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I didn‘t appreciate this as much as I feel I should have. Historical fiction in war (WWI) and post-war Africa. Amazing writing, but not my typical read. Read for my country challenge.

#Tanzania #ReadtheWorld2025

Set in the early 1900's in Kenya & Tanzania, we witness the invasion of the Germans and later the British.

There were parts of this I was totally absorbed in, while some chapters I struggled through. Some characters were really well done and interesting, while others flat and didn't really have a role anywhere.

Now reaching the end, I really like this story (which has been a theme for me with this author's work).

A revealing story set during the era of German & English colonization in East Africa. It‘s a bit of history I knew nothing about, yet felt sadly familiar as European colonizers committed many of the same crimes everywhere they landed. My favorite parts of the narrative though, were the small details and “everyday” interactions of the characters, the lives they were able to build during & despite the wars, occupations & depressions of the time.

A bit of a middling read for me. I like books about history, and found the historical context about Deutsch-Ostafrika interesting. However, the content about the historical context wasn‘t woven effectively into the fictional narrative for me. This made it hard for me to connect to the characters, and to keep track of the narrative and what it was trying to say. In spite of this, there‘s some solid writing here.

One of the largely forgotten horrors of WWI was the destruction in Africa. The British and German African mercenaries fought bitterly for their colonial bosses, destroying each other and everything in their path. Afterlives is a paced look into this (and, of course, the “afterlives”). It‘s very moving but also odd in ways, especially how carefully it‘s crafted and yet how slow it moves. On audio, I thoroughly enjoyed this and all the characters.

New audiobook. So far is a perfect follow-up to George Saunders lessons in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. And rebellious German controlled eastern Africa is an interesting background.

4.5 ⭐#ReadingAfrica2022 #Tanzania 🇹🇿
Despite feeling quite emotional as I finished the book, something held me back from a full 5⭐ rating. I think it's Gurnah's occasional zooming out, looking at the lives of his characters from above, & taking a sweep of years in a few paragraphs, before zooming back into their hearts & minds. Nothing about it is bad, but it just lifted me out of the emotional intimacy he is excellent at, & for that moment👇🏼

The Financial Times reviewer felt the first pages of this book were "assured", whereas I felt I was pushing at a heavy, resistant door, behind which I suspected was something I wanted to see, but which I couldn't get to. Thankfully, after about 33 pages, I felt admitted in, and now at page 72 I'm settling down and am engaged.
Music tonight courtesy of BBC Radio 3's chilled out Night Tracks programme ?

My third book for #ReadingAfrica2022 is set in colonial #Tanzania 🇹🇿 in the late-19th/early-20th century. Knowing something of the awful colonial history of Britain (despite the utter void of information about it in my state education), it will be interesting to learn more about the German Empire's doings, which I imagine will not be dissimilar in awfulness.
Gurnah is another Nobel Laureate, so I'm hoping for something special.