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A review by booksandbongs
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“…but for those who lived through it, this was a time when their land was soaked in blood and littered with corpses”
Afterlives is a historical fiction work by Abdulrazak Gurnah, and takes place over the course of about 80 years. The work covers the early years of colonial German East Africa through shortly after Tanganyika (what is now Tanzania) independence in 1961.
Gurnah does an excellent job painting the picture of the Schutztruppe and the Askari serving under German command, as well as the aftermath of the wars.
This story really takes off when we start seeing the characters daily lives and feelings through a mix of descriptions, conversations, and reflections.
I loved Afiyah’s character, and thought Gurnah did an excellent job with her evolution and growth; I was really rooting for her success and happiness.
I have seen several critiques of the narrative feeling “distant” and I think Gurnah does this purposefully, in the way that Europeans were distant and removed from the colonization efforts happening in Africa and around the world.
This was a heavy read, as Gurnah does not shy away from the colonial atrocities. I throughly enjoyed expanding my knowledge on German colonization from the African perspective and felt I learned a lot.
Afterlives is a historical fiction work by Abdulrazak Gurnah, and takes place over the course of about 80 years. The work covers the early years of colonial German East Africa through shortly after Tanganyika (what is now Tanzania) independence in 1961.
Gurnah does an excellent job painting the picture of the Schutztruppe and the Askari serving under German command, as well as the aftermath of the wars.
This story really takes off when we start seeing the characters daily lives and feelings through a mix of descriptions, conversations, and reflections.
I loved Afiyah’s character, and thought Gurnah did an excellent job with her evolution and growth; I was really rooting for her success and happiness.
I have seen several critiques of the narrative feeling “distant” and I think Gurnah does this purposefully, in the way that Europeans were distant and removed from the colonization efforts happening in Africa and around the world.
This was a heavy read, as Gurnah does not shy away from the colonial atrocities. I throughly enjoyed expanding my knowledge on German colonization from the African perspective and felt I learned a lot.