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Dreams In A Time Of War: A Childhood Memoir (2010)

by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0307378837 (ISBN13: 9780307378835)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Pantheon

review 1: Kenya's most prolific writer explores his childhood between the end of the 2nd world war and the period of the state of emergency in colonial Kenya. He lived not far from where my dad was born and so it was interesting hearing of familiar places in strange times, in the 50's. It is definitely worth a read as it is not just some random reminiscing but draws out some of the complexities of Gikuyu culture in the face of big clashes with colonial education, changing social and ethnic landscape, new Christian missions, and the rising resistance to the tyranny of colonial administration. There are many excellent tales and anecdotes that show the nature of those times and also Ngugi's formation as a great storyteller. One such tale of one family member going into the bushes to jo... morein the guerrilla movement and another working for the colonial police force and by chance meeting on the road, creating a moment of heightened tension, show how despite the fractures war cause to families, it is the strength of those family ties that protect its members no matter which side they are fighting for.
review 2: This book tells a beautiful tale of a child's emergence into adulthood in the midst of poverty, family politics and the colonial tensions against the nationalistic Kenyan movement. But I do not see the dirt, unrest and disaster in this book; rather, the soft memories of family intimacy, the hope for a future with education, and the play among school kids echo. This book is about resilience of dreams that must grow up in conditions too hard to tell. Thank you, ngugi, for sharing your story with us. less

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