This Mournable Body

A Novel

De: Tsitsi Dangarembga

Narrado por: Adenrele Ojo

Anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job, Tambudzai finds herself living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. For reasons that include her grim financial prospects and her age, she moves to a widow's boarding house and eventually finds work as a biology teacher. But at every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point.

In This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga returns to the protagonist of her acclaimed first novel, Nervous Conditions, to examine how the hope and potential of a young girl and a fledgling nation can sour over time and become a bitter and floundering struggle for survival.

As a last resort, Tambudzai takes an ecotourism job that forces her to return to her parents' impoverished homestead. It is this homecoming, in Dangarembga's tense and psychologically charged novel, that culminates in an act of betrayal, revealing just how toxic the combination of colonialism and capitalism can be.

©2018 Tsitsi Dangarembga (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Please use African readers for African stories

I’m African born and love stories from my home continent. This story is no exception. Such a pity the reader attempts an African accent but fails on pronunciation every time.
It’s so distracting from the story. I think American listeners would also prefer to hear the story in an authentic African voice from the stories own region.

Narrator

I am loving this series, however this book should be read with someone who can pronounce the African words, and hearing it an American accent doesn’t work. It’s distracting …

Terrible narration

I’m sure the narrator is great at the job, but the accents and pronunciation were terrible. It made things much harder to follow and connect with the story and the setting. The narration of earlier books in the setting excellent.

Challenging and beautiful story.

This (and the whole Tambu trilogy) is an unflinching portrayal of a woman trying to find her humanity and dignity, and trying to actualize her talents, while enduring injustice because she is a woman and African.

A disappointing experience

I found it hard to relate to this book particularly as a Zimbabwean. The narrator is not Shona speaking and I could hardly understand what she was saying most of the time which left a sour taste in my mouth each time she was trying to pronounce some of the words. Her performance was stellar in all other aspects but this one. This really throws one off. Overall the plot was good with a lot of unexpected turns, considering that it's a sequel to Nervous Conditions; although the ending was a bit rushed.

Disappointed - spoilt by poor casting

Having spent several years living in rural Zimbabwe, I was so was excited to buy this title. But the US accent takes away so much of the flavour and spirit of the author’s words. The reader did not even bother to research Shona pronunciation. It should have been a Zimbabwean voice.

At times it seemed overwritten & needlessly complex

This was not a bad book by any means, but it was very hard to follow. The author used a lot of allegory throughout the book, and at times I wasn’t able to make sense of it. I couldn’t ever fully grasp the purpose of the book or what meaning the author wanted to convey through the telling of this story. It seemed at times to be overwritten, and in my opinion it could have been amazing had the approach been simpler and a little more linear.

Love the series

So appreciate the story that has deep political meaning and it’s told in such an interesting way. I appreciate all the character sketches and the humor and tragedy.

Disappointed

A note to audible...the same way you use European readers for European books, please put as much effort in finding readers who can pronounce words in the native language of the writer. Or at the very least, find a consultant who can help the readers with pronunciation. I cringed so many times as the words and vowel sounds were anglicized and butchered. Please stop this. This is the second book by a Southern African author where your readers just missed the mark. It becomes so distracting.

Riveting

I quite enjoyed the book however I struggled with the performance as it so happens that I am a shona speaker so the butchering of shona names and references had me cringing and I could not adjust. I think the producers could have spent a bit more effort to prepare the performer with proper pronunciations of shona. Excellent book though