misspalah's review against another edition
4.0
Long ago women used to rule this land and its men. They were harsh and men began to resent their hard hand. So when all the women were pregnant, men come together and overthrew them.
- Chege, The river between by Ngugi Wa Thiongo.
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Circumcision is the main topic for this book. It is a part of tribal practice of Gikuyu community in a remote region of Kenya. All girls and boys in the tribe went through the circumcision as part of their initiation to the adulthood. They were not real women and men if they didn’t pass this passage-hood. Then come the white men. These christian missionaries tried to intervene and impose their values on Gikuyu community. They wanted people to abandon the practices and embraced their teaching and religion. In this book, we explored the colonisation impact has divided the Gikuyu Community to be divided into 2 which is Kameno and Makuyu, one side of the river follow christianity and the other side of the river, the traditional values and customs remains strongly practiced. Hence why the title is called the river between to show the strife between these 2 due to the differences of faith and belief. Muthoni’s decision on wanting to be circumcised despite being a christian is truly shocking. This is because after the conversion, Muthoni’s father, Joshua forbidding both of her daughters (Muthoni and Nyambura) from going through such practice. Muthoni decided to ran to her aunt’s house on the other side of the river so that she can be part of the initiation. The novel has many patriarchal elements that was not easy to go to through if i can be frank with you - given that Muthoni cannot make her own choice for her own body as her father will object it and Waiyaki own monologue when he evaluated why her mother didn’t inherit anything as tradition dictates.
.
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I felt the story is easy to follow if you can focus. There’s a lot of introspection of the main characters in this book from Chege to Nyambura but the major part of it came from Waiyaki. Waiyaki saw that uniting the Gikuyu tribe back is far more important. His attempt to reconcile what white settlers brought to their land which is education versus what they Gikuyu community might lose due to their imposition which is the customs and tradition. The book themes is very obvious as it mainly focuses on the struggle of individuals vs community, imperialism and conflict of ideas. Overall, i enjoyed it despite the heavy topic presented in the book. This definitely will not be the last Ngugi’s book that i will read, i will hunt for more books from him.
- Chege, The river between by Ngugi Wa Thiongo.
.
.
Circumcision is the main topic for this book. It is a part of tribal practice of Gikuyu community in a remote region of Kenya. All girls and boys in the tribe went through the circumcision as part of their initiation to the adulthood. They were not real women and men if they didn’t pass this passage-hood. Then come the white men. These christian missionaries tried to intervene and impose their values on Gikuyu community. They wanted people to abandon the practices and embraced their teaching and religion. In this book, we explored the colonisation impact has divided the Gikuyu Community to be divided into 2 which is Kameno and Makuyu, one side of the river follow christianity and the other side of the river, the traditional values and customs remains strongly practiced. Hence why the title is called the river between to show the strife between these 2 due to the differences of faith and belief. Muthoni’s decision on wanting to be circumcised despite being a christian is truly shocking. This is because after the conversion, Muthoni’s father, Joshua forbidding both of her daughters (Muthoni and Nyambura) from going through such practice. Muthoni decided to ran to her aunt’s house on the other side of the river so that she can be part of the initiation. The novel has many patriarchal elements that was not easy to go to through if i can be frank with you - given that Muthoni cannot make her own choice for her own body as her father will object it and Waiyaki own monologue when he evaluated why her mother didn’t inherit anything as tradition dictates.
.
.
I felt the story is easy to follow if you can focus. There’s a lot of introspection of the main characters in this book from Chege to Nyambura but the major part of it came from Waiyaki. Waiyaki saw that uniting the Gikuyu tribe back is far more important. His attempt to reconcile what white settlers brought to their land which is education versus what they Gikuyu community might lose due to their imposition which is the customs and tradition. The book themes is very obvious as it mainly focuses on the struggle of individuals vs community, imperialism and conflict of ideas. Overall, i enjoyed it despite the heavy topic presented in the book. This definitely will not be the last Ngugi’s book that i will read, i will hunt for more books from him.
jureader's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
annamontana's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a short classic book from Kenya. Just because it is short, don't think that it doesn't contain a lot. It deals with colonialism, tribalism, the white man's religion (Christianity), native customs (female circumcision), education, and probably much more.
It has a fairly slow beginning but picks up after a bit. I think this book would be best read in a class type situation as it is full of symbolism (which I don't pick up easily) and African history during colonial times (which I don't know much about). Reading and discussing with those who are better at these things then I am would probably have made this book better.
It has a fairly slow beginning but picks up after a bit. I think this book would be best read in a class type situation as it is full of symbolism (which I don't pick up easily) and African history during colonial times (which I don't know much about). Reading and discussing with those who are better at these things then I am would probably have made this book better.
geirertzgaard's review against another edition
5.0
For å forstå Afrika i dag og effekten av kolonialiseringen: Les den!
elingunnar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
aasiyaglover's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
lepasseportlitteraire's review against another edition
4.0
The River Between is a must-read to add to your Classics TBR. Written by Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, it follows a conflict between two neighboring villages in Kenya following the arrival of « the white man ». However, this conflict is expedient to expose other kinds of conflict that afflicted not only Kenya but other African communities before, during, and after colonization, without for that matter making colonization the focal point of the story.
The whole plot is based on conflicts that seem to have a unique answer between two choices while challenging this Western dual optic of the world. I felt this was especially true for one particular character, who while believing in the new religion brought by the white man, also still highly values her village traditions that she desperately seeks to participate in against her father's will. Yet, this is far from being the only angle of analysis of a book that not only provides the reader with an enthralling story but with many reflection points about the past and modern societies, especially those that were affected by colonization.
The River Between is a classic that lives through space and time, and it needs to be on your reading list.