Reading 1001 discussion

I read this as part of the Random 2018 Challenge

5 Stars

Sembene Ousmane, the author of this African historical fiction, is from Senegal. The story is based on the 1947 to 1948 railway strike that took place on the Dakar- Niger railway line in French Senegal. The railway line begins in Dakar (which is now part of Senegal) and ends where the Niger river becomes semi navigable in what is now present day Mali. At the time the people in this area referred to themselves as Sudanese.

The story is a rich composite of the lives of a group of railway workers on strike, their friends and their families. There are two major towns that are highlighted in the book as they represented the two railway machinist hubs of the time and therefore the leadership of the strike came from these 2 towns. In the beginning of the book it is difficult to keep the families from the two separate towns straight, especially because the men often had multiple wives, girlfriends they are not married to and children they are responsible for who are not necessarily theirs. Also, to this English speaker, names such as: Ad'jibid'ji can be difficult to remember. However, slowly the relationships and personalities of the individual men and women are revealed and we are allowed to envision a time when Africa was first coming out of the colonial era after WWII and the people were finding ways to demand their rights in politically effective ways. In particular, many of the men who fought for the French during the war were demanding that the country recognize that they must be treated to the same benefits that white men had who were doing the same job in other French territories. To add to the delightful richness of the book, the women must find a way to support their men and their families when there is no work, the company has turned off the water supply and their children are starving. Not only do they find a way to come together and find a voice that is new to the railway company officials but more importantly this new power and new voice is surprising and frightening to their own men. Although not a long book I feel that I learned a great deal about the time, the culture and the people of this era. The story reflected some brutality and tragedy and therefore was not always an upbeat read but the character development in this book left me hungry to know more about these people and their lives. Remarkable book.

God's Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembene
A novel of the independence struggle in French Africa
4/5 stars

Author's note: “The men and women who, from the tenth of October, 1947, to the nineteenth of March, 1948, took part in this struggle for a better way of life owe nothing to anyone: neither to any “civilizing mission” nor to any parliament or parliamentarian. Their example was not in vain. Since then, Africa has made progress.”

I fell in love with the author's writing from the first page. I also fell in love with the precocious little girl Ad'jibid'ji. One thing I did not love was the changing characters at each chapter especially when I wanted to learn more about Ad'jibid'ji. But the story did come together for me and I fell into the rhythm of the book.

The story takes place in the area of French West Africa now known as Senegal and Mali. The Federation of French West Africa (AOF) included what is now known as Guinea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Niger, Dahomey and Mauritania. The book is about the strike of the railway workers on the Dakar-Niger railway line. The story also focuses on how this strike affected the women and children as well as the men. I was shocked to learn that when the men went on strike, the French Colonialist turned off all the water and closed all the shops. “You will all die of hunger. This strike is a war of eggs against stones.” “Real misfortune is not just a matter of being hungry and thirsty: it is a matter of knowing that there are people who want you to be hungry and thirsty – and that is the way it is with us.” Besides the precocious little girl Ad'jibid'ji, I fell in love with matriarch, Ramatoulaye. The episode of when Ramatoulaye slays the ram so that her family would have something to eat I found very memorable. I could just picture this old woman wrestling a ram. “Abdou, bring me the big knife! And hurry! No one in this house will go to bed hungry tonight – if you don't have ram's meat to eat, there will at least be mine!” This woman was tough as nails and was not going to let her family starve to death.

“God's bits of wood” refers to human beings. Sometimes the author refers to children, sometimes family members, but in all it meant life. A powerful reference throughout the book. Overall, I really liked the book and I felt that I learned quite a bit too.

Ousmane Sembène took part in a strike of Black African railway workers in French colonial Senegal in 1947, and this novel brings that strike to life. I was afraid it might be dull and heavy on the politics, as novels about this type of conflict can be, but it was not at all. Sembène was a film director and there is a strong sense of the visual in the book. There are many characters, but the important ones stand out. And I particularly appreciated that at least half of the book focuses on the women who suffered from the strike but actively supported the male strikers.

I really loved this book, especially because, as you call out Rosemary, it focuses on the wives, daughters and mothers and their impact, even though it was the male workers who were on strike.