Something of Value

by Robert Ruark, Daniel Schwartz (Illustrator)

Hardcover

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Kenya, Historical, Classics

565 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Robert Ruark was an author and syndicated columnist.

Born Robert Chester Ruark, Jr., to Charlotte A. Ruark and Robert C. Ruark, a bookkeeper for a wholesale grocery, young Ruark attended local schools and graduated from New Hanover High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. He graduated from high school at age 12 and entered the University of North Carolina at age 15. The Ruark family was deeply affected by the Depression, but despite his families' financial travails, he earned a journalism degree from the University of North 'Carolina at Chapel Hill.

During World War II Ruark was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. Ruark served ten months as a gunnery officer on Atlantic and Mediterranean convoys.After the war Ruark joined the Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance. As the New York Times said, Ruark was "sometimes glad, sometimes sad, and often mad--but almost always provocative." Some of his columns were eventually collected into two books, I Didn't Know It Was Loaded (1948) and One for the Road (1949).As he grew in notoriety, Ruark began to write fiction; first for literary magazines, and then his first novel, Grenadine Etching in 1947.

After he began to gain success as a writer, Ruark decided that it was time to fulfill a lifelong dream to go on safari to Africa. Ruark took an entire year off and began a love affair with Africa.As a result of his first safari, Ruark wrote Horn of the Hunter, in which he detailed his hunt.

In 1953, Ruark began writing a column for Field & Stream magazine entitled ''The Old Man and the Boy''. Considered largely autobiographical (although technically fiction), this heartwarming series ran until late 1961.

Ruark's first bestselling novel was published in 1955. It was entitled Something of Value and was about the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya.

Sometimes belittled as “the poor man’s Hemingway,” Ruark has nevertheless retained a loyal following among fans of nature writing. Bland Simpson wrote that he produced “some of the best ‘portraiture in words’ of hunting, fishing and life in the field that we have.”

Ruark died in London on July 1, 1965 most likely as a result of alcoholism.
Robert Ruark is buried in Palamos, Spain.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_R...

Reviews

[``Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! Where do I begin?

Robert Ruark, an African big game hunter from the American south, relates this true to life tale in a knowledgeable and intense manner - although all characters are fictional.

When the communists arrived in Kenya in the 1950's to stir up trouble, young Kimani was a willing convert.

But how could this happen? Kimani was the son of respected tribal leader, Karanja, headman of Henry McKenzie's vast Kenyan plantation and best friends with young Peter McKenzie.

When the young Henry McKenzie first arrived in Kenya to begin farming his future plantation, he hired a down on his luck Karanja, who had just lost his wife, children and most of his tribe to plague. The 2 men worked together and became close personal friends as well. With time and hard work the plantation became prosperous and both men were now enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Karanji was the leader of the Kikuyu people living and working on the McKenzie plantation and he delighted in his only son Kimani, who had attended the white man's schools along with Peter McKenzie. Kimani and Peter had grown up together and were as close as brothers. Kimani had excelled in school and was well set for the future.

Peter McKenzie was set to inherit his father's plantation but Peter didn't find farming all that exciting and wanted to lead safaris as his father had once done.

Peter's sister had married Jeff, the owner of the next door plantation. Jeff had invited both teens to join him on a weekend hunting trip which they gladly accepted. Kimani was to be Peter's assistant and helper as was the norm.

Kimani was not happy serving under Peter since they had always been treated equally when young. Kimani sulked and wasn't doing a good job on the hunt, which soon caused Jeff to lose patience with the insolent Kimani. When Jeff angrily slaps Kimani, the outraged Kimani vows to kill Jeff.

Kimani would reveal to the reader that he thought himself more deserving to inherit the plantation - not Peter, although Kimani generously allows that Peter would still be able to work on the plantation, but he would kill all the other whites.

That slap would reverberate and affect the lives of everyone on the plantation with Kimani soon joining the communist led Mau Mau rebellion.

Needless to say I found the barbarity and atrocities committed absolutely sickening to read about.

While the safari and hunting scenes are fascinating and Ruark's knowledge of the African wildlife is first rate, I didn't enjoy reading about the trophy killing of lions and elephants but did learn so much about African wildlife.

Just an all around violent book which might be too much for a lot of people to read.

On the plus side, Ruark's characters have distinct, well drawn personalities which soon has the reader invested in their fate. A lot of tension too as the main characters are in constant danger of losing their lives. The author presents Kenya and Africa in a realistic manner, true to his time - not our time.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was recomended this book by somebody and thought it was going to be a politically incorrect (honest) account of the communist funded Mau Mau revolution in Kenya. What it actually is, is a historical fiction account of it. I was truly blown away by this book. Even though it doesn't always portray the whites in a very good light idiots would say this book is racist because it shows the utter brutality and ignorant superstions of the blacks. These days you are only allowed to show the bad side of whites. As great as this book is I doubt that it could get published now. Personally I believe it just shows in an honest way how both the whites and blacks thought and like I said the whites aren't always portrayed in the best light either.

It was amazing how tough and self sufficent the English settlers had to be. With all due respect to them, the American settlers in the old west had nothing on these people. Their big weakness was they were greedy and had to have black servants and workers on their farms. I actually thinks its possible the British upper class who felt threatened by the self made wealth, power and strength of the settlers, may have even covertly had a hand in supporting the Mau Maus. Another interesting fact is Barack Obamas Father worked for the genocidal Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya after he returned to Kenya. This is something blacks all over the world who idolize Obama and the Mau Maus need to be aware of more than anyone because the Mau Maus of course killed many whites but they were responsible for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dead Africans.

[Callum's Column · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel centres on Peter McKenzie. His father had settled in Kenya soon after it was proclaimed a colony of the British Empire in 1920. By the mid-1940s, the McKenzie family were wealthy farmers. Their opulence required the serf-like oppression of various local peoples, who were ostensibly loyal to their colonial masters. As a young adult, Peter becomes a safari hunter for affluent internationals, with the intention of one day taking over the family farm. However, as this ambition begins to come to fruition, the Mau Mau Rebellion erupts in 1952. The McKenzie family's tranquil outlook is replaced with terror, and Peter's humanity is stripped bare.

The Mau Mau Rebellion was a real historical event and was characterised by extreme violence from each side. The gruesome details are not spared in this book. Robert Ruark--an American--purveys an intricate knowledge of this war, and the psyches of its participants. This is due to his personal experiences in Kenya as a reporter and avid big-game hunter in the incipient phases of this conflict. Ruark's portrayal of the belligerents appear balanced and avoids direct allegorical moral judgements. However, it is implied that the Mau Mau's violence was more 'just' due to their subjugation by the British. In short, this book is a very good piece of historical fiction.

I thought about Australia's colonial history while reading this book. Kenya had few British settlers, which enabled the local majority to ferment violent and historically just resistance. Indigenous Australians lacked comparable agency, and were absorbed into the British-created Australian state. This was only made possible with their destruction. Decimated by disease, extermination policies, and mass British settlement, Indigenous Australians were denied the opportunity for rebellion like Kenya. Consequently, Indigenous people's endure destitution, while Kenyan's, though not affluent, maintain a semblance of self-determination.

[booklady]

Not at all my sort of book. And yet, I found Something of Value compellingly repelling. Set in late 1940’s - 1950’s Kenya, Kimani, a Kikuyu, and Peter McKenzie, were boyhood friends made enemies by a cultural misunderstanding turned tragedy. Their relationship seemed to stand representative for the two primary races in the Mau Mau Uprising (1952-1960) which provides the background for the second half of the story.

I learned about Something of Value as I was reading Home. It was listed as one of those books of the time period of that novel, also the 1950’s, and never having heard of it, it intrigued me. As it is set in Kenya, there are some familiar terms for those who have read, The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood, and in fact Ruark lists Elspeth Huxley as an adviser for this book. The first half of the book is somewhat along those lines, or anyway, readers of Huxley will feel at home.

However, be forewarned the graphic violence, especially as the book progresses, is the worse than anything else I have ever read. And the sad thing is, it is based on actual history.

Initially I gave a star rating. I have since withdrawn it as I am so conflicted about this book. Technically-speaking, it is a fine fictionalized account of a tormented historical event and yet even so, I personally did not care for choices the author made in telling it. Mr. Ruark could have told the same story (IMHO) without including quite so much detailed descriptions of gore. After initial explanations, it is my contention, he could have achieved his purpose by reference rather than repetition and elaboration.

[Checkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprising account of the Mau Mau Rebellion in British Kenya in the early 1950's. Why is it surprising? Mainly because it's brutal in it's accounting of atrocities committed by both the Blacks and Whites.I didn't expect that from a mainstream novel published in the mid-1950's. The book doesn't pull any punches and it doesn't let either side off. The book makes it clear both sides are to blame.

However, as another reviewer has pointed out, Ruark does write mostly from the white farmer's point of view since he knew the farmers and he couldn't help but write from their perspective. Also this book was written in the 1950's when the Cold War was at it's height and there is the inevitable appearance of the Soviets, albeit only in one chapter.

The Mau Mau Rebellion is shown to be the tool of those who would ensure that Communism takes over Africa. So, despite Ruark's effort at being balanced, the fact that he personally knew many white settlers in Kenya and was anti-communist (and very few Americans weren't at this time in American history)ensures that the story comes down more on the side of the settlers.

This novel is brutal and stark in it's depiction of the violence that swept Kenya during the Mau Mau Rebellion. The dramatic story aspects are more typical of the 1950's. Melodrama,unfaithful spouses, heavy drinking and other assorted cliches that reminded me of an Irwin Shaw novel. In addition Ruark tends to get carried away with the Stream of Consciousness as a narrative tool at times. Used once in awhile it's effective, but he goes back to it once to often and it gets tiresome.

There were times I found myself having to trudge through parts of the book. However, all in all, it's an interesting read. It even serves as a contemporary source on the Mau Mau, as opposed to a historical text that has been written in the past few years. Perhaps not as accurate, but gives one insight into the minds of those who were actually living through the rebellion.

[John Rouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Ruark, a journalist and writer of some success came to Kenya in 1949 to go on hunting safari. While there he became a close friend of the famed white hunter Harry Selby who owned a 40,000 acre cattle ranch in the White Highlands near Mt Kenya. During the next six years he went back several times and was a firsthand witness to the beginning of the Mau Mau rebellion and State of Emergency which began in 1952 up until the eventual suppression of the rebellion in 1956. The violence of the rebellion and the impact it had on the small white Kenyan settler community was given wide newspaper coverage in Europe and North America but Ruark thought the coverage was overly biased in favour of the white settlers’ point of view. So Ruark decided to write a novel about it. “Something of Value” was published in 1955 and became an instant success. Two years later a film based on the book was launched starring Rock Hudson, Dana Winter and Sidney Poitier.

Ruark wanted his novel to give a more balanced account of the causes and effects of the violence that took place. He did this through the eyes of two protagonists: Peter McKenzie, the son of a wealthy and widowed white cattle rancher and Kimani, the eldest son of the Kikuyu foreman of his father’s ranch. The two leading characters begin as inseperable friends and playmates long before the outbreak of hostilities but as the two age and the tensions between the white settler community and resident Kikuyus gradually increase each becomes more radicalized: Peter as a reluctant defender of white settler values and racial prejudices and Kimani, after a cutting insult to his pride, as a committed leader of the Mau Mau rebels.

Both protagonists are damaged by the conflict. Although Peter McKenzie is the victor, it is a Phyrric victory. He has lost everything he loves: his father, his sister and his wife.

Striking about the book is its brutal realism, based on Ruark’s surprisingly profound understanding of Kikuyu and white settler values and prejudices, and personal fascination with the art of big game hunting. The theme echoed throughout the book is that in the natural world “death builds life”. But in this story, this law of Nature becomes the law of Man as well.

Also interesting is his extensive use of Kikuyu and Swahili words to capture the emotion and atmosphere and the detailed and bloody description of the violence that occurred. It’s a very readable and realistic story, and the horrible lessons it teaches about the systematic use of killings to achieve certain political ends could well apply to the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia or the child soldiers in Sierra Leone and Central Africa.

[David Jarrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books that made a lasting impression on me, first read fifty years ago, written by a man who actually experienced life in Africa, and more particularly, Kenya, firsthand. His narrative of the lives of two childhood friends, one a white Englishman and one a native black Kikuyu, tells the story of the violent Mau Mau uprising against provincial English rule in the mid-1950s. It is not a book for the faint of heart or the squeamish, but from other accounts I have read of Africa from the same period, it is quite accurate. As one would expect, the two main characters cannot and do not remain friends -- one will not survive -- but the main thrust of the story is not really about the two individuals but rather about the clash of two cultures, both old and well-established, without regard or apology for the shortcomings of either.

[Linsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal. Although a work of fiction, it has been said that this book is very true to the time of the Mau Mau uprising in Africa in the middle of the 20th century. Impeccably researched and beautifully written. Not a book for the faint of heart and not something that will make you feel happy; but, it will make you feel and stay with you for a very long time.

[Henry Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written, wonderful book, made even better by the fact that it actually has a real ending and is not the start of a whole series. Ruark paints beautiful scenes of African safaris and horrifying scenes of massacres carried out by both the Mau Mau and those opposing them. A must-read for anyone who enjoys hunting or animals. There are so many great details within the book and small moments of vivid description and warmth that even in the midst of very dark parts of the book, I never felt overwhelmingly sad. There was an undertone of "life will overcome" that came from the toughness of the characters, who are very dynamic and grow up during the book. Though it is fiction, it is based on true events, and I think gives a fascinating and relevant example of how an uprising can happen and spread.

[DoctorM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruark's "Something of Value" appeared in 1955, just at the end of the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya. I read it as a young boy and found it both exhilarating in its depiction of late-colonial Kenya and horrifying in its account of the Mau Mau and their atrocities. These days, of course, the Mau Mau are regarded as nationalist freedom fighters (though of course the vast majority of their victims were non-Kikuyu black Africans) and it's the British and their internment camps rather than the Mau Mau with their machetes who are regarded as the prepetrators of atrocities.

Ruark took his account of the Mau Mau largely from white settlers in Kenya--- his hosts while he was there hunting back in the days of safaris and White Hunters ---and it's very much an account of the Mau Mau from the perspective of the beleaguered settler farms in the Kenya Highlands. The politics of land acquisition and land reform don't figure here. Let's be clear about that.

But as an adventure story, as an account of a lost place and way of life, it is excellent. Ruark isn't unsympathetic to the Africans, though he blames the revolt on deracinated Africans lost between cultures and made violent by their alienation.

Accept that this was written from a given, colonial viewpoint almost sixty years ago and read it for the tale itself.

[Serena.. Sery-ously? · Rating 3 out of 5]

È stata una battaglia lunga e difficile, ma ce l'abbiamo fatta! Il vaso è stato portato in salvo!
Menzione d'onore al mio compagno che ha sopportato stoicamente la presenza del libro sul divano per tre mesi e mezzo e alla mia gatta che ha tolto il segnalibro dal libro una volta sola in tutti questi mesi: SIETE VOI, I VERI EROI DELLA STORIA!

Sicuramente mi è piaciuto e mi ha illuminato circa la rivolta dei Mau Mau in Kenya di cui personalmente, nella mia totale ignoranza, non sapevo nulla. Non sono riuscita ad amare il libro fino in fondo da una parte perché è stato sfiancante leggerlo (e la scrittura carattere 8 non ha certo aiutato), dall'altra mi ha messo spesso profondamente a disagio per come le popolazioni autoctone vengono trattate (lo so che è un po' il punto dell'intero romanzo, ma è più forte di me). La prima metà del romanzo è evocativa a mille ed è sicuramente quella che ho preferito: la vita nel Kenya del dopoguerra, i Safari,a la natura selvaggia.. Quando si delinea la "Storia" diventa troppo minuzioso nei dettagli, mi sono spesso annoiata :(

Popsugar reading challenge: A DNF book from your TBR list

Around the world in 52 books: A book with an ensemble cast

[Ted Lehmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the seminal novels of my adolescence. Robert Ruark captured a culture in change and brought it to life. I've been thinking about it lately, because the current terror campaign being waged by ISIS is similar in so many ways, breaking all social norms to create dislocation, fear, and disruption. In retrospect, remember that Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta became a respected African leader in later years. Probably won't happen today.....

[Wenzl Schollum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Racist and sexist - a book that could never be published in this day and age. The women are there to look pretty , have babies and pour their handsome men another drink. The "wogs" as they are called so often are there to do as they are told or take their punishment - be it a kick in the pants or tortured to death. The animals are there to be slaughtered for trophies or to clear the land for the white farmers.
The settler regime in Kenya was probably the most openly racist one in the British empire . The settlers , despite their tiny minority were determined to keep their grip on power. 32 whites and several thousand blacks were murdered in this conflict and all to what end ? It was inevitable that the black majority would eventually rule their own country.

[Sharon Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the most influential books in my life with regard to understanding colonialism. It was years after I read it, when I came to understand what it had been about - as a young teenager without much teaching in real history, you don't get a lot of the subtleties of the world order and fading empires. This book, and The Real World of Democracy by CB McPherson should be read together.

The book shows how friends' lives can change dramatically because of the politics of their parents and the world around them. I liken it somewhat to Exodus and The Haj by Leon Uris.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is quite a book, written at the time it's set. Ruark holds nothing back as he describes the unimaginable barbarism ultimately both sides resort to during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 1950s. Brutality on full display, from a brutal time on a brutal continent.

[Chris Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came recommended (and as a gift) from my father who told me he counted it among his favorites. After one false start a couple years ago, I took it on again last summer and only just finished it. A large hardbound book, it only suited for nightstand reading, and I started and finished a few other books at the same time I plodded through this one. And at first, it was a plod. Always good reading, but pretty broad in scope and not afraid to spend many pages setting the stage. It's actually divided into three books with numbered chapters; Home, Young Warriors, and finally Mau Mau.

The book's title comes from a 'Basuto proverb', which captures well the underlying tension of the native Kenyan's who became Mau Mau rebels;

"If a man does away with his traditional way of living and throws away his good customs, he had better first make certain that he has something of value to replace them."

The final sentence of the first chapter really grabbed me as it described the father of the story's protagonist;

"Henry McKenize, now about to take coffee with a nip of French brandy in it on his breezy veranda with a clear view of Mount Kenya, was a sound success at a task that had made drunks of some men and suicides of others."

The task that Henry was a success at was being a British colonist farmer in Kenya. And the first two books set the stage for what Kenya was like in the 1950s, with soldiers returning from WWII, large farms run largely by natives who had lost their own lands to the colonists, but hadn't completely lost their tribal heritage.

The Mau Mau uprising that took place from 1952 - 1960 was a rebellion by native Kenyans against white settlers. It was a slice of history I was completely unaware of before reading this novel set within these historical events. It was a very brutal and bloody rebellion, that was put down with equal brutality.

Although not a fast read, this hefty book was an immersion into a time, place and a bit of history I didn't know. And like most good books, the higher the page numbers climbed, the faster those pages turned. I can see why my Pop liked it, I did very much as well.

A movie starring Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier was made in 1957, I haven't see it yet.

[Andrea]

This book was published in 1955, so the MauMau period in Kenya that it covers was contemporary at the time. That's the only excuse I can make for this hysterical, fear mongering and racist book. While Ruark depicts plenty of explicit, bloody violence on both sides, the white settlers only become violence in response to the primitive treachery of the "natives." If you want to know something true about this period, two recent non-fiction books are helpful: "Histories of the Hanged" by David Anderson and "Imperial Reckoning" by Caroline Elkins. MauMau oath taking was, by all accounts very disgusting, designed to force oath-takers to break as many taboos as possible, so that they would become sealed into their status as outcasts. I am not a defender of their methods, and I think the more moderate political leaders, including Kenyatta (who was never really involved with MauMau directly, although he exploited its symbolism at the time of Independence a decade later) were right in their aims. MauMau was definitely a tribalist movement, and its legacy in Kenya is not positive. But colonial authorities and the settler community reacted with a paranoia and violence that cannot possibly excused. There is a saying the history is written by the victors. In this case, history has passed Ruark's propagandist fiction by and his contrasts of "Wogs" to "decent white men" has been shown to be the most vile fiction of all.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical fictions are my favorite form of reading and they don't get better than "Something of Value". It is an extremely well written and historically accurate story; something all historical fictions should seek to be.
It takes place in Africa (Kenya), just after WWII, when the whole face of Africa was changing, after the British colonial period was losing its grip on the region. The relationship between the white colonials and the native Africans, which had developed an uncomfortable peace and even some affection between them, was about to become completely undone by the influences of internal resentment and discontent and external political rivals vying for regional power. It culminates in one of the bloodiest massacres called the Mau Mau Rising.
The characters in Robert Ruark's book are realistically portrayed; some are compassionate and kind, some cruel beyond all abilities of human understanding. His weaving of the familie's stories and the events of the time presents a realistic, poignant, and tragic story that offers a true understanding of a calamity that one would not otherwise be able to comprehend.

[Ross Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

On my second visit to Kenya in 2005 my cab driver told me how his grandfather fought for the British against German Askers as a soldier in the Kings African Rifles during WWI. His father and uncle then went off to fight for England in Burma during WWII. Being trained seasoned soldiers they were interned by the British sometime after the war after they had returned to Kenya. A visit to Mount Kenya – the land the Mau Mau was fought over intrigued me and reading this book, plus its sequel Uhuru places things in perspective.
Something of Value examines the guerilla war fought between the British settlers and the Kikuyu natives in Kenya after WWII during what became known as the Mau Mau Rebellion. With each rereading, the book changed. It was not only a safari adventure story, but it was also a snapshot of history. The opening Bantu proverb, "If you do away with the traditions of the past, then you must first replace them with Something of Value" definitely describes the book. Ruarks examination of foreign and unfamiliar ideology, how it affects us, and what its consequences are, is applicable and meaningful reading in today’s post 9/11 world. Its great writing.

[carl theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a kid my Dad watched this movie about
19 times so by default, did we. My Mom eventually made
fun of seeing it yet again.

Years later I saw the book on a friend's shelf so
I read it. It is a good read; many insights into
Kenyan customs. A lot of Swahili is used so if you
follow along with the supplied dictionary in the
back, you'll have a basic knowledge, comes in handy
later for crossword puzzles.

[Holly Munson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was perusing the shelves at the library looking for something to read and I picked this book up at random. That was over 30 years ago. I still think about it in an almost visceral manner. Few books have affected me in such a way that I think about the characters and situations as if I was a part of it. I would like to read it again to see if age has tempered my opinion.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A slice of raw South African history, definatly not for the thinskined PC reader,or faint of heart.A real look at the thoughts of two oposing cultures,the start of all wars,the predictions of the fate of south Africa aluded to in the book are all too real, and this is woven into a great story.

[Gene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reread for me... great book and author.. Robert Ruark.. second time, always better

About..Kenya.. the Mau Mau uprising in with a real good story about two blood brothers ( kids )
then into adulthood..

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in high school. There were ignorant comments about racism but I found the salient point of cultures must evolve on their own. When forced by an outside culture the natural evolution is disrupted. It is on my re-read list due to the lack of good writing now published.

[Jill]

Silly

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it. It is an unreal story.

[Klaas Bisschop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het motto van het boek : 'Als men zijn traditionele levensgewoonten en zijn van oudsher bestaande zeden verwerpt moet men er eerst zeker van zijn daarvoor iets van waarde in de plaats te kunnen stellen'. (Basuto spreekwoord)

Deze roman speelt zich af in een biotoop van racisme, met name blank racisme tegen zwarten.

Het opent met een scene waar Peter McKenzie, een (Britse) blanke jongen, opdrachten verstrekt aan Kimani, een zwarte jongen van de Kikuyu-stam. Ze zijn allebei een jaar of twaalf. Ze zijn elkaars stiefbroers, min of meer gelijkwaardig opgevoed. Maar niet helemáál gelijkwaardig. De zwarte is op een vanzelfsprekende manier, bijna op een ‘natuurlijke’ manier, onderschikt aan zijn witte broertje.
Ze spelen oorlogje. Iemand moet winnen en iemand moet verliezen. Heel geraffineerd mengt de auteur bij de beschrijving van hun spel de zwarte cultuur van de dappere krijger met de witte cultuur van de koloniaal. Zo verklaart hij langs zijn neus weg hoe de verhoudingen tussen blank en zwart liggen. De jongens imiteren in hun spel immers de situatie zoals zij die kennen. En aanvaarden : de zwarte is de verliezer.

Toch wordt het geen zwaar verhaal met uitsluitend ellende, hoewel ellende in grote mate aanwezig is. Met geestige scherpe dialogen en humorvolle beschrijvingen van situaties is de tekst regelmatig vrolijk. Opvallend daarbij is de vanzelfsprekendheid waarmee zwarten op een semi-geestige manier vrijwel altijd beledigend worden toegesproken, zelfs al ze om hun kwaliteiten gecomplimenteerd worden. Ook zeer gewaardeerde zwarte vertrouwelingen ontkomen daar niet aan. Het is de vanzelfsprekendheid waarmee dit gebeurt, en waarmee dit wordt geaccepteerd, dat de lezer deze omgangsvormen als normaal gaat beoordelen. Er heerst vanuit de blanke gemeenschap duidelijk respect naar deze vertrouwelingen, maar niet voor de zwarte bevolkingsgroep in zijn geheel : de nikkers, zoals ze in dit boek (uit 1955) genoemd worden.

De positie van de blanke is zoals de katholieke priester Placied Tempels (1906 – 1977) die beschrijft in zijn boek Bantoe-filosofie (1946) : ‘We waren van mening dat we grote kinderen moesten opvoeden, wat tamelijk eenvoudig zou zijn geweest. Maar opeens wordt het ons duidelijk dat we met een volwassen mensheid van doen hebben, met zelfbewuste ziens- en levenswijzen, doordesemd met een eigen allesomvattende filosofie’.

Ruark beschrijft de wordingsgeschiedenis van de Kikuyy familie, waarvan de vrouw van het stamhoofd Peter heeft opgevoed. De groepscultuur, de positie van de ouderen en zelfs de overledenen, de invloed en het effect van magie. En de wordingsgeschiedenis van het boerenbedrijf van Peters vader, de Bushbuck Farm, de worsteling om aan de bittere armoe van de schrale grond te ontkomen, de trots omdat dat gelukt is, het besef van persoonlijk verworven bezit.

Ruark schuwt expliciete beschrijvingen van geweld niet. Je daardoor af laten schrikken zou jammer zijn, als je Zwart-Afrika beter zou willen begrijpen. De expliciete beschrijvingen van zwarte rituelen vond ik soms wat ver gaan, maar sloten wel aan bij wat ik geleerd heb uit het boek van Tempels (met name de functie van het innemen en daarna uitspugen (!) van de meest smerige drankjes).

Als lezer krijg je begrip voor de bizarre acties van de Mau-Mau beweging
en de niet minder bizarre reactie van het koloniale bewind. Waarbij, voor mij, de Mau-Mau symbool staat voor alle zwarte opstandsbewegingen in Afrika.

( https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau... - De Mau Mau werd uiteindelijk verslagen, maar stond wel aan de basis van de Keniaanse onafhankelijkheid doordat de blanken ontmoedigd raakten. Het waren vooral leden van de Kikuyu-stam die actief waren bij de beweging)

Het boek is bijna 500 pagina’s dik. Het bevat diverse ‘roman aspecten’ die voor mij niet zo overtuigend zijn, maar per saldo is het een leerzaam boek.

[redbird_fan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well written, but I would not recommend it unless a person is really interested in the Mau Mau uprising. Much detail is given to provide the reader a picture of Kenya, and the dynamics between the British and African peoples, and even between the various tribes themselves. Rightfully so, and necessary; but for me the interest was not that great - I expected more action, I suppose, but that is not the author's fault.

Again, well written, but I got a lot of the background from Ruark's "Horn of the Hunter" which I read previously. It was what led me to this book, and I would recommend it.

[D. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Something of Value" was penned by RR. And was an excellent read for the genre. The novel was immensely popular and RR. Signed to do a film of the same name. The story portrays two young boys, black and white, that were raised together, but as time passes they drifted apart. Then came the Mau Mau of Southeastern Africa. The two men meet during the massacres and discuss the on going problems. I would recommend that you read the book first and then to really understand what you had read then watch the movie. The movie starred Rock Hudson and Sidney Piortay......DEHS

[Cheryl Ames · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent writing. Fascinating story of fictional characters in the middle of the real Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 1950s that was characterized by violence against white colonists, between blacks of the Kikuyu tribe, and by whites attempting to stop the revolution. Bad for everyone. Reason for my rating in spite of the excellent writing — way to much explicit detail about all the horrid things that happened — not for me. But I did finish the book, by skipping much of it.