Nicht leicht zu lesen, ich musste mich bemühen dabei zu bleiben.
Dabei habe ich einiges über Nigeria und die Familie Kuti gelernt.
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti war sicher eine der interessantesten Persönlichkeiten, über die ich jemals lesen und mich dann im Internet informieren durfte. Das hat mich bereichert.

I often forgot I was reading a memoir. Instead, I was there with little Wole, following him around as he explored and learned and discovered. I could see his home and village and school. More importantly, I could feel the presence of Essay, Wild Christian, Father, Tinu and I got scared when he got scared, or bold when he got bold. I heard his questions, oh so many questions he would pester everyone with, that at the ripe age of four he already had a reputation as a too curious-for-his-own-good child. Adults kindly warned each other to prepare for his never-ending barrage of questions. And I loved it. I mean his questions were of genuine curiosity, this was a child thirsting to understand the world, make sense of it, and make use of it way before most children would be forming proper sentences.

I also loved the cultural richness and the way I was exposed to it all. The simplicity of complex issues like someone who was a Muslim but converted to Christianity, or the fact that everyone was afraid of juju even though no one knew what else to make of it, or the desire to abolish taxation in the face of corruption… I come across so much in this novel through the eyes of young Wole which remained innocent and judgment-free, as they should. And I loved all the Yoruba words for food, clothes, relations. Mostly, I loved the support and motivation Wole’s family offered him, even though he never gets sentimental, one can feel the love that nested him.

One of my favorite exchanges:

’Have you come to keep your sister company?’
‘No. I have come to school.’
Then he looked down at the books I had plucked from my father’s table.
‘Aren’t these your father’s books?’
‘Yes. I want to learn them.’
‘But you are not old enough, Wole.’
‘I am three years old.’
Lawanle cut in, ‘Three years old wo? Don’t mind him sir, he won’t be three until July.’
‘I am nearly three. Anyway, I have come to school. I have books.’
He turned to the class-teacher and said, ‘Enter his name in the register.’

A terrific memoir.

Soyinka tells the story of his early years in Ake. The fascinating part about Soyinka's story is that he is Yoruba. Yoruba culture is flexible in that they can accept what would seem to be contradictory beliefs. He is Christian, but he retains traditional Yoruba beliefs. Soyinka's is the story of a hybrid identity. He comments on issues in his own community as well as worldwide calamities. The writing is great. Soyinka replicates, as best he can, the voice of his childlike self to tell the story from a unique perspective. Not many can do what Soyinka does in Ake.

Like the beginnings of James Joyce's "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man," except the kid is cuter.

The story is told through the eyes of a boy growing up in pre-Independance Nigeria. The plot is non-linear, like life, but it's still funny and moving. Towards the end, the narrative focuses on the Women's War. Funny how such a female-empowering book has a little boy as a narrarator.

Rather slow and ponderous but beautifully written.

What a remarkable book.

Regarded as a "classic" around the world, this book uses unbelievably beautiful language to paint pictures of both the author's "outer" life -- Nigeria, his family, friends, home, rituals and routines of daily life-- and his inner life, the view of a child.

Soyinka was obviously a precocious boy who observed the world, drew conclusions, and used those conclusions to both question those around him and to guide his own actions. At the age of 3, for example, he saw that his older sister went to school and seemed to have gained an aura, somehow, that was different from the sister that she had been, and different from whatever others saw in him. He therefore decided to go to school. He knew that one needs books, so he took books from the table -- his father's -- and he knew that one wears a uniform, so he approximated as best he could with what he had. He followed her, hiding along the way, slipped into the school, and sat in her classroom. When he was noticed, he announced that he was here for school and that he would attend every day.

He did. and he asked questions.

This sort of engagement with the world marks Soyinka as a particularly fascinating voice on a trip back in time to a part of the world that few have experienced. His day to day experiences and observations of his father (a headmaster), his mother (a merchant and political organizer), and their friends tell a tale of reasoned humanity that is both exotic and familiar. This is a fabulous book.

Nobel Prize winning author Wole Soyinka's autobiography is truly not an easy read. His dense writing requires the reader's constant attention, but the attentive reader will be rewarded with a beautiful, rich tale of this man's story of his childhood as he chronicles his adventures through and perceptions of his world in Nigeria in the late 30s and early 40s.

Following this young prodigy from ages 3-11, the story takes the reader through a vivid world where a young boy grows up in a hybrid existence of cultures, surrounded by traditional Yoruba beliefs and Western Christianity. Soyinka masterfully delivers his story through his younger self, writing an autobiography that is mostly free from the self-indulgence that is so often found in this genre. Soyinka humorously delivers the story of his unique childhood yet does it so that it touches on the universal experience of childhood itself.

While it is difficult to read the book is sweet, funny, and deeply thought provoking. Soyinka's writing is very poetic and truly beautiful throughout the novel which helps save it in its less exciting moments.

I basically lived Wole Soyinka's childhood. So witty yet profound.

I wanted to like this - no, I wanted to love this book and I expected to do so. MAybe the timing was off but after 50 pages or so I still hadn't developed any sort of interest in the protagonist.

في هذا الزمان الذي تـنـدر فيه الصداقات ويشح الأصدقاء ....

لابد أن يـتـشـبّث الإنسان بكل صداقة قديمة كان عطاؤها دفئاً ...

وبكل صديق وفيّ كانت مشاركاته عمراً ...

Aké - lapsuusvuodet on omaelämäkerrallinen teos, joka kertoo kirjailijan lapsuudesta 1930-luvun lopun ja -40-luvun alun Abeokutan kaupungissa. Wole on haaveiluun taipuvainen lapsi, joka kyselee paljon sellaisistakin asioista, jotka eivät hänelle vanhempien mielestä kuuluisi. Perheen talo on vieraanvarainen ja kaikille avoin, joten erilaisia ihmisiä kulkee sen lävitse koko Wolen lapsuuden ajan toisten jäädessä sinne pidemmäksi aikaa ja toisten vain poikkeavan kadotakseen sen jälkeen ikuisiksi ajoiksi. Myös ei-kristillinen maailma demoneineen ja henkineen on läsnä Wolen elämässä, vaikka koulussa ja kodissa siitä ei juurikaan puhuta.

Kokonaisuutena teos oli hyvin kiinnostava. Se kattaa ajanjakson Wolen elämästä noin kolmevuotiaasta yksitoistavuotiaaseen saakka ja tuolle aikavälille mahtuu monia erilaisia asioista. Toisesta maailmansodasta kantautuu uutisia myös Akéen saakka ja Hitleriä inhotaan. Samalla myös valkoisen miehen valtaa kyseenalaistetaan ja itsenäisyysmieliala alkaa heräämään. Lasten elämään tämä ei kuitenkaan suuremmin heijastu, vaikka Wole kirjan loppupuolella seuraa aktiivisesti naisasiaryhmän kokouksia ja lopulta heidän mielenosoitustaan. Kiinnostava teos, joka soljuu eteenpäin sujuvasti. Annan tälle 4 tähteä.

At first this book was hard to get into, launching as it does into detailed description without laying the background, but I was more and more impressed as time went on. The childhood themes are as universal as the setting is unique.