land and the labor taken by the "white people." Can we mediate circumcision and land? The answer is: we must.

I read this book for a course in college. A great little novel that explores the rift between traditional and Christianic Africans, hence the title. The novel is a story about destiny and sacrifice. I'm not sure if it was done on purpose, but story is very similiar to the biblical teachings of Jesus.

The River Between is about the division between two villages in Africa, divisions begun by the differences between the tribal ways and Christian ways brought by the missionaries. The death of Muthoni, the eldest daughter of Joshua, the most stringent follower of the missionary, after undergoing female circumcision causes the missionary to "outlaw" female circumcision and forbid the children of the "circumcised" to attend the school. An expelled student of the school in his final year sets up schools for those that believe the tribal traditions, but his youth awakens an old enemy of his father to oppose him and set him up for failure by utilizing the young man's love for Nyambura, Joshua's other daughter. Not to give anything away, I was not happy with the end of the book, hence the 3 rating; however, those who think they are enlightened and would like to outlaw female circumcision should read this book as if does raise an interesting question: "If the white man's religion made you abandon a custom and then did not give you something else of equal value, you became lost. An attempt at resolution of the conflict would only kill you, as it did Muthoni." What do the "liberals" who want to outlaw female circumcision in the name of "women's rights" suggest as a custom to replace this custom?