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    A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi

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    somu667
    This novel is set in Kenya in the early 1960s on the eve of independence from British rule. It follows several men in a village, including Gikonyo and Mugo, who faced imprisonment as political prisoners. As Kenya is on the brink of change with independence, there is hope amidst turmoil from the colonial past. The story explores the perspectives of the community and protagonists as they grapple with betrayal, disillusionment, and their personal demons on the eve of a free nation.

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    A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi

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    somu667
    5K views5 pages
    This novel is set in Kenya in the early 1960s on the eve of independence from British rule. It follows several men in a village, including Gikonyo and Mugo, who faced imprisonment as political prisoners. As Kenya is on the brink of change with independence, there is hope amidst turmoil from the colonial past. The story explores the perspectives of the community and protagonists as they grapple with betrayal, disillusionment, and their personal demons on the eve of a free nation.

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    This novel is set in Kenya in the early 1960s on the eve of independence from British rule. It follows several men in a village, including Gikonyo and Mugo, who faced imprisonment as political prisoners. As Kenya is on the brink of change with independence, there is hope amidst turmoil from the colonial past. The story explores the perspectives of the community and protagonists as they grapple with betrayal, disillusionment, and their personal demons on the eve of a free nation.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    5K views5 pages

    A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi

    Uploaded by

    somu667
    This novel is set in Kenya in the early 1960s on the eve of independence from British rule. It follows several men in a village, including Gikonyo and Mugo, who faced imprisonment as political prisoners. As Kenya is on the brink of change with independence, there is hope amidst turmoil from the colonial past. The story explores the perspectives of the community and protagonists as they grapple with betrayal, disillusionment, and their personal demons on the eve of a free nation.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi.

    This novel is set on the eve of Quick Links

    independence from British rule in Kenya, in the early 60s. The Amazon.com
    Abebooks.co
    protagonists are a handful of men, including Gikonyo and Google Boo

    Mugo who each face their own demons after time spent in Project Gute
    WorldCat
    prison and detention camps, as political prisoners. This is a Get this boo

    country on the brink of change, so there is a fair amount of Local Book


    All sources
    hope as the resistance plots and plans for the new, free nation Swap
    5 avail.
    they envisage. 29
    wanted
    Popular cover
    The story unfolds from a number of varying perspectives, and
    a picture emerges of an entire community in turmoil. Amongst
    the male protagonists there is, of course, a beautiful woman in
    the form of the desirable Mumbi, who has stolen the (se
    imagination of more than one of the men, which leads to all
    sorts of interesting events.

    Ngugi is a supreme storyteller with the amazing ability to


    build up tension in the plot. He literally had me on the edge of
    my seat a few times during the telling! There’s intrigue as the
    whole community rallies to find the person responsible for the
    betrayal and murder of their struggle hero. Furthermore
    there’s a compelling blend of joy, hope, tragedy, fear and
    disillusionment that makes for an informative but great
    read! ( )
    akeela | Dec 23, 2009 |
    It is the eve of Uhuru (Independence Day) and in the village
    of Thabai somewhere in Kenya, preparations are being made
    for the big celebration, the successful end of many years of
    struggle under British domination. We meet the local leaders
    who were previous rebel fighters. We learn about their scarred
    lives and their bitter sacrifices. We learn about individual
    heroism, but we also learn about acts of betrayal on the pretext
    of more noble goals. There is the quiet and mysterious Mugo,
    prompted by the villagers to become leader, but who has his
    own dark past to conceal. Gikonyo, the most prosperous man
    in the village, is himself a tortured soul. There are others like
    them, who felt that Uhuru was also a day of reckoning with
    their own demons, unleashed during the dark days of the
    Emergency. We thus feel their confusion amidst the transition
    process, but also their hope for a future all their own.

    The plot is non-linear, with flashbacks and several storylines


    interspersed but woven nicely together. Beyond being a
    captivating read, it is a meditation on the themes of
    oppression, betrayal, disillusionment, and love and
    despair. ( )
    deebee1 | Nov 2, 2009 |
    This stunning and searing novel, which was written by Mr
    Thiong'o in 1967, is set in a village in Kenya just prior to the
    country's independence from Britain in 1963. However, much
    of the story takes place during the Emergency (referred to by
    the British as the Mau Mau Uprising) that took place from
    1952-1960, which led to the deaths of a few dozen settlers and
    tens of thousands of Kenyans, and caused the destruction of
    numerous villages and the breakdown of Kenyan social and
    economic society. The main characters in this story were all
    caught up in the retribution that took place after a freedom
    fighter from the village kills a particularly violent District
    Officer, and each of them betrays someone dear to them or to
    the movement, with devastating results. I was unaware of how
    horrible the Emergency was, but Mr Thiong'o gives us an
    unforgettable view of colonial Kenya. ( )
    1 kidzdoc | Jan 6, 2009 |
    One of the few African books I have read. Really opens your
    eyes to the struggle of the people there. ( )
    skellytor | Oct 24, 2007 |
    date ▼ | votes
    Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)
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    ▾Common Knowledge
    You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
    For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
    Series (with
    order)
    Canonical Title
    Original 1967
    publication date
    People/Characters
    Important places Africa
    East Africa
    Kenya
    Important events Mau Mau Uprising (1952 ∙ 1960)
    Related movies
    Awards and Africa's 100 Best Books of the
    honors 20th Century (creative writing, top
    twelve)
    The Modern Library: the 200 best
    novels in English since 1950
    (1960s)
    Epigraph
    Dedication for dorothy
    First words
    Quotations
    Last words
    Disambiguation
    notice
    Publisher's editors
    Blurbers
    ▾References
    References to this work on external resources.
    Wikipedia in English (2)
    Mau Mau Uprising Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

    ▾LibraryThing members' description


    Book
    description
    ▾Book descriptions
    Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0435909878,
    Paperback)
    In this ambitious and densely worked novel, we begin to see
    early signs of Ngugi's increasing bitterness about the ways in
    which the politicians are the true benefactors of the rewards of
    independence.
    (retrieved from Amazon Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:07:56 -0400)
    (see all 3 descriptions)

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