Memory of Snow of Dust

by Breyten Breytenbach

Breytenbach is a white Afrikaaner poet/novelist/essayist and activist against apartheid, who was imprisoned by the government for seven years and memorialized his experi ences in The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist. Theatrical images of illusion and reality run through his latest novel, a richly seething narrative made up of dreams, poems, dialogues between Ka'afir and the black puppet Polichinelle, letters, and a grim passion play dramatizing the arrest and murder of a black woman teacher. There are discourses on the African terrain, languages, myths and the status of Africa via-a-vis the white world (the "dust" and "snow" of the title). The story concerns the love between Ethiopian journalist Meheret and film actor Mano, whose "mixed blood" makes him look white--hence their child's totem, the chameleon. Meheret writes letters to the unborn infant telling of ancestors, griots and ancient lore so that at birth the child will be steeped in its identity. But at the Burkina Faso film festival, where Meheret and Mano first met, a white woman was murdered, Mano is accused, and ends in the playhouse of death row, where he confronts both the AIDS-smitten Polichinelle and "Judge Breytenbach." A moving, highly charged fictional memoir, this is an illuminating postmodern meditation on Africa.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Breyten Breytenbach was a South African writer, poet, and painter. He became internationally well-known as a dissident poet and vocal critic of South Africa under apartheid, and as a political prisoner of the National Party-led South African Government. He is also known as a founding member of the Sestigers, a dissident literary movement, and was one of the most important living poets in Afrikaans literature.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

somewhat allusive fictional exploration of many of the same subjects he goes into in Return to Paradise, but this was written prior to the end of apartheid so it is much more pessimistic and despairing. there's a lot of postmodern play going on here - the character barnum, manipulating and writing the stories of the other characters, seems to be a standin for breytenbach himself, and there's an allusive dreamlike plot thread in the second half of the book where seemingly allegorical characters pontificate and argue with one another. the judge at mano's murder trial being named breytenbach is also a pretty good joke. also has a good cameo appearance by thomas sankara, although it's not humorous like the one in return to paradise is. "True literature can exist only when it is produced by madmen, heretics, visionaries, rebels and skeptics."

[ece · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could, I would give this a 2.5 star rating but because I cannot, I have opted for a 3. I have quite mixed feelings about this novel... Starting off with the positives, I liked the overarching plot and the premise set up at the beginning was quite nice. There is also some wonderful, wonderful prose in this novel — I found myself underlining and rereading quite a few passages because they were so beautifully written. The nods to the title and cover of the book (mine had a chameleon on it) were also pretty neat, and I really enjoyed all the parts that had to do with the theme of memory, its cultural, collective and changing nature and so on; there were some profound ideas there. Meheret was the most interesting character of the novel to me and I loved learning about her and her memories. I thought the ending was satisfactory.

All that being said... The narrative is extremely disjointed, and while I (suppose?) I understand what the author was trying to do with this, I don't think it lands well at all. It feels like an empty stylistic choice instead of one that is important for the story. The latter half of the novel is highly convoluted, to a degree I don't think I've ever experienced in a work of fiction before. There are many passages that start off as regular dialogue and turn into messes of disorganized philosophical/critical thought underpinned by the apartheid context of the novel, which I think could have worked if they were few and far between but this is very much not the case. All these did for me were create confusion and interrupt the flow of the actual plot, but I am absolutely willing to admit that I may not be the target demographic as my knowledge of late-20th century South African politics and apartheid are limited to literary works dealing with similar themes that I studied at college. I suppose I was expecting more of a plot with occasional reflections throughout, and I feel like I got a reflection sandwich with plot haphazardly stuffed like a thin piece of lettuce in it instead.

Overall, for me the novel started off very promising but became almost grueling as it progressed, to the point that I contemplated DNF'ing it; though after over a month of wrestling with it I decided to press on and get it finished. I don't regret reading this novel, but it did leave me with unmet expectations... I think "Memory of Snow and of Dust" had a lot of potential that it sadly could not reach.

[Nicholas Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Challenging read and frankly impenetrable at times.

[Dave Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://electrichalibut.blogspot.com/2...

[Morbid Swither · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. Though criminally under-read/-viewed here, and with a very maudlin average review, I am here to endorse this book 100%. It is not exactly the sort of book established Breytenbach fans should expect, but still it will absorb you with poetry and rhythm.

[Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lastig boek, mooi bijna betoverend taalgebruik, maar ik vind dat hij weg moet blijven van communistische en racistische prietpraat. Ja, ik weet dat dat door zijn personages gezegd worden.
p.164 Ka'afir vaart uit tegen de witte elite die meent dat 'overbodige naties dienen te worden opgeruimd zoals...de Palestijnen.'
173 Als je armen een kapotte auto geeft dan is dat 'een krachtige injectie in hun minimumbestaan' Zou Breytenbach dat ook zelf denken?