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djsgaelic1972
Getting comfortable
Joined: 17 Jan 2008
Posts: 7
Gender: 
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 Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:15 am Post subject: African authors
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The Joseph Conrad book that is set for Feb./Mar. is a ggod example of an author who deals with colonialism.
Authors I have read and enjoyed:
Nadine Gordimer
Chinua Achebe
J.M. Coetzee
Okot P'Bitek
Any of these authors books are mezmerizing in their ability to take the reader inside and let them join in the story. |
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irishrosem 
Doctorate
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 536
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| Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:06 pm Post subject:
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| Djsgaelic, I’ve only read Achebe and a bit of Coetzee. Actually, perhaps we should consider choosing an African author for our next official booktalk selection. It could make for a nice progression from Heart of Darkness. And it doesn’t seem as though any one book suggestion in that thread has garnered a lot of attention. Do you have any good suggestions of books by African authors that can lead to some nice literary discussion, Dj? |
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djsgaelic1972
Getting comfortable
Joined: 17 Jan 2008
Posts: 7
Gender:
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| Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject: African authors
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| I took a decolonizing education class in college and it featured a wide variety of international authors. My favorites tended to be the african authors. |
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jales4
Intern
Joined: 10 Oct 2007
Posts: 162
Gender:
Location: Northern Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:13 pm Post subject:
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Hi,
I have read and enjoyed:
Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography--The True Story of a Black Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa This book was banned for many years. In Africa, kaffir is an offensive word for a black person, similar to our n-word.
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| In this powerful account of growing up black in South Africa, a young writer makes us feel intensely the horrors of apartheid. Living illegally in a shanty outside Johannesburg, Johannes (renamed Mark) Mathabane and his illiterate family endured the heartbreak and hopelessness of poverty and the violence of sadistic police and marauding gangs. He describes his drunken father's attempts to inculcate his tribal beliefs and to prevent his son from getting an educationthe one means by which he might escape from the ghetto. Encouraged by his determined mother and grandmother, Mathabane taught himself to read English and play tennis, and, through the assistance of U.S. tennis star Stan Smith and his own efforts and intelligence, obtained a tennis scholarship from a South Carolina college in 1978. |
And
Tandia by Bryce Courtenay (currently out-of-print but surely available in libraries)
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| Tandia is a child of all Africa: half Indian, half African, beautiful and intelligent, she is only sixteen when she is first brutalised by the police. Her fear of the white man leads her to join the black resistance movement, where she trains as a terrorist. With her in the fight for justice is the one white man Tandia can trust, the welterweight champion of the world, Peekay. Now he must fight their common enemy in order to save both their lives. |
And
The Power of One, also by Bryce Courtenay.
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"First with your head and then with your heart . . ." So says Hoppie Groenewald, boxing champion, to a seven-year-old boy who dreams of being the welterweight champion of the world.
For the young Peekay, it is a piece of advice he will carry with him throughout his life. Born in a South Africa divided by racism and hatred, this one small boy will come to lead all the tribes of Africa. Through enduring friendships with Hymie and Gideon, Peekay gains the strength he needs to win out. And in a final conflict with his childhood enemy, the Judge, Peekay will fight to the death for justice. |
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irishrosem
Doctorate
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 536
Gender:
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject:
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| Jales wrote: |
| This book was banned for many years. |
Jales, was this banned in South Africa. Or was it banned elsewhere too? |
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jales4
Intern
Joined: 10 Oct 2007
Posts: 162
Gender:
Location: Northern Canada
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:55 pm Post subject:
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Hi Rose,
I just did a bit of research and found that the American Library Association has it on their list of Most Challenged Books 1990 - 1999. It is #33 on their list.
It also shows up on Amazon.com and Powells.com in their 'banned books' section.
It was banned from most high school libraries, mostly due to the passage in which men offer young boys a trade of food for sex. |
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irishrosem
Doctorate
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 536
Gender:
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 2:12 pm Post subject:
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| Gee jales, thanks for the research. I'm always intrigued by banned books. 1990-99--Sheesh. |
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MadArchitect
Joined: 14 Nov 2004
Posts: 2609
Gender: 
Location: decentralized
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| Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject:
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| I've been meaning to read "Things Fall Apart" for some time now, and I wouldn't mind having a discussion group to read along with. But I don't see any particular reason to wait for the next reading period. If anyone else is interested and can find the time, why don't we make it an ad hoc, additional reading? Later on, we can compare the Africa of "Thing Fall Apart" to the Africa of "The Heart of Darkness". |
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irishrosem
Doctorate
Joined: 19 Oct 2006
Posts: 536
Gender:
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| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:02 am Post subject:
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| I read Things Fall Apart too long ago to remember enough to contribute. But I’d definitely try to fit in a reread if it were made an official unofficial discussion. |
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WildCityWoman
Graduate Student
Joined: 13 Jan 2008
Posts: 418
Gender: 
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| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject: Two by the same author . . .
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| Purple Hibiscus and Half a Yellow Sun - absolute gems, both books. |
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