Afterlives

A Novel

By: Abdulrazak Gurnah

Narrated by: Damian Lynch

Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2022

A NEW YORKER “ESSENTIAL READ”

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, TIME, THE NEW YORKER, BOOKPAGE, AND KIRKUS REVIEWS

“Superb. . . . A celebration of a place and time when people held onto their own ways, and basked in ordinary joys even as outside forces conspired to take them away.”—New York Times

From the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, a sweeping, multigenerational saga of displacement, loss, and love, set against the brutal colonization of East Africa.

When he was just a boy, Ilyas was stolen from his parents on the coast of East Africa by German colonial troops. After years away, fighting against his own people, he returns home to find his parents gone and his sister, Afiya, abandoned into de facto slavery. Hamza, too, returns home from the war, scarred in body and soul and with nothing but the clothes on his back—until he meets the beautiful, undaunted Afiya.

As these young people live and work and fall in love, their fates knotted ever more tightly together, the shadow of a new war on another continent falls over them, threatening once again to carry them away.

©2020 Abdulrazak Gurnah (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Superb. . . . Afterlives is a celebration of a place and time when people held onto their own ways, and basked in ordinary joys even as outside forces conspired to take them away. . . . [Gurnah] is a novelist nonpareil, a master of the art form who understands human failings in conflicts both political and intimate—and how these shortcomings create afflictions from which nations and individuals continue to suffer, needlessly, generation after generation.”—New York Times Book Review

“At once a globe-spanning epic of European colonialism and an intimate look at village life in one of the many overlooked corners of the Earth. Both parts—reclamations of history and heart—are equally revelatory. . . . Gurnah’s greatest act of love and artistry [is] his ability to gather the fragments of broken lives and create a breathtaking mosaic in print.”—The Washington Post

“An appreciation for quiet, ordinary forms of heroism runs throughout. . . . One can take away lessons and meanings from this novel, yet such things are perhaps less significant than the sheer seeming realness of the characters, whose presences Mr. Gurnah has faithfully crafted into existence, with all of their dreaming, their sorrow and their resilience.”—Wall Street Journal

Enlightening

Bittersweet ending. interesting confluence of German Army officers and African recruits.
An excellent listen

Very Disappointing Despite the Hype

Too much minutia, not enough insight. Nothing new about colonial ravages in Africa. A long slog to reach a ho-hum conclusion.

Enlightening portrayal

What I most liked about this story is that it prompted me to unpack the outrageous audacity of the European powers at the beginning of the 20th century. Every part of Africa was claimed by one of 7 or 8 nations by 1914. The story was about the impact of German occupation of east Africa (now Tanzania) which forced young African men to serve in their wars of dominance. The story is told from the view of common villagers who had to manage their own trauma and carve out their own lives. Very appealing characters and some less so. Readers will recognize them from their own lives.
It would have helped to have key names spelled out for reference while reading.

Great story, abrupt and unsatisfying ending

So many good images and narratives of colonial East Africa, and certainly the not much illustrated German Ost-Africa (at least in English). Having lived on the coast of southern Kenya, I could visualize and imagine the landscape and village stories. The ending was incredibly abrupt and unsatisfying. It’s as if 20 years were summarized in a few pages and then that was that!

Disappointing

This was my first book by this author - terse style and a story that feels incomplete and poorly edited. I am rather mystified by the acclaim this book received.

Great story

I really enjoyed this book. I have something to say to each characters. Narrator is extremely excellent. Thanks to everyone behind this project.

Much more entertaining than a history book

Go into this with the perspective of learning the history of Tanzania and the surrounding region through the lives of regular people and you won’t be disappointed.

Great history and great Reader

Enjoyed the reader and the story Simple but historical The history of Africa and the colony governments

Interesting Topic

You rarely hear a story that plays in East Africa. The author, however, is obviously inexperienced. He starts with one character in great detail, switches over to another in great detail, 2/3 through the book he loses steam and wraps everything up in a few pages. Not very satisfactory.

Remarkanble history

The history revealed filled gaps in my knowledge of African.
Some characterizations were minimal and were of less importance than the thread of the story. Plot was simple also. The strength of the novel was in seeing the affect the long history had on main characters and how they coped with German and British rule. The story showed the contrast between the European's dispraging view of African people and the reality of the competence of African's and the success of the African civilizations.