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The River Between

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Start date: December 1, 2020

Finish date: December 31, 2020

Discussion: 2020 Novella Tournament

Discussion leader: Christopher

Why we're reading this: December 2020 Novella Tournament
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2020 Novella Tournament

The Fifth Child (Dec. 2020 Novella Tournament)
By Christopher · 32 posts · 22 views

last updated Sep 09, 2021 10:17AM

Passing (Nov. 2020 Novella Tournament)
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last updated Mar 03, 2021 08:06AM

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What Members Thought

Dec 13, 2020 Irene rated it really liked it

This novella explores the riff created among a community in the area outside of Nairobi when they encounter European missionaries. Some embrace the European culture and religion and others regard any interaction with the whites as a betrayal of the community. Caught in the middle is a young man who wants his community to benefit from European education of their children while still retaining their ancient culture. This short book gave me a large insight into a moment in history in a world far fr ...more

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Dec 11, 2020 Petra rated it liked it

I found this story to be thought provoking. Colonialism divides the People. Those who convert leave the traditional ways behind. Those who remain true to the traditions find pressures to change. Resentments grow on all sides, all facets of all conflicts.

I found the main characters interesting, and also a bit confusing. I felt most sorry for Waiyaki. It seemed to me that his father took Waiyaki's choices and desires and, in a sense, his freedom away by giving him a task foretold by a vision as a I found this story to be thought provoking. Colonialism divides the People. Those who convert leave the traditional ways behind. Those who remain true to the traditions find pressures to change. Resentments grow on all sides, all facets of all conflicts.

I found the main characters interesting, and also a bit confusing. I felt most sorry for Waiyaki. It seemed to me that his father took Waiyaki's choices and desires and, in a sense, his freedom away by giving him a task foretold by a vision as a life mission, without fully explaining things or telling the rest of the Tribe about this decision. This leaves Waiyaki alone, confused, without choices of his own and having to give up desires of his own. He's looking for a road that he's not sure he'll recognize if he sees it and bypassing roads he does see. It's a difficult position to be put in.

The People feel the loss of tradition and fight to keep what they had/have. The author did a good job in showing that one cannot take away from a society without giving something back. It leaves a void that needs to be filled and takes away from the People's assurance & confidence. It leaves uncertainty and anger in its place.

A lot is said about female circumcision but little about male circumcision. Both acts are important to the Tribe for purity and the future. Yet it's the female circumcision that is more focussed on. In this story, the act is one of growth, of an internal growth that the individual feels. Taking this away, leaves a spiritual hole. Male circumcision is not questioned. Does this not leave men with the internal growth, while removing this growth from the women? This leaves women more vulnerable within the society. They cannot grow to their full potential.
Muthoni and Nyambura, like Waiyaki, also had their desires and choices removed from them by their father. This left them as confused and uncertain, in their way, as Waiyaki was. But these women were courageous. Each tried to find a way to their desires.

A very important story. I feel that more questions came my way than were answered and I look forward to exploring these issues more in future readings.
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Dec 10, 2020 Christopher rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, fiction, african

I've read some about colonialism and Christian missionaries in Africa (most recently in Mason & Dixon), but everything I've read previously dealt more with the direct actions of Europeans against Africans. So it was interesting to see the more indirect consequences and how the colonized are turned against each other. I don't think there was a single speaking part from a white person in this book, right? This is an important perspective to read.

Unfortunately, that's about as far as my praise goes ...more

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Dec 19, 2020 Lori rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-reviewed, pre-2000, fiction, zy-text, literature, roundtable, little-literary-novel, z-read-2020

I couldn't finish it. I really tried but every time I would start falling asleep, literally. I finally realized that I'm getting enough sleep, it's that the book is so boring. Way too much tell instead of show. I think the theme of European colonization of Africa from the Africans point of view is important, but it just doesn't work for me here. ...more

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