Glory: A Novel

Boring.

A satirical allegory decrying the multiple woes of am imaginary country in Africa. The characters are Animals, but thoroughly anthropomorphic animals. They lack most animal characteristics. First Jidada is colonized and exploited by western nations, but after winning its independence, the new leaders are horrible explorers of their people and terrible managers of the infrastructure. While focused on an African nation, many of the tactics of their leaders sounded like strategies of dictator wannabes the world over. The people’s turning point? When they realized that they were one another best resource and began to work together.

The other reviewer on Bookclubs makes the point that it was probably safer to write this in the form that it takes but it is so close to reality that I'm not sure how much protection the format would provide. Although I have given this a high rating I have to admit that at the half-way point my enthusiasm was flagging. It felt like that the novel had done the job of describing recent events in Zimbabwe but the format seemed to be working against the novel as it was harder to create the characters in the minds eye than if they had been humans. Then, with Destiny's arrival and the flashback to the Gukarhundi the pieces started to fall into place. The account of events in the 80s was grim (and the fact that she locates this in her home of Bulawayo makes me think possibly quite close to actual events). Thereafter, the book becomes even more magical as it works through the consequences of these events and the repetition of history. As I approached the end I braced myself for a grim conclusion but the fictional format allowed for a more positive ending which felt right to me. The book left me thinking of how we can struggle against oppressive regimes. In some ways the anti-colonial war, led as it was by guerilla warfare, laid the basis for and elitist post-colonial regime and in the context of a country left coping with the trauma of war. in a country where exploitation is based on oppression and the exploitation of raw materials it is harder to see how democratic struggles can be built, although I am sure it is possible although this would be easier in the context of wider struggles in southern Africa and beyond.

Initially I was vastly entertained by this remake of the classic Animal Farm, where animals in the failed state of Jidada have taken over and I read their antics with amusement as they scrambled for power when the Old Horse is removed from power. It was probably too dangerous for her to write a realistic account of this infamous period of Zimbabwe's history as it is an accurate portral of real events not very heavily disguised. If it is read purely for the effortless irony and original descriptions it is entertaining to begin with but the analogies became repetitive and it was hard to get more than half way, as it became monotonous in its idiocy. It is worth dipping into it and enjoying a taste of a modern satyr but it would have been more effective if it had been as short as Animal Farm.