Customer Reviews

Swimming in the Congo

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... you'll love SWIMMING IN THE CONGO! This is a collection of short stories that reads like a novel. In it, young Grace Birggen, the daughter of an agricultural missionary to the Congo in the 1960's, comes of age along the banks of the Congo River in what is now Zaire. The stories are beautifully written and the descriptions of her childhood in an emerging third-world nation are compelling. It is POISONWOOD without the poison. Yes, there are incidents of imperialism and racism, but those incidents are filtered through Grace's eyes, in much the same way that Scout narrates Boo Radley's and Tom Robinson's stories in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and so will you.

SWIMMING IN THE CONGO is a stunning story cycle about a missionary girl growing up in the Congo. While the collection is not autobiographical, Margaret Meyers, like her protagonist Grace, did spend her childhood in the Congo, and SWIMMING IN THE CONGO is replete with carely-observed and lovingly-rendered details that absolutely convince the reader of its authenticity. But more vivid than the milieu in which it is set are the characters--missionaries, servants, lovers--particularly the narrator who moves in the course of these stories from childhood to adolescence. Funny, poignant, often heartbreakingly beautiful, these stories reveal the life of a woman whose early life was Africa and the Lord God and who now cannot live in an Africa which does not recognize her Africaness nor with the God of her fathers, but who will never escape either. This is the first book of a writer whom we will be reading a long time

Margaret Meyers, the daughter of a missionary family, grew up in The Congo in the 1960s, and this 1995 collection of short stories was part of her later MFA Thesis at the University of Virginia. Through them, she introduces her lead character, Grace, who views the world with the freshness of childhood and shares her experiences with the reader. Her father tells her the equator goes right through their property and, at the age of six, she searches for it as if it would be a clearly marked path. Her favorite pastime is swimming in the river, a river she will miss terribly when she is sent off to boarding school a few years later. Her protestant Christianity is unquestioned and she's always exploring her own spirituality as well as making keen observations about the people around her. There are some memorable characters here, from her loving parents to the native Congolese who laugh at the foibles of the missionary families. There are the two spinster women with a secret, an unhappy former ballerina who has trouble adapting to her life in Africa, and a Frenchman who loves his garden almost as much as he loves his constantly changing women. Through Grace's young eyes we see the cruelty of racism and the stirrings of independence as political changes are happening in the country.

At 261 pages this is a fast and enjoyable read, one that I gobbled up in two sittings, letting myself travel to the lush world of Grace's Congo and view it through her child's eyes. Mainly, it's about the people and she stays away from political analysis. She tells her stories simply and creates an atmosphere, and brings the reader right into her world. If I have any criticism at all, it is that some of the characters appear in just one of the short stories and I wanted to hear more about them as the book went on. But, alas, this is a book of stories, not a novel. I loved this book; it was a small trip into a world that is now gone and which I will never get to know except for my reading. And it sure was an enjoyable journey. Recommended.

"Swimming in the Congo" by Margaret Meyers is a very good novel that reads like a collection of short stories. It is told in the first-person by a girl, daughter of missionary parents, growing up in the Belgian Congo, circa 1960. The stories are focused on the narrator and her memories of her parents and the local people (Congolese and ex-pats) in and near missionary communities. Issues the seven-year narrator deals with include the mix of American Protestant and African traditional beliefs she encounters; the meaning of the equator and scientific reality; and White racism towards the Congolese. Meyers' writing reads well and is easy to like. It would be interesting to see her story continued.

and although I grew up in Nigeria, during the 80's, this book brought back so many memories. Not only were her descriptions of the continent breathtakingly vivid, her pre-teen thoughts on subjects like the unforgivable sin and sexuality also brought back memories. There is more to being a missionary child in Africa than the "wildness" and Meyers captures the subtlties with grace and fluidity. Absolutely gorgeous.

This book is beautifully written with amazingly different images and descriptions. Myers really brings us into the Congo, and makes us believe that we too have felt the sun burning down while we swam across the rough river waters.