Ngugi wa Thiong'o. (2010). Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o. 2010. Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2010.

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   • fileAs: wa Thiong'o, Ngugi
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     Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. His books include Wizard of the Crow, Petals of Blood, Devil on the Cross, and Decolonising the Mind.

   • name: Ngugi wa Thiong'o

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Dreams in a Time of War

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Born in 1938 in rural Kenya, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o came of age in the shadow of World War II, amidst the terrible bloodshed in the war between the Mau Mau and the British. The son of a man whose four wives bore him more than a score of children, young Ngũgĩ displayed what was then considered a bizarre thirst for learning, yet it was unimaginable that he would grow up to become a world-renowned novelist, playwright, and critic.
 
In Dreams in a Time of War, Ngũgĩ deftly etches a bygone era, bearing witness to the social and political vicissitudes of life under colonialism and war. Speaking to the human right to dream even in the worst of times, this rich memoir of an African childhood abounds in delicate and powerful subtleties and complexities that are movingly told.

reviews

1. • premium: False
   • source: The Boston Globe
   • content:

     "A testament to the resilience of youth and the strength of hope. . . . Vividly evokes the colonial era as experienced by Africans, and the resulting clash of cultures that produced one of the most significant African writers of our time. . . . Ngũgĩ's greatest literary achievement in this book is to re-create, with almost uncanny success, how the world looked through mid-century African eyes."

2. • premium: False
   • source: The Washington Post
   • content: "Eye-opening. . . . The work Ngũgĩ offers us here is like nothing that's gone before. . . . There is a startling similarity between [Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father] and . . . Ngũgĩ's eye-opening memoir. . . . It is admirably free of cant or sentimentality, and yet it is enough to make you weep."
3. • premium: False
   • source: Christian Science Monitor
   • content: "Startling, vivid. . . . Inspiring. . . . Whether recalling joyful or challenging times, Ngũgĩ displays a plainspoken yet beautiful prose style. . . . Ngũgĩ's inspiring story is a testament to his extraordinary resilience and stubborn refusal to surrender his dreams."
4. • premium: False
   • source: The Guardian (London)
   • content: "Absorbing. . . . Infused with a child's curiosity and wonder, this book is deeply touching in its revelation of a whole community's stake in nurturing a writer."
5. • premium: False
   • source: Los Angeles Times
   • content: "Gives its readers an unforgettable sense of another time, a country and a continent in the middle of change. A small child learns to hold onto his dreams, even in a time of war."
6. • premium: False
   • source: Richmond Times Dispatch
   • content: "Luminously evokes Kenya on the cusp of independence. . . . [This] memoir is suffused with affecting evocations of time and place, as well as a touching reminder that dreams can come true."
7. • premium: False
   • source: Irish Times
   • content: "Ngũgĩ has been a key figure in Kenya's modern history, both as a writer and as a model for political engagement, and his three-volume memoir will serve as an important record of the country and the life."
8. • premium: False
   • source: Booklist
   • content: "Crisp, clearly told. . . . A fascinating look at twentieth-century African history, but also a moving intellectual odyssey in which Ngũgĩ learns to revere both modernity and tradition but to reserve a healthy skepticism of both."
9. • premium: False
   • source: The Spectator
   • content: "Ngũgĩ has returned to his roots to produce something delicate, fresh and scrupulously honest."
10. • premium: False
    • source: The Scotsman
    • content: "Richly drawn. . . . A coming-of-age tale, gripping, endearing, shocking and funny by turns. . . . The surprise about Dreams in a Time of War is that, for all the provocation of history, and for all its clear-eyed evocation of an agonised time, it is not an angry book. . . . Ngũgĩ's storyteller's instinct for character and place, for recurring motifs and telling symbols, triumphs over the bleakness of background."
11. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content:

      March 22, 2010
      Celebrated African author and activist Thiong'o tells no ordinary coming-of-age tale. The fifth child of his father's third wife—one of an extended family whose collective experiences range from rural farming and carpentry to WWII rifleman—Ngugi skillfully recounts the challenges and calamities of growing up in British-occupied Kenya. Born in 1938, he recalls a boyhood framed by his pursuit of education (he had a unspoken pact with his mother to always do his best) and by his developing awareness of nationalist politics. Through teachers and local storytellers he hears of such world figures as Winston Churchill, Jomo Kenyatta, and Jesse Owens; at home he eventually discovers that within his own family there are both Mau Mau rebels and colonial sympathizers. Tensions between tradition and modernity, a theme Ngugi explored in his first novel, 1964's Weep Not Child
      ), become apparent in his fascination with the Old Testament and Christianity, and his fear when he is interrogated by military authorities. For readers, sequential time surrenders to a sense of narrative and an engaging humanity.

12. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content:

      January 21, 2010
      Man Booker International Prize nominee Thiong'o (Wizard of the Crow) here tells the story of growing up in Kenya under the shadow of two wars: World War II (in which Kenya, a colony of Great Britain, fought with the Allies) and later, Kenya's brutal fight for independence from Great Britain in the 1950s. His is a compelling, strange world: Thiong'o is the fifth child of his father's third wife, and the cast of characters around him is a diverse and mesmerizing bunch. The problem is Thiong'o sometimes breaks the cardinal rule of show, don't tell. Nor is he always successful at weaving the historical into his own personal narrative. He's best when he shares glimpses from his everyday life. Uneven but still an interesting glimpse of life in long-ago Kenya. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/09.]-Tania Barnes, Brooklyn, NY

      Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

13. • premium: True
    • source:
    • content:

      February 15, 2010
      When Ngugi is accepted into an elite high school in Kenya, worried about where to get a pair of shoes, his brother is a Mau Mau guerrilla in the mountains. The world-renowned Kenyan writer looks back at his growing up in the 1950s in this crisp, clearly told memoir, which evokes the rising African nationalism of the era in all its conflict and complexity. The many fans of Ngugis fiction will feel the truth of the young mans viewpoint and applaud his blasting of stereotypes about the country the whites had discovered. Marcus Garvey is Ngugis inspiration, both for his sense of self-reliance and for his ideas about nationalism versus the missionary and colonial projects, which always assumed the fragility of the African mind. He remembers settler newspapers that portray terrorist massacre without rhyme or reason while the freedom fighters have no media to voice their side. A fascinating look at twentieth-century African history, but also a moving intellectual odyssey in which Ngugi learns to revere both modernity and tradition but to reserve a healthy skepticism of both.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

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In Dreams in a Time of War, Ngũgĩ deftly etches a bygone era, bearing witness to the social and political vicissitudes of life under colonialism and war. Speaking to the human right to dream even in the worst of times, this rich memoir of an African childhood abounds in delicate and powerful subtleties and complexities that are movingly told.

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