Mention Books To A Grain of Wheat
| Original Title: | A Grain of Wheat |
| ISBN: | 0435909878 (ISBN13: 9780435909871) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | East Africa |
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Paperback | Pages: 247 pages Rating: 3.83 | 3864 Users | 257 Reviews
Representaion As Books A Grain of Wheat
Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952–1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested.
Identify Of Books A Grain of Wheat
| Title | : | A Grain of Wheat |
| Author | : | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 247 pages |
| Published | : | January 1st 1994 by Heinemann Educational Books (first published 1967) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Africa. Eastern Africa. Kenya. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literature. African Literature. Classics |
Rating Of Books A Grain of Wheat
Ratings: 3.83 From 3864 Users | 257 ReviewsPiece Of Books A Grain of Wheat
All along I avoided reading writers who use the stream of unconsciousness , but this one couldn't but finish it.. and I seriously have no idea how I have .. I really hated the book and loved it at the same time .. it is a wide door , a huge one to the African Lit , and Civ .. the mere description of their lives , made me want to visit Kenya. Wa thiong'o is such a great writer , and I loved his philosophy , I loved how he made me as an Algerian reader , believe in the black power over the WhitmanA masterpiece. The characters are sharply drawn and the plot is indisputably powerful. I am very moved by the depth of characterization (helped along by the seamless omniscient point of view; this gently reminds readers of the inner struggles, innate morality, and complexity of even the characters (and/or actions) we are initially eager to hate. Perhaps I'm oversimplifying something that I don't understand fully, but I would say that the thrust of Ngugi's argument is that the political situation
It took me a while to digest this book after I finished reading it because like many others have mentioned it contains many interwoven stories and the novel uses a lot of flashback. Also, I was just not quite sure what the grain of wheat, whose produce could not be predicted at the time of planting, was exactly. I finally decided that it was the State of the Emergency. With that the novel portrays the different effects that the State of Emergency in Kenya from 1952-1959, had on different people
A Grain of Wheat is a novel about the inhabitants of a village in Kenya in 1963 in the last few days before the celebrations for Uhuru that is, Kenyan independence. It was originally published in 1967, so the material was completely current at the time, although after finishing it that I read in the introduction that Ngũgĩ revised A Grain of Wheat in 1987, to make the world outlook of his peasants more in line with his ideas of the historical triumph of the oppressed.and thatNgũgĩ has said of
Two Hearts(are better than one?)I could start with two quotes, words spoken by two characters in two very different dialogues:Which of us does not carry a weight in the heart? And:Strike terror in the heart of the oppressor.A Grain of Wheat, 1967: we are just a few years from the end of colonial rule (the day of proclamation of the independence of Kenya is December 12, 1963) and there is nothing celebratory.Indeed, the dominant theme is betrayal, ubiquitous in all its meanings and ramifications.
I went into this novel comparing it to Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, which in spite of its many rave reviews I found to be relatively underwhelming. In my opinion, A Grain of Wheat was much better, but also very different.The structure and style of A Grain of Wheat is certainly more complex and underscores Ngũgĩ's experience and education with western literature. Additionally, he includes a white colonial perspective on Kenya's independence, and while this view isn't as clearly developed as
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