I love, love, LOVE this autobiographical piece dealing specifically with Soyinka's childhood in Nigeria.

Wole Soyinka, the first African to ever be awarded the Noble Prize in Literature, grew up in Nigeria in the fifties, when both his native country and much of the rest of Africa was still roiling under imperial European rule. To no one’s surprise, this results in a memoir that very much reads as if the writer is being torn between two priorities, two sets of values, two worlds. Soyinka’s “Ake: The Years of Childhood,” which cover his earliest memories up through approximately age eleven, is no different: he grew up in a world of ancestral religious, social, and cultural practices that mostly coincided easily with, but occasionally butted heads, with the imperial English culture with which it had to share its lebensraum.

This volume of Soyinka’s memoirs (there are several more by now: see below) is bound up mostly with his domestic life, though later there are memorable recollections of an emerging political consciousness which I’ll mention later. His father (“Essay”) is a local schoolmaster; his mother (“Wild Christian”), the very embodiment of a free spirit who occasionally takes in boarders to their house. Because the memoir uses the limited perspective of a very young boy in a mostly domestic environment, the voice can have the naiveté of a boy this age; however it never has the provincialism that you would expect to accompany that innocence. From the very first episodes of the story, we are able to envision him as a vibrant, curious, enthusiastic, and very precocious little boy.

Though he is stuck at home, the family’s recent acquisition of a new television set gives Wole an initial way of understanding the complex political world around him. He heard of Hitler faintly and vaguely knew that he was an important figure. Later in “Ake,” Soyinka begins to track the actions of a group called the Egba Women’s Union which fights against excessive taxation. Wild Christian becomes prominent in the Union and begins a series of talks with the Alake of Egbaland, a native administrator.

Soyinka’s recollections of his early childhood resemble the kind of person I have seen him to be in interviews – joyous, thoughtful, intellectually curious, and appreciative. He displays the kind of wonderment and delight that we can only hope to have in fully grown adults. From the first chapter which describes the beautiful geography around Ake to the tumultuous politics of colonial Nigeria, the reader walks away from this memoir feeling that he has inhabited the shoes of a child who is bigger than the land that contains him, but at the same time will grow up to write its stories and tell its histories like none of his contemporaries have. Oh, and the language. The language! I will not quote anything directly, but suffice is to say that’s simply magisterial.

To compliment this volume, readers might also be interested in “Isara: A Voyage Around Essay” (1989) which deals with the years directly before the ones in “Ake,” “Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years” (1994) which discusses tracks Soyinka’s life after “Ake” through the time of his arrest and two-year imprisonment, “The Man Died: Prison Notes” (1972) detailing those two horrific years, and most recently “You Must Set Forth at Dawn” (2006), about his experiences from young manhood until publication.

Aké — nom des lieux où le narrateur a vécu son enfance — c'est le regard que Wole Soyinka jette sur ses onze premières années pour écouter les murmures d'un passé resurgi dans la connivence des puissances imaginaires ; c'est la magie d'une Afrique en transition avec son cortège de personnages inoubliables : Bukola l'enfant aux compagnons invisibles ; Môa-même, le parasite gentleman ; Pa-Adatan le matamore hérissé de gris-gris ; et surtout "Chrétienne Sauvage ", la mère de Soyinka, figure dionysiaque d'une énorme vitalité.
Avec Aké, l'enfant africain retrouve un peu plus sa mémoire et la littérature universelle s'enrichit d'un des chefs-d'oeuvre de l'autobiographie.

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Good story-if you can get through the writing style!

Aké. Hmm
I love how Wole Soyinka told the story. So descriptive. You could almost picture or imagine yourself in there growing up with him.

He was such a stubborn, inquisitive and adventurous young man and I can’t help but think those were the qualities that made him who he is today. I watched him on the news two days ago talking about President Buhari and it was amazing because he has always been passionate and vocal even as a child and it’s good to see he still is.

It was a good read. There were some sad moments and hilarious moments. The part where his sister died on her first birthday was quite rough. The questions he asked, his experiences at Abeokuta Grammar School got me rolling. He seemed like that kid you can’t stand but absolutely love! I also love that he talked about the historical events that happened as a child. I’ll definitely give this book a 3.5/5.

Full review https://t.co/rHugNQKAtS

will leave a lifelong impression on you....

I return to this book time and time again because it transports me to his childhood world.

Nagorete egetabu eke korende ngakeanana, naende tingeganeti. Ekororekana imbuna Soyinka atagete koorikia buna aarenge omwana omong'aini na kiang'o.

مضيعة وقت!
صفحات مليئة برائحة البول والافكار غير المتناسقة .. مجرد سطور بلا هدف ولا فكرة!
لا يستحق القراءة.

Wole Soyinka has an interesting story to tell and tells it well. The rich diversity of Nigeria accompanied by intense political times was filtered wonderfully through the lens of the young narrator. The subject of the narrative was good and the writing style of Soyinka elevates it more. I haven't read any of the other works by Wole Soyinka but Ake: the Years of Childhood makes me craving to pick them up.

An interesting narrative about the writer's early childhood years in a village in western Nigeria. Soyinka is clearly a great writer, and while this book doesn't have a lot to hold it together it never lags. Most interesting about Soyinka's childhood, perhaps, is the cultural and religious syncretism of his environment.