Great African Reads discussion

In the spirit of being organised, let's gather some ideas on what we may want to read when we stop over in Namibia in May & June this year.

Here are some ideas to get things started; feel free to suggest other books!

fiction
The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas
Morenga by Uwe Timm
Mama Namibia by Mari Serebrov

non-fiction
Never Follow The Wolf: The Autobiography Of A Namibian Freedom Fighter by Helao Shityuwete (not sure how accessible this one is)
The Skeleton Coast: A journey through the Namib Desert by Benedict Allen
Soul of a Lion: One Woman's Quest to Rescue Africa's Wildlife Refugees by Barbara Bennett

Yay, another opportunity to come up with a reading list! As you can tell, I love doing this. BTW - this is an extremely well-organized group :)

Born of the Sun A Namibian Novel by Joseph Diescho

I second the Helao Shityuwete book, though I wonder how difficult it might be to find? Actually I second all the books Muphyn listed :)

Lost White Tribes The End of Privilege and the Last Colonials in Sri Lanka Jamaica Brazil Haiti Namibia and Guadeloupe by Ricardo Orizio. Interesting premise - bizarre constellations of power, geography and race.

Place of Stunted Ironwood Trees A Year in the Life of the Cattle-Herding Himba of Namibia by David P. Crandall. This book seems to be an old-school ethnography, making the 'strange' familiar. Maybe too boring for a group read? On the other hand, this is the tribe that is featured in that 'Babies' documentary - has anyone else seen that? (Babies Movie Trailer)

The Bushman Myth The Making of a Namibian Underclass by Robert Gordon and Stuart Sholto-Douglas. An interesting anthropological study on how the people identified as 'bushmen' were constructed as such based on a sociological idea (i.e. the 'pure primitive'), and the devastating consequences for them because of this. I kind of wonder how much the Crandall book falls into the traps that Gordon and Sholto-Douglas outline.

Lucinda wrote: "Yay, another opportunity to come up with a reading list! As you can tell, I love doing this. BTW - this is an extremely well-organized group :)..."

Oh, Lucinda, me too!!! :D Bring on reading lists, I say! :D (And thanks, but you obviously weren't here last year ;) , I was soooo NOT organised, though Marieke did an absolutely awesome job keeping it all together, no mean feat!)

Thanks for your suggestions, great work!

Well...um...I tended to be tardy in things! But 2014 will be better! If a new member thinks we are organized, I am inspired to stay organized!Thanks, Lucinda! :D

Marieke wrote: "Well...um...I tended to be tardy in things! But 2014 will be better! If a new member thinks we are organized, I am inspired to stay organized!Thanks, Lucinda! :D"

But you still kept it all together!! :D I just drowned and vanished... :( But here we are again, full of energy and renewed organisation skills! ;)

Muphyn wrote: "In the spirit of being organised, let's gather some ideas on what we may want to read when we stop over in Namibia in May & June this year.

Here are some ideas to get things started; feel free to ..."

Nice list but not many are available to me - especially the Andreas book that I want to read.

Lucinda wrote: "Yay, another opportunity to come up with a reading list! As you can tell, I love doing this. BTW - this is an extremely well-organized group :)

Born of the Sun A Namibian Novel by J..."

Another nice list!

I have The Lost White Tribes and while I enjoyed the premise of the book and the information - I am not quite sure if there is enough about Namibia make it a book about Namibia. But if others say it is I am fine.

Here is a couple of other:

The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo by Peter Orner

Talk about stories never told. Larry Kaplanski from Cincinnati is a volunteer teacher in a small, rough all-boys Catholic school in the Namibian desert in 1991, just after independence. He shares a shack with colleagues and is in love with beautiful Mavala Shikongo, who is a kindergarten teacher and veteran guerilla fighter from the antiapartheid "struggle." The weight of the brutal colonial and apartheid past is always there, but the freedom story is never reverential, and the taut vignettes, anguished and sometimes hilarious, are about ordinary people now. The novel is more situation than story, but there are scenes that will stay with you forever: the three illegal refugee children from across the border, who only want school, and then are gone after three days; the drought stories; the fence building (Why? How?); the farce of the Cincinnati community that sends an old broken piano "for the adorable little school somewhere in deepest Africa." Orner, a prizewinning short story writer, has lived in Namibia, and his debut novel brings close those far from the centers of power

Histories of Namibia: Living Through the Liberation Struggle by Colin Leys

When Namibia gained its independence in 1990 after 23 years of war, most of the eleven Namibians whose life histories make up this book were in their mid-thirties. To that point their whole adult lives had been lived in the struggle, more than half of them in exile. Few of them owned anything. None held prominent jobs. Most had endured hardship, hunger, sickness and fear, and witnessed terrible cruelty and suffering. All had lost family members or friends. Yet their outlook was triumphant and optimistic and their stories are full of enthusiasm, energy, determination and purpose. When you read their stories you are not surprised that they have since become well known in their chosen fields. Yet when they told these stories most of them were not well known. They just happened to be people we came to know and like in the course of our work (Brown as a journalist and development consultant, Leys as a social science researcher) and whom we asked if they would tell us their stories. They tell a story of a country as a whole during those years, a story of how a whole generation matured in the struggle, becoming skilled, disciplined, cosmopolitan and tough.

Wow. Namibia did not get independence until 1990? I'm not sure I ever realized that.

Marieke wrote: "Wow. Namibia did not get independence until 1990? I'm not sure I ever realized that."

Well, independence from South Africa. It was a German colony until the end of WWI and then was handed over to South Africa I think. I would definitely enjoy reading some non-fiction on this subject because I haven't quite been able to wrap my head around all the dynamics with the Angolan Bush war and the Cold War context (I think they received support from Cuba?).
Anyways, Beverly has added some great books to the potential list! I might be doing some side reads :)

Lucinda wrote: "Marieke wrote: "Wow. Namibia did not get independence until 1990? I'm not sure I ever realized that."

Well, independence from South Africa. It was a German colony until the end of WWI and then was..."

Maybe this book will be of interest

A History of Namibia: From the Beginning to 1990 by Marion Wallace

Thanks for your suggestions, Beverly! I'll set up the poll in the next few days.

I found there is one fiction publisher in Namibia http://www.wordweaverpublishing.com/b... and on fb at https://www.facebook.com/WordweaverPu...

Sheila wrote: "I found there is one fiction publisher in Namibia http://www.wordweaverpublishing.com/b... and on fb at https://www.facebook.com/WordweaverPu..."

Thanks for this info

You guys are making my to-read list sooo long

Haha, I know. This group is really bad for that, Zanna. :D

I love it = )

Sorry, dropped the ball here. :(

Got the list of 5 random books from the suggestions together now. The poll will get up in a second as well.

The Skeleton Coast: A journey through the Namib Desert
Morenga
Soul of a Lion: One Woman's Quest to Rescue Africa's Wildlife Refugees
Mama Namibia
The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo

Don't be sorry! You do a lot here and we're grateful ; )

Valerie wrote: "Don't be sorry! You do a lot here and we're grateful ; )"

Aww, thanks, Valerie! :D

Hi all!

Looking forward to this read and learning something about Namibia. As luck would have it, I was watching HGTV this morning and House Hunters International was focusing on a couple moving to Namibia. There is some footage of Windhoek and, of course, some houses there.

http://www.hgtv.com/video/finally-tog...

Cool, thanks for the link, Valerie!! (And that reminds me, I haven't mentioned who the winner is for our Namibia stopover, oops...)

So the winner for our Namibia stopover as part of the Tour d'Afrique is Mama Namibia ! Happy reading!!

Oooh I want to read that, but neither of my libraries has it :(

It's available on kindle, if that helps ;)

Alas, no. I pretty much stick to dead-tree books. I'll have to experience it vicariously through discussion here :)

I think I'm going to be in the same boat, Liralen. Maybe I can get it as an inter-library loan, but probably not. :(

Don't forget about side reads if you want to visit Namibia but can't/don't want to read the official selection! :)

Huh, of course!!! Thanks, Marieke, I had totally forgotten about that! :D

I plan to read "Mama." Anyone else?

Have just started it!

Awesome! I'll get it from Kindle and start reading!

I will also get the kindle book; seems the easiest thing to do!

As I just can't get hold of our Namibia book 'Mama Namibia' (seriously, is that a good title or what?! :) ), I've decided to read Morenga instead as a side read.

Is anybody else planning on doing a side read, either in addition to 'Mama Namibia' or instead of it?

I'll set up threads for the official read + side reads shortly.

I might read The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo or (more likely) Soul of a Lion: One Woman's Quest to Rescue Africa's Wildlife Refugees -- they're the two I know I can get. (Incidentally, I think I have The Lion's Eye: Seeing in the Wild -- haven't read either yet, but I keep getting that and Soul of a Lion confused!)

Cool!

I'm still tossing up whether I just set up one thread for all the side reads so we can kind of share our experiences and thoughts on the side read books together. Thoughts?

I am interested in reading Mama Namibiaand then reading The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo- as each features a woman to tell the story so interested to see how the voices/events changes as they take place in different time periods - still fighting for freedom.

I've submitted an inter-library loan request for Mama Namibia but I'm not hopeful.

I've started on the book. Finding it a quick read.

Great! I'll set up the thread RIGHT NOW or I'll forget again. :)

Muphyn wrote: "As I just can't get hold of our Namibia book 'Mama Namibia' (seriously, is that a good title or what?! :) ), I've decided to read Morenga instead as a side read.

Is anybody else plan..."

Hi - I couldn't get Mama Namibia either, but did get Morenga - it looks like quite a book to tackle, so I would definitely benefit from reading it with someone else... :)

You guys are killing me. I want to read that, too!

Haha, we do what we can, Marieke!! ;)

Awesome, Lucinda, company will be great! My copy is on its way now and hopefully it'll arrive sooner rather than later.

I am going to give The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo a try since my public library owns a copy.

Ardene wrote: "I am going to give The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo a try since my public library owns a copy."

Cool! Feel free to post your thoughts in the side-reads discussion (once I actually manage to set it up! ;) )

Just an update, I'm about 50% through "Mama." I find that it gets better and better. I'm enjoying the two perspectives - Harero girl and German doctor - very much.

Hey Valerie, feel free to post your thoughts on the discussion thread (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...), sounds like it's definitely worth a read! (Wishing I had a copy!!)

Mama Namibia e-book is available on Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook pretty cheap, like around 8 bucks. I downloaded it and now I am anxious to get started.

I don't think anyone has posted this? African Books Collective have joined up with a Swiss publishing house that produces mostly scholarly books on Namibia

http://www.africanbookscollective.com...

Zanna, that link is brilliant! Thank you!

Now if only my library had more of these books...