The Camel Bookmobile

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It's a hit!

This is the story of an American librarian who starts a program, to deliver books via camel to remote villages in Africa. The American is a naive a... (show more)

This is the story of an American librarian who starts a program, to deliver books via camel to remote villages in Africa. The American is a naive and courageous white woman who works with a sour male African librarian who think the Americans are silly to do such a thing.

The characters are very well developed and also include several villagers from a remote African village and spans across three generations. The story raises ethical questions about bringing modern ideals to rural communities, shows the dreams and ambitions of coming of age, and includes some fine love stories as well. I felt like I had traveled to Africa and lived in a remote village with the sweat or mosquitoes. It is a simple but engrossing read.

While the story was fictional, the Camel Bookmobile is real. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

No, it's a flop!

An exploration of the imposition of western culture and well-meaning philanthropy on semi-nomadic Africans, with a lot of personal interaction and ... (show more)

An exploration of the imposition of western culture and well-meaning philanthropy on semi-nomadic Africans, with a lot of personal interaction and character growth along the way. Often the writing style seems laboured, forced and prescriptive, too reminiscent of a Lonely Planet guide to African culture and native scenery than a literary portrait. And the closing chapters, whilst potentially pleasing, are executed poorly.
Whilst not an unpleasant read, Hamilton's social-justice novel is worthwhile more for it attempts to be than what it achieves. (show less)

 

 

by James O'Doherty

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  Access to literature is a basic symbol of freedom in our culture; sharing books a profound way of breaking bread with others. And so the idea of a mobile library that travels through the Kenyan bush, books packed up on camelback, paying visits to temporary villages of nomadic tribes, is an intriguing and appealing kind of cultural goodwill. Of course, these villages are protective of their own cultures and traditions, and often resistant to change, and what do books promise but challenges an... (show more)

  Access to literature is a basic symbol of freedom in our culture; sharing books a profound way of breaking bread with others. And so the idea of a mobile library that travels through the Kenyan bush, books packed up on camelback, paying visits to temporary villages of nomadic tribes, is an intriguing and appealing kind of cultural goodwill. Of course, these villages are protective of their own cultures and traditions, and often resistant to change, and what do books promise but challenges and change? This story follow a well-meaning librarian from the US who makes new and intimate connections in a village named Mididima, a village that doesn't know the rest of the world and isn't understood by it either. Are these books just another form of cultural hegemony? Or do they bring much needed possibilities for freedom from old ways? Masha Hamilton poses this question and to her credit, offers no simple answer. The shifting perspective in the novel reveals failures of communication and profound misunderstandings even within a culture. The book is a quick read with a suitably honest ending. I would have been happier with more heft to the book, but that probably reveals more about the potential of the subject matter than failure of the author. (show less)

   

   

  by Elizabeth Wilson on Aug 17, 2009 at 10:02PM

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  I really enjoyed this book. It's a quick read but well written. Chapters take perspectives of different characters, and they are surprisingly engaging. The story is of a New York-based librarian who travels to Africa to establish a "camel bookmobile," camels carrying boxes of books to remote communities that haven't had exposure to the written word or, in many cases, modern society. When one young man, known as Scar Boy because he had been disfigured by a hyena, refuses to return hi... (show more)

  I really enjoyed this book. It's a quick read but well written. Chapters take perspectives of different characters, and they are surprisingly engaging. The story is of a New York-based librarian who travels to Africa to establish a "camel bookmobile," camels carrying boxes of books to remote communities that haven't had exposure to the written word or, in many cases, modern society. When one young man, known as Scar Boy because he had been disfigured by a hyena, refuses to return his books, the librarian goes to his community for several days to recover the books. She fails, but she finds Scar Boy's unknown artistic talent in the process, and she "drinks the honeyed rain" with the town's city-educated teacher. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is the contrast between modern society and traditional communities, which value tradition and knowledge of the elders over books and other threatening sources of information that could cause the youth to question the wisdom of the ages. (show less)

   

  by Facebook User on Apr 22, 2009 at 09:52PM

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