-
Eye Opener
“When our book club agreed on this book for our next selection, I thought, 'Oh great, another heart-rendering sob story about all the tragedies that have been visited upon Africa'. Boy, was I wrong. As I progressed into the book more and more facts about what truely has happened - at least in Zimbabwe and the countries in Southern Africa - over the past two decades - began to make that history quite clear. One of the facts that came out was that if development had been left to the ordinary person - white farmer - black worker - that Zimbabwe probably would be developing into the great country it looked like it would years ago. But, somehow, black, greedy, utterly violent egomaniacs took over with the result being a total disaster for this country. If you really are interested in what is happening in Africa read this book. It will open your mind.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-11-02.
” -
Devastating
“Devastating, haunting, beautiful.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-10-05.
If you've ever had a parents, if you've ever seen something you love go to bits, or if you've ever seen your roots grow distant, this book will speak to you. Regardless of the specific settings and circumstances of this book.
Having picked it up primarily to catch up on Zimbabwe (and it does a very good job of conveying that country's recent history, although it's obviously a memoir and not a detailed political study), I was soon hypnotized and drawn in by the human element - the memoir.
Beautifully, soulfully written - a real classic. ” -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
A beautifully written memoir brings light to darkness.
“This memoir, about the son of white British parents who grows up in Africa, is superbly written. While Mr. Godwin has written other memoirs of his earlier years, this one focuses on his adulthood. As a journalist now living in America, he takes as many writing assignments as possible that will allow him to travel back to Africa to see his now-aging parents. Zimbabwe is in terrible turmoil, and this is the thrust of the memoir--how this turmoil impacts his parents, who still live there, and everyone else in the country who is not on the side in power.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-09-14.
There is so much ugliness in what he's writing about--civil war, ruthless leaders, corrupt government, rapes, beatings, and injustices that we in America can't even imagine but, somehow, what I came away with was not ugly at all--it was the tenacity of these people to survive it all, and to do so with dignity.
It is a testament to Mr. Godwin's marvelous writing that, in a story of such unspeakable brutality and injustice, my takeaway was positive. It is also a testament to the author's parents, and his relationship with them, which was empowering enough to help balance the tragedy.
Yes, there are times that his prose gets a bit too flowery, his analogies a bit too clichéd, and the story moves slowly (especially in the first half), but these are only minor criticisms and not ones that distracted me substantially from enjoying this marvelous memoir. Highly recommended.” -
Accurate Description of Zimbabwe's Tragedy
“Peter Godwin has consistently written accurate assessments of Zimbabwe's hopes and tragedies. His writing is always flavored with vivid descriptions of the land and its people. He offers numerous perspectives on how things have gone so horribly wrong in the country - despite many people's best intentions to address the injustices of the past. He doesn't pull any punches on how the country's Dictator, Robert Mugabe, has single-handedly brought this once-properous nation to its knees economically. The old blisters of greed, nepotism and the almost complete breakdown of an independent judiciary system - sanctioned by the country's leader - have reduced Zimbabwe to being one of the poorest countries in the world with the highest inflation rate. I find Godwin's writings on Zimbabwe particularly credible - because unlike so may writers who cover the region - he was raised there and has an intricate knowledge of where the country has been (the war of Independence in the 1970s); how it progressed - briefly, and where it is today. His vast pool of knowledge (gained from numerous visits back to the country) has resulted in this engaging and personal story of Godwin's relationship with his parents, and the tragedy of their demise in a country that they love dearly. The chapters on the illegal farm take-overs - from hard-working people who have kept the Zimbabwean population alive with the fruits of their labor - highlight the counter-productive route that Robert Mugabe has sanctioned. I found this book well worth a read and factually accurate. ”
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-09-12. -
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
Interesting but a little tiresome
“This was both very interesting and rather tiresome.
An amazon user wrote this on 2009-08-17.
It's a memoir, not a history book, so it's to be expected that it emphasizes the writer's perspective and feelings more than the facts of what was going on. Godwin's writing style is sensitive but mercifully not too prone to histrionics.
Nevertheless--and I realize the irony of this being written by a white American--it is hard to feel too sympathetic towards white Zimbabwean colonists and what sounds like an insular, patronizing, big-fish-in-a-small-pond culture of entitlement. The white farmers we meet in the book all seem to have large landholdings, pools, maids, gardeners, legions of dependent farm workers, and spiny sisal hedges to serve as " . . . barrier[s:] against the huddled masses outside, reinforcing it until they have judged it impregnable . . ." Godwin's parents sound like out-of-touch small-town aristocracy; his mother still refers to Ethiopians as "Abyssinians" and has never seen a pull-tab Coke can. Whites are routinely offered kindnesses above-and-beyond by poorer blacks, and Godwin acknowledges these but never quite seems to grasp them as the product of colonialism.
Everything I can find claims that whites were about 1% of the population but owned 70% of the land. And they didn't see a revolt coming? Seriously?
Godwin also discovers partway into the book that his father was actually a Polish Jew who lost his mother and sister to the Nazis, instead of a Briton, and, although he doesn't say so explicitly, seems anxious to parallel this sad family history with the next generation's expulsion from Zimbabwe. It doesn't quite work, though, since Jews in Europe weren't a tiny, recently-arrived, ruling caste with a death grip on the national economy.”
