Man of the Hour

This is a story of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, played out in New York several decades later. It’s the story of the Hamdy family, parents that left the Middle East to begin life in America, mother that held on to her traditional Muslim beliefs and even killing herself to avoid further humiliation, the father that married an American woman afterward and wanted to live in peace; the bitter son Nasser who slowly got entangled with terrorists, and the bright and beautiful first daughter Elizabeth. It is the story of Arabs in America, the ones for peace, and the ones for revolt by violent means as a way of communicating their resentment at America’s support for their perceived oppressor, Israel.

It is also the story of teenagers growing up and attending high school, being taught to think for themselves and make decisions on their own by their teacher, David Fitzgerald. It is the story that examines the nature and meaning of being a hero. And it is a story that throws up the issue of divorce and the fight for custody of kids. Very thrilling to read.

September 3, 2015. Review initially written in 2011. Novel first published in 1999 by Little, Brown and Company; this Warner Books edition being published in 2000, ISBN 0-446-60541-7.

Orimili

A philosophical Igbo cultural story set mainly in the 1940’s. The main character Orimili took this name from a nearby river in the town. He was hardworking and probably among the wealthiest, but his application to join the ozo society governing the town met with some resistance, the stated reason being that his great-grandfather had come to the town from somewhere and not born there. Because of this he’d always wanted to do things to root his family properly in the town.

The decision of his son to marry in Britain without his permission—after he’d begun arrangements to marry his friend’s daughter for him—turned his life upside down. The ozo title was however given to his son as an honor for being the first foreign-educated in the town and more-so being a politician.
It is rather a slow-paced story with page-long paragraphs, 90% thought and 10% action. The use of gods to explain life in the traditional society sometimes appeared too ridiculous. There seemed to be a god for almost everything—the land, river, crops, etc.

August 31, 2015. Review initially written in 1998. Novel originally published in 1991. Picture source: Google Images.

An Error of Judgment

This novel centers around a doctor of a broken marriage who is convinced there’s something bad about him, deep down, an urge to destroy. He tries to run away from himself, first by quitting medical practice, where he sees himself as enjoying the destruction of disease. He becomes a consultant and sets up a night club for lonely people. Again he quits this, feeling he might have been motivated by the same need to cause harm and enjoy pain.

A lifeline plot revolves around the murder of an old drunk woman by three teenagers one night. Afterwards there is a new young “patient” in Setter’s club. Initially Setter suspects him of knowing something about the murder. Later, he is convinced that Sammy was the one who did the most in killing the woman. He pays close attention to Sammy and then gets him to confess his act. He does not inform the authorities, however takes it upon himself to wield judgment—death. First he takes Sammy to France so that Sammy could enjoy himself. He tests Sammy further and realizes that Sammy has no conscience, has no dreams, and could kill again in the right circumstances. He then carries out judgment by advising Sammy to take a certain amount of alcoholic drink and a certain amount of his doctor’s prescription, that he would feel better the next morning. Sammy follows his advice and is discovered dead the next morning.

August 31, 2015. Review initially written in 1992. Novel first published in 1962. Picture source: Google Images.

Mayombe

Pepetela is the pen-name of Artur Pestana, or Artur Carlos Mauricio dos Santos. He was a half-caste Angolan who participated in the liberation struggle of the MPLA (People’s Movement for the liberation of Angola) in the early 1970s. This tale was based on his experience of the struggle. The original version in Portuguese was translated in 1983 into English by Michael Wolfers.

The story highlights the exploitation at the bottom of liberation struggles, and brings about the personalities of the types of people that take part in the liberation struggle, told mostly in third person, with first-person snapshots of the thinking of the key characters: Theory who is half-white and in the struggle to prove his commitment to the black people; Struggle the only person from the Cabinda area whose people were generally seen as traitors. Fearless the commander from the Kikongo tribe, who has grown into an old man of war at thirty-five seeing no role for himself once the struggle was won. The Political Commissar who was Kimbundu and under the shadow of the commander until the commander decides not to wade into his sexual problems with Ondine and then starts resenting him. And so on.

The plot is short, two missions from a base in the Mayombe forests interspersed with the scandal of a leader comrade (Andre) being found out after he’d had sex with a female comrade (Ondine) in the bush at Dolisie. But it generally draws out the play of tribalism within the members of the group, the distrust and arguments about tribal domination and past conquests. During the second and last mission, the commander and Struggle are killed but more in an effort to defend the position of the Commissar: A Cabinda and a Kikongo died to save a Kimbundu. So the message was clear that tribalism was a problem to be discouraged among the African peoples.

August 26, 2015. Review initially written in 2005. Novel first published in 1980. Picture source: Google Images.