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Memoirs #4
Wrestling with the Devil: A Prison Memoir
Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s powerful prison memoir begins half an hour before his release on 12 December 1978. A year earlier, he recalls, armed police arrived at his home and took him to Kenya’s Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. There, Ngugi lives in a block alongside other political prisoners, but he refuses to give in to the humiliation. He decides to write a novel in secret, on toilet paper – it is a book that will become his classic, Devil on the Cross.Wrestling with the Devil is Ngugi’s unforgettable account of the drama and challenges of living under twenty-four-hour surveillance. He captures not only the pain caused by his isolation from his family, but also the spirit of defiance and the imaginative endeavours that allowed him to survive.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 1981
37 people are currently reading
1994 people want to read
About the author
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
107 books2,016 followersNgũgĩ wa Thiong'o was a Kenyan author and academic, who was described as East Africa's leading novelist.
He began writing in English before later switching to write primarily in Gikuyu, becoming a strong advocate for literature written in native African languages. His works include the celebrated novel The River Between, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He was the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright was translated into more than 100 languages.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation [that] produces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although his landmark play Ngaahika Ndeenda, co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening.
Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for more than a year. Adopted as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, he was released from prison and fled Kenya. He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine. He previously taught at Northwestern University, Yale University, and New York University. Ngũgĩ was frequently regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are authors Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ.
He began writing in English before later switching to write primarily in Gikuyu, becoming a strong advocate for literature written in native African languages. His works include the celebrated novel The River Between, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism to children's literature. He was the founder and editor of the Gikuyu-language journal Mũtĩiri. His short story The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright was translated into more than 100 languages.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ embarked upon a novel form of theatre in Kenya that sought to liberate the theatrical process from what he held to be "the general bourgeois education system", by encouraging spontaneity and audience participation in the performances. His project sought to "demystify" the theatrical process, and to avoid the "process of alienation [that] produces a gallery of active stars and an undifferentiated mass of grateful admirers" which, according to Ngũgĩ, encourages passivity in "ordinary people". Although his landmark play Ngaahika Ndeenda, co-written with Ngũgĩ wa Mirii, was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening.
Ngũgĩ was subsequently imprisoned for more than a year. Adopted as an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, he was released from prison and fled Kenya. He was appointed Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the University of California, Irvine. He previously taught at Northwestern University, Yale University, and New York University. Ngũgĩ was frequently regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the 2001 International Nonino Prize in Italy, and the 2016 Park Kyong-ni Prize. Among his children are authors Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ.
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October 7, 2019
"Thought for despair? No! I am part of a living struggle. And without struggle, there is no movement, there is no life." Will this man now finally get his well-deserved Nobel Prize, for God's sake?!
It's actually bizarre to even rate this, the memoir of a man who was once thrown into a maximum security prison after writing a play in an African language and staging it with local workers and peasants. Today, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is considered one of the main contestants for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and his writings on Kenyan culture and about the consequences of the British rule over his home country are invaluable for everyone trying to understand African history or colonialism in general.
This is the first time this memoir is published in English, in a re-edited version, although its original version in Gikuyu was already put out in 1982. Ngũgĩ wrote most of the text secretly on toilet paper in his prison cell in 1978, as a means of resistance, to uphold his own sanity and intergrity, and as a testimony to let others know about the faith of political prisoners under the authoritarian Kenyatta regime.
Jomo Kenyatta was the country's first black head of government and played a significant role in the transformation of Kenya from a colony into an independent republic. Born in 1891, he experienced the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial era - and this man's policies were just as contradictory as Kenya's history (see Ngũgĩ's highly interesting postscript). In his memoir, Ngũgĩ strongly criticizes the man who jailed him and many of his fellow intellectuals, describes the connection between colonial atrocities and the wrongdoings of the Kenyatta government, and elaborates on the power which the ideology of colonialism still holds over the Kenyan people, from poor peasants up to the head of state.
From his prison cell, Ngũgĩ fights the colonial "culture of silence and fear" and its "aesthetic of blind trust and obedience to foreign economic, political, and cultural occupation and encirclement" with many acts of resistance, his art being one of them. After dozens of years of being indoctrinated that they are worthless and that their actions are futile, Ngũgĩ sees Kenyan culture and creativity as the constructive force that will enable Kenyans to overcome the legacy of the "colonial Lazarus":
"It's the history of Kenyan resistance culture, a revolutionary culture of courage and heroism (...). It's a creative, fight-back culture unleashing tremendous energies among the Kenyan people."
"(...) even behind the barbed wire and stone walls of the colonial Jericho, they (the Kenyan people) went on composing new songs and singing out a collective defiance that finally brought those walls down."
In contrast, "(b)eyond drinking whiskey, drugging themselves into sexual fantasies, whoring each other's spouses, and gunning lions and natives for pleasure in this vast Happy Valley, the settlers produced little."
The text has a peculiar structure, containing foreshadowings and flashbacks, providing historical and political context, giving insights into the physical and psychological measures applied to subdue or even destroy prisoners, and letting the reader get really close to the author: The way Ngũgĩ talks about his feelings, his pain, but also his strength is powerful and highly impressive. The memoir is closely connected to his novel Devil on the Cross, which he also wrote in prison (but it is not necessary to know the novel to appreciate this book).
Full disclosure: I didn't know much about Kenya before reading this book, but now I want to learn much more about this country which is located around 10,000 km away from me - and I want to read more Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. This is a fascinating book, and it is almost impossible to put it down.
It's actually bizarre to even rate this, the memoir of a man who was once thrown into a maximum security prison after writing a play in an African language and staging it with local workers and peasants. Today, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is considered one of the main contestants for the Nobel Prize in Literature, and his writings on Kenyan culture and about the consequences of the British rule over his home country are invaluable for everyone trying to understand African history or colonialism in general.
This is the first time this memoir is published in English, in a re-edited version, although its original version in Gikuyu was already put out in 1982. Ngũgĩ wrote most of the text secretly on toilet paper in his prison cell in 1978, as a means of resistance, to uphold his own sanity and intergrity, and as a testimony to let others know about the faith of political prisoners under the authoritarian Kenyatta regime.
Jomo Kenyatta was the country's first black head of government and played a significant role in the transformation of Kenya from a colony into an independent republic. Born in 1891, he experienced the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial era - and this man's policies were just as contradictory as Kenya's history (see Ngũgĩ's highly interesting postscript). In his memoir, Ngũgĩ strongly criticizes the man who jailed him and many of his fellow intellectuals, describes the connection between colonial atrocities and the wrongdoings of the Kenyatta government, and elaborates on the power which the ideology of colonialism still holds over the Kenyan people, from poor peasants up to the head of state.
From his prison cell, Ngũgĩ fights the colonial "culture of silence and fear" and its "aesthetic of blind trust and obedience to foreign economic, political, and cultural occupation and encirclement" with many acts of resistance, his art being one of them. After dozens of years of being indoctrinated that they are worthless and that their actions are futile, Ngũgĩ sees Kenyan culture and creativity as the constructive force that will enable Kenyans to overcome the legacy of the "colonial Lazarus":
"It's the history of Kenyan resistance culture, a revolutionary culture of courage and heroism (...). It's a creative, fight-back culture unleashing tremendous energies among the Kenyan people."
"(...) even behind the barbed wire and stone walls of the colonial Jericho, they (the Kenyan people) went on composing new songs and singing out a collective defiance that finally brought those walls down."
In contrast, "(b)eyond drinking whiskey, drugging themselves into sexual fantasies, whoring each other's spouses, and gunning lions and natives for pleasure in this vast Happy Valley, the settlers produced little."
The text has a peculiar structure, containing foreshadowings and flashbacks, providing historical and political context, giving insights into the physical and psychological measures applied to subdue or even destroy prisoners, and letting the reader get really close to the author: The way Ngũgĩ talks about his feelings, his pain, but also his strength is powerful and highly impressive. The memoir is closely connected to his novel Devil on the Cross, which he also wrote in prison (but it is not necessary to know the novel to appreciate this book).
Full disclosure: I didn't know much about Kenya before reading this book, but now I want to learn much more about this country which is located around 10,000 km away from me - and I want to read more Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. This is a fascinating book, and it is almost impossible to put it down.
November 23, 2025
Not only showed the life of political prisoners, but also the colonial history of Kenya and the structures it implemented and left.
January 15, 2018
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was a political prisoner in Kenya and this is his memoir about that dark time. It is also a history lesson about the people's struggle in Africa to rise above colonial and state oppression. It's an amazing work. I had no idea about Africa's history, but I feel like I learned something and am hungry for more.
What is troubling for me is that I see parallels in America's society and what was described in this memoir.. This is a very poignant read.
thanks to netgally
What is troubling for me is that I see parallels in America's society and what was described in this memoir.. This is a very poignant read.
thanks to netgally
August 9, 2011
This is, by far, the worst book I've ever read. It is nothing but a vanity piece for the author, who is clearly puffing himself up to be some sort of African Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. He's also an anti-Semite. Kenya was right to help Israel refuel after the Entebbe raid.
July 10, 2018
"I am not trying to write a story of heroism. I am only a scribbler of words. Pen and paper have so far been my only offensive and defensive weapons against those who would like to drown human in pool of fear-or blood."
.
"There's a fellowship that develops among people in adversity that's very human and gives glimpses of what human beings could become if they could unite against the enemy of humanity: social cannibalism." -Wrestling with the Devil: A Prison Memoir, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
.
Although the play "Ngaahika Ndeenda" was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening in 1977, and that caused him in jail. This book is such a powerful prison memoir that open my eyes to see and learn so much more about Kenya. And Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is an a remarkable storyteller. He portrayed such an emotional life experience in prison with other political prisoners. Yet his spirit raised above the injustice and kept hiding and writing in his cell on the toilet papers.
.
This book is a combination of different composition about the history of British Colonial in Kenya, Kenya political situation and Ngũgĩ personal experience in jail. He talked briefly about the famous book "Out of Africa" by Karen Blixen, and debated how the writer mislead the situation. He also mentioned about the Arab slave-dealers. And these are the major learning for me. Despite the seriousness of the context, the narration of this book is beyond extraordinary.
.
I am a fan of Ngũgĩ writing and his ability to create perfect words and put them in perfect places. He's just a pure genius. The fact that English is his second language blew my mind. He writes in Gikuyu and translates some of his book into English by himself. He also teach writing at Yale, NYU and UCI.
.
I hope I convince you to read more of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
.
"There's a fellowship that develops among people in adversity that's very human and gives glimpses of what human beings could become if they could unite against the enemy of humanity: social cannibalism." -Wrestling with the Devil: A Prison Memoir, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
.
Although the play "Ngaahika Ndeenda" was a commercial success, it was shut down by the authoritarian Kenyan regime six weeks after its opening in 1977, and that caused him in jail. This book is such a powerful prison memoir that open my eyes to see and learn so much more about Kenya. And Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is an a remarkable storyteller. He portrayed such an emotional life experience in prison with other political prisoners. Yet his spirit raised above the injustice and kept hiding and writing in his cell on the toilet papers.
.
This book is a combination of different composition about the history of British Colonial in Kenya, Kenya political situation and Ngũgĩ personal experience in jail. He talked briefly about the famous book "Out of Africa" by Karen Blixen, and debated how the writer mislead the situation. He also mentioned about the Arab slave-dealers. And these are the major learning for me. Despite the seriousness of the context, the narration of this book is beyond extraordinary.
.
I am a fan of Ngũgĩ writing and his ability to create perfect words and put them in perfect places. He's just a pure genius. The fact that English is his second language blew my mind. He writes in Gikuyu and translates some of his book into English by himself. He also teach writing at Yale, NYU and UCI.
.
I hope I convince you to read more of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
August 4, 2018
This republished edition is really divided into two distinct parts: the first half is about Kenyan political history as a British colony, with the second half on the day-to-day injustices of being a political prisoner. Further confusing matters is the reality that the book is not structured in a linear fashion, jumping around in time from the author's arrest to the colonial times in the late 1800s/early 1900s to the country's liberation, with too many names to remember. To summarize the first half, quoting wa Thiong'o: "Pillage, plunder and murder. That was the colonial way." The only thing he forgot was imprisonment. He compares the capitulation of Kenyatta and Thuku with the long list of those for whom "detention and imprisonment couldn't break their spirits; it could at most break their bodies." He also recognizes the unity with indigenous Indians in their anti-imperialist struggle. The second half was lost on me, except for the funny story about how his drafts on toilet paper were seized (along with the final versions, which had been re-rolled), casting him into depression, until the drafts were returned ironically because of the writing. N.B.: the other rolls were eventually recovered as well.
November 20, 2021
This is an important, heart-wrenching book, the fourth volume of illustrious Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong's memoirs. All the volumes are very worth reading. Ngugi grew up in pre-independence Kenya and shows how arbitrary and often brutal the British were. But Wrestling with the Devil deals with the government of President Jomo Kenyatta, which imprisoned him for essentially no reason.
When Kenyatta and his party came to power, they kept up the colonial practice of preventitive detention, imprisoning people without trial or even charges for indefinite periods of time. Ngugi was apparently imprisoned--there was never any charge--for putting on a play in Gikuyu, the vernacular, acted by rural workers instead of actors. He was imprisoned for being a socialist.
In this prison memoir, which is much like other prison memoirs in describing the arbitrary brutality of the guards, Ngugi critiques the decadent white settler society in Kenya and a new Kenyan elite that he believes embraces their values. Ironically, Ngugi has had to leave his country and live in the United States, despite his anger at imperialism.
When Kenyatta and his party came to power, they kept up the colonial practice of preventitive detention, imprisoning people without trial or even charges for indefinite periods of time. Ngugi was apparently imprisoned--there was never any charge--for putting on a play in Gikuyu, the vernacular, acted by rural workers instead of actors. He was imprisoned for being a socialist.
In this prison memoir, which is much like other prison memoirs in describing the arbitrary brutality of the guards, Ngugi critiques the decadent white settler society in Kenya and a new Kenyan elite that he believes embraces their values. Ironically, Ngugi has had to leave his country and live in the United States, despite his anger at imperialism.
April 1, 2021
Prison memoirs of revolutionaries (who remain revolutionary) are such staggeringly heart-breaking and beautiful insights into resolve and spirit many of us are unfamiliar with. Ngugi, with his wit and vulnerability, analyzes imperialism, (neo)colonialism, theatre, detention, suffering and the long lineage of the many brave Kenyan struggles against foreign domination in this memoir partially written on toilet paper while in prison. His telling of prison as the incarceration of the body and a disciplinary weapon against the radicals' mind and spirit... and his retaliation of constant, clandestine writing, as a refusal to surrender to this disciplining, a refusal to be eaten alive by the 'stony dragon'; was beyond words. So much to hold on to in this book, so much to be made alive by.
"I had no intention of suffering in silence"
"I am part of a living history of struggle. And without struggle, there is no movement, there is no life"
"I am ever willing to learn"
"I had no intention of suffering in silence"
"I am part of a living history of struggle. And without struggle, there is no movement, there is no life"
"I am ever willing to learn"
September 24, 2021
‘Wrestling with the devil’ is a prison memoir of Ngugi wa Thiong’o
He detained as a political prisoner in December 1977 till December 1978. Arrested for his play which has written for peasants and workers. During incarceration written memoir in toilet paper.
While I finished it started thinking, this is not important how he has written memoir in toilet paper albeit how he strive to get pen and paper is more important. maintaining mental agony and writing intuitive memoir is really commendable. Lots of anecdotes that moist my eyes specially while Nagugi received first letter from his wife naymbura second once while captor brings toothbrush for him and that wrapped with newspaper as he told earlier all the prisoners used to gather and read news paper each and every line and words until all yield. After reading this memoir it left me In sepulchral silence.
He never tried to show heroism albeit being a scribbler of words pened entire story of the society.
This memoir is not only narrated about Ngugi’s prison life but it is flit in social and political and pre and post independence situation of Kenya.
I have unstinted appreciation for Ngugi wa Thiong’o.He is treasure for society…
He detained as a political prisoner in December 1977 till December 1978. Arrested for his play which has written for peasants and workers. During incarceration written memoir in toilet paper.
While I finished it started thinking, this is not important how he has written memoir in toilet paper albeit how he strive to get pen and paper is more important. maintaining mental agony and writing intuitive memoir is really commendable. Lots of anecdotes that moist my eyes specially while Nagugi received first letter from his wife naymbura second once while captor brings toothbrush for him and that wrapped with newspaper as he told earlier all the prisoners used to gather and read news paper each and every line and words until all yield. After reading this memoir it left me In sepulchral silence.
He never tried to show heroism albeit being a scribbler of words pened entire story of the society.
This memoir is not only narrated about Ngugi’s prison life but it is flit in social and political and pre and post independence situation of Kenya.
I have unstinted appreciation for Ngugi wa Thiong’o.He is treasure for society…
March 10, 2018
While I volunteer with a prison abolitionist organization and have worked on a legal prison rights case, I had zero knowledge about Kenya's prison system, let alone its history or politics, before reading this book. The chapters flit between Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's thoughts in prison and the study of the past. He is exceptional at marrying all this information, so it was a captivating and educational read. I learned so much about the effects of [neo-]colonialism in Kenya and highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the resistance of capitalism and cultural imperialism.
Note: I received an advance copy from The New Press through an Instagram giveaway.
Note: I received an advance copy from The New Press through an Instagram giveaway.
March 26, 2018
A really interesting and informative memoir that in part tells the story of Kenya's struggles under colonial rule and how the colonial mindset persisted into post-colonial Kenya and resulted in, among other things, the author's imprisonment for his political views. The author juxtaposes his experience as a political prisoner with that of other key figures in Kenya's resistance, showing how the system tries to break the will of the imprisoned and even can turn them against their own causes.
September 24, 2024
Memorias de un prisionero político, exposición de sus convicciones, relato de la supervivencia en condiciones terribles. Lo que más me gusta es el relato de cómo escribió su novela en papel higiénico de manera clandestina
July 7, 2025
There is no rule that you HAVE to write a book about your unjustified incarceration.
I mean, if the whole experience was really kinda tedious, you could just...not.
Just saying is all.
I mean, if the whole experience was really kinda tedious, you could just...not.
Just saying is all.
May 8, 2024
The memoir of the authors life opposing firstly colonial and subsequently non-colonial oppression of the ordinary people of Kenya and his resulting imprisonment. It makes the reader aware of the good fortune of life in a mainly free country and would be a valuable inclusion in secondary education.
September 18, 2021
An incredible book about resistance and class of Kenyan people, and racism and colinialism and post-colonialism in Kenya.
The author is a political prisoner in Kenya. He writes about the different aspects of being a political prisoner and how it differs to other prisoners.
For me, the English trabslation was a bit hard to read in the beginning but once I got into the flow of the writing, I couldn't stop.
It is a great book!
The author is a political prisoner in Kenya. He writes about the different aspects of being a political prisoner and how it differs to other prisoners.
For me, the English trabslation was a bit hard to read in the beginning but once I got into the flow of the writing, I couldn't stop.
It is a great book!
June 9, 2018
I love "Devil on the Cross," and was a little let down by this memoir. Only about a third of the material is really about N's time in a Kenyan prison. The other thirds are a brief history of Kenya's colonial oppression and a mish-mash of other works by imprisoned writers as well as some of N's experience writing "Devil." Honestly, although there are some excellent passages diagnosing Kenya's problems at the time of this writing, I expected more here.
September 16, 2020
Les memòries de la presó són un reflex dels diferents estats d'ànim, reflexions, anàlisi retrospectiva, vivències polítiques que l'autor va experimentant.
Tothom recorda l'anècdota que va ser escrita en paper de water per evitar la vigilància dels carcellers, però això és simplement el suport i més enllà del suport que va poder triar Thiong'o per escriure les seves memòries, el llibre permet entendre com era la Kènia post-colonial, com s'auto-organitzaven els ciutadans per poder fer cultura pròpia, la importància de la resistència, les iniciatives socials per recuperar la llengua pròpia i les pròpies arrels...
També analitza la figura de Kenyatta i els seus canvis polítics, l'acomodació, la devaluació del personatge.
I totes les reflexions, les combina amb experiències de la pròpia presó, la detenció, el dia a dia, les converses amb altres presos, les esperances, la manipulació dels presos, les humiliacions.
Un llibre molt complert que, com en tot el pensament de Thiong'o, convida a re-pensar i re-pensar-se. No sé quin va escriure abans o després, però sembla que escrivint aquest s'estava gestant el "Descolonitzar la ment".
Tothom recorda l'anècdota que va ser escrita en paper de water per evitar la vigilància dels carcellers, però això és simplement el suport i més enllà del suport que va poder triar Thiong'o per escriure les seves memòries, el llibre permet entendre com era la Kènia post-colonial, com s'auto-organitzaven els ciutadans per poder fer cultura pròpia, la importància de la resistència, les iniciatives socials per recuperar la llengua pròpia i les pròpies arrels...
També analitza la figura de Kenyatta i els seus canvis polítics, l'acomodació, la devaluació del personatge.
I totes les reflexions, les combina amb experiències de la pròpia presó, la detenció, el dia a dia, les converses amb altres presos, les esperances, la manipulació dels presos, les humiliacions.
Un llibre molt complert que, com en tot el pensament de Thiong'o, convida a re-pensar i re-pensar-se. No sé quin va escriure abans o després, però sembla que escrivint aquest s'estava gestant el "Descolonitzar la ment".
June 2, 2025
Algselt 1982. aastal ilmavalgust näinud teos kandis pealkirja "Detained: A Writers Prison Diary". Kolmkümmend viis aastat hiljem toimetas mees, keda peetakse kaasaegse Keenia teatrikunsti ja kirjanduse isaks oma loo söödavamaks uue ajastu inimesele. Ta tahtis rääkida loo sellest, kuidas ühe kirjaniku kirjutatud väljamõeldud loost, sai selle kirjaniku "albatross" - taak, mis viis ta Keenia ajalooliselt jõhkraima vangla poliitiliste vangide sektori üksikkongi.
29.12.1977 - edukast näitekirjanikust ning inglise keele ja kirjanduse proffessorist saab märge vanglatoimikus: K6,77. Üks paljudest poliitvangidest, kes on vastu koloniaalikkest pääsenud iseseisva Keenia juhi Jomo Kenyatta karmile riigijuhtimisele. Nalajaks mõelda, või siiski mitte, et endisest Briti Impeeriumi poliitvangist on võrsunud iseseisva riigi president, kes võtab poliitvange sama agaralt, kui teda vangis hoidnud valged orjapidajad.
Kamiti range režiimiga vangla - K6,77 uus "kodu". Nälg, hirm, lootusetuse vastu astumine - need on vaid mõned sammud tema teekonnal, mis on osa tema kirjandusiidoliks kasvamisest. Ngugi wa Thiong'o suurimaks kuriteoks on olla oma riigi ja rahva innustaja - oma keele ja kultuuri kandja ning levitaja. Tema sulest ilmub ohtlikuim liik kirjandust - kirjandus, mis kutsub inimesi rääkima oma keeltes.
Üsna pea saab K6,77 aru, et see on osa tema saatusest - saatus ja jumal tahavad, et ta kirjutaks. Kirjutamine on tema pääsetee. Tema relv võimulolijate survestamise vastu. Tema hääl ei kao iial.
Saades inspiratsiooni iseseisva Ghana esimese presidendi ja filosoofi Kwame Nkrumah teguemoest asub vapper õppejõud kirjutama - abiks isetehtud "nähtamatu" tint ja WC paber. Nagu Nkrumahl!
Olles veendunud, et ainus viis säilitad terve mõistus ja mitte murduda süsteemi surve all on looming, asub meie kangelane sulge paberile panema. Tema mõtteis on nii see, mis oli enne - isehakanud rohujuuretasandi külateatrid ja lavastused, mis elustasid Keenia ajaloo ning kutsusid inimesed lugema õppima -, kui ka see, mis tuleb pärast - Keenia vajab kirjandusteost, mille ümber koguneda ja mida põlvest põlve edasi kanda.
See on tema kutsumus! See on temale usaldatud ülesanne! See on tema saatus!
Trotsides vangide pilkeid, vangivalvurite mõnitamist ja hirmu oma perekonna julgeoleku ees asub K6,77 oma retkele läbi inspiratsiooni ja tagasiöökide. Ta võtab mõtteis läbi kogu hiilgava suurkirjanduse, mida ta enne lugenud on. Ta mõtleb ka teostele, mis ehk pole nii palju väärt, kui arvatakse. Ta kogub paberit ja kirjutab ... Tema luigelaulu saatanast ristil!
29.12.1977 - edukast näitekirjanikust ning inglise keele ja kirjanduse proffessorist saab märge vanglatoimikus: K6,77. Üks paljudest poliitvangidest, kes on vastu koloniaalikkest pääsenud iseseisva Keenia juhi Jomo Kenyatta karmile riigijuhtimisele. Nalajaks mõelda, või siiski mitte, et endisest Briti Impeeriumi poliitvangist on võrsunud iseseisva riigi president, kes võtab poliitvange sama agaralt, kui teda vangis hoidnud valged orjapidajad.
Kamiti range režiimiga vangla - K6,77 uus "kodu". Nälg, hirm, lootusetuse vastu astumine - need on vaid mõned sammud tema teekonnal, mis on osa tema kirjandusiidoliks kasvamisest. Ngugi wa Thiong'o suurimaks kuriteoks on olla oma riigi ja rahva innustaja - oma keele ja kultuuri kandja ning levitaja. Tema sulest ilmub ohtlikuim liik kirjandust - kirjandus, mis kutsub inimesi rääkima oma keeltes.
Üsna pea saab K6,77 aru, et see on osa tema saatusest - saatus ja jumal tahavad, et ta kirjutaks. Kirjutamine on tema pääsetee. Tema relv võimulolijate survestamise vastu. Tema hääl ei kao iial.
Saades inspiratsiooni iseseisva Ghana esimese presidendi ja filosoofi Kwame Nkrumah teguemoest asub vapper õppejõud kirjutama - abiks isetehtud "nähtamatu" tint ja WC paber. Nagu Nkrumahl!
Olles veendunud, et ainus viis säilitad terve mõistus ja mitte murduda süsteemi surve all on looming, asub meie kangelane sulge paberile panema. Tema mõtteis on nii see, mis oli enne - isehakanud rohujuuretasandi külateatrid ja lavastused, mis elustasid Keenia ajaloo ning kutsusid inimesed lugema õppima -, kui ka see, mis tuleb pärast - Keenia vajab kirjandusteost, mille ümber koguneda ja mida põlvest põlve edasi kanda.
See on tema kutsumus! See on temale usaldatud ülesanne! See on tema saatus!
Trotsides vangide pilkeid, vangivalvurite mõnitamist ja hirmu oma perekonna julgeoleku ees asub K6,77 oma retkele läbi inspiratsiooni ja tagasiöökide. Ta võtab mõtteis läbi kogu hiilgava suurkirjanduse, mida ta enne lugenud on. Ta mõtleb ka teostele, mis ehk pole nii palju väärt, kui arvatakse. Ta kogub paberit ja kirjutab ... Tema luigelaulu saatanast ristil!
October 29, 2018
Colonialism has cast a long shadow over the history of modern Africa. The injustice many Africans endured under colonial oppression is hard to imagine or stomach. And the legacy that it left behind is one that Africans still struggle with into the present. In this edited reprint of his prison memoirs from the 1980s, Mr. Thiong’o not only retells his political imprisonments, but reflects on how British colonialism and its legacy played a major role in his and others’ political imprisonment.
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o is one of the most famous East African authors writing today. In the late 1970s. His plays, written in a local language about the people, landed him in political prison. During that time, he wrote his novel, Devil on the Cross, on toilet paper during his time in jail. The first chapters and the second half of this book deal with his time in prison, how he hid his writings from his jailers, and the constant struggles he and the other political prisoners faced to keep hope alive. This part of the book is fascinating and for anyone interested in freedom, you’ll enjoy it.
However, after the first chapters, most of the first half of the book is Thiong’o’s reflections on Kenya’s colonial and post-colonial past, drawing the connection between British imperialism and the repressive political tactics Kenya’s leader at the time engaged in. As someone who is rather unfamiliar with the history of colonialism in Africa and its legacy, this book was a bit of a slog. While he made the connections pretty clearly, my unfamiliarity with what he was talking about made it difficult to understand what he was saying. Perhaps, after learning more about European colonialism in Africa, I will better understand and appreciate what Mr. Thiong’o is saying.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I will need to learn more about Africa’s colonial past to truly appreciate this book.
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o is one of the most famous East African authors writing today. In the late 1970s. His plays, written in a local language about the people, landed him in political prison. During that time, he wrote his novel, Devil on the Cross, on toilet paper during his time in jail. The first chapters and the second half of this book deal with his time in prison, how he hid his writings from his jailers, and the constant struggles he and the other political prisoners faced to keep hope alive. This part of the book is fascinating and for anyone interested in freedom, you’ll enjoy it.
However, after the first chapters, most of the first half of the book is Thiong’o’s reflections on Kenya’s colonial and post-colonial past, drawing the connection between British imperialism and the repressive political tactics Kenya’s leader at the time engaged in. As someone who is rather unfamiliar with the history of colonialism in Africa and its legacy, this book was a bit of a slog. While he made the connections pretty clearly, my unfamiliarity with what he was talking about made it difficult to understand what he was saying. Perhaps, after learning more about European colonialism in Africa, I will better understand and appreciate what Mr. Thiong’o is saying.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I will need to learn more about Africa’s colonial past to truly appreciate this book.
March 9, 2018
I had only learned of Thiong'o's work through the book list 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I haven't read any of his fiction works but I was curious about this memoir being released so many years after its initial publication. Apparently it was edited to focus on Kenyan political history as a whole and less on the day-to-day injustices in the prison. The book is not structured in any linear fashion, but jumps around in time from the author's arrest to colonial times to recent political history. His sharp criticism for the colonial people has an edge to it; he complains that they have no culture of their own, in addition to abusing the Kenyans brutally. He has some amazing stories about the bizarre and disgusting things they did to Africans and to each other. He goes through Kenyan history. He details his arrest, which is a terrifying thing: spirited away in the night in an unmarked car, and put in a prison without anyone knowing he is there.
I had not known anything about Kenyan history, and the story of Kenyatta is so frustrating and heartbreaking. He was an anti-colonial activist who was imprisoned for his political actions, then when he became the ruler of Kenya he was authoritarian and corrupt. He imprisoned Thiong'o for a play that addressed issues of class in society. The anti-oppression activist becomes the oppressor. Why? Well, it's an issue that is topical these days with all of the "populists" gaining ground, "leaders" who talk about helping out the common people then turn around and oppress them.
This book was a bit of a challenge to read because of how much it jumps around, but it is an important story that we should all hear. I look forward to reading Thiong'o's fiction.
My thanks to Netgalley and The New Press for sending me an e-galley free of charge. My opinions are my own.
I had not known anything about Kenyan history, and the story of Kenyatta is so frustrating and heartbreaking. He was an anti-colonial activist who was imprisoned for his political actions, then when he became the ruler of Kenya he was authoritarian and corrupt. He imprisoned Thiong'o for a play that addressed issues of class in society. The anti-oppression activist becomes the oppressor. Why? Well, it's an issue that is topical these days with all of the "populists" gaining ground, "leaders" who talk about helping out the common people then turn around and oppress them.
This book was a bit of a challenge to read because of how much it jumps around, but it is an important story that we should all hear. I look forward to reading Thiong'o's fiction.
My thanks to Netgalley and The New Press for sending me an e-galley free of charge. My opinions are my own.
December 24, 2020
GREAT READ. Thiong'o was a political prisoner in the late '70s in Kenya for writing a play in an indigenous language and founding a community theater run by working class people. He writes of the struggles of the Kenyan people against British imperialism, and the importance of practicing one's authentic culture and language in the face of the influence of foreign capital which seeks to dominate all aspects of life. Thiong'o wrote a novel on toilet paper while imprisoned, and describes the act of continuing to practice creativity as an act of resistance.
QUOTES:
"I rediscovered the creative nature and power of collective work...work, from each according to his ability for a collective vision, was the great democratic equalizer. Not money, not book education, but work...not religions, not good intentions, but work. Work and yet more work, with collective democratic decisions on the basis of frank criticisms and self-criticism, was the organizing principle, which gradually became the cornerstone of our activities."
"The right to strike was a worker's basic human right: it was only the enslaved who had no right to bargain for what they should be given for the use of their labor power. If a worker is unable to strike, then he is in the position of the enslaved."
"today more and more professionals are realizing that their sciences, which should serve people - for really, medicine, science and technology were developed by working people to free themselves from the tyranny of nature - are benefitting only the plutocratic class instead of the masses...discoveries and inventions, which are collective and social in origin, end up as private property."
"Art should encourage people to bolder and higher resolves in all their struggles to free the human spirit."
"intellectual slavery masquerading as sophistication is the worst form of slavery."
QUOTES:
"I rediscovered the creative nature and power of collective work...work, from each according to his ability for a collective vision, was the great democratic equalizer. Not money, not book education, but work...not religions, not good intentions, but work. Work and yet more work, with collective democratic decisions on the basis of frank criticisms and self-criticism, was the organizing principle, which gradually became the cornerstone of our activities."
"The right to strike was a worker's basic human right: it was only the enslaved who had no right to bargain for what they should be given for the use of their labor power. If a worker is unable to strike, then he is in the position of the enslaved."
"today more and more professionals are realizing that their sciences, which should serve people - for really, medicine, science and technology were developed by working people to free themselves from the tyranny of nature - are benefitting only the plutocratic class instead of the masses...discoveries and inventions, which are collective and social in origin, end up as private property."
"Art should encourage people to bolder and higher resolves in all their struggles to free the human spirit."
"intellectual slavery masquerading as sophistication is the worst form of slavery."
September 21, 2018
Ngugi writes from his heart the entire time. He is not afraid of stripping himself off the shield of power that the others might want to see on him. Tears, insanity, resistance, honesty and a desire of change and improvement in the lives of the people at the bottom of the class system, make this novel a must-read for everyone, regardless of their age.
As we are living some turbulent times, in which the rich are getting richer, the poor even poorer, being more oppressed and subjugated by the economic conditions created by capitalism, this book could seem like that grain of hope that sometimes is needed for survival. It is a slap, a hard slap on the culture of #RiseAndGrind of today, calling for an awake call regarding the situation of the oppressed people.
Give up and follow the oppressor with the promise of living a good life, according to their terms, under a system that continuously oppresses you, or fight against it, with the hope of seeing the results of your work one day.
It is a manifesto. A manifesto of power. Not power coming from the top that we see in the books written about statesman and how they used the tools they have had to create state balance, but rather from the bottom. It is about survival, surviving the tough conditions created in prison, not to rehabilitate you and to let you reintegrate into society, but rather to destroy you, to push you down under the iron thumb of the system, until they have modelled out of you what they have wanted.
In a nutshell, read the book. Fuck the system, fuck the ones telling you that under their rule our life will be better. We need emancipation of us, wage-labourers, intellectual slaves under a mechanism based on domination and expansion, of the people from the bottom.
As we are living some turbulent times, in which the rich are getting richer, the poor even poorer, being more oppressed and subjugated by the economic conditions created by capitalism, this book could seem like that grain of hope that sometimes is needed for survival. It is a slap, a hard slap on the culture of #RiseAndGrind of today, calling for an awake call regarding the situation of the oppressed people.
Give up and follow the oppressor with the promise of living a good life, according to their terms, under a system that continuously oppresses you, or fight against it, with the hope of seeing the results of your work one day.
It is a manifesto. A manifesto of power. Not power coming from the top that we see in the books written about statesman and how they used the tools they have had to create state balance, but rather from the bottom. It is about survival, surviving the tough conditions created in prison, not to rehabilitate you and to let you reintegrate into society, but rather to destroy you, to push you down under the iron thumb of the system, until they have modelled out of you what they have wanted.
In a nutshell, read the book. Fuck the system, fuck the ones telling you that under their rule our life will be better. We need emancipation of us, wage-labourers, intellectual slaves under a mechanism based on domination and expansion, of the people from the bottom.
May 21, 2024
Fascinating book. Ngugi wa Thiong'o is not Nelson Mandela, nor is he Martin Luther King, Jr., and this isn't a book of letters from prison, but it is an excellent reflection by a brilliant man on the evolution of government in Kenya. He is very frank and factual about British colonialism, which is not something Americans are taught. He doesn't overstate the case, nor however, does he shy from the graphic horrors inflicted by the British colonizers. But when the British left, everything was not suddenly unicorns and rainbows. Human nature sucks.
The neocolonialists are only moderately better, and as happens in so many revolutions, those who come into power become drunk with that power and begin to act like their predecessors. It was the neocolonialists in Kenya, led by a former freedom fighter, who imprisoned Ngugi wa Thiong'o for his writing. Most recently a play written in his first language, but also for his novel, Petals of Blood, his last piece written in English.
This is a beautifully written memoir, but it is also a re-release of the original memoir and is cleaned up a bit. The author has mellowed a bit over the years, makes reference to writings published after this memoir was published, but doesn't retract anything, well just one thing where he says perhaps he was a bit too harsh.
Highly recommend!
The neocolonialists are only moderately better, and as happens in so many revolutions, those who come into power become drunk with that power and begin to act like their predecessors. It was the neocolonialists in Kenya, led by a former freedom fighter, who imprisoned Ngugi wa Thiong'o for his writing. Most recently a play written in his first language, but also for his novel, Petals of Blood, his last piece written in English.
This is a beautifully written memoir, but it is also a re-release of the original memoir and is cleaned up a bit. The author has mellowed a bit over the years, makes reference to writings published after this memoir was published, but doesn't retract anything, well just one thing where he says perhaps he was a bit too harsh.
Highly recommend!
January 10, 2023
The last book in the memoir is also the first book written, originally "Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary" in 1981. In a way it served as a climax to all the life experiences that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o had, the principles that he held steadfastly is put to the ultimate test in a year of political detainment. The reason behind it, as he explained elaborately, is the new Kenyan government's adoption of brutal colonial values of suppression and silencing, the former freedom fighters now among the ranks of abusers and 'parasites in paradise'. An unassuming act of community theater, organized by the villagers of Kamirithu and which Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o was involved, is enough to make the rulers scared of community uprising and banished Ngũgĩ in prison. Despite the cruel circumstances, he maintained his integrity and stood true to his principles, and conceived a mission of composing the first Gikuyu novel in prison, even if he had to write it on toilet paper. A year later, he walked out of prison after much false hopes and red herrings, in his hands the groundbreaking novel "Devil on the Cross".
July 30, 2022
Although I disagree with Professor Ngugi's politics and seemingly positive view of figures like Lenin and Mao. I do agree about raising the profile of the average person and to suppress the domination of the economic forces by a handful of individuals. Professor Ngugi's detailed history of the British Occupation of Kenya is a harrowing read. Anybody who believes that the British Empire was positive and that it instilled some sense of culture or education to the dominated people's is seriously living with foggied eyesight. The British Empire was a brutish, beastial machine that suffocated the organic growth of localised culture and extrapolated the wealth from numerous areas all over the world. Professor Ngugi does a great job explaining this and explaining the atrocities in the 1960s by the British Government. Unfortunately, his detention came about because of neo-colonial forces, but he was eventually released. An interesting read, albeit I am not as left wing as Ngugi, but his ideas and objectives are not devoid of sense or logical thinking.
May 3, 2021
"The act of imprisoning Democrats, progressive intellectuals, and militant workers reveals many things. It is first an admission by the authorities that they know they have been seen. By signing the detention orders, they acknowledge that the people have seen through their official lies labeled as a new philosophy, their pretensions wrapped in three-piece suits and gold chains, their propaganda packed as religious truth, their plastic smiles ordered from abroad, their nationally televised charitable handouts and breast-beatings before the high altar, their high-sounding phrases and ready-to-shed tears at the site of naked children fighting cats and dogs for a trash heap, that all have seen these performances of benign benevolence for what they truly are: a calculated sugar-coating of the immoral sale and mortgage of a whole country, it's people and resources, to Euro-American and Japanese capital for a few million dollars in Swiss banks and a few token shares in foreign companies."
July 18, 2019
I love the way Thiong'o writes, its beautifully clear and he has a very distinctive and personal voice which suits this book. The book itself is a fascinating insight into life in a prison and its psychological impact on the author, but at the same time it feels like it could or should be something a little more. As if the author was interrupted in his flow one too many times due to the circumstances in which the book was written.
Its stood the test of time though, as so much of what he wrote then came to pass and his analysis of colonialism, neo-colonialism and what the role of the artist is in the social process is fascinating and very profoundly elucidated. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in Kenya, the prison experience, the mechanics of oppression or the legacy of colonialism. Or if you want to read the thoughts of a man who writes fucking great books.
Its stood the test of time though, as so much of what he wrote then came to pass and his analysis of colonialism, neo-colonialism and what the role of the artist is in the social process is fascinating and very profoundly elucidated. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in Kenya, the prison experience, the mechanics of oppression or the legacy of colonialism. Or if you want to read the thoughts of a man who writes fucking great books.
June 24, 2019
This is the last of Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's memoirs that I have read but was the first one that he wrote. The other three memoirs take place in earlier time frames than this one, so I did read them chronologically. It has a much different feel than the other memoirs. Part of it details this thoughts on Kenya's colonial and postcolonial political history and his detention as a political prisoner from December 1977 through December 1978 at Kamiti Prison. Little of it reads like a diary, but nonetheless, one gets a strong sense of the fears and frustrations of his stay there. The memoir was written only three years after the event. It is a powerful indictment against the Kenyan government of the time, and possibly still today.
June 21, 2021
Thiong'o was imprisoned for year in 1977-1978 in a maximum security prison for political prisoners in Kenya. During his time there, he wrote the novel that would become Devil on the Cross on toilet paper. I found this fascinating and hoped this was indeed "a prison memoir," but after reading the first 89 pages of 240 I realized that after the first chapter it becomes less a memoir and more a history lesson on the horrors of British colonialism and the post-independence leaders (Kenyatta, Moi) who led with a heavy hand that trampled on basic democratic freedoms in the 1960s and 70s. The final two short chapters (taking up only ten pages) detail the discovery, confiscation, and return of his manuscript, as well as his eventual release.
April 12, 2018
Ngugi wa Thiong'o left it all the table with regards to the impact of colonialism on his country and the deplorable behavior of the colonizers and how they influenced the "independent" government set in place after their "exit". This was far more than a prison memoir. This is a deeply personal and intimate look into how colonialism still affects the continent of Africa and how it affected him personally. I am so appreciative that this was re-released. If you need further clarification on why Africa is in the state it is in, read this book.
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