Customer Reviews

So Long a Letter (African Writers)

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I was introduced to this book by a friend who said that it changed the direction of her life. Indeed, I can see how anyone with an open mind would find a personal connection with Ramatoulaye's story. The comments about women's issues in the other reviews should not dissuade any man or woman from reading this book. Who has not suffered disappointment, betrayal, fear, and intense sadness? And who does not need to know that even through the worst that life throws at you, there is hope? Survival is not necessarily reserved for the fittest. Ramatoulaye stoicly accepts her husband's betrayal, but inside she suffers, and through that suffering and a subtle rendering of life's constant comedy she gains strength and independence. Again, any son, daughter, mother, father, wife, or husband will gain something valuable from So Long a Letter.

Mariama Ba's So Long a Letter, clearly demonstrates the power of the pen.

Middle aged Senegalese school teacher, Ramatoulaye, who is an educated Muslim woman, a mother, an abandoned wife, and now a widow adjusts to her changing roles with strength but sadness.

She writes a letter to her long time friend, Aissatou, whose husband also chose to take a second wife years before; Aissatou now lives abroad as a single woman. As Ramatoulaye says to her friend by way of introduction, "Our long association has taught me that confiding in other allays pain."

And so Ramatoulaye begins her story. In the pages that follow, little by little, Ramatoulaye takes us into her world, her culture, her past. Ba shows the reader how although a woman's experiences and opportunities might have changed somewhat in the 20th century, it becomes clear how the hopes and dreams and disappointments of Ramatoulaye's mother's mother, her mother, and Ramatoulaye, herself, all tie into each other.

We learn about Ramatoulaye's deep pain when after decades of matrimony and friendship with her husband Modou suddenly grind to a halt as Ramatoulaye's husband reveals an affair with one of their daughter's classmates to leave the house to start a new family.

Ba's skill as a writer and as an advocate for the woman's voice, lies not in preaching or didactical posturing, but instead by a subtle demonstration of what actually happened.

She invites the reader to see the different sides and roles people play in Ramatoulaye's life and does not make it a black/white issue.

However, this work will definitely appeal to women who are interested in learning about a feminist/womanist perspective on other cultures as well as women who are well versed in West African culture.

Detractors might call this work an angry book, while on the other side of the spectrum, ultra feminists might dismiss Ramatoulaye as missing the ball for failing to vociferously denounce sexism in addition to not taking the opportunity to criticize a culturally inspired fundamentalist sexist rendering of Islam.

Ultimately, So Long a Letter does not become bogged down into politics, nor does Ramatoulaye become confined as a victim or a figure that we, the reader, should pity. Instead this patient and beautiful character talks about how she has learned, in the words of Voltaire, to cultivate one's garden or in the words of Southern Black women, to make lemonade, when life kicks you down.

So, this timeless classic story transforms into a parable about friendship and love and most important of all, hope. As Ramatoulaye writes in her final paragraph to her friend, "Despite everything, disappointments and humiliations-hope still lives in within me. It is from the dirty and nauseating humus that the green plant sprouts into life, and I can feel new buds springing up in me. The word 'happiness' does indeed have meaning," doesn't it? I shall go out in search of it ...

"So Long a Letter," by Mariama Ba, is a short novel (only 90 pages), but it is rich in ideas and emotions. According to a note about Ba at the beginning of the book, she was born in the African nation of Senegal and died in 1981. The book has been translated from French by Modupe Bode-Thomas.

This novel is written in the form of a long letter by Ramatoulaye, a Senegalese widow, to her friend Aissatou. Ramatoulaye discusses the lives, marriages and families of both women, and reflects on their friendship. As she writes, the story of her life is fleshed out.

Ba has created a fascinating look at postcolonial life in the former French West Africa. This portrait is decidedly from a woman's perspective and is focused on issues that particularly impact women's lives. Ba explores a multigenerational web that links women and men together.

Ba's subject matter includes motherhood, marriage, religion, education, and politics. Particularly fascinating are her explorations of the role of the "griot" (described in the book's endnotes as "part-poet, part-musician, part-sorcerer") and the practice of cowrie shell divination. A key element in the book is polygamy as practiced in the Muslim African world.

The book deals much with women's relationships--with husbands, with children, with adult female relatives, and with friends. The book is about surviving loss and disappointment; it's also about hope and personal growth...

Mariama Ba was absolutely magnificent in this book. The manner of poetic prose she adopts is not only touching but also addictive. I first read this book in High School in Kenya. I must say that this is the book that opened me up to the writing of poetry, plays, and prose. Nonetherless , this book greatly explores the recurring and controversial purpose and place of traditions and religions in modern day Africa. It's a must read for all women of the world, and for the men who hope to love them.

this book is used by a lot of classes at my school (SUNY Buffalo): world lit, world civilization, etc. It's very short and a terrific book for such purposes. beyond that sort of silly usefulness, this is one of the most beautiful books i've ever read (though another reviewer says the french is better, and that's probably true, but i neither know french nor own the french copy, so if you just want to read the book, it's not such a big deal that it's not in french). bā's language (in translation) is exquisite, almost slow, and reading it (though it's a quick and easy read) is like being suspended in time, floating down a beautiful river. i mean, she uses words like "pawpaws" (how often do you get to read about pawpaws?) and even her character's name, "Ramatoulaye" is rhythmic. the book pulses slowly, sensually-- an opening phrase "the words create around me a new atmosphere in which i move, a stranger and tormented" is a perfect description of the way the reader encounters the molasses-like (as in, sweet but slow) text.

i am not saying that this book is slow-- indeed, it reads quickly and once one sees how beautiful the words are, it's impossible to put the book down until one finishes it a few hours later. but the _beauty_ of the book is a slow one, the slowness of a hot place, of round fruit, of social change, of reflection--

read it.

Senegalese writer Mariama Ba gives insight and commentary on the lives of two female friends in Senegal who take different paths in life when their husbands decide to take another wife. I bought this book before going to Senegal and found it insightful and an interesting read. While it is a good book, I thought Sembene Ousmane's "Xale" (with its similar theme of a polygamous marriage gone awry) to be the more interesting book.

This book, while very brief, left a lasting impression on me. It is so accessible and written in such an intimate style that no one needs to have any previous knowledge of African culture to be immediately drawn in and feel as if they are part of the world Mariama creates. It is entirely written in the form of a letter from one Senegalese woman to another, her dear friend. In the letter the narrator, a very strong woman, discusses her life, her feelings about her husband, about polygamy, about her children, and about her independence in such a beautiful way that I didn't want the letter to end! It wasn't long enough, despite the title. I'd love to reread it. I wish Mariama Ba hadn't passed away because her style was so pleasing and so involving that I would have loved to have read more by her. One of Africa's greatest female writers.

A recently widowed Senegalese woman (Ramatoulaye) writes a diary in the form of a letter to her best friend, in which she recounts both her and her friend's experience with their husbands' taking a second wife. Through the narratives, the author explores the roles of women in society and the differences between the sexes (as she does here, "whereas a woman draws from the passing years the force of her devotion,...a man...looks over his partner's shoulder. He compares what he had with what he no longer has, what he has with what he could have"). Underlying the narrative is the power and value of friendship between two women who have seen each other through years of trial.

The two stories are saddening and compelling. The protagonist is nuanced. Even after being burned by polygamy, she considers becoming a second wife herself. She and her friend made very different choices in the face of their marital trials, and each must find what peace she can.

Occasionally the narrative structure bothered me, only because it is easy to forget that the book takes the form of a letter but is in fact a diary (as is stated in the second sentence of the book). If mistaken for a true letter, the detailed recounting of the letter addressee's experience feels contrived.

That is a small critique, however, of what is overall a powerful illustration of the trials of West Africa's women. I can see why the book is currently required school reading in several African countries (Sierra Leone and the Gambia at least) alongside Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

[And it's short: just 90 pages. What do you have to lose?]

So long a letter is an African classic written by a talented Senegalese woman, Mariama Ba. I first stumbled upon this book in high school(Obot Idim) in Nigeria during my final examinations and really liked it. It was a sensation in my dormitory in high school. The novel is a short letter written by Ramatoulaye to her dear friend, Aissatou during the death of her husband. She invokes the memory of their dear friendship which has withstood the test of time, distance and wealth. In a very solemn voice, Ramatoulaye writes to her friend that she has been widowed after her husband dies of a heart attack at the office. During the funeral, the reader gets a glimpse of her co-wife, Binetou and the dignity Ramatoulaye struggles with in her presence. Her dignity is further challenged when the Mirasse or the secrets of her husband had been laid bare in accordance to the tenets of their Islamuc religion.She is shocked to learn of his betrayal, the loans he took out to impress his young bride while abandoning his first wife, then shamefully dying in penury. The following page is a reflection on the betrayal and soon, she delves into the "sequence of reminiscences" on her friendship with Aissatou, the challenges they faced in their respective marital home, Aissatou's divorce and her own abandonment three years later. This letter is written during her 40 day mourning period, and is a reflection on the emotional struggle ranging from bitterness, melancholy, and sadness during that period.

The book succeeds in exposing the double standard in the African culture against women and it is poignantly and beautiful portrayed in this novel. The literary qualities in the book is non pareil. Highly recommended, this book has inspired me to write my own novel and along the line, it has introduced me to other cultures in Africa. Mariama Ba was the best writer from Africa in my opinion. So Long a letter was listed as one of the 12 best African books of the 20th century, what a remarkable achievement!!!

"So Long a Letter" reviels the feeling of an African woman which usualy remains a tabu.I believe that all Africans ,men and women,should get the chance to read this book. Moreover,this book should be included in the syllabus of school education to enlighten the children of Africa regardless the gender.