This is a coming of age narrative from Equatorial Guinea. The narrator is in Europe when the story begins, and has just decided not to become a priest, but to go to law school. He then goes back to his earliest memories and narrates his growing up, up to the time he leaves Africa for Europe to study for the priesthood. The story is generally well told. I think it just seemed a little too familiar to me. So many versions of this story have come out over the years, that this seemed a well worn path. The narrator doesn't really go into any detail about his culture, which I think makes the story seem similar to so many others of this type. ( )

Equatorial Guinea.

I was quite impressed by this novel, which made me glad that I was unable to find a copy of his History and Tragedy of Equatorial Guinea. The story is narrated as two internal monologues, one voice calling itself "I," the other referring to that voice as "you," that recount the protagonist's formative years through his relationship with his tribal culture and religion as it interweaves, but does not commingle with, Spanish culture and Catholicism. The two voices, both of which alternate between storytelling and stream of consciousness reflection, capture the rift in identity that is such a ubiquitous and potent theme in narratives of coming of age under colonialism.

Ndongo's novel is fruitfully read with Somé's memoir [b:Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman|192354|Of Water and the Spirit Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman (Arkana)|Malidoma Patrice Somé|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172579143s/192354.jpg|185993] for its spiritual/alternate reality passages, Joyce's [b:A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man|7590|A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man (Norton Critical Edition)|James Joyce|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256118817s/7590.jpg|3298883] for its evocation of sin and the fear of damnation, and Roth's [b:Portnoy's Complaint|43945|Portnoy's Complaint|Philip Roth|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170240551s/43945.jpg|911489] for a much sadder and distressing version of Portnoy's encounter with the liver. ( )

I really had a hard time with the way this book was written. There were sentences that ran on for pages, paragraphs that ran on for entire chapters, no quotation marks and virtually no plot -- all of these characteristics make for very difficult and frustrating reading on my part. However, I can see why the author chose to write in this way and I don't think he was just showing off, and the book was short enough that I could bear it.

The story is of a young boy growing up in Equatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking colony in sub-Saharan Africa. (It wasn't until I'd nearly finished the book that I realized the protagonist, I believe, has no name.) He is more of an observer than an actor in the story. He's torn between the colonial culture, encouraged by his family's priest and his parents who worship whites and are convinced of their racial inferiority, and his tribe's traditional beliefs, as espoused by his Tío Abeso. "I couldn't take sides;" he notes, "I was observing the last splendors of a world that was disappearing forever, and another very different one was arriving; I couldn't embrace either one."

The boy's father wants him to become a priest and he is a very devout child, but the Church is no comfort to him -- he spends all his time worrying about going to hell, and doesn't play games with other children because he doesn't want to sin. Tío Abeso acts as a counter-influence, taking him through various indigenous rituals to keep the boy connected with his tribe and his African past. I confess I really admired Tío Abeso's sensible outlook, as exemplified by this quote midway through the book:

"Tío Abeso said that he too could tell the priest about the traditions of his tribe because all tribes have traditions, and the secret of living in peace was for all the tribes to practice their own traditions without interfering with the others or trying to influence the powers of the amulets that protected the other tribe." Amen to that!

Though I would not have read this book for pleasure, it gave me a lot to think about and I think it would have an excellent place in an African/colonial studies course. The list of suggestions for further reading in the back is a good idea, since Equatorial Guinea is such an obscure country. ( )