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Petals of blood (African writers series ; 188)
by Ngugi wa Thiongo
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Heinemann (1977)
ISBN: 0435901885
EAN: 9780435901882
Unknown Binding: 344 pages
SKU: T081305-4108
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Very good overall condition. No writing, very tight binding. Some discoloration on binding. Ships same day or next in a bubble mailer. Enjoy.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The puzzling murder of three African directors of a foreign-owned brewery sets the scene for this fervent, hard-hitting novel about disillusionment in independent Kenya. A deceptively simple tale, Petals of Blood is on the surface a suspenseful investigation of a spectacular triple murder in upcountry Kenya. Yet as the intertwined stories of the four suspects unfold, a devastating picture emerges of a modern third-world nation whose frustrated people feel their leaders have failed them time after time. First published in 1977, this novel was so explosive that its author was imprisoned without charges by the Kenyan government. His incarceration was so shocking that newspapers around the world called attention to the case, and protests were raised by human- rights groups, scholars, and writers, including James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Donald Barthelme, Harold Pinter, and Margaret Drabble.
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Customer Reviews
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an insightful, painful journey through disappointment in post-independence Kenya
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-06-07
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Primary schoolteacher Godfrey Munira requests a posting at a far-away, rural location, hoping to escape his feelings of failure, his disappointment with himself. He is sent to the village of Ilmorog, where he crosses paths with Wanja, a beautiful bargirl come to live with her grandmother; Abdullah, a former freedom fighter who now runs a small shop and bar; and later Karega, a former student expelled from a prestigious secondary school for participating in a strike, then reduced to selling petty wares to tourists. These four friends (and sometimes lovers and sometimes rivals) participate with the native residents of Ilmorog through ups and downs, through drought and urbanization.
The principal theme of the book is disillusionment with independence, which replaced a few elite whites tightly holding power and money in Kenya with ... a few elite blacks holding power and money in Kenya. And as Ilmorog develops, just as in Kenya's post-independence transition, those who fought longest for change aren't those who see the benefits. The theme is not a happy one, and the novel holds out no clear solution (one character finds religion, another finds alcoholism, a third finds labor unions - and incredible hostility towards them by those in power) but it reflects true frustration on the part of many unable to climb out of abject poverty.
Thiongo's writing style is not swift-moving or action-packed, but the early pace reflects the pace of life in Ilmorog, and the action picks up as does life in the small town. Pushing through the slower parts is worthwhile: this book feels true to the frustration of many of Kenya's (and Africa's) poorest, disillusioned and searching for hope. Sometimes Thiong'o preaches too obviously through his characters, but the complaints are not his alone.
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A Most Impressive Book
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-04-15
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
A most impressive book. Chinua Achebe said that through fiction you may not be able to tell fact but through fiction you can tell truth. This novel transcends post colonial Africa; it's a commentary on the universal human condition. The forces of greed corruption exploitation transcend borders. The bosses will be served. Well done Ngugi Wa Thiong'o.
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Brilliant
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-04-12
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This novel is amazing. It just gets better each time I read it. It is a skillful blend of humor, irony, emotion, drama, politics and theory. "The railroad ate the trees, which called upon the rains." This is a critique of the colonial effect on the environment, which at the same time offers a cause and solution for the drought and crop failures contributing to poverty and disease in our beloved Africa. All in one simple line! This book is a rich treasure chest, each page holds jewels!
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powerful
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-07-02
4 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
Ngugi takes you through an emotional journey of pre and post colonial journey. This book moved me and educated me on some Kikuyu cultures - He references Theng'eta a potent alcoholic drink that I still have yet to find any Kikuyu who has heard of it. non the less the book is very much worth the time and more so the money - enjoy
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A tale of Post-Colonialism
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-11-17
20 out of 23 customers found this reveiw helpful
Set in Kenya but could be a prototype for a native culture anywhere colonized, breaking free, then globalized which is an extension of colonialism. It is easy to understand why the author was imprisoned after the book's publication in 1977 as he presents a bleak view of what the Kenyans got in the way of leaders after independence from the white rulers. The viewpoint here seems to be anyone "for the people" is assassinated, those that stay in power are stinking rich doing business with the former white rulers and selling out their own people. The story opens with a brief introduction of the four main characters - Munira, Abdulla, Wanja and Karega - a triple murder has just taken place, 3 leading millionaire government officials of the city of Ilmorog were burned to death in their beds. We are then taken back twelve years in time to when Munira arrived in the sleepy, dusty village of Ilmorog to teach school, The four friends meet and we hear their individual stories, how they change over the years but more so how the place called Ilmorog changes, from a dusty village to a modern urban centre, and the effect on people who lived there for generations.
I found the book very dense reading at first, there so many African names introduced, also the style of writing with many flashback is challenging, but before page 100 I was sailing along and could hardly put the book down. There are many layers to this novel, it is a book about Africa, about the world history of black people in general, globalization, colonialism, and a murder mystery as well, the arsonist responsible for the triple murder is revealed to us by the end.
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