- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (29 July 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141182059
- ISBN-13: 978-0141182056
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,249,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Epic in its scale, Red Strangers spans four generations of Kikuyu family in Africa and their relationship with European settlers, nicknamed "red" strangers because of their sunburns. Huxley's engrossing portrait of a Kenyan tribe and their way of life, with its rituals, its beliefs, its codes and its morality, shows Europeans and their customs in stark, unflattering contrast with the Kikuyu. The differences in their attitudes to war, methods of cultivation, the administering of justice, and the use of money are played out in this novel of the damaging forces of colonization.
About the Author
Elspeth Huxley (1907-1997) was the daughter of Major Josceline Grant of Njoro, Kenya where she spent most of her childhood. She was educated at the European School in Nairobi and at Reading University where she took a diploma in agriculture, and atCornell University. In 1929 she joined the Empire Marketing Board as a press officer and, following her marriage to Gervase Huxley in 1931, travelled widely with him in America, Africa and elsewhere.
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First Sentence
MUTHENGI was fourteen years old when he first saw a column of shining-skinned young Kikuyu warriors swinging along the forest's edge towards the plains, like a ripple of wind across a field of ripening grain, on the way to war. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
MUTHENGI was fourteen years old when he first saw a column of shining-skinned young Kikuyu warriors swinging along the forest's edge towards the plains, like a ripple of wind across a field of ripening grain, on the way to war. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the most memorable books I read as a child growing up in colonial Kenya. The story portays how strange the first European settlers appeared to the indigenous African inhabitents, as imagined by one of the best writers of the colonial African experience. Probably seems very dated now, but the book conjures up scenes of African village life that must have been from the author's direct observation.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book paints a realistic picture of what it must have been like for many tribes in Africa to see the incomprehesible passing away of their autonomy with the arrival of the European - the red stranger. Seen from the point of view of the tribesmen, the author manages to depict the limitations of their capacity to percieve what is happening. Notable is the tale of the men who leave for the European war, with no idea what that is or where it is, and their subsequent return. They are unable even to begin to talk about it, the very concepts so strange to their erstwhile fellows as to be meaningless. It is a strangely touching account, still relevant today.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Red Strangers' is a beautifully written book following the lives of four generations of an african tribal family. The rich, descriptive language portrays the traditional ways of life so perfectly that you become completely immersed in them with the characters. In fact the description is so engrossing you fully understand the alienation and confusion the tribes felt when the red strangers from europe came and turned their worlds upside down. I really felt the anguish and upset the africans felt when told to stop living the life and traditions they had lived for generations, to change them for european ideals of what was correct and proper. I also felt the disappointment and anger at the elders when they say their children embrace aspects of the european life and leave their heritage behind. This story is epic in it's scope and one you start reading you will find it very hard to put down, as you will want to find out what happens next. This is one of those rare books that will stay with you for a long time after reading and leaves you better for having read it. Highly recommended.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
through a stranger's eyes
In Britain we're used to believing we're the centre of the universe. Read RED STRANGERS to learn how others may view us. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Judith Joseph
emersive
you are the alien and in being emersed so you become the native - the native world make sense - the colonial man and all modern society becomes evidently bizzare and the invasion... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by Ugy
Thought provoking
A thought provoking novel that stimulates and then challenges our moral certainty about the wrongs of imperialism. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2009 by Robert Cordner
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