Burning Grass by Cyprian Ekwensi

Synopsis(as seen on the back cover of the book)
Burning Grass is an enthralling tale of Northern Nigeria where, when the grass is burnt on the plains, the Fulani cattlemen move southwards towards the banks of the Niger. Mai Sunsaye, the hero of the story, is afflicted with the sokugo, the wandering sickness, and his experiences and those of his herdsmen make a fascinating tale

My Thoughts on the book
Does anyone (Nigerian ofcourse) remember 'Tales By Moonlight'? I think it was aired on Sundays and I, personally, loved ALL the stories narrated, and acted out.

When I started reading this book, it reminded me of something BUT I couldn't remember what!!! I couldn't follow the story because of the way it was written... THEN IT HIT ME!!! I had to imagine this being acted out in a 'Tales By Moonlight' way! Honestly, this changed the book for me completely!!! The bad English (spoken by the characters) felt natural, the disjointedness(is there such a word? LOL!) of the scenes- some characters were mentioned suddenly without being introduced, EVERYTHING!!!

I think what I am going to do is read this again in a couple of months... because I should have started the book all over again when I had this 'Tales By Moonlight' revelation instead of continuing... does this make sense to anyone?

Anyway, to summarise - This was a good story, readers should bear in mind that conversations are not held in perfect english... be open minded. Have this in mind, and you'll actually find the book interesting! I will definitely read it again and I am sure I will find it even more interesting the second time round!

9 comments:

Oh dear, I forgot to mention the English part. It's almost a literal translation from the Fulani way of speaking into English.

The boy Rikku plays a major role in a lot of Ekwensi's work...

5:06 PM  

Yes that's it! Exactly!

11:07 PM  

:) hey book bug how u doin?

Keshi.

7:01 PM  

i havent searched for it on amazon yet but i will soon!

9:17 PM  

Was just wondering if I could become a member?

I have a blog on blogger too.

http://sentimentallovepoems.blogspot.com

8:53 AM  

i've never read any book by cprian ekwensi. but i guess i will start now. the only nigerian authors i had heard of was Wole Soyinka (The Gods Are Not To Blame) and Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart)

7:10 AM  

Good Job! :)

3:43 AM  

Nice post you got here. It would be great to read more concerning that theme. Thank you for posting this data.
Joan Stepsen
Computer gadgets

4:21 AM  

hi book club. Nices job though but fullani people to the waka waka! Lol

2:17 AM  

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