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A review by blibrarian
Nairobi Heat by Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ
1.0
I wanted to like this book, particularly as the author's father is Ngugi wa Thiong'o, an incredible writer. But this book is so bad, you guys. SO bad.
The writing is awkward and off-putting, the story unconvincing and predictable, the main character terrible at his job, and the plot absurd. A local police force in a small city decides to send its lead detective to Kenya because he received an anonymous phone call? An entire nation goes totally bonkers over the murder of an unidentified woman because her killer MIGHT be a black man? The KKK has a well-known "bunker" in one of the most liberal cities in the Midwest, and goes completely unbothered by either law enforcement or the community? A police officer kills multiple people and doesn't face so much as a review board, let alone any sort of disciplinary action?
The main problem I had (or one of them, anyway) was that I couldn't tell when it was supposed to be taking place. It was published in 2011 and they have cell phones, but it never seems to occur to anyone that maybe sending a few emails and making a few phone calls might be more cost effective than sending a detective to Africa. The Ku Klux Klan is depicted as just another unsavory but totally normal part of any American community--um, what? The Klan is a) not usually called that anymore, and b) so weakened and ineffectual that their presence as even minor "villains" in this novel is incongruous and laughable. At this point, they're an outdated stereotype and the butt of a bajillion jokes, as they rightfully should be. So what are they doing in this book? This isn't O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Also, going back to the whole when-is-this-happening thing, the characters are always faxing stuff to each other. You know, on a fax machine. You guys. A fax machine. In 2011.
Okay, let me try and put my thoughts on this into order, as it's a tricky issue. This goes back to my issue with the Klan's presence in the book, and to the character of the old white man who thinks he's African. So much of this book is about race relations, which is obviously a discussion that is necessary, valuable and, hopefully, productive. Racism is still an issue in America and in most of the world; white privilege, racial prejudice, none of that has been "solved." I understand why Ngugi looks to address the issue in the book, and I understand the points that he is making. (I won't go into detail so as to avoid spoilers.) I just think that he does it very clumsily, and in doing it clumsily, actually devalues the discussion.
The Klan is one example: it's such a stupid stereotype that it allows the reader to dismiss the whole idea of racism as, well, a stupid stereotype. And that's bad. Because racism is not something that should be dismissed; it should be addressed and challenged. African Americans in positions of authority do struggle with prejudice, as Ngugi rightly points out, but that prejudice is much more insidious and, therefore, damaging than the blatant racism of groups like the Klan. Nobody takes the Klan seriously, nor should they. But the right-wing Republicans insisting that Barack Obama must be a foreigner and demanding his birth certificate? The mall security cop who follows the Latino teenagers around the store, but pays no attention to the white ones? The Papa John's cashier who describes an Asian customer as "Lady Chinky Eyes" on her receipt? That is the subtle, insidious racism that holds us all back, and Ngugi forgoes any mention of this for the much easier statement of "Hey, the Klan sure are a bunch of a-holes, huh? And that white guy who thinks he's 'real African'? What a jerk!" Racism is depicted as mean white bullies who are totally up front about their racism, and that's not true or useful. Racism would be way easier to solve if that were the case.
I also had a problem with the way donations to survivors of the Rwandan genocide were described as "the guilt of the world." Really? People only give money because they feel guilty? They're not, maybe, just human beings wanting to do something good and useful for fellow human beings?
This review is almost as long as the book itself, and is also totally out of character for me; I rarely write reviews. But this book honestly made me angry (as I'm discovering right now) and I had serious issues with it. You guys, it's just a silly crime story. I get that. I'm sorry for taking it so seriously. I didn't think I'd have this much to say until I started saying it. So I'll shut up in a second.
Final thought: the book felt like it was written by someone who had never been to America, but assumed that America was basically like, well, it's bad form to make the same comparison twice, but I'm going to do it--assumed that America was basically like O Brother, Where Art Thou? Only with fax machines.
I'm going to go read The Wizard of the Crow now.
The writing is awkward and off-putting, the story unconvincing and predictable, the main character terrible at his job, and the plot absurd. A local police force in a small city decides to send its lead detective to Kenya because he received an anonymous phone call? An entire nation goes totally bonkers over the murder of an unidentified woman because her killer MIGHT be a black man? The KKK has a well-known "bunker" in one of the most liberal cities in the Midwest, and goes completely unbothered by either law enforcement or the community? A police officer kills multiple people and doesn't face so much as a review board, let alone any sort of disciplinary action?
The main problem I had (or one of them, anyway) was that I couldn't tell when it was supposed to be taking place. It was published in 2011 and they have cell phones, but it never seems to occur to anyone that maybe sending a few emails and making a few phone calls might be more cost effective than sending a detective to Africa. The Ku Klux Klan is depicted as just another unsavory but totally normal part of any American community--um, what? The Klan is a) not usually called that anymore, and b) so weakened and ineffectual that their presence as even minor "villains" in this novel is incongruous and laughable. At this point, they're an outdated stereotype and the butt of a bajillion jokes, as they rightfully should be. So what are they doing in this book? This isn't O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Also, going back to the whole when-is-this-happening thing, the characters are always faxing stuff to each other. You know, on a fax machine. You guys. A fax machine. In 2011.
Okay, let me try and put my thoughts on this into order, as it's a tricky issue. This goes back to my issue with the Klan's presence in the book, and to the character of the old white man who thinks he's African. So much of this book is about race relations, which is obviously a discussion that is necessary, valuable and, hopefully, productive. Racism is still an issue in America and in most of the world; white privilege, racial prejudice, none of that has been "solved." I understand why Ngugi looks to address the issue in the book, and I understand the points that he is making. (I won't go into detail so as to avoid spoilers.) I just think that he does it very clumsily, and in doing it clumsily, actually devalues the discussion.
The Klan is one example: it's such a stupid stereotype that it allows the reader to dismiss the whole idea of racism as, well, a stupid stereotype. And that's bad. Because racism is not something that should be dismissed; it should be addressed and challenged. African Americans in positions of authority do struggle with prejudice, as Ngugi rightly points out, but that prejudice is much more insidious and, therefore, damaging than the blatant racism of groups like the Klan. Nobody takes the Klan seriously, nor should they. But the right-wing Republicans insisting that Barack Obama must be a foreigner and demanding his birth certificate? The mall security cop who follows the Latino teenagers around the store, but pays no attention to the white ones? The Papa John's cashier who describes an Asian customer as "Lady Chinky Eyes" on her receipt? That is the subtle, insidious racism that holds us all back, and Ngugi forgoes any mention of this for the much easier statement of "Hey, the Klan sure are a bunch of a-holes, huh? And that white guy who thinks he's 'real African'? What a jerk!" Racism is depicted as mean white bullies who are totally up front about their racism, and that's not true or useful. Racism would be way easier to solve if that were the case.
I also had a problem with the way donations to survivors of the Rwandan genocide were described as "the guilt of the world." Really? People only give money because they feel guilty? They're not, maybe, just human beings wanting to do something good and useful for fellow human beings?
This review is almost as long as the book itself, and is also totally out of character for me; I rarely write reviews. But this book honestly made me angry (as I'm discovering right now) and I had serious issues with it. You guys, it's just a silly crime story. I get that. I'm sorry for taking it so seriously. I didn't think I'd have this much to say until I started saying it. So I'll shut up in a second.
Final thought: the book felt like it was written by someone who had never been to America, but assumed that America was basically like, well, it's bad form to make the same comparison twice, but I'm going to do it--assumed that America was basically like O Brother, Where Art Thou? Only with fax machines.
I'm going to go read The Wizard of the Crow now.