Customer Reviews

Walk good Guyana boy

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A parade of comic and unusual characters are presented in hilarious and dramatic episodes. Set in New Amsterdam and Georgetown, Guyana, the stories are written in colourful creole. Kite flying, medicine taking, school days and more, are presented against the backdrop of rapid political changes. Guranteeed to make you laugh and cry - Toronto Star. It might make a charming film - Margaret Watts Lecturer, The University of the West Indies. This novel evokes a disappearing way of life - Canadian Book Review Annual. Heydorn has used the comic mode to achieve the trgic vision which is the sociolinguistic richness that is Guyana - Amena Gafoor, Guyanese Literary Critic

I am probably a few years older than the author, Bernard Heydorn, but consider ust to be contemporaries in what, in those days, was British Guiana. I left Guyana in 1949 and have never returned--guess I didn't drink enough creek water, to use a Guayanese phrase. Some cousins and ex-Guyanese friends made me aware of Heydorn, and being an avid reader with an interest in Guyana, I decided to buy this book, which some close to him assert is highly biographical.

Many of the scenes in this "novel" remind me of scenes from my own boyhood days in Georgetown--going to church, the behaviour of priests, the confirmation ceremony, etc. It is in that way that the power of the book took hold of me for it reminded me of things I'd long forgotten. For me, that is the beauty of the book.

But even for those who have not lived in Guyana, they will surely find this book a fascinating read for it is so well written that you can't help getting caught up the events of the young boy who is the lead character in the story.