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Three Egg Dilemma
“‘Where are you from?’ I could ask her. ‘Have you had rain where you live? Are there soldiers there? Why did you come here?’
‘Come with me,’ I tell her, instead.”
‘Read it, read it again and run to the mountains.’ – Bongani Madondo
‘Morojele is an extraordinary writer.’ – Ivan Vladislavic
‘An exciting and inventive novel which brings an extraordinary dimension to the ordinary tale of life.’ – Véronique Tadjo
From the best-selling author of How We Buried Puso, Three Egg Dilemma is a haunting and beautiful book. This is the story of Ex (Example), who lives in a township on the outskirts of a Lesotho town. He stays in his dead parents’ house, decorated with all his mother’s things, where he subsists by renting out back rooms.
He drinks – too much – at Mada’s down the road, and has two friends: Sticks, who sells eggs on the street, and Latrine, so called because of his meagre digestion.
Although Ex used to have broad horizons, his life now is limited by the street he lives on. Once he had a meaningful job, he travelled, and had both money and hope. Life and Lesotho have been badly knocked: the country has suffered droughts and is periodically thrown into turmoil by violent soldiers or attacks by roving bandits such as the vicious Zuluboy.
Early on, we are introduced to a recurring vision, or supernatural phenomenon, that haunts Ex – ‘Mota’s ghost’, a ghastly demonlike being, ghost or representation of death or fate. It first appears
to presage the death of a friend, and later returns when death visits his town. The second important figure in the story is Phuleng/Pearl, an innocent young woman, who arrives as a refugee when
the soldiers are rampaging and stays in Ex’s house – in his mother’s room. Ex, though much older, predictably enough falls in love with Pearl, but she has other ambitions. She works in a hotel in town, and eventually we learn that she has been impregnated by a white guest. Before the end, Ex will frighten her away. She will eventually end up a refugee again, homeless and on the streets outside Ex’s house, after soldiers and gangs have torn the area apart.
A visionary novel, Morojele has built worlds and characters that are unforgettable. It is set to become a classic work of South African fiction.
‘Come with me,’ I tell her, instead.”
‘Read it, read it again and run to the mountains.’ – Bongani Madondo
‘Morojele is an extraordinary writer.’ – Ivan Vladislavic
‘An exciting and inventive novel which brings an extraordinary dimension to the ordinary tale of life.’ – Véronique Tadjo
From the best-selling author of How We Buried Puso, Three Egg Dilemma is a haunting and beautiful book. This is the story of Ex (Example), who lives in a township on the outskirts of a Lesotho town. He stays in his dead parents’ house, decorated with all his mother’s things, where he subsists by renting out back rooms.
He drinks – too much – at Mada’s down the road, and has two friends: Sticks, who sells eggs on the street, and Latrine, so called because of his meagre digestion.
Although Ex used to have broad horizons, his life now is limited by the street he lives on. Once he had a meaningful job, he travelled, and had both money and hope. Life and Lesotho have been badly knocked: the country has suffered droughts and is periodically thrown into turmoil by violent soldiers or attacks by roving bandits such as the vicious Zuluboy.
Early on, we are introduced to a recurring vision, or supernatural phenomenon, that haunts Ex – ‘Mota’s ghost’, a ghastly demonlike being, ghost or representation of death or fate. It first appears
to presage the death of a friend, and later returns when death visits his town. The second important figure in the story is Phuleng/Pearl, an innocent young woman, who arrives as a refugee when
the soldiers are rampaging and stays in Ex’s house – in his mother’s room. Ex, though much older, predictably enough falls in love with Pearl, but she has other ambitions. She works in a hotel in town, and eventually we learn that she has been impregnated by a white guest. Before the end, Ex will frighten her away. She will eventually end up a refugee again, homeless and on the streets outside Ex’s house, after soldiers and gangs have torn the area apart.
A visionary novel, Morojele has built worlds and characters that are unforgettable. It is set to become a classic work of South African fiction.
- GenresFiction
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 31, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 13, 2023
I wrote it.
March 29, 2025
El protagonista, apodado EG por sus iniciales, ha decidido quedarse en Lesoto, después de su experiencia europea. Podría ser perfectamente una continuación de How We Buried Puso, en que el personaje vuelve de Europa por el entierro de su hermano, y no parece querer volver.
Después de la muerte de su madre, EG se ha quedado a vivir en su casa, y vive su tranquila rutina, sus charlas con el jardinero, y la visita al atardecer donde se reúne en el bar con sus amigos. Uno de ellos se dedica a vender huevos hervidos en la carretera, y en un momento lo lleva a vivir a su casa.
Llega una mujer joven, huyendo de algo, y EG le ofrece alojamiento. EG no tiene interés sobre las causas de su huida; ya está acostumbrado y agotado, los eternos conflictos, y no le interesa saber.
Cada tanto las bandas armadas de jóvenes atacan la aldea, como parte de una rutina, y todos se protegen hasta que se van, y luego siguen con su vida, como si no hubiera pasado nada.
La rutina se rompe cuando el ejército toma la aldea, buscando a los integrantes de la banda juvenil. Aunque saben, que matar o llevarse algunos habitantes alcanzará para satisfacer a sus superiores. La situación adquiere una gravedad diferente, y EG con su amigo y el jardinero forman un trío que refugio en un escondrijo, y a la noche van a la casa por alimentos. Sospecho que el autor tituló provisoriamente a la novela, como un juego de palabras: el trío, EG y el vendedor de huevos (eggs en inglés) y la adornó con el enigmático "dilema"; y el título quedó así.
La novela ilustra como ninguna que he leído la psicología y formas de actuar, alejados de la apología de la tradición, de la épica, del dramatismo o de la indignación moral que suelen caracterizar este tipo de obra. Y en ese sentido no es difícil, al igual que en Puso, identificarse con los personajes, con su sabia resignación, sus imperfecciones y su apego a la vida. He vivido esta novela como si fuera uno de sus partícipes.
Excelente, extrañamente maravilloso. El autor maneja un rico vocabulario, con palabras muy precisas y apropiadas para cada situación, muchas de las cuales no conocía; a pesar de ello, la gran fluidez de la narración permite leerlo sin dificultad.
Entiendo; o más modestamente, creo que empiezo a entender. Un libro en el que no se nota el artificio, las costuras, el camino de su construcción. Una historia que me permite sentirme muy cercano, identificarme con el personaje, haciendo que lo distinto, lo particular, sea una cuestión accidental, circunstancial, no esencial. Entiendo; que es a lo que aspiro al explorar las distintas formas de humanidad. Una persona en la que se percibe su inteligencia, a pesar de ser semianalfabeta.
Y a pesar de que el universo ignora que los humanos la habitan, lo humano tiene una trascendencia que alguien percibe y registra, no sólo en forma colectiva, sino también la de cada individuo. Que transforma la sumatoria infinita y caótica de voces individuales, en una sinfonía cósmica, en una armonía única que permite distinguir individualmente, cada instrumento de la orquesta. Si yo soy capaz de comenzar a entender, de encontrar luz y sentido en medio del caos, es porque hay un sentido, que alguien es capaz de percibir. Entiendo.
Morabo Morojele nació en Lesoto, c. 1962, llegó a ser un reconocido percusionista de jazz en Europa; ha escrito dos novelas, como una "asignatura extracurricular", casi como un hobby. Murió prematuramente en mayo de este año (2026), a los 64 años.
Después de la muerte de su madre, EG se ha quedado a vivir en su casa, y vive su tranquila rutina, sus charlas con el jardinero, y la visita al atardecer donde se reúne en el bar con sus amigos. Uno de ellos se dedica a vender huevos hervidos en la carretera, y en un momento lo lleva a vivir a su casa.
Llega una mujer joven, huyendo de algo, y EG le ofrece alojamiento. EG no tiene interés sobre las causas de su huida; ya está acostumbrado y agotado, los eternos conflictos, y no le interesa saber.
Cada tanto las bandas armadas de jóvenes atacan la aldea, como parte de una rutina, y todos se protegen hasta que se van, y luego siguen con su vida, como si no hubiera pasado nada.
La rutina se rompe cuando el ejército toma la aldea, buscando a los integrantes de la banda juvenil. Aunque saben, que matar o llevarse algunos habitantes alcanzará para satisfacer a sus superiores. La situación adquiere una gravedad diferente, y EG con su amigo y el jardinero forman un trío que refugio en un escondrijo, y a la noche van a la casa por alimentos. Sospecho que el autor tituló provisoriamente a la novela, como un juego de palabras: el trío, EG y el vendedor de huevos (eggs en inglés) y la adornó con el enigmático "dilema"; y el título quedó así.
La novela ilustra como ninguna que he leído la psicología y formas de actuar, alejados de la apología de la tradición, de la épica, del dramatismo o de la indignación moral que suelen caracterizar este tipo de obra. Y en ese sentido no es difícil, al igual que en Puso, identificarse con los personajes, con su sabia resignación, sus imperfecciones y su apego a la vida. He vivido esta novela como si fuera uno de sus partícipes.
Excelente, extrañamente maravilloso. El autor maneja un rico vocabulario, con palabras muy precisas y apropiadas para cada situación, muchas de las cuales no conocía; a pesar de ello, la gran fluidez de la narración permite leerlo sin dificultad.
Entiendo; o más modestamente, creo que empiezo a entender. Un libro en el que no se nota el artificio, las costuras, el camino de su construcción. Una historia que me permite sentirme muy cercano, identificarme con el personaje, haciendo que lo distinto, lo particular, sea una cuestión accidental, circunstancial, no esencial. Entiendo; que es a lo que aspiro al explorar las distintas formas de humanidad. Una persona en la que se percibe su inteligencia, a pesar de ser semianalfabeta.
Y a pesar de que el universo ignora que los humanos la habitan, lo humano tiene una trascendencia que alguien percibe y registra, no sólo en forma colectiva, sino también la de cada individuo. Que transforma la sumatoria infinita y caótica de voces individuales, en una sinfonía cósmica, en una armonía única que permite distinguir individualmente, cada instrumento de la orquesta. Si yo soy capaz de comenzar a entender, de encontrar luz y sentido en medio del caos, es porque hay un sentido, que alguien es capaz de percibir. Entiendo.
Morabo Morojele nació en Lesoto, c. 1962, llegó a ser un reconocido percusionista de jazz en Europa; ha escrito dos novelas, como una "asignatura extracurricular", casi como un hobby. Murió prematuramente en mayo de este año (2026), a los 64 años.
August 4, 2024
I really enjoyed the first chapter, but the writing became so poetic that I lost my focus. The plot was so ambiguous that I couldn't follow the story. I ended up thinking it might be a book about war, a nation suffering, or one overwhelmed by hopelessness and despair, but I'm not sure.
December 27, 2023
Magnificent. This book is both terrifying and breathtaking. Morabo is a most gifted author.
March 9, 2025
Had to sit for a while before writing a review, because I have conflicting thoughts on this book.
Morojele paints a bleak picture of life in Lesotho. The helplessness engendered by a society stuck in a vicious cycle is so accurately depicted that reading this book felt oppressive. We meet EG, who lives in a suburban enclave/cul de sac overlooking a township on the outskirts of an unnamed urban town in Lesotho. His existence revolves around this small community, which includes his tenants, his helper, the tavern owner, vendors, township boys, women past their prime…
Everyone is resigned to a life mired by economic hardship and lack of opportunity weighing down the country. Lesotho is not in a good state. It’s all pretty repetitive, with impending civil unrest being the main event that moves the plot along. We get intermittent glimpses of EG’s past, which shed more light on his, frankly horrid, character.
I can’t fault this book on any technical level, Morojele executes the storytelling with vivid clarity. Although this type of story is not my taste, the writer is undoubtedly brilliant. If I had to rate it, probably 4 out of 5 Stars.
Morojele paints a bleak picture of life in Lesotho. The helplessness engendered by a society stuck in a vicious cycle is so accurately depicted that reading this book felt oppressive. We meet EG, who lives in a suburban enclave/cul de sac overlooking a township on the outskirts of an unnamed urban town in Lesotho. His existence revolves around this small community, which includes his tenants, his helper, the tavern owner, vendors, township boys, women past their prime…
Everyone is resigned to a life mired by economic hardship and lack of opportunity weighing down the country. Lesotho is not in a good state. It’s all pretty repetitive, with impending civil unrest being the main event that moves the plot along. We get intermittent glimpses of EG’s past, which shed more light on his, frankly horrid, character.
I can’t fault this book on any technical level, Morojele executes the storytelling with vivid clarity. Although this type of story is not my taste, the writer is undoubtedly brilliant. If I had to rate it, probably 4 out of 5 Stars.
April 5, 2025
sparse, haunting, desolate. a lesson in observational poetry, writing as a means of documenting what is - even if it is ugly.
a bewitching journey into the fissures of a country, a community, the age-old burden of being woman. the resilience. he starts and stops sentences where he wants, turns the cracked mirror towards himself, creates this terrible character of a ghost as if to show us that our worst nightmares are often shadows of ourselves, our thoughts, our darkest behaviors. what a slow-burning account, a testament to the power of words strung together, of African stories - even when the country is not named, even if it is of never-ending poverty and dysfunction - what an incredible exercise of form and remembering/forgetting the fabric of what makes us. Will reverberate for very long, and if it does not then it should.
a bewitching journey into the fissures of a country, a community, the age-old burden of being woman. the resilience. he starts and stops sentences where he wants, turns the cracked mirror towards himself, creates this terrible character of a ghost as if to show us that our worst nightmares are often shadows of ourselves, our thoughts, our darkest behaviors. what a slow-burning account, a testament to the power of words strung together, of African stories - even when the country is not named, even if it is of never-ending poverty and dysfunction - what an incredible exercise of form and remembering/forgetting the fabric of what makes us. Will reverberate for very long, and if it does not then it should.
August 13, 2025
I found this one one hard to get into. In the spirit of trying to stay generalist and not pin himself down to one singular location the author also centering me as a reader.
However, the story did move along with the despair of poverty that continues to trap one through various political cycles and people in power who are far removed from the realities of everyday life. The characters through which the story was told were adequate for the job but I was left wanting to know more, to learn more. Some of the poetic devices taken also felt a bit too drawn out at time. A good book but hard to engage with continuously.
However, the story did move along with the despair of poverty that continues to trap one through various political cycles and people in power who are far removed from the realities of everyday life. The characters through which the story was told were adequate for the job but I was left wanting to know more, to learn more. Some of the poetic devices taken also felt a bit too drawn out at time. A good book but hard to engage with continuously.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews