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An Elegy For Easterly: Stories (2009)

by Petina Gappah(Favorite Author)

3.8 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0865479062 (ISBN13: 9780865479067)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Faber & Faber

review 1: Really well written, but so depressing. There is humour, but it's very bleak, set against a backdrop of corruption, poverty, aids and infidelity. The worst thing for me about this book is that I know someone from Zimbabwe and remember the joy she had in the late 80s/early 90s. She now lives in economic exile in South Africa, because even for a Shona, the situation in Zimbabwe is too hard. This collection of stories reminded me that the people of Zimbabwe have been suffering for more than 20 years now. Depressing.
review 2: Fascinating stories about present-day Zimbabwe. The main characters are men, women, children, from all walks of life. Gappah is a great writer. The world she describes is really sad; this book lacks the uplifting faith of Baking Cakes in K... moreigali. But the book has great power. One especially heart-wrenching story was about a wedding, where the bridegroom clearly had AIDS. But no one wanted to say anything to the bride -- who must have known. Another talks about a man's longing for a "small house" (a woman outside his marriage), but wonders if such a relationship would devolve to be as boring as his marriage. And then there is the inflation -- 10,000 percent -- that is like a hidden enemy lurking in most of the tales, ruining people's lives. less

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