A classic!

A fantastic, touching memoir about childhood, war, and family. The language is stunning and the story is fascinating.

L'infanzia di Soyinka si presta a un doppio risultato; la prima parte (quella del Soyinka più piccolo) è uno splendido esempio di sincretismo fra civiltà (e quindi religioni), con il bambino protagonista che mischia manifestazioni spiritiche nigeriane e santi cristiani; la seconda invece mostra il contrario con le differenti visioni in ambiti particolari come quello dell'istruzione. Nell'insieme un racconto ben scritto e molto scorrevole nonostante la ripetititvità sempre a rischio e nonostante si trovi anni luce di distanza da altre opere di Soyinka (come l'enorme "Gli interpreti"; in ogni caso un ottimo punto d'inizio per conosce l'autore che non spaventa, ma coinvolge.

Fantastic book, a joy to read, a beautiful reminder of fun childhood.

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1516878.html

Rather a sweet memoir of growing up as the headmaster's son in colonial Nigeria before and during the second world war. I liked it more than Chinua Achebe; there seemed to me to be more interrogation of political and gender power structures - one memorable scene has Soyinka's mother yelling her rage down the phone at the local British official at the Allies for bombing the (non-white) Japanese rather than the (white) Germans. The other point that grabbed me was the lip-smacking portrayal of Nigerian cuisine. I would like to know more about West Africa in general, and I guess Nigeria is the way into it as the regional power; and I guess that Soyinka is one of the better ways into Nigeria.

Reading the first few pages of Aké is like being grabbed by the scruff of your neck and being thrown into Nigeria. It's all heat, colour and unfamiliar words and names. And then, just as if you were suddenly thrust into a bustling market that you have to find your way out of, you begin to notice a certain order beneath the chaos. Helpful asterisks appear to explain the unfamiliar words, you start to keep track of names and voila, you're halfway through the story, before you know it.

A lot of writers use the idea of being in an exotic location to disguise the fact that there's really not much of a story to tell.

Thankfully, Aké wasn't one of these. It's actually an autobiographical account of the author's childhood. Wole Soyinka is fiercely curious, always questioning everything much to the exasperation of his parents. In his refusal to bow to authority 'just because' you can see faint echoes of the man who would question and speak out against tyranny and dictatorship.

But Aké doesn't aim to have any grandiose message - on the surface. It's simply a story of childhood, charting a child's successes, triumphs and minor catastrophes. As the story progresses you come to feel as if you know the narrator, his impudence, playfulness and resilience. And you come to picture the village he lives in in West Nigeria with vivid clarity.

What makes Aké so strong is its subtlety. There are no overt descriptions of war, hardship, oppression and hunger. It's in the little details, glimpsed through a child's eyes. In this sense this book reminded me of 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. Except Wole's story is much more hopeful. I suppose the book it reminded me the most of was Martin Wickremasinghe's Madol Doova - it had that same playfulness and innocence which has made the author so beloved.

I had never even heard of Wole Soyinka before my obsession with - of all things - Quizup. In my obsession to get to the number 1 position in Classics his name cropped up again and again. I'm glad I decided to give him a chance. Turns out, Soyinka only won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. He was the first African to receive such an honour. His personal story includes imprisonment, a death sentence and a madcap escape on a motorbike. Now he's a Professor at Loyola Marymount University.

Turns out Quizup was good for something besides killing time. Highly recommend Aké, especially if you love lighthearted stories.

Once I realized that I couldn't blow through this book like it was a young adult novel or something, I realized that it's quite amazing. Super well-written, whimsical, lovely.

I liked so many things in the book, particularly noteworthy in a savoury searing recollection: a spontaneous embrace of solitude seen in a young boy spending long hours in 'his' tree; a willful principal of transnational experience engaged in resolute punitive handling of his students; a young housemaid shoved from street to street with intermittent profanities rained on her as a necessary cure for bed-wetting; a procession of rightfully protesting empowered women without fear of scorn or dogged indifference.

Everything seemed so neatly placed, like a song in which a trifle of an adjustment or removal, could make shallow, a far reaching depth of meaning.

Soyinka writes not as someone angry or lacking hope in a possibility of a change, but as an offspring of the terrain, insightful, playing a part in a wilful shift to a clear understanding of a glaring rigid deformity in the instilling of discipline, as perfectly encapsulated in the book's final sentence.

A lingering question accusingly hovers introspectively, unmistakably, and with an unshakeable request for honesty. What's taking us so long?

This is a memoir of the author growing up in the town of Aké, Nigeria in the 1930's and 40's. Touching and evocative, I found it a bit on the dense and verbose side. But still, I liked it a lot, especially the description of Nigerian culture and ceremonies.

Very thin. It takes place when he is a child, but not much really happens. It wasn't enough for me. I found myself skimming I wanted so much for it to be over.

Hilarious and nice tale of childhood

Very funny book and very interesting method of expressing himself that the author uses. I really enjoyed reading this book :-)