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Collected African Stories: This Was the Old Chief's Country v. 1 (Flamingo modern fiction)
 
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Collected African Stories: This Was the Old Chief's Country v. 1 (Flamingo modern fiction) (Paperback)

by Doris May Lessing (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Flamingo; New edition edition (20 Jan 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0586091130
  • ISBN-13: 978-0586091135
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 298,318 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #49 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > L > Lessing, Doris

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Product Description

Review
'One brings away a sense of the sheer impossibility of Africa, as a place fit only for habitation by the imagination of exiles and of children. All else seems lost , betrayed and spoiled, except the glare of the sun, the dust, the boulders. An impressive collection.' Daily Telegraph 'Doris Lessing's sense of setting is so immediate, the touch and taste of her continent is so strong, that Africa seems to become the universe.' Newsweek

Product Description
Stunning new edition of this classic African story collection 'It can be said of all white-dominated Africa that it was -- and still is -- the Old Chief's Country. So all the stories I write of a certain kind I think of as belonging under that heading; tales about white people, sometimes about black people, living in a landscape that not so very long ago was settled by black tribes, living in complex societies that the white people are only just beginning to study, let alone understand.' Doris Lessing, from the Preface. In this superb volume of African stories, Doris Lessing paints a magnificent portrait of the country in which she grew up. The cruelties of the white man towards the native, 'the amorphous black mass, like tadpoles, faceless, who existed merely to serve', the English settlers, ill at ease, the gamblers and moneymakers searching for diamonds and gold, and the presence, 'latent always in the blood', of Africa itself, its majestic beauty and timeless landscape: Doris Lessing draws them all together into a powerful, memorable vision.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars African Insights, 21 Sep 2003
This review is from: This Was the Old Chief's Country (Collected African Stories) (Hardcover)
This collection of eight short stories and five long short stories is a showcase for Lessing’s remarkable psychological insight. The stories are all set in Africa in the first half of the 20th century, and all deal with the tensions and the relations between the black and white communities there.
In a world where every slightly-famous celebrity feels compelled to tell us to ‘Kick Out Racism’, and where most principles have been reduced to vapid sound bites, it is refreshing but also startling to read a book that delves beneath the surface and comes up with more than “good” and “bad” categories. Lessing is sharply perceptive in her analysis of the attitudes and prejudices underlying white racism, and is able to present to us a variety of different characters, all of them acutely observed.
Lessing does not, however, produce the easy answers beloved of white liberals. What is perhaps especially pertinent in the post-apartheid era is her analysis of the white liberal belief that “we can all live together happily now”. Throughout this collection, Lessing shows just how colossal the white depredation of Africa was, and how much that was irreplaceable has been lost. The first story, “The Old Chief Mshlanga”, looks to the past and shows how the white settlers destroyed the traditional fabric of African society, uprooting its old structures and turning the proud chief into a broken, powerless figure. The last story, “The Antheap”, looks to the future and at the possibilities of reconciliation between the races after so much exploitation, hatred and animosity. Its message is still relevant in the post-apartheid Africa of today, and indeed in colonies and former colonies all over the world. These stories speak of the relations between the oppressed and the oppressor, of the mindset and attitudes of both and of the huge task of forgiveness. This is a collection that does not shy away from awkward truths and constantly impresses upon us the irreversible nature of colonialism. The introduction to this particular edition also makes this point explicit.

Perhaps because of the seriousness of her subjects, it is often forgotten that Lessing can be a sharply funny, satirical writer. The portrayal of the young white liberals in “A Home for the Highland Cattle” is savagely accurate, capturing the patronising attitude that believes the problems of Africa can be solved with a pay rise and education. As Angela Carter has remarked, Lessing “tears strips off liberal doublethink” and often does so in a painfully funny way.
However, possibly the most striking aspect of these stories is their portrayal of Africa and its landscape. Lessing’s work here is similar to that of other white southern African writers, Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee, in the way that she imbues the continent itself with a character. In “No Witchcraft for Sale”, Lessing writes that “the bush is full of secrets. No-one can live in Africa…without learning, very soon, that there is an ancient wisdom of leaf, and soil, and season, and, too, perhaps most important of all, of the darker tracts of the human mind which is a black man’s heritage.” The overwhelming impression from this collection is that these “secrets” of Africa are only dimly perceived by the white settlers, who have despoiled and plundered the continent.
Each story in this collection is a masterpiece, and the whole anthology altered my entire perception of Africa and its politics. Its passionate fusing of the political and the personal is powerful, sometimes frightening but always utterly compelling.

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1.0 out of 5 stars never received, 23 May 2009
impossible to read .still waiting for it to arrive or for somebody to tell me something about it
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