or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
31 used & new from £0.15
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Children of the Revolution
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Children of the Revolution (Hardcover)

by Dinaw Mengestu (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.09 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £4.90 (38%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 2 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 10? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
19 new from £6.13 12 used from £0.15
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback £7.99 £5.08 39 used & new from £0.68
Hardcover (Large Print) £16.99 £16.99 Order it used

Frequently Bought Together

Children of the Revolution + A Golden Age + The White Tiger
Price For All Three: £16.88

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Children of the Revolution by Dinaw Mengestu

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

A Golden Age

A Golden Age

by Tahmima Anam
4.6 out of 5 stars (9)  £4.98
The Road Home

The Road Home

by Rose Tremain
3.9 out of 5 stars (88)  £4.81
The White Tiger

The White Tiger

by Aravind Adiga
3.7 out of 5 stars (129)  £3.81
Bog Child

Bog Child

by Siobhan Dowd
4.2 out of 5 stars (8)  £4.73
A Fraction of the Whole

A Fraction of the Whole

by Steve Toltz
4.0 out of 5 stars (73)  £5.82
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd (23 May 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 022407931X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0224079310
  • Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.4 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 365,169 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Financial Times

`Quietly brilliant...reads like an Ethopian variation on The Great Gatsby. Remarkably it's not diminished by this comparison.'


Daily Telegraph Rev'd Sophie Ratcliffe

`This is a courageous and engaging novel'
See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Children of the Revolution
89% buy the item featured on this page:
Children of the Revolution 4.0 out of 5 stars (4)
£8.09
The Road Home
3% buy
The Road Home 3.9 out of 5 stars (88)
£4.81
Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, the
3% buy
Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, the 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£9.90
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
3% buy
The Reluctant Fundamentalist 3.5 out of 5 stars (106)
£4.55
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A tender portrait of immigration, 7 Oct 2008
By Sofia (Bristol, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Children of the Revolution (Paperback)
This beautifully written study of emigration and the consequent hopes, fears and disorientation tells the tale of Sepha Stephanos, an Ethiopian refugee who fled after his father's murder to America. Seventeen years later he is in Washington DC living from day to day, running a neglected grocery store in a rough neighbourhood.

Mengistu paints a very tender picture of Stephanos, a man who never wanted to come to America, as he says, "I did not come to America to find a better life. I came here running and screaming with the ghosts of an old one still firmly attached to my back." He spends his days escaping into the world of fiction and regular evenings with his two African friends musing over Africa and its troubles. When Judith (a former University lecturer) and her half African daughter Naomi move in next door to him, for the first time since he arrived in the US, he has a chance to make American friends. Is this his chance to finally find himself and a purpose to his immigrant life?

Mengistu's novel is a real gem. Winner of the Guardian First Book Award, it tells a very poignant tale of isolation, of loss and of the difficulty of reconciling any kind of hope for the future with pain, guilt and fear from the past. Thought-provoking and touching, it's a really good read.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5.0 out of 5 stars Africans in Washington, 27 May 2009
By R. Harris "Old gits rock" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Children of the Revolution (Paperback)
An affecting story of refugees from three African countries who have found unfulfilling and unrewarding occupations in Washington DC. Despite, or perhaps because of, their relative material impoverishment and drinking habits, they fail to integrate into mainstream US society, but nevertheless maintain rich and dignified personal integrity. A brilliant and excellently written insight into the lives and aspirations of those on the margins of society.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars How on earth can this be compared to The Great Gatsby!, 26 Aug 2008
By Nt Deregowski (Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
There isn't enough meat here for more than a short story, and the reading experience is dull.

Te author simply doesn't have an interesting enough "take" on things to be able to fill out the pages. His imagination is banal, and he frequently resorts to lazy stylisitic devices to try to affect the reader. These often involve exaggerations which quickly tire. The author's use of language is generally flat.

The central relationships are immemorable, except possibly that with his lover's daughter. The particularities of the various Africans in the book are not distinctly enough drawn to merit interest, nor are the narrators experiences of the particularities of American culture.

I suspect that this book was favourably reviewed because of the novelty of the immigrant's viewpoint being that of an Ethiopian. But when you compare it to other great immigrant fiction- Naipal, Singer or Nabokov it's very thin indeed.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant novel about the immigrant experience
The harsh experience of African immigrants to the USA is revealed in this beautifully written novel, set mainly in Washington DC. It reminded me a little of V.S. Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. H. Bretts

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.