Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Africa World Press (1998), Edition: 1ST, Paperback, 160 pages
Description
A moral fable in which Martigari, a freedom fighter, emerges from the forest in the political dawn of post-independence Kenya. Searching for his family and a new future, he finds little has changed.
User reviews
LibraryThing member kidzdoc
In the preface to this novel, Ngũgĩ informs us that Matigari was written in 1983, while he was living in exile in London. It was published in the Gĩkũyũ language in 1986, and translated into English the following year. He also tells us that copies of this book were removed from bookshops by
Matigari ma Njirũũngi, which means 'the patriots who survived the bullets' in the Gĩkũyũ language, is an old man in an unnamed postcolonial African country who, after years of struggle, has finally killed his lifelong tormentor and oppressor Settler Williams and his assistant John Boy. He leaves the forest which had been his home for many years, to return to his home village. He intends to gather up his family and people that he left behind during the struggle for independence, in order to move into the spacious home that he built, which was stolen from him by Settler Williams.
Upon his arrival to the village, he finds a shocking amount of poverty and corruption: orphaned children live in abandoned cars, and obtain scraps of food and clothing from a dump; workers toil in factories and the fields, and do not make enough money to feed their families; a group of women prostitute themselves to survive. The country is now run by His Excellency Ole Excellence and his assistant The Minister of Truth and Justice, and a fragile peace is maintained by fear, violence and the ever present Voice of Truth radio broadcast, which informs the public of the punishment meted out to those who oppose the one party government.
Matigari finds the home that he has built, with the help of a young boy, who has rescued him from a mob of stone throwing youth, and a prostitute who he has rescued from two policemen. However, it is now occupied by the son of John Boy; he has obtained a Western education and, along with the son of Settler Williams, runs a major factory and plantation in the village. They are more corrupt and oppressive taskmasters than their hated fathers. Matigari attempts to claim his house, but he is beaten and jailed. However, he is not defeated, and soon escapes from prison. He travels throughout the village, a mysterious Christ-like figure who becomes a legend amongst the villagers, and a feared opponent of John Boy, Jr. and the government. All efforts to discredit or capture Matigari prove fruitless, as the villagers become less fearful of the government and more willing to stand up for their rights. A final and inevitable confrontation with John Boy, Jr. at the plantation home occurs, as the stability of the government hangs in the balance.
This was a tingling and fast-paced novel, which I read in one sitting, and is based in part on an African folk story. The ending was especially good, and unpredictable despite the confrontation that was obviously going to take place. It was banned by the Kenyan government, as Matigari teaches its readers that only armed struggle would result in freedom from corrupt and oppressive African dictatorships. Highly recommended!
Show More
the Kenyan police that year, due to the controversy that its release caused there.Matigari ma Njirũũngi, which means 'the patriots who survived the bullets' in the Gĩkũyũ language, is an old man in an unnamed postcolonial African country who, after years of struggle, has finally killed his lifelong tormentor and oppressor Settler Williams and his assistant John Boy. He leaves the forest which had been his home for many years, to return to his home village. He intends to gather up his family and people that he left behind during the struggle for independence, in order to move into the spacious home that he built, which was stolen from him by Settler Williams.
Upon his arrival to the village, he finds a shocking amount of poverty and corruption: orphaned children live in abandoned cars, and obtain scraps of food and clothing from a dump; workers toil in factories and the fields, and do not make enough money to feed their families; a group of women prostitute themselves to survive. The country is now run by His Excellency Ole Excellence and his assistant The Minister of Truth and Justice, and a fragile peace is maintained by fear, violence and the ever present Voice of Truth radio broadcast, which informs the public of the punishment meted out to those who oppose the one party government.
Matigari finds the home that he has built, with the help of a young boy, who has rescued him from a mob of stone throwing youth, and a prostitute who he has rescued from two policemen. However, it is now occupied by the son of John Boy; he has obtained a Western education and, along with the son of Settler Williams, runs a major factory and plantation in the village. They are more corrupt and oppressive taskmasters than their hated fathers. Matigari attempts to claim his house, but he is beaten and jailed. However, he is not defeated, and soon escapes from prison. He travels throughout the village, a mysterious Christ-like figure who becomes a legend amongst the villagers, and a feared opponent of John Boy, Jr. and the government. All efforts to discredit or capture Matigari prove fruitless, as the villagers become less fearful of the government and more willing to stand up for their rights. A final and inevitable confrontation with John Boy, Jr. at the plantation home occurs, as the stability of the government hangs in the balance.
This was a tingling and fast-paced novel, which I read in one sitting, and is based in part on an African folk story. The ending was especially good, and unpredictable despite the confrontation that was obviously going to take place. It was banned by the Kenyan government, as Matigari teaches its readers that only armed struggle would result in freedom from corrupt and oppressive African dictatorships. Highly recommended!
Show Less
LibraryThing member GlebtheDancer
Matigari is about a freedom fighter who returns from the wilderness after laying his weapons aside at the end of the wars of independence in his unnamed country. He returns to find the government changed but the status quo preserved, with European colonial types benefitting from the labour of the
This was my third Ngugi, and they have ranged between very good and excellent. One day I would love to get to know him better as a writer, because if his least read novel is this good, then there must be some treasures among them.
flag abuse
Show More
Africans, and African collaborators abusing their positions for a cut of the spoils. Matigari emerges from the bush as a messianic figure, dedicated to peace as he gathers disciples in the fight for the soul of his new nation. Ngugi makes several allusions comparing Matigari to Christ, as a man of peace and deliverer of his people. The book is written as part allegory, part parable and part fairy tale. He gives the reader no firm grasp on chronology, or the boundaries between the magical and the real. What emerges is a moving surrealistic tribute to the spirit of independence and the challenges facing newly independent nations.This was my third Ngugi, and they have ranged between very good and excellent. One day I would love to get to know him better as a writer, because if his least read novel is this good, then there must be some treasures among them.
flag abuse
Show Less
Language
Original publication date
1987
1989 (English translation)
Physical description
160 p.; 8.1 inches
ISBN
0865439990 / 9780865439993