So Long a Letter (African Writers Series)

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It's a hit!

The charged words of of this book truly brought me into a world I have never experienced. Told in epistolary format, middle-aged Senegalese schoolt... (show more)

The charged words of of this book truly brought me into a world I have never experienced. Told in epistolary format, middle-aged Senegalese schoolteacher Ramatoulaye writes to her oldest friend, Aissatou, after the death of her husband. She struggles through her feelings about the event, which are made more complex by the fact that her husband took a second wife just five years before his death.

Heralded for her feminist point of view, the narrative examines the wide differences between men and women in her society. Not just regarding the idea of polygamy, but also in terms of education, jobs and money.

Ramatoulaye is a strong heroine, a mother to twelve children, she's educated and works as a schoolteacher. The range of emotions she feels, at first when she discovers her husband has married again (no one told her), then when she comes to accept his death, and finally when she moves on with her new, independent life, are the blood of this book.

At times the story feels secondary to her more philosophical musing about the curves that life throws and she's very keen to urge young women to make their own way in life. In a way, the book is almost a parable to younger Senegalese women who should take Ramatoulaye's lessons and live accordingly. Which isn't to say it's not a successful, albeit short, book. On the whole, it reminded me a little of "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings", and I enjoyed reading it. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

No, it's a flop!

Hard to read simply because you couldn't tell when one letter stopped and another started. Great honesty in this work because people are more open... (show more)

Hard to read simply because you couldn't tell when one letter stopped and another started. Great honesty in this work because people are more open when talking to a good friend than formally. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook-gebruiker

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  This is a book that only a woman could write. As women we love so unconditionally, so surprisingly fresh and forgiving with each new day. Ba writes of two women who share the same hopes and desires for their lives, yet find those desires placed behind commitment to family, marriage and tradition. At first read it just seems as though the women are offering each other comfort as one friend mourns the death of her husband. Yet one cannot help to note the motivation with which Ba writes on the... (show more)

  This is a book that only a woman could write. As women we love so unconditionally, so surprisingly fresh and forgiving with each new day. Ba writes of two women who share the same hopes and desires for their lives, yet find those desires placed behind commitment to family, marriage and tradition. At first read it just seems as though the women are offering each other comfort as one friend mourns the death of her husband. Yet one cannot help to note the motivation with which Ba writes on the topic of polygamy and male power in the marriage relationship while adding a lasting didactic subscript for women of all cultures who love men. Ba’s message is not explicitly feminist, nor is it about complacency and loyalty to culture and tradition. She simply and elegantly implores women to be true to themselves in love and in life. The translation of this novel from French to English no doubt takes away some of the power of word choice and control over sentence structure that Ba has in the original French. Yet the book still reaches its audience as it centers on love. This is a good book to read along with Toni Morrison’s Love. (show less)

   

  by Facebook-gebruiker on May 03, 2009 at 06:34PM

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  I waited too long to write this review, but I was very moved by the tale told here. It was simply the most stark picture of how far the West has come in its treatment of women...and of how far it has yet to go. The similarities to my own culture were as striking as the differences, and that saddened me.

   

   

  by Benjamin Plume on Aug 16, 2009 at 04:21PM

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