Meditations on Reading: Part II

Truth be told, I didn’t give much of my free time to reading as a child.  I was too busy sloshing around in the creek or playing some game of sport.  Remember Kick the Can?  I spent hours trying to perfect my play in that game. Sometime in my later teens books and reading became good friends to me. Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul On Ice talked to me in a way books before this did not. The books Karen and I have read while in Africa have added greatly to our understanding and experience here.  We devoted an earlier blog post to what we were reading at the time.  We’d like to update our reading list, invite you to give us any further reading suggestions you may have, and we hope you will enjoy reading some the books listed if they are new to you or you are moved to revisit previous reads.

A large theme/influence that the region wrestles with is trying to integrate or throw off the influences from outside nations and groups. In the past, it was predominantly European countries that exerted the greatest influence. Today, the United States, China, Russia, and elements of various Islamic states are the main players.  Influence is often exerted through outside alignment with specific tribal or religious groups. This alignment often takes advantage of the European past as well as each region’s own difficulty with accepting differences in others.  Within the East African region, each country keeps active, vested interests within each other country, often following the scheme of putting one group above some others.  In Bududa, factors in daily life include proximity to Kenya, being in the district of Bududa, being in the eastern part of the country, surviving the nation’s difficult path since independence in 1962, and being led by the current national government since 1986..  On any given day, factors from all of these influences listed above may blend into a thick forest of influences that create some opportunity, but more often create real hardship. Trying to make sense of all this can be like trying to spot a small greenish bird in a dense jungle forest----one is lucky to see a fleeting glimpse of green fly by!    

We wrote in the previous blog: “We try the best we can to hear the truth of today’s Uganda being shared with us…” (through personal stories, our own experiences, and the books and papers we are reading).  We continue to listen and reflect, and hope that our efforts bring us some better understanding.  Bududa and Uganda and East Africa are special and complex places.  We remain so grateful for being able to live here during this time in our lives. 

Each book we have read, while we surely look to be entertained, also gives us a new perspective on some of the big themes/influences we are experiencing in the region and in our lives today.

Reads listed from our previous blog post:

The White Nile:  Alan Moorehead (1960/1971))

The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi:  Authur Japin (1997/2000))

West with the Night:  Beryl Markham (1942/1983)

The State of Africa:  Martin Meredith (2005)

Jock of the Bushveld:  Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (1907)

The Teeth May Smile But The Heart Does Not Forget:  Andrew Rice (2009)

Say You’re One Of Them:  Uwen Akpan (2008)

Bradt Travel Guide to Uganda, History Section:  Philip Briggs (2009)

New Reads (and reads not included in our previous post) :

The High Mountains of Portugal:  Yann Martel; 2016

Beatrice and Virgil: Yann Martel; 2011

War and Peace: Leo Tolstoy; 1869

The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Dostoyevsky; 1880

Moby Dick: Herman Melville; 1851

The Tenth Parallel:  Eliza Griswold; 2010

Kintu: Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi; 2014

The Chwezi Code:Nick Twinamatsiko; 2010

Too Close to the Sun; The Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton: Sara Wheeler; 2007

The Pigment of Your Imagination: Joy M. Zarembka; 2007

Tribe:  Sebastian Junger; 2016

Game Of Thrones: George R.R. Martin; 1996

Another Fine Mess:  Helen C. Epstein; 2017

Love Africa:  Jeffrey Gettleman; 2017

The Thing Around Your Neck: Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche; 2009

When The Walking Defeats You:  Ledio Cakaj: 2016

The Price of Stones: Twesigye Jackson Kaguri

Peace Corp Uganda Cookbook; 2008

Peace Corp Lumasaaba Language Manual

Birds Of East Africa:  Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe; 2002.  Reprinted edition 2009

While all these books are worth a look, here are a few of my favorites:

For understanding eastern and southern Africa:

Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi

Jock of the Bushveld

Luxurious Hearses from Say Your One Of Them

The Teeth May Smile But The Heart Does Not Forget

When The Walking Defeats You

For good writing with a surreal touch:

The High Mountains of Portugal

For understanding the deeper roots of colonialism and everything human:

Moby Dick, War and Peace, and The Brothers Karamazov

I share some of David’s favorites. The High Mountains of Portugal was a Christmas gift from Derek and Courtney when we were all in Portugal together for the holidays. It is truly an amazing, quirky, touching story that takes place in Portugal and it captivated me. I will say no more except…read it.

Another favorite, The Teeth May Smile But The Heart Does Not Forget, is probably the best historical overview of modern day Uganda (20^th into the 21^st century) I have read, interlaced in a tragic story of horrific leadership, dashed hopes, tribal conflicts and brutal killings that have plagued Uganda for decades.

West with the Night is a great read about a remarkable woman who led a fascinating life in East Africa and became the first person to fly nonstop from Europe to America.

And finally, The Price of Stones was hard to put down. In this day and age of so much help from outsiders, it was refreshing to read about a Ugandan who has created a thriving free school for HIV/AIDS orphans in his hometown in western Uganda.