THE LITBLOG CO-OP: Read This! - a Wizard of the Crow Discussion

SUMMER 2007
READ THIS!

Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe

SPRING 2007
READ THIS!

Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead: Stories by Alan DeNiro

WINTER 2007
READ THIS!

Wizard of the Crow by Ngugl wa Thiong’o

AUTUMN 2006
READ THIS!

Firmin by Sam Savage

SUMMER 2006
READ THIS!

Michael Martone by Michael Martone

SPRING 2006 READ THIS!

Television

WINTER 2006 READ THIS

Garner

AUTUMN 2005 READ THIS!

The Angel of Forgetfulness

SUMMER 2005 READ THIS!

Case Histories

PARTICIPATING WEBLOGS

MEMBERS EMERITUS

SUGGESTION BOX

SUGGEST A TITLE

About

Subscribe to this blog's feed

« Read This! - a Wizard of the Crow Discussion | Main | One of my favorite reads in months . . . »

Feb 06, 2007

Read This! - a Wizard of the Crow Discussion - part II

Matt Cheney:

I'm curious what people make of the narrative structure of the book, the way it sometimes introduces ideas and stories in one narrative strand, then later works backward to bring in more explanation (for instance, exactly what the women did to so offend The Ruler and the cabinet in front of the people from the Global Bank is not revealed until we've seen the reaction to it all). I thought this contributed to the suspense of the book and added as well to the feeling of it as a story told to an audience that has experienced it all already -- the sense of us being in on the tale, and the tale being something narrated by a particular narrator.

Dan Wickett:

I thought the usage of this type of narrative was a great idea, especially with a book of this length. I think it added to the suspense, and also added to my own interest level as a reader – realizing how things might just be resolved at different times than when I might generally expect them to.

Sam Jones:

We’re talking about the choices that Thiongo made in constructing the narrative, but I was really more impressed by how well he executes on the choices he makes. Like any big book, WIZARD has its minor longueurs and repetition, but faults are so trivial and there’s so much to enjoy here in terms of language, character, and ideas. And I think you’re right, Matt – as a reader, your incomplete knowledge at different points make you feel like you’re almost hearing the story from the perspective of the characters.

   Jessica Stockton:

   One of the things I personally loved about this book was that tension between, say, Dostoyevsky and Tolkien: the exhaustively deep and detailed study of characters and motivations and the nuances of events, and the highly symbolic, over-the-top magic and strangeness of fantasy. Aside from the fun weirdness of the enlarged body parts and the fantastical Babel-like project of Marching to Heaven itself, it allows the author to create the iconic contrasts and symbols that are available to fantasy writers: the nature-paradise where Kamiti and Nyawira retreat in order to return equipped to the urban world of men (a la Midsummer Night's Dream, maybe?), the "castle" (Rapunzel style) where the Ruler has bound his defiant wife (and by implication all women), the shrine of the Wizard itself, a place of confrontation and resolution and safety.

   Sam Jones:

   The magical realism label has been so overused that I almost hate to bring it up, but I did find a lot in WIZARD that reminded me as much of Latin American novels as any African novel I’ve read. That combination you mention, Jessica, of the fantastic events and ordinary characters – that reminds me a lot of Garcia Marquez. The way Tajirika and Vinjinia come to simply accept a flock of birds frozen in flight – and then all the animals in the “Museum of Arrested Motion” – is a nice example. The name they give the magical valley, and the magical properties of words throughout the novel – not only words, but words in all their forms: names, titles, signs, songs, incantations.

   Jessica Stockton:

   What amazes me about WIZARD OF THE CROW is that it forces the reader to live with the troubles of Africa (much) longer, and while not soft-peddling anything or letting anyone off the hook, makes them liveable. Because even though Nyawira and Kamiti and the Ruler and his bizarre ministers are in some ways part of a complex, strange folk tale, they're also people who continue to live in this African world, with joys and sorrows in different measures. As Anne mentions, even the hopeless corrupt Tajirika is a loveable character, because he's fully human, and his motivations are so painfully, hilariously clear. It's certainly a bit of a literary cliché, but Ngugi wa Thiongo accomplishes that writerly task: to make a foreign world one that we can live in for the space of a story, so that we come out of it with our own experience broadened.

   I love that way Thiongo allows some tensions to remain tensions, like that between the Christianity of Maritha and Mariko and the Wizard's magic, or Nyawira's privileged background and her leftist ideals, or Kamiti's insistence on transcendence and Nyawira's insistence upon action. Actually, these are tensions hardly exclusive to Africa – they're pretty obviously part of our contemporary scene as well. Watching them play out in this foreign, magical context both defamiliarizes and highlights them.

   Levi Asher:

   Another tension that energizes this great book is that between satire and beauty. I naturally thought of “Catch-22” often when reading this book, but I don’t remember Joseph Heller ever coming up with exquisite, surprising moments like the love scene between the Kamiti and Nyawira, or the completely unexpected frozen world that Tajirika and Vinjinia stumble into (this last touch is, to me, completely bewildering, in that I have no idea how the author thinks it fits into the overall story, and yet somehow it does!). I would call this magical realism, yes, as Sam does above – but even magical realism can be mundane, but Ngugi clearly has a special talent for it.

   I have a question for Matt – why do you say that it’s wrong to read this novel as specifically about the Daniel arap Moi regime in Kenya? I agree of course that we should always look for broad and universal interpretations, but in this case Ngugi seems to point at a literal interpretation with the “Acknowledgements”, in which he tells us that the book is based on a specific period of struggle. Matt, I know you were in Kenya (and I wasn’t) so I’m inclined to think you know more about this than me, but doesn’t the evidence show that the Ruler is based very much on Moi? I guess I took the obfuscation to be a satirist’s necessary device, rather than an indication that the book’s focus is not very specific. But I certainly may be wrong.

Posted by Emerging Writers Network in WINTER 2007 - Wizard of the Crow | Permalink

Comments

Jessica pointed out one of the main reasons I love this novel--the author's comfort with paradox and the tension between opposing perspectives. I think this complexity is maintained because his main interest lies with the characters and not the ideologies...which is a marvelous way of showing that it isn't necessarily a specific perspective (or ideology) that's the problem, but the individual decisions made in embracing said perspective (and what actions result).

Sam also pointed out the function of magical realism's "fantastic events and ordinary characters." I just want to add that many things García Márquez writes, which seem fantastic, are in fact literal truths. (For example, in One Hundred Years of Solitude, the electrified chicken wire and the consumption of earth and whitewash. This is pure realism. Vitamin deficiencies cause certain people to literally eat dirt...and the whitewash had plenty of calcium. (The purgative that Ursula administers to Rebecca is true as well.) Even more unbelievable--my boyfriend knew a girl who had a habit of sucking on rusted nails...)

Some things are just too fantastic for fiction, which is why "magical realism" often helps writers communicate better than if they were using straight "plausible" fact.

Posted by: amcorrea | Feb 06, 2007 at 08:52 AM

Hi all
I am xrumer, where is my topic?!
Its simple a testing :)

Posted by: XRumerTFTSSF | Feb 16, 2007 at 03:13 PM

Posted by: stilssymn | Jul 28, 2007 at 03:42 AM

Каждый из Вас в силах помочь детям!
Each of you to help with forces to children!
Jede von Ihnen in den Kraften, den Kindern zu helfen!
Chacun de vous dans les forces a aider les enfants!
Cada uno Ud en las fuerzas ayudar a los ninos!

www.alikas74.narod.ru

Posted by: Alikasqw | Nov 06, 2008 at 01:58 AM

Adult Voyeur - World Wide Wives has everything for the Voyeur enthusiast, free voyeur pictures, voyeur videos,
and real life profiles of women and men from around the world

Posted by: Gorrdon | Nov 16, 2008 at 02:33 PM

Yes I agree with you!

Posted by: cialis daily | Nov 26, 2008 at 12:00 AM

EagleSpeak: Somali Pirates: Insurance issues
2009-01-05 04:35:23 eaglespeak.us
Mr Gilman - editor of Arnould's Law of Marine Insurance, published by Sweet & Maxwell - said that because it was often very difficult to verify accurately the number of pirates involved in an attack, it could lead to legal conflicts. ...
insurance
http://uusite.livejournal.com/

Posted by: insurance-live | Jan 10, 2009 at 11:32 AM

The best for work, rest and home you will find on our web-portal - www.ispolkom.com. A lot of stores, gifts, programs and thousands of name brands!
We glad to offer you both own development and the best to opinion of our analysts that is presented by other companies.
We all time work above yours desires and we shall try to give to you the best choice.
Now you should not be engaged in search the Internet any more...we have everything...

Best wishes,
administration

Posted by: ispolkom | Feb 04, 2009 at 06:01 AM

Posted by: ispolkom | Feb 04, 2009 at 06:02 AM