Extraordinary novel and performance

Found this book incredible, thought provoking, relevant, primal, intellectual, deeply human. And the reading of it was beyond. Highly recommend.

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Best read this year!

An excellent book, so cleverly written, captivating story! Love the allegory and nuance. The narration was absolutely AWESOME!

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Difficult but beautiful

I found the story difficult to follow since one character was described by multiple names. However i do see the beauty of the story. Unfortunately it wasn’t the right book for me

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A story of hope

A difficult read as a Zimbabwean but an important one. Thank goodness for the performer! The sounds and pronunciations were great, I teared up remembering some of the difficult conversations in 2017/2018. I suppose this is the most hopeful I have heard about our story at the end. And that is painful to say but beautiful as well. This is a well written hopeful story.

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3 people found this helpful

Better to read than listen I think

I haven’t been able to finish this book on audible. I think I need to read it not listen. It’s not the reader. I think it’s the repetitions. It’s sensory overload for me. But on the page I imagine they’re very effective. So I’ll get it and read slowly at my own pace. If like me you have sensory overload and processing issues you might want to try this through the written medium.

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1 person found this helpful

Funny but overlong

The narration was fantastic. As for the story, I found the first half tough going. There are numerous, quotable, killer one liners that highlight the ridiculousness of governmental mismanagement but it just took a really long time for the story to go anywhere. Making the characters animals added to the ridiculousness and worked, on the whole, but don't expect an animal farm esq allegory. This is straight characters are named as dogs/birds/horses but are to all intents human. Ironically, the second half, which was far more poignant and horrific, was an easier listen as it seemed to be building to a purpose. And there are some sections which simply didn't work on an audio book (5 mins of repeating the same sentance...). Not bad by any means but probably not a book i will return to.

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4 people found this helpful

This is an important book.

This book tells the story of Zimbabwe’s oppression by its despots. It offers hope and bears witness to the injustices perpetrated by the Zanu of of regime.

The reader is clearly not Ndebele. As a result there are many phrases that she mispronounces which I found grating.

The writing style too is plagued by the use of repetition which I found at times to be applied too abundantly.

But as I said this is a very important book and I applaud NoViolet for having been brave and enough to write it.

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4 people found this helpful

Perfect

I was hesitant in choosing this novel because of its Animal Farm-like style, assuming (very wrongly) that I would be bored by the format. Instead, I discovered a captivating, thought-provoking and immensely powerful story that utilised the animal analogy in a completely novel and impressive way, it's bold and energetic and very real.

The Narrator was fantastic, as someone with some family history in Zimbabwe it was a heartwarming surprise to hear the perfect grasp of the colloquial terms, accents and performance. I did google her and see she is Zimbabwean, so this makes sense of course, but she gave a wonderful edge to a story that would have been a lot more dim if only read by my own internal narration !

With its beautiful encapsulation of Zimbabwean people, culture, and resilience, Bulawayo's writing really breathes life into this tale.
I can't remember the exact quote (because I listened to the audio) but the story mentions comedians whose satire about the country is tremendously funny but at the same time deeply upsetting because of how true they ring. I found this similar to my thoughts on the book, the quirky, heartwarming writing and humour of the political absurdity only slightly veiling the gross tragedy being told.
All in all I really enjoyed this, give it a go !

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Worthy Booker Nominee

A slow burner, it took me a little time to get into the story but I grew to love this modern allegory. The narration is excellent.

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A multi layered story of comedy and tragedy

This is a very unique and individual work. It tells the story of Zimbabwe from the fall of Mugabe up to an imagined present.

I knew very little, almost nothing about the history modern, colonial and pre colonial of Zimbabwe/ Rhodesia. Yet I found this book drew me into this world and if anything the experience was enriched by me being a blank canvass.

The story is very deep, multi layered, allegorical and metaphorical. I certainly didn't catch everything but what I did understand I found very good. The story has a lot of satire and in places the farcical nature is highly comical however in others, particularly one harrowing scene set during the 1983 genocide it is horrific and harrowing. The imagery of this particular scene is so haunting I feel it will stay with me. The optimism of the end does in some ways help with the tone and feel of the book.

The language is amazing it has an almost Homeric quality of oral tradition and phrase repetition. This mixed with a sense of Nostos from the main character gave a distinctly Greek feel to a very sub Saharan African book.

There is very little in the way of distinct plot in this work but I felt engaged and enjoyed the work right to the end. It reads in many places like a commentary by Bulawayo on the state of Zimbabwe, which for me was both interesting and informative.

The performance was first class and I would say essential. I don't think I would have got through this book, or at least not taken as much from it had it not been for the wonderful rhythm, pronunciation and cadence that Chung gives to Bulawayos words. For me the audio book is the best way to enjoy this piece.

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6 people found this helpful