We Need New Names

#1038
Title: We Need New Names
Author: NoViolet Bulawayo
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Year: 2013
298 pages

Linked short stories generally follow Darling, a Zimbabwean girl, from her hungry, conflict-saturated childhood in Africa to her dislocated/relocated young adulthood in the U.S. Most of the sections worked well, though the end point of some didn't resonate or satisfy. There are some intrusions of a poetic narrator, best understood as Darling's philosophical future self, perhaps. They add complexity and perspective, but are at times heavy-handed and detract from the intensity I imagine the story would have had if it stayed tightly connected to the developing and acculturating protagonist.

A creditable first novel. Nicely read by Robin Miles.

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #8)

#1018
Title: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #8)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith 
Publisher: Pantheon
Year: 2007
213 pages

Better, with some actual character depth and psychology, but still reasonably superficial and with mysteries that seem almost beside the point. 

Blue Shoes and Happiness (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #7)

#1015
Title: Blue Shoes and Happiness (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #7)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher: Anchor
Year: 2006/2007
256 pages
 
Though this preceded Fifty Shades of Grey, the talking shoes were too much like the horrible inner goddess of the latter, which is not Smith's fault, but does suggest that he failed to make this little fancy work. I found this somewhat better than the last installment but still rather lackluster. Okay as a read-and-forget novel, but nothing compelling.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #6)

#1014
Title: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #6)
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Publisher: Pantheon
Year: 2004/2005
233 pages

Not quite twee, but cloying, with tedious dialogue. The first incident is never resolved, and is never really investigated, even observationally. [What size and brand were the pants? Worn or new? Clean or dirty? That's a lot of information to ignore, and "Oh, they weren't Charlie's" is a limp resolution.  The author does address my earlier criticism that character-related issues disappear, but still only references a character's depression, for example, without this mattering at all to the story.

I'm still enjoying the descriptions of Botswana and Lisette Lecat's narration, but the series is growing stale.

Une suite à Moroni Blues

#996
Title: Une suite à Moroni Blues
Author:  Rémi Carayol, Soeuf Elbadawi, & Kamal'Eddine Saindou
Publisher: Broché
Year: 2007
Country: Comoros
56 pages

Ordered from Amazon.fr for cost + shipping of around $28, beating out Amazon.co.uk and Abebooks handily. A better book for Comoros, though "better" is relative as I haven't had to read long passages in French since 1974. Fortunately, I'm easily entertained.

***
2013: Now reading. I expect it to take 1-2 months.

***
The award-winning short, poetic essay, "Moroni de mes enfances perdues" (6 pages) was originally published as "Moroni Blues/Chap II." It caused a furor occasioned, as well as I can manage the French, less by its non-traditional style than by its content, which apparently threatened the status quo in Comoros by raising questions about insularity, the relationship between parts of Comoros and the archipelago as a whole, and xenophobia/racism.

This volume collects the piece itself and several commentaries. It's a little confusing because the essay was published on its own, and there is also a theatrical piece, "Moroni Blues/une rêverie à quatre," which appears to be built on this initial essay and was published as a volume of script and photos. The reviews show that the theatrical piece is multi-media; it appears to focus on longing for the Moroni that existed mytho-historically but isn't enacted now. It is told as "une réflexion de quatre personnages sur le repli communautaire, le rejet et la peur de l'autre" (Fathate Karine Hassan in her review in Nouvelles Études Francophones, 25(2)). Some reviewers see it as comedic. I would assume that the aspect that rankles is its criticism of France's occupation of Mayotte, content that has caused the author to be censored at times. This appears to be a program for "Moroni Blues/une rêverie à quatre": http://www.wip-villette.com/IMG/pdf/M... . A video conversation with the author, which I don't have the spoken French to understand): http://www.theatre-contemporain.net/s... .

***
Here's a sample to illustrate the rhythm and the translation amusements. This is part of a mytho-historical section, describing Moroni's past. Karthala is an active volcano on Comoros:

Le Karthala en rut, pour dire les choses autrement. Un volcan si proche, mille fois maudit par nos saints en prière sur l'étendue du Bandari. Moroni sentait bon le conformisme à l'époque. Mais c'était aussi un temps exquis où l'insouciance se conjuguait paradoxalement avec la loi du plus fort. Le colon veillait dans son bel uniforme étoilé, même si ce chef-lieu du pays pouvait bruire de toutes ses lumières sans que la chicotte ne vienne semer une once de trouble dans les consciences. Moroni pouvait rire et danser, tout en se sachant sous cage pour longtemps (p. 13).

***
The ending rally: "L'heure est sans doute venue de déconstruire les héritages pesants et de redessiner l'imaginaire d'une cité au regard toujours porté sur le large" (p. 16). I construe he's talking about the community's philosophy, and not about urban renewal.

***
The piece itself is followed by several essays, which, as best my French permits me to say, address the piece primarily in terms of poetical essay harangues about the elite's stupidity, from a Marxist perspective.