- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape; First Edition edition (3 July 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0224081063
- ISBN-13: 978-0224081061
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 330,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
`many amusing moments in this memoir'
`a beguiling journey under the warm, sad, funny, chaotic, wacky, wise skin of one of the poorest countries in Africa'
--Sunday Telegraph
`a beguiling journey under the warm, sad, funny, chaotic, wacky, wise skin of one of the poorest countries in Africa'
--Sunday Telegraph
Barbara Trapido
`I loved this brilliant Malawian coming of age novel. It's funny, sad, shocking, pacey, bursting with energy and talent.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There are many characters in this book, not just the eccentric eponymous Jive Talker, Kambalu's father. Some of these characters remain for a chapter or two, others only last for a paragraph - but even in that short a time, I felt drawn to the characters, I cared about them, and the poignancy of many of their tales really stood out for me - Zapa, Bolo, Bono.
The Jive Talker is an ingenious book: funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking, amusing, puzzling, shocking. Kambalu is a conceptual artist, and many passages in the book, in particular his dreams and chloroquine trips, seem to illustrate the inspiration for his works. However, each paragraph seems to sketch its own picture of living as a teenager in Malawi, coming to life clearly with just a few words. Although the book is a coherent whole, it is also episodic, and I have enjoyed dipping into the book and rereading some of my favourite stories ... the trip to the dentist, the tourist on the beach, Zapa and the doughnuts, Arthur's Nuclear Bunker, life at Kamuzu Academy ...
Finally, I have searched for books written by Africans growing up in post-colonial Africa, and although there seem to be an ever increasing number of memoirs by white people, books by black Africans seem mostly to be set during conflicts. Although there were still issues regarding the dictatorship of Hastings Kamuzu Banda during the early years covered by this book, this is a positive story of growing up in an urban family of civil servants, not wealthy but not always poor, enjoying life and facing daily challenges. It appears to provide a unique perspective in the literary world, and thus is even more to be recommended. I certainly hope it will encourage other young Africans to share their stories.
The Jive Talker is an ingenious book: funny, heartwarming, heartbreaking, amusing, puzzling, shocking. Kambalu is a conceptual artist, and many passages in the book, in particular his dreams and chloroquine trips, seem to illustrate the inspiration for his works. However, each paragraph seems to sketch its own picture of living as a teenager in Malawi, coming to life clearly with just a few words. Although the book is a coherent whole, it is also episodic, and I have enjoyed dipping into the book and rereading some of my favourite stories ... the trip to the dentist, the tourist on the beach, Zapa and the doughnuts, Arthur's Nuclear Bunker, life at Kamuzu Academy ...
Finally, I have searched for books written by Africans growing up in post-colonial Africa, and although there seem to be an ever increasing number of memoirs by white people, books by black Africans seem mostly to be set during conflicts. Although there were still issues regarding the dictatorship of Hastings Kamuzu Banda during the early years covered by this book, this is a positive story of growing up in an urban family of civil servants, not wealthy but not always poor, enjoying life and facing daily challenges. It appears to provide a unique perspective in the literary world, and thus is even more to be recommended. I certainly hope it will encourage other young Africans to share their stories.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Forget what you've read about Africa - here there are few nods to those stereotypical quaint tribal customs that are ten-a-penny in every book to have risen from that continent. Here, reading conversations about impending nuclear annihalation, scenes of impressing girls with Michael Jackson dance moves, of a public school where characters are nicknamed 'Churchill' and 'Shakespeare', you could be forgiven for thinking you had picked up a biography set in eighties' Middle England. Juxtaposed with this, however, giving the biography its uniqueness, are scenes where black mambas hide in the corners, where malaria is so commonplace as to be almost mundane, and where the shadow of AIDS begins its steady expansion across the continent. Throw into this a dollop of philosophy and religious enlightenment, with the artist/writer's positivity and humour gelling it together, and you have a rich tapestry of life that is well worth returning to. His father may have been the one they called the Jive Talker, but Kambalu proves to have plenty of his own Jive to share with us.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I maintained a constant chuckle throughout my reading of this book, receiving a few raised eyebrows from random train passengers. However, over and above being quite a comic writer, I enjoyed this book because it gives real insight into what goes on in the mind of an ordinary African boy.
The thoughts that went through Samson's head as he went from one experience to another are far more highbrow than the average westerners associates with African minds. There are so few books expressing and accurately portraying the way Africans think that the Western World has (on average) quite a poor opinion on African intelligence and sophistication of thought, this book takes a step in the right direction with respect to solving that problem.
I take my hat off to Samson for allowing himself to think against the establishment because compliance is so much easier.
The thoughts that went through Samson's head as he went from one experience to another are far more highbrow than the average westerners associates with African minds. There are so few books expressing and accurately portraying the way Africans think that the Western World has (on average) quite a poor opinion on African intelligence and sophistication of thought, this book takes a step in the right direction with respect to solving that problem.
I take my hat off to Samson for allowing himself to think against the establishment because compliance is so much easier.
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