Scan barcode
fiatlux82's review against another edition
4.0
First reaction on reading the book is that while this is a good read, and definitely insightful into another part of the world; but I can’t also at the same time help but notice Godwin seems a bit ahistorical in his analysis; he avoids talk of why his family migrated to Zimbabwe in the first place, and doesn’t seem to have fully understood the actions of the white families/settlers who came to occupy and take resources from the land. Instead he laments about how “pointless” the civil war was (completely forgetting that perhaps the occupation/invasion by white people reason enough) - see the scene at the end of the book with him looking to God for help on the hill where he imagined Jesus was crucified. I can’t help but wonder if Godwin is writing this through a politically correct post colonial lens; he portrays himself as being sympathetic to blacks, but yet at the same time the book definite exhibits apartheid era nostalgia (see the scenes of when he goes back to Mozambique and how things have all gone to shit now the white people are gone, or when he goes back to Melsetter and talks about how many white families have left - almost as if black families didn’t matter so much for him)
alexisrt's review against another edition
Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa by Peter Godwin (2007)
scodoc's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
sandin954's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting memoir of the author's boyhood in pre-war Rhodesia, his service during the war, and his journalism career after the war in Zimbabwe. The best parts involved his mother's work as a doctor and I would have liked to have learned more about her.
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review against another edition
2.0
There was too much description of boring things, like each of his different school uniforms, and not enough description of interesting things, like the civil war.
geirertzgaard's review against another edition
5.0
Det er sjelden jeg blir så oppslukt av en bok sånn at jeg legger alt til side som jeg ble av denne boken om hvit oppvekst i Zimbabwe. Alt matcher mine interesser, og forfatteren skriver glimrende enkelt og tankevekkende. Enig med han som sa at dette er en klassiker om en tid søm aldri mer kommer tilbake. Dette blir en tekst på bloggen min og på www.bokmerker.org.
anitaofplaybooktag's review against another edition
3.0
Well, it's a memoir.
One that shouldn't be at the top of your list.
I read this book for my f2f book club, and it's a good thing because otherwise I'd have seriously wondered why I wasted my time on it.
The book is separated into four parts.
Godwin's childhood in pre-war Rhodesia is the entire first half of the book. It's boring. He writes it in a child-like voice. That doesn't make it better.
The rest of the book addresses Godwin's involvement in the civil war in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) followed by his role as an investigative journalist and then the aftermath of the civil war.
The subject matter truly did have potential, but Godwin tells, tells, and tells some more. The book only came alive when he related stories of his time in the military. For a short section, I was thinking "now this is at least four star material". Unfortunately, this was a lengthy book, and the good part was probably 70 pages of nearly 500.
I did appreciate that I actually learned something about the civil war in Rhodesia - - and I appreciated that part as it was eye opening. Civil wars are never pretty, and this one was quite horrific.
I wish Godwin had just written a historical fiction piece about the civil war in Rhodesia, or even a non fiction book focused on the war. But instead, we get a memoir half filled with many boring anecdotes that really have little or no point or punchline. I never got a sense of Godwin's emotions - - even in the most horrendous parts of the book where awful things are happening. He writes with a journalist's detachment -- great for newspapers; memoirs not so much.
So, three stars for revealing some interesting history of Zimbabwe. And for being readable even though dull. And for having one very good segment.
Oh by the way, Amazon readers LOVED this book so take my review with a grain of salt . . .I just felt as though there were a lot of plot points in the book, with no emotional underpinning to make you actually care. There were a few exceptions (the tale of his pet ant eater, some of his stories of his time in the military police). . .but even most of those, Godwin did a poor job of evoking his own emotions. For a guy who did a LOT (lawyer, journalist, military police, etc.), it just wasn't nearly as interesting as it should have been.
One that shouldn't be at the top of your list.
I read this book for my f2f book club, and it's a good thing because otherwise I'd have seriously wondered why I wasted my time on it.
The book is separated into four parts.
Godwin's childhood in pre-war Rhodesia is the entire first half of the book. It's boring. He writes it in a child-like voice. That doesn't make it better.
The rest of the book addresses Godwin's involvement in the civil war in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) followed by his role as an investigative journalist and then the aftermath of the civil war.
The subject matter truly did have potential, but Godwin tells, tells, and tells some more. The book only came alive when he related stories of his time in the military. For a short section, I was thinking "now this is at least four star material". Unfortunately, this was a lengthy book, and the good part was probably 70 pages of nearly 500.
I did appreciate that I actually learned something about the civil war in Rhodesia - - and I appreciated that part as it was eye opening. Civil wars are never pretty, and this one was quite horrific.
I wish Godwin had just written a historical fiction piece about the civil war in Rhodesia, or even a non fiction book focused on the war. But instead, we get a memoir half filled with many boring anecdotes that really have little or no point or punchline. I never got a sense of Godwin's emotions - - even in the most horrendous parts of the book where awful things are happening. He writes with a journalist's detachment -- great for newspapers; memoirs not so much.
So, three stars for revealing some interesting history of Zimbabwe. And for being readable even though dull. And for having one very good segment.
Oh by the way, Amazon readers LOVED this book so take my review with a grain of salt . . .I just felt as though there were a lot of plot points in the book, with no emotional underpinning to make you actually care. There were a few exceptions (the tale of his pet ant eater, some of his stories of his time in the military police). . .but even most of those, Godwin did a poor job of evoking his own emotions. For a guy who did a LOT (lawyer, journalist, military police, etc.), it just wasn't nearly as interesting as it should have been.
mlindsey441's review against another edition
4.0
I had no idea what I was reading when I picked up this book. I think I expected a coming of age story, filled with lots of memories of the author's early years in Zimbabwe. And I certainly got that. His memories of early life with his nanny and the other servants, as well as his times in school reveal a sensitive child, who struggles at times to understand the brutality of the world around him. At the same time, he has a comfort and detachment with death that comes from having a mother whose work involves, at times, digging up graves. He lived a fascinating childhood and this book is filled wit interesting, well-told stories.
What I didn't expect, was to read of his time in the war that broke out when he was in his late teens. There are hints of fighting all around the edges of his childhood, but once the narrative turns to his calling up in the military, we get an up close look at his experiences with war. This wasn't the Zimbabwe that I wanted to read about, but it was probably the Zimbabwe that I needed to read about. Some of the stories from this time period, as well as those that come after he is a journalist are hard to read. There are some brutal atrocities in here -- and as with much of war, I find the fighting to be cruel and without purpose. In many cases it is hard to know who is on what side -- at one point late in the book he meets up with a soldier who was on the other side in one of this skirmishes. Godwin prepares a speech to say how he didn't want to fight and he was young, but the other man shushes him by saying, "We were both soldiers." And that was that -- as though war is a thing that men go out to do and when it is over, they come home and tell stories of their exploits.
I'm learning this year that when you read the world, you need to be prepared to read of great joy and great suffering. This book has both in abundance.
What I didn't expect, was to read of his time in the war that broke out when he was in his late teens. There are hints of fighting all around the edges of his childhood, but once the narrative turns to his calling up in the military, we get an up close look at his experiences with war. This wasn't the Zimbabwe that I wanted to read about, but it was probably the Zimbabwe that I needed to read about. Some of the stories from this time period, as well as those that come after he is a journalist are hard to read. There are some brutal atrocities in here -- and as with much of war, I find the fighting to be cruel and without purpose. In many cases it is hard to know who is on what side -- at one point late in the book he meets up with a soldier who was on the other side in one of this skirmishes. Godwin prepares a speech to say how he didn't want to fight and he was young, but the other man shushes him by saying, "We were both soldiers." And that was that -- as though war is a thing that men go out to do and when it is over, they come home and tell stories of their exploits.
I'm learning this year that when you read the world, you need to be prepared to read of great joy and great suffering. This book has both in abundance.