Saturday, February 17, 2007

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall: A Novel

Vassanji, M.G. The In-Between World of Vikram Lall: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 2004.

Reviewed by Rebecca Stuhr

M.G. Vassanji is the gifted Giller Prize winning novelist of The Book of Secrets (1996), four other novels and three collections of short stories .* Born in Kenya and raised in Tanzania, Vassanji’s novels explore the experience of South Asians in Africa. In this novel, Vikram Lall’s in-between world is that of the African-Asian in colonial and post-colonial Africa—regardless of citizenship or nativity—the Asians in Vassanji’s novel are continuously aware of being neither completely accepted by the Black-Africans nor by the European-Africans. The in-between world is also Lull’s in-between emotional and moral state as a result of his experiences during the gruesome brutality of the Kenyan independence struggle and his involvement with post-colonial government corruption.

The novel is told from Lall’s point of view in exile in Toronto having been officially declared the most corrupt man in Kenya. Vassanji has Lall tell his story beginning with his happy childhood in Kenya with his parents, sister Deepa, his uncle and other extended family members and close family friends. He and his sister’s closest friend was Njoroge, a Kikuyu boy their own age. The three of them became friends with two white children, Annie and Bill. This happy childhood became more complicated as the Mau Mau insurrection entered their lives. Njoroge makes Lall swear a childish allegiance to Kenyatta and Lall discovers a beloved uncle’s secret activities in support of the Mau Mau. It wasn’t just that his uncle worked with the Mau Maus, it was the consequences of his action that troubled Lall, most significantly his feeling that his uncle is implicated in some way in the brutal murder of Annie and Bill and their parents. Lall never recovers from these horrific and tragic events. Vassanji’s character tells his story in a cold and detached manner. Lall expresses little guilt or regret for his shady business dealings. His story is just what it is—neither good nor bad.

Through this story the reader learns of the strange position of the Asians of Kenya in particular, and Africa in general and the post independence corruption that has stalled the development of Kenya and other African countries. The story of racism and corruption is a familiar one that can be picked up and set down on many different settings and time periods including, of course, our own. But this novel is not only a history lesson. Beneath it is the much more intimate story of the fate and fortunes of Vikram Lall and his family.

1st Floor PR9199.3.V388 I5 2004
*Other works by M.G. Vassanji
The Gunny Sack. Heinemann, 1989.
PR9381.9.V37 G86x 1989
No New Land: A Novel McClellend & Stewart, 1991
PR9381.9.V37 N6x 1991
Uhuru Street: Short Stories. Heineman, 1991
PR9381.9.V37 U48x 1991
The Book of Secrets. Picador, 1996.
PR9199.3.V388 B66 1996
Amriika. McClellend & Stewart, 1991.
PR9199.3.V388 A8 1999
When She Was Queen. (short stories) Doubleday Canada, 2005
Elvis, Raja: Stories. Penguin Books, 2005

Thursday, February 15, 2007

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. Boston: Little, Brown, 2000.

Reviewed by Dan McCue

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell is an intriguing, readable study of social epidemiology. Through interviews, academic research, and case study, Gladwell probes into the reasons why certain products and behaviors have infected our society. I learned how Sesame Street and Blue's Clues became infectious learning tools, the secret behind the six degrees of separation (and its spinoff, the six degrees of Kevin Bacon), why 150 is a magic number, how farejumping and crime in New York City are connected, and why it's cool to smoke. It will make you want to be sticky, spread rumors, and find the connectors, mavens, and salespeople in your own social network.

Monday, February 12, 2007

The Expected One

McGowan, Kathleen. The Expected One. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.

Reviewed by Crosby

Remember Mary Magdalene? Well, she is in another book. The Magdalene cult has been very strong in Europe over the past two millennia. Now her presence is being felt in the United States.

Some, if they merely read the inside jacket, may think this book is a recycling of The DaVinci Code (2003). It does deal with the same subject matter: Mary Magdalene (MM) and it does deal with conspiracies and secrets and secret codes (MM does seem to lend herself to those; partly because, in the past, a person could be killed for aligning too closely to her supposed history and teachings). But there are many differences. For one, this one is not as suspenseful as the other book. In some ways, it is more like a travelogue of various places where the author visited. And there lies the major difference with the other books: it is really a disguised autobiography.

The first clue is in one of the dedications: “To Mary Magdalene, my muse, my ancestor”

The second clue is in the afterword: McGowan tells us that she did 20 years of research for this book, primarily via folklore because much of the information about MM is not written, but passed on from generation to generation of ancestors and followers. Books can be found and authors killed and the books edited and distorted. Folklore, according to the author, is more reliable and safer for the participants. And McGowan admits that her information was revealed to her only if she kept her sources secret (even today, and that may be because of the descendants of John the Baptist who are out to seek revenge on MM) so, since she cannot have independent confirmation of the data she chose to call this a fictional story so that she could at least get the story out there.

This book goes beyond the basic idea that MM and Yeshua (Jesus) had children. About 2/3 into the story is where the book becomes very fascinating: basically it is a rewrite of the gospel from the point of view of MM. It is very clever with realistic human interactions and explains a great deal that may have been confusing in the original gospels. It also has several surprises (one of which was referenced above: that John the Baptist—the voice in the wilderness, the eater of locusts and honey—had offspring and, um, guess who the mom is? And guess why the progeny of John hate the progeny of Yeshua . . . ?)

This book is the first in a trilogy. The second book is The Book of Love which is about the book written personally by Yeshua. There may be a bit of controversy over that also.
Stewart Library, Grinnell, Iowa--Main Floor

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1964

Review by Dan McCue

There's a good chance you've heard the phrase "the medium is the message." Marshall McLuhan, author of Understanding Media, spends most of the book explaining why. One of the ways in which he does this is comparing the mechanical, industrial age of years past with its specialized labor to the decentralized, electric age of today, described as the "global village." McLuhan's broad interpretation of medium means everything from the wheel to the television is examined for how it conveys information in our world.

McLuhan wrote Understanding Media in 1964, but his words seem positively prescient at times. Reading this may help you understand why you watch television, why you don't read a newspaper, and why so many of your friends are on Facebook, MySpace, and PLANs.

1st Floor Burling P90 .M26