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Harare North Paperback – 1 Apr 2010

by
Brian Chikwava (Author)
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Brian Chikwava (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 15 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Paperback: 230 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (1 April 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099526751
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099526759
  • Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.3 x 20.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 277,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"A debut novel at once lyrical and gritty, offering an unsentimental view of the African immigrant experience in London's Brixton" (Scotsman)

"It's the darkest of comedies, fuelled by an eccentric, wholly convincing voice" (Observer)

"An hilarious and wrenching examination of immigrant life... From a prodigiously talented and uncompromising writer" (Ali Smith)

"Chikwava has created an utterly compelling anti-hero... Mesmerising" (Guardian)

"A writer to watch. Brian Chikwava's language is lively and witty and it turns the London you know upside down" (Maggie Gee)

Book Description

A shocking, powerful and hugely acclaimed first novel, about life as a refugee.

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsDarkly comic
By Amazon Customer on 11 Sept. 2009
Format: Hardcover
I loved this book! Sure, the idiosyncratic grammar takes a bit of getting used to, but it's worth persevering. The narrator is well drawn and has a really interesting voice. I was sorry when the book finished. It's very funny but also heart-rending. Highly recommended.
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5.0 out of 5 starsHarare North
By Anthony J. Murtagh on 6 July 2009
Format: Hardcover
After the reviews I had read in the broadsheets' literary supplements, I was eagerly awaiting this novel. I am delighted to say that it did not disappoint. Brian Chikwava has created a story that aroused the most varying of emotions in me. It is such a tragic tale but delivered at times in the most comic of manners. I am surprised at the review below; as I thought that the style used by Chikwava was what enabled such a sad tale to be told, at times, with such humour and amusement. In my opinion it was this style that was able to give Harare North the balance of tragedy and comedy that really sets it apart and makes such a delight to read. The protagonist's voice is certainly distinctive, but in a way which reveals not only his being a foreigner in a foreign place but also a sense of simplicity and openness. Anyway, it was a novel that I thoroughly enjoyed and would highly recommend.
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2.0 out of 5 starsDisappointing Read
By Christina Chieza on 29 Jun. 2009
Format: Hardcover
Harare North I waited for the publication of this novel with great excitement but was disappointed when I read it. First, it was very difficult to read the ungrammatical English the author insisted on using throughout the story. The story unfolds mostly in a stream of consciousness from the protagononist. If he was semi literate, as portrayed, then surely this internal dialogue would have been in Shona (translated into grammatical English by the author since the novel is in English)and not the painful ungrammatical English which noone in real life would use to think when they have their own first language to use to speak to themselves? This is so unrealistic it is quite annoying. Who is Brian writing for anyway because even in Zimbabwe, those who would buy this book are fluent in English and would find it difficult to read this one. Certainly, those learning to be fluent in English would regress after reading it! If he is writing for a non Zimbabwean audience elsewhere, then he has given the wrong impression of the competence of Zimbabweans in the diaspora to use English, in speech or thought, grammatically, which is a false impression as most Zimbabweans are very fluent in English, our national second language. Also, the experiences this Green Bomber goes through, in the diaspora, be they with locals or other Zimbabweans are mostly, if not wholly negative. Is this realistic? There are hardships when living as an illegal immigrant in London, but for most people the experiences are not all bad. There are decent Zimbabweans in London and not every local person is nasty and exploitative. An unrealistic portrayal of life in Harare North for Zimbabweans I must say!
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5.0 out of 5 starsDark and very funny
By release the cure on 17 May 2010
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The nameless narrator of this novel may very well be one of the best literary creations to come out of africa in the last decade. He is devious, cruel, funny, intelligent and goofy all at the same time. His use of the language is difficult to get to grips with, "what kind of style is that?", but if you persevere you will find it gets easier and even more hillarious. I highly recommend this book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsGood Tale
By Sandy Sharp on 7 Jan. 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I would imagine that if you're not from Zimbabwe it may be difficult to understand a lot of the references. It's written in a very different style but that is in keeping with the story, so it works well
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5.0 out of 5 starsMuch-needed balance
By T. Bullough on 12 Mar. 2010
Format: Hardcover
I have to take issue with some of the reviewers below. Brian Chikwava's achievement in Harare North is extraordinary and the balance on Amazon at the moment in no way reflects its critical reception. The Guardian called it "mesmerising" and "utterly compelling". The Independent called it "arresting, haunting, exciting, funny". Harare North bears comparison with the chimurenga music of Thomas Mapfumo, who, during the independence war of the 1970s, pioneered transposing the traditional mbira music of Zimbabwe onto electric instruments. Chikwava's protagonist too emerges from rural Zimbabwe to collide with the west - in the form both of London and the English language - and it is out of this collision that a voice emerges unlike anything else you'll encounter in literature. Yes, this book can be dark, but its character is a creature of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. It is also joyous, hilarious and boiling with passion. It will come to be regarded as a classic.
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4.0 out of 5 starsImmigrants in London
By Wils on 25 Feb. 2013
Format: Paperback
A very funny book written in pigeon English about a zimbabwean immigrant trying to raise money in London. The language can be a bit tricksy but it is still a very good book once you get into it.
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2.0 out of 5 starsDisappointing
By Amazon Angel on 3 Sept. 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
No Zimbabwean speaks like that. But I did find it interesting that the main character was so unlikeable and completely justified in his own head.
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