Eddie Skiltemaler

by Adam Schwartzman, Claus Bech (Translator)

Den unge Kwasi Edward Micheal Dankwa - også kaldet Eddie Skiltemaler - er tilfreds med sin tilværelse som skiltemaler i byen Accra i Ghana. Men pludselig er alt forandret - han forelsker sig i en pige han ikke kan få, får skylden for en ældre betydningsfuld kvindes død og bortvises i vanære fra sin skole. Han flygter til Senegal og derefter videre til Paris i håb om at skabe sig en ny tilværelse. Livet som illegal flygtning er hårdt og ødelæggende, og han kommer langsomt på fode. Han får sig et job i en blomsterbutik og møder Bernadette fra Cameroun, som han bliver forlovet med. Men så en dag opsøges han af sin morbror, som konfronterer ham med fortiden.

Genres: Africa, Fiction, Ghana, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Coming Of Age

374 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Lynn]

Eddie Signwriter seems like a beautifully written book and in fact the first part of the story is mesmerizing but with so many story points, the story that holds it together doesn't add up. Initially a story of a young teenage boy who is encouraged to have an affair with a young girl at school by her aunt which ends up in disgrace and humiliation turns into an illegal immigration story about a young man who moves to France and tries to make a new life for himself. There is an attempt to bring the stories together but it is not successful. Eddie is a young teenager in school when the story begins and he has an attraction to a girl named Celeste whose aunt approaches him and encourages him to take it to a sexual level. The girl is encouraged by her also. A scandal develops later when the two sneak off to Accra together to spend a day at the beach and are discovered missing. A male teacher and the aunt insist on going to find them in a rain storm and the aunt dies. The two are blamed for the aunt's death and parted forcibly by the community. Later Eddie is adopted as an apprentice to a sign writer in Accra and develops a reputation as being a good one. Celeste, his old girlfriend comes to him and they live together. He tends to insult her and verbally abuse her then suddenly takes off for France via a circuitous route through several African countries. He becomes close to several people and learns to constantly run from police and immigration officials. He finds a new love and becomes happy especially when he discovers that he might not be the cause of the aunt's death in the previous scandal. The writing is very descriptive and sounds important but there is too much sadness and depression in the writing and no relief. Was that a happy ending? What did the immigration story have to do with the first tragedy? I felt the book was not as important as it was hoping to be. Though short, it took me longer to finish than others because I had lost interest in it along the way.

[Kkraemer]

This is why we need bookshops and libraries: I had never heard of this book or its author, but the cover and flap looked interesting, so it came home with me.

Because of this book, I feel like I've lived another life, one quite different from my own. Edward (Kwasi) was a child like many in Africa, beloved by both parents, educated, open to completely and willing to fall in love. He was not a perfect child: he was rambunctious and occasionally irresponsible, but his art was alive with the stories and people of his life. I loved reading of life in Africa. For the main character, though, life was darkened by overwhelming guilt, and ultimately, he ran away from his life in Africa to hide in Paris.

I understand how guilt feels, and how isolating it can be. What I didn't understand, though was how terrible life must be for an immigrant: "He could not bring himself to open the door and step out into a world in which the accident of being born in one place not another, or possessing one piece of paper and not another, could turn your fellow human beings against you and you into a hunted animal, on which all kinds of legitimate violence could be inflicted."

This book is like the signs that the main character paints: lush, detailed, insightful, subtle, funny, thought-provoking. I am so glad it was on the shelf.

[Glenna]

This is an eye opening view of life as an illegal immigrant. And it also features the story of a difficult boy, his interesting life in two African countries, and what became of him. A touching story, well written.

[Wendy Cosin]

The author writes as much like a painter as a poet (this is his first novel), but I didn't enjoy reading the book very much even though the subject was interesting. A distance kept me from fully engaging.

[Jeffschaffer]

Shares an unusual perspective of a Ghanaian who emigrates illegally to France--covers both the African and European experiences. The motivation for some actions are fuzzy, can't help but noting that the author is a Western development financier, but some of the expatriate experience rings true.

[Dar]

Eddie grows up unwanted and is sent off to boarding school. He plays a part in a local catastrophe, but the adults in his life were pulling the strings. He ends up being the scapegoat in a complex situation. Although he makes plans and takes action, he feels rootless, lives mostly in silence, and drifts. The language on the page also drifts, tumbling out then slowing down, sometimes with beautiful, quiet observations.

I kept waiting for a big reveal - what really happened back in Eddie's home town? Were Nana and John good guys or bad guys? But nobody is talking. I imagined what happened based on a stray comment by a character here and there. One part of the story is confirmed; the rest isn't.

Meanwhile Eddie escapes his past and somehow manages, after many stops and starts, to move on.

I was impatient, but Eddie Signwriter will stay with me because of the impressionistic language and its depictions of rural and urban Ghana.

[Sarah]

It feels like this book found me. I saw it displayed on the shelf of a used bookstore and remembered all of the beautiful hand painted signs I saw in Tanzania while I lived there. I’d always wanted to hear more about how they came to be. This stunning story just about knocked me over. It gets at some of the most important stuff of life. A true 5 stars for me.

[Denise Kruse]

An unusual gem of a book. Every page is a painting. Gorgeous, descriptive writing that engages the senses. I am a reader who does not seek out poetry; in fact, in the second half of the book, the prose bogged the story; however, I appreciate the magnificence. This quote is towards the beginning, before the story spun off into incredibly beautiful but confusing vignettes. All did come together at the end.
People survive everything, he told himself, millions survive everyday. And there was no wonder in it anymore: how a person survives with the nerves so shot through and the flesh so riddled with living. How people cut out their own hearts, not to repent or be good, but simply for a little peace, and live twenty years still, or only ten or five, tending a garden, and being kind to dogs and children.

[Allyson]

This was a poignantly sad story about a misunderstood or mislead youth grown to adulthood. It felt a little removed, intangible with the way this author crafted his tale and voices, but very unusual. Disparate ingredients yet the whole was captivating in my reading experience. So many things left unexplored or explained which I like. I felt I sort of knew, but knew not at all the main character which I liked and felt was intended.
I disliked the graphics on the cover however- again with the cover.

[Kristina Harper]

I found this book a little choppy and difficult to connect with in the beginning, and that didn't really change until I was almost finished. I liked it quite a bit at the end, but because it was such an unsatisfying read most of the way through, I couldn't see my way to give it any more than three stars.

[Joan]

I selected this book because it is a contemporary novel set in West Africa and France, two places I know and love, and it is not overtly re the "usual suspects" of issues, but about Eddie, a singular person. It didn't disappoint.

[Andrea]

debut novel

[Rachel]

The book tells a story that is interesting, I guess. The author's highly stylized writing is intriguing, but ultimately confusing.

[Gail]

I loved the African and European settings, and some of the language was really beautiful. But the book is a little hard to follow. Maybe it's just me.

[Tuck]

what a great and beautiful first novel. you can very well imagine yourself living in the french wetback life of an afican on the move and in europe.

[Mary Southwick]

Some parts I really enjoyed, especially those set in Paris, but I struggled to get past the sexism in others.

[Anne]

This was the powerful coming-of-age story of Kwasi Dankwa, a Ghanaian boy caught up in events he doesn't understand.

[Christine Comito]

Just couldn't feel much sympathy for the characters. Also really annoyed me that the main character is just called "he" far too frequently.

[Em_Dash512]

A little slow in the middle but a really lovely ending.

[Lahni]

I listened to this book quite a while ago and I don't remember a lot of the details. Overall I liked the book. It wasn't what I was expecting. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting but it wasn't this. I do know that I thought about the book for a while afterwards and thats always a good thing!!