The Door to Tamba: A Short Story

by Ishmael Beah, Maduka Steady (Narrator)

Award-winning author and human rights activist Ishmael Beah brings us The Door to Tamba, a powerful story centered on a mining village in West Africa where the destruction of earth and pollution of life impacts the mind, body, and soul of communities. Hindolo, a storyteller, returns to his hometown after 30 years and recalls the solitary and formidable old man who opened his home to him and introduced a world of literature and imagination, which for many years was his only escape. Hindolo begins writing the stories down on paper stolen from a nearby mine to share with his classmates. "We will be stealing," he remembers one of his old friends exclaiming.
"They are already stealing from us anyway," Hindolo responds.
A thought-provoking story that returns to the basics of fiction and freedom.

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Short Stories, Contemporary

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published February 1, 2024

About the author

Ishmael Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. He moved to the United States in 1998 and finished his last two years of high school at the United Nations International School in New York. In 2004 he graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in political science.

He is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee and has spoken before the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities (CETO) at the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, and many other NGO panels on children affected by the war. His work has appeared in VespertinePress and LIT magazine. He lives in New York City.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/ishmae...

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous 💛

[Sunnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the effort to investigate this short story. A real keeper!

[Tonya Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short story.

[ReadingTilTheBreakOfDawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was scrolling through my long list of audiobooks on Audible, I found that I had this book by Ishmael Beah sitting there waiting to be listened to. It's a short story, but I felt it was perfect way to try out a new to me author. I enjoyed the author's voice he had with his storytelling and how he was able to translate to his audience how important storytelling is to different cultures and how it is a way of learning about the world around you.
The characters were great and the story that was basically a book within a book worked well for this story. The narration really gave this story life and I felt as if I was sitting with Hindolo as he was sitting with the kids and telling him his stories.
I’ll definitely be checking out more by him as this seemed like just a very small appetizer.

[Renee Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really excellent little read.

[Bookspective · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling short story about books and the positive impact reading has on the children of an African mining village.

[Panda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook (1 hour) narrated by Maduka Steady

The narration and audio are high quality, without distortion or erroneous noise.
I suggest listening from 1x to 2x speed, as preferred.

This is a creative and interesting story having to do with the love of and gift of literature. Both reading and telling stories.

I am a fan of a story within a story, and this one has that, and then some.

Recommend.

[Taylor Thyme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read

[Cristiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Excellent story about the power of literature. It would have deserved four stars, if the author hadn't made a choice that compromises the whole message. The old man gives the protagonist a children's book by Chinua Achebe, Cheke and the River, which is appropriate for his age and which the boy naturally enjoys. But then he gives him Ngugi's Weep Not Child, about the Mau Mau in Kenya, which is definitely not for children and, even more shockingly, also Armah's The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, a satire of political corruption in newly independent Ghana, which, incidentally, is one of my favourite books in African literature, but possibly the least appropriate for a child to read. Moreover, the children in the short story read these quite disturbing novels, but show no sign whatsoever of having being troubled by them. Actually, they don't ask themselves or the old man any questions about them, as if the very powerful stories in those books didn't touch them at all. It looks like Beah did a bit of "name dropping" mentioning the titles of famous African books just like that simply because he thought he was writing for a Western readership only (and why on earth, only them?) who wouldn't notice anyway and, incidentally, both Ngugi and Armah wrote children's books as well. I found Beah's attitude very insulting. Moreover, the whole point of this short story is to show the power to influence people's minds and yet those powerful novels didn't have any impact on the young protagonist and his friends! The audiobook reader is good.

[Dasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Door to Tamba” is an immersive story about children coexisting with miners in a small village who become intrigued with a wise old man who reads. Within the man's family of origin, no one else was interested in book based inheritance, so he passed his legacy of knowledge onto the eager children living nearby. Together they read stories that magnetically drew them in and expanded not only their worldview beyond their village, but also their self-concept. I felt inspired as I bore witness to the children and their elders' thirst for knowledge. Although this is one of the shortest short stories I've read, it by far made the most impact. In less than an hour the author introduces us to the village, the school, the mine, and the people who live here. We get to go along for the emotional ride as the children navigate developing strategies for life, grief, education, and recreation. I will definitely keep an eye out for what this author does next.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Door to Tamba” is an interesting story about a 10 year-old-boy, Hindolo, who becomes intrigued with a wise old man who reads. The man taught the boy to read stories that invite you in, and grabs you into the story, sparking imagination. Hindolo lives in a dusty mining town that creates dust and filth that permeates the community. The education for children is meager. Hindolo reflects, as an adult, his time as a boy and the impact the old man had on him and other curious children in the villiage.

[LadyO_ Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sweet little story around, passing on a legacy and knowledge to our youth I absolutely love the dynamic between the old man and the young children. He teaches them respect. He teaches them how to take care of what they do have, and to be resourceful by copying books to distribute wider to the other people in their region it truly is so much wonderfulness and such a small short one hour audible book absolutely loved it! There are also quite a few funny moments little bit of sarcasm that I absolutely loved. You do have to truly listen and look for it, but it is there.

[Debbie Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this audible book by the author of Long Way Gone, the story of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. The Door to Tamba feels like a prequel to his famous book. It combines the magic and stark reality of a young boy grappling with political tension; findind hope in a volatile environment.

[Zana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for The Diverse Baseline February Prompt A: A book by a Black author.

What a lovely short story about the importance of books and how we shouldn't take reading for granted.

[Star Forbis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing things down helps you to remember them.

Do you mind having respect for all that went into creating the words and the life of that page, that paper, that book, the world it carries?

We continued reading until the remainder of the day.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will confess that I’m not altogether sure why I enjoyed this short story as much as I did, but I’m guessing it has to do with the characters’ love of books. It was heart warming to think that people would hand write their own copies of books.

[Jay Dionne · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was sweet. The joys of reading. It makes me so happy when kids find the world of books. He said, “just imagine all the worlds he’s lived in”, (I’m paraphrasing). But that was so moving. Made my heart flutter. Who knew a 25 minute read could make me smile so hard lol.

[Rich Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author tells a simple but intriguing story of a time in his past when he shared life and books with others in a very personal way. The narrator was perfect for this.

[Larissia Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting short story

[Ericka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick listen from audible orignals. It kept my interest, but I wanted more.

[Tia Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delight to imagine the opening of the mind... especially that of children. I love books and stories for this very reason.

[Nadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 (ale zaokrąglam do góry)
niby nic spektakularnego, ale z drugiej strony jest w niej coś, o czym będę myśleć przez najbliższe dni

[Messy Mama Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story that I suspect will have different impacts on anyone who hears it. Short, sweet and impactful.

[Marcus Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wholesome story of imagination

[Sonia Doan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible story and journey! I found myself closing my eyes and seeing the story unfold in front of me.
Well done!

[Jane Bond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a short read but not so bad.

[Vintage Sassi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, I think I just wanted more or something a little different

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a little too short for me to care about the characters, but it's a cute concept!

[Aran Chandran · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story about the passing on the gifts of narrative and story.