An Elegy for Easterly
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Review
`Mistress of crushing irony and acerbic humour ... this is a fiercely indignant and justly cynical work.' --Sunday Times
`Tough but tender too, An Elegy for Easterly is full of unexpected moments of sympathy.' --Sunday Herald
`Entertains even as it describes a country in collapse.' --The Times
`Generously realised ... Gappah's lightness of touch and excellent sense of humour moderate some of the gravest moments.' --Daily Telegraph
`Tough but tender too, An Elegy for Easterly is full of unexpected moments of sympathy.' --Sunday Herald
`Entertains even as it describes a country in collapse.' --The Times
`Generously realised ... Gappah's lightness of touch and excellent sense of humour moderate some of the gravest moments.' --Daily Telegraph
Book Description
A stunning new voice from Zimbabwe, with an unforgettable collection of powerfully moving stories.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This debut short-story collection by Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah is a wonderful read. The tone of each one is perfect: the language is consistently beautiful but also completely natural. You get to know the characters very quickly, through small details artfully described, and are left at just the right moment to move on to the next tale.
The title gives a clue to what's in store. "Elegy" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "A song of lamentation, esp. a funeral song or lament for the dead". This book feels like Petina Gappah's lament for the Zimbabwe she grew up in, a Zimbabwe that has been scarred by political corruption, economic chaos and the scourge of AIDS. I can't say whether she means to say that the Zimbabwe she knew is dead. Of course the country endures, the people endure, and that's what these stories are about. Perhaps the lament is not so much for the country itself as for the people who have suffered so much. In any case, there's a deep sadness underlying all these stories, and there's a death or a funeral in most of the stories.
Yet the strange thing is that there's also a lot of humour, and the humour often goes hand-in-hand with the sadness. There's the old carpenter who is cheated out of his pension and wins a dancing contest, the diplomat who is new to email and loses thousands of euros to the old lottery scam, and the bizarre goings-on at the Hotel California. In many of the stories, the humour is very real and genuinely funny, and yet it feels like a thin veneer which Gappah deliberately lets slip every now and then, exposing the horror underneath.
My favourite story, though, has no real humour. It's called 'Something Nice from London' and tells of a family waiting at the airport for the twice-weekly flight from London. The title refers to the hope that relatives in the UK will either return or send back money or gifts for their families. With the collapse of the economy, a few UK pounds is millions of Zimbabwe dollars, and can help a family to survive. But it gradually becomes clear that what this particular family is waiting for is the coffin of their son, Peter. And what follows is a tragic, drawn-out description of the anxious waiting for weeks and weeks, interspersed with explanations of what brought Peter and the family to this point, all the sacrifices and mistakes and disappointments. It's important that the body returns because the whole extended family is staying at their house awaiting the funeral, and they literally can't afford to feed them much longer.
It's probably not a representative story to pick - the others, as I said, had more humour mixed in with the tragedy, and I think it's that mixture that makes the book successful. But this particular story really got to me more than all the others. There's just a real power to that image of the family waiting at the airport, surrounded by all the other people waiting for 'Something nice from London' while they are waiting for the coffin of their son.
Which brings me back to the tone. When describing suffering, and especially when interspersing it with humour, there are a lot of pitfalls to avoid: melodrama, tastelessness, didacticism and exploitation to name but a few. Gappah skips effortlessly through the minefield, achieving just the right tone in every story. It's a tremendous achievement, and I look forward to reading more from her.
The title gives a clue to what's in store. "Elegy" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "A song of lamentation, esp. a funeral song or lament for the dead". This book feels like Petina Gappah's lament for the Zimbabwe she grew up in, a Zimbabwe that has been scarred by political corruption, economic chaos and the scourge of AIDS. I can't say whether she means to say that the Zimbabwe she knew is dead. Of course the country endures, the people endure, and that's what these stories are about. Perhaps the lament is not so much for the country itself as for the people who have suffered so much. In any case, there's a deep sadness underlying all these stories, and there's a death or a funeral in most of the stories.
Yet the strange thing is that there's also a lot of humour, and the humour often goes hand-in-hand with the sadness. There's the old carpenter who is cheated out of his pension and wins a dancing contest, the diplomat who is new to email and loses thousands of euros to the old lottery scam, and the bizarre goings-on at the Hotel California. In many of the stories, the humour is very real and genuinely funny, and yet it feels like a thin veneer which Gappah deliberately lets slip every now and then, exposing the horror underneath.
My favourite story, though, has no real humour. It's called 'Something Nice from London' and tells of a family waiting at the airport for the twice-weekly flight from London. The title refers to the hope that relatives in the UK will either return or send back money or gifts for their families. With the collapse of the economy, a few UK pounds is millions of Zimbabwe dollars, and can help a family to survive. But it gradually becomes clear that what this particular family is waiting for is the coffin of their son, Peter. And what follows is a tragic, drawn-out description of the anxious waiting for weeks and weeks, interspersed with explanations of what brought Peter and the family to this point, all the sacrifices and mistakes and disappointments. It's important that the body returns because the whole extended family is staying at their house awaiting the funeral, and they literally can't afford to feed them much longer.
It's probably not a representative story to pick - the others, as I said, had more humour mixed in with the tragedy, and I think it's that mixture that makes the book successful. But this particular story really got to me more than all the others. There's just a real power to that image of the family waiting at the airport, surrounded by all the other people waiting for 'Something nice from London' while they are waiting for the coffin of their son.
Which brings me back to the tone. When describing suffering, and especially when interspersing it with humour, there are a lot of pitfalls to avoid: melodrama, tastelessness, didacticism and exploitation to name but a few. Gappah skips effortlessly through the minefield, achieving just the right tone in every story. It's a tremendous achievement, and I look forward to reading more from her.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An Elegy for Easterly is a collection of short stories all revolving around different people from Zimbabwe, people of all classes suffering from similar problems.
Presidents wifes left to suffer after the husband dies of AIDS, families cheated by neighbours who borrow money to eascpe to the Western World, women unable to have children who are judged by all, families seeing yet another young daughter marrying a man with AIDS who has already buried two wifes.
The themes are recurring: AIDS, deception, corruption, the black market and the ever increasing prices and political promises that can reck a nation.
I never read short stories one after another as I find that they merge into one another, but with this collection each character was held seperately in my mind, each life story complete in itself.
A collection I would definately recommend to others.
Presidents wifes left to suffer after the husband dies of AIDS, families cheated by neighbours who borrow money to eascpe to the Western World, women unable to have children who are judged by all, families seeing yet another young daughter marrying a man with AIDS who has already buried two wifes.
The themes are recurring: AIDS, deception, corruption, the black market and the ever increasing prices and political promises that can reck a nation.
I never read short stories one after another as I find that they merge into one another, but with this collection each character was held seperately in my mind, each life story complete in itself.
A collection I would definately recommend to others.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A tottaly rivetting and beautifully written set of short stories about life in current Zimbabwe - worth a ton of journalists' 'special insight' reports. Rank Gappah among the best short story writers of modern times.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
So sad, but so funny...
Three words come to mind whenever I think about Zimbabwe: Mugabe, corruption and hyperinflation. The news about the country is very predictable. Read more
Published 13 months ago by A. O. P. Akemu
Different
It is our book club book and I chose it as from zim - in some ways think you need to know something about Zimbabwe to really enjoy it but finding it interesting.
Published 17 months ago by Jossiemou
Satisfying but not groundbreaking
This is a decent book. Ground-breaking? Sadly not. Perhaps I am particularly ungenerous because I have very high expectations when it comes to the scarily intelligent Petina... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mainini Beatrice
An Elegy for Easterly
I was frustrating reading all the short stories because i thought it was one story but got into it. Nice read but not what i expected
Published 19 months ago by Naafina
Fantastic - and I don't like short stories...
If you want to learn a lot about Zimbabwe through a book you can't put down, you've found what you've looking for. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Ismene
A powerful and moving book
This is a powerful and moving book which tells of life in Zimbabwe under the Mugabe rule. Each short story has a different aspect, but shows ordinary and extraordinary events in... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Dodie Robertson
Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2010
'Short stories can be one of the most effective forms of political writing, carving out memorable facets of a situation or place - in this case Zimbabwe - and making from these... Read more
Published on 26 May 2010 by The Orwell Prize
An Elegy for Easterly
Excellent and entertaining read. Change the names and places & these short stories could describe most African if not all developing countries. It had me hooting with laughter.
Published on 15 April 2010 by A. Quist-arcton
warm hearted and real
The way she tells stories from awfulness to uncomfortable with a realness about humanity results, somehow in an uplifting result.
Published on 11 Jan 2010 by jo2dayone
An Utterly Incredible Collection of Short Stories
Petina Gappah's debut collection of short stories An Elegy for Easterly is fictional tales of her homeland Zimbabwe. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2010 by Simon Savidge Reads
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