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    Kintu
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    Kintu
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    Kintu
    Ebook524 pages8 hours

    Kintu

    By Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Aaron Bady

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

  • Makumbi is winner of the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

  • Debut novel longlisted for the 2014 Etisalat Prize.

  • Winner of the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Prize.

  • One of the most celebrated East African writers today, Makumbi is considered a must-read in African and post-colonial studies departments.

  • A feminist descendent of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God, Kintu is the first novel to ask: What does the African novel look like without the colonial encounter?

  • Makumbi will be in the US for a four-city national tour.

  • Named one of the “Five African Writers You Should Read” by Nigerian Daily Trust.

  • Championed and with an introduction by Aaron Bady (Twitter followers 11k).
    • LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTransit Books
    Release dateApr 17, 2017
    ISBN9781945492037
    Unavailable
    Kintu
    Author

    Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

    Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a recipient of the Windham-Campbell Prize and her first novel, Kintu, won the Kwani? Manuscript Project Prize in 2013 and was longlisted for the Etisalat Prize in 2014. Her story “Let’s Tell This Story Properly” was the global winner of the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Jennifer lives in Manchester, UK with her husband and son.

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    Reviews for Kintu

    4/5

    37 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Described as "the great Ugandan novel you didn't know you were waiting for".It begins with a 100 page story of Kintu Kidda in 1750; then 350+ pages with multiple stories of his descendants in 2004, but also flashing back to the 1970- 1990s to give backstory and context.Although the stories were interesting, I found it quite confusing because of the African names, and the fact that each new story started fresh, being completely unrelated to what I had been reading.The descendants did come together at the end at a reunion but it didn’t seem to me that all the ‘threads’ came together.Nevertheless, well worth reading to learn and understand about the history of the Ganda people. Be sure to read the foreword by Aaron Bady.
    • 5/5
      I've never read anything set in Uganda, so I was excited to read Kintu after seeing various positive reviews. The novel opens with a brief chapter about a man's death in 2004, and then rewinds all the way back to 1750 with the tale of a Ppookino, or provincial leader, called Kintu Kidda. This section tells how a curse was laid on Kintu and his descendants, and the rest of the novel moves through time to explore how this curse affects various members of the clan.So far, so supernatural - or so you might think. Rather than being a typical epic fantasy or historical novel, Kintu is more of an exploration of what it means to be Ugandan, particularly if you're male and living under the heavy burden of patriarchal responsibility, touching on issues like mental illness, abuse, incest and more. It's refreshing that, although Kintu treads through recent history, colonialism is not a huge theme, and Idi Amin is only mentioned in passing a few times. Instead, you get more of a focus on Ugandans' struggle to reclaim its own identity as a nation.For all of these weighty issues, though, I found Kintu to have a gentle humour throughout, too. The characters are so well-written - all of them, from the Ppookino to the girl left on her neglectful aunt's doorstep, really step off the page as living, breathing people. And it's important to note that women do play a big role in this novel, even though most of the main protagonists are men. There's so much I could say about Kintu, but really, you should just read it for yourself. I read afterwards that while the release of Kintu has been much celebrated in Uganda, the novel was initially rejected by British publishers who thought it wasn't palatable enough for their readers. I hope the growing success of the book here serves as a big middle finger salute to those publishers. I for one can't wait to read more of Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's work.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this family saga. The writing was lyrical and engrossing. I did get a bit confused a few times on how everything fit together and how everyone was related, but it was still enjoyable.
    • 5/5
      This is a complex book, and it can be very confusing at times. There are dozens of characters, and some of them even go by more than one name - but the complexity of this book is part of what makes it so rewarding. As the book follows the descendents of the original Kintu through the years, the events of the past echo through their lives in profound ways. I felt like I truly got to know and understand this family by the end of the novel. I was worried that I wouldn't understand this book because I have very little knowledge of Ugandan culture, but the story was still very absorbing and most of the African terms were easy to understand through context clues. If you don't know a lot about African history, this book will definitely have you wanting to learn more.
    • 3/5
      This story begins in the 1700's in the kingdom of Ganda. Kintu is the leader of this area with several wives including a pair of twins--one he loves and one he doesn't. The one he doesn't love has many children; the other is barren but takes an abandoned infant who is part Tutsi and raises him as her own. All children call all mothers mother. The family relationships are complex and intertwined. As the two sons are killed, a curse settles over the family.The remaining chapters each set in contemporary times tell the story of an individual descendant of Kintu. Each character is in a different situation and some are more aware of their connection to Kintu than others. Some are aware of the curse and believe it; others dismiss it as superstition especially Miisi who has been educated in Britain. The stories include humor, violence, child abuse, war, history, and love. The final chapter is a family reunion supposedly organized to lift the curse of the family. The individuals are brought together each bringing their own ideas of what needs to happen or how important family relationships are. The numerous uses of African words make the stories difficult to understand at times and each character (and there must be a 100 different characters) often are called by different names which is so confusing.I enjoyed the book as much as I could and appreciate being able to take a walk in Ugandan culture. The introduction to the book was also very interesting. "History looks nothing like this clash of nations and empires and states; however, true and valid such stories may be on their on terms; on the ground, history is the accumulated prejudices, hopes, and superstitions that we carry even if we don't understand how we acquired them, everything we don't know makes us who we are. History is a fabric of memories and fear and forgetting, of longing and nostalgia, of invention and recreation. History is bunk, and sometimes it is a good thing it is."
    • 4/5
      Oh man, I really liked this book. It took me a long time to get through, but it's so beautiful and different and layered that I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of understanding it.
    • 4/5
      At 443 pages this was a long book, but not a difficult read. Towards the end the sections became shorter, and my anticipation to find out what happens in the final section cranked up.Kintu is the story of the extended clan descended from Kintu Kidda. Per Wikipedia, Kintu is a mythologial figure of the Buganda people and is the father of humans. I can give an overarching description of the arc of the story, but it is more than the sum of its parts. The first section of the book, set in the mid 18th century, tells the story of Kintu, his family, and the actions that result in a curse being laid on his family and descendants. The next four sections tell the story of one descendant each (and their branch of the family) at the turn of the 20th and 21st century, and the sixth and final section tells the story of the extended family coming together in 2004 to try and remove the curse. Not everything is tied up neatly by the end, but much healing does take place.This is a rich story that I think will reward re-reading. In addition to the literal story, the family stands in for the people of Uganda and gives us a glimpse of a variety of viewpoints and traditions that dwell together. This is also, in my mind, primarily the story of the male descendants. I am curious about what it would look like if told from a female perspective. It's also a story about the interplay of tradition and modernity. And I'm sure other readers will find other threads/themes they want to follow.