Birth of a Dream Weaver

Starred review from June 27, 2016
Thiong’o, a Kenyan novelist (Wizard of the Crow) and a UC Irvine English professor, has penned an eloquent, perceptive memoir about coming into his own as a writer. He focuses on his four pivotal years as an undergraduate at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where he wrote articles, composed plays, and discovered his voice as a novelist. Outside the university’s confines was a continent in flux; Thiong’o entered Makerere in 1959 as a colonial subject, and left in 1964 as a citizen of independent Kenya. He vividly describes how the colonial regime’s atrocities haunted him and shaped his sensibilities. As he taps his memories and his country’s history for material, he includes insightful commentary on the Land and Freedom Army resistance movement (once known as Mau Mau, a now-disavowed term), the distortions in European and American views of Africa, his social rites of passage at the university, his discovery of the Négritude school of poetry, his uncle’s imprisonment in a British concentration camp, and his mother’s (and mother country’s) sacrifices for his education. Evocative, poignant, and thoughtful, Thiong’o’s courageous narrative will linger in readers’ minds.

The celebrated African novelist, playwright, and activist, born in Kenya in 1938, revisits the early experiences that convinced him he was a writer.Wa Thiong'o (English and Comparative Literature/Univ. of California, Irvine; In the House of the Interpreter, 2015, etc.) is a genial tour guide on this journey through his early years. One theme continually appears: his gratitude for his mother, who encouraged him early and often. The author proceeds in a gentle chronology as he takes us through his home life, schooling, and his discovery that he wanted to write--and that he had a natural talent for the craft. He wrote plays in school (winning a competition) and then began freelancing for local publications, including an extensive stint with a newspaper; he eventually resigned when he realized his passions lay in fiction and drama. Throughout, there are illustrations from his youth, including photos of people and clippings of his early publications and plays. Bubbling just below the surface--sometimes on the surface--is the fierce politics of the era, which featured the end of colonialism, the rise of brutal dictators, and countless ethnic clashes. As he acknowledges, the author was fortunate to avoid trouble early, but he also alludes to later years when he was incarcerated, experiences that are likely to appear in a subsequent memoir. Throughout, wa Thiong'o is careful to credit not just his mother, but some key teachers, friends, and significant supporters. Although the text communicates a clear pride in his accomplishments, the author notes repeatedly that his successes came not just from his talent and work ethic, but also from those who believed in him. He was able to study literature and literary theory at Makerere University in Kampala, Congo, and later at the University of Leeds. Through it all, "the desire to weave dreams remained aflame." A writer's coming-of-age tale featuring an artistic mix of pride and humility. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2016

Kenyan author Ngugi (English & comparative literature, Univ. of California, Irvine; Decolonizing the Mind) has written an autobiographical masterpiece that marks his entry into Uganda's Makerere University (1959) as a college student and British colonial subject, to his exit as a citizen of an independent African state (1964). The memoir painstakingly documents the powerful forces that have formed his writing identity--the colonial and postcolonial history of Kenya as well as the influence of numerous authors, from Charles Dickens to Chinua Achebe. Most remarkable is his ability to observe in great detail both political and public pasts as they intersect, inform, challenge, and shape his private life as a student and emerging talent. While tracing significant moments in Kenyan history, the author unfolds the rich complexities that make up his memories. VERDICT Postcolonial historians and readers of African literature will find this work to be an indispensable addition. As essential as Achebe's There Was a Country, this is a riveting read in African history and literature.--Misty Standage, Ivy Tech Community Coll., Evansville, IN

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2016
In 1959, Ngugi fled the turbulence of his native Kenya for Makere University, in Uganda. The four years he spent there nurtured his budding creativity and opened his eyes to the contrast between the lofty ideals they were taught and the brutal realities of colonialism throughout Africa. Challenging the colonialists' claim to understand the African mind, Ngugi recorded through plays, articles, and short stories the complex portrait of dissent, corruption, and intrigue played out against the backdrop of postcolonialism and the Cold War. Looking back on his youth, he explores the subtexts of lessons from the British, subtle nuances he could only understand with the passage of time. He details the creative process of writing his works, drawing on cultural, familial, and social influences and a growing political awareness to produce Weep Not, Child (1964), A Grain of Wheat (1967), and Petals of Blood (1977). This is a powerful recollection of a turbulent time that produced leaders from Tom Mboya and Jomo Kenyatta to the tyrannical Idi Amin in response to the brutality of a dying colonialism.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)