Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o: Book Cover

    Petals of Blood by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Ngguggi, Moses Isegawa (Introduction)

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    (Paperback - Reprint)

    • Pub. Date: March 2005
    • 432pp
    • Sales Rank: 154,941
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      Product Details

      • Pub. Date: March 2005
      • Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
      • Format: Paperback, 432pp
      • Sales Rank: 154,941

      Synopsis

      The puzzling murder of three African directors of a foreign-owned brewery sets the scene for this fervent, hard-hitting novel about disillusionment in independent Kenya. A deceptively simple tale, Petals of Blood is on the surface a suspenseful investigation of a spectacular triple murder in upcountry Kenya. Yet as the intertwined stories of the four suspects unfold, a devastating picture emerges of a modern third-world nation whose frustrated people feel their leaders have failed them time after time. First published in 1977, this novel was so explosive that its author was imprisoned without charges by the Kenyan government. His incarceration was so shocking that newspapers around the world called attention to the case, and protests were raised by human- rights groups, scholars, and writers, including James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Donald Barthelme, Harold Pinter, and Margaret Drabble.

      Biography

      Ng˜ugi wa Thiong'o was born in Limuru, Kenya, in 1938. One of the leading African writers and scholars at work today, he is the author of many novels, short stories, essays, a memoir, and several plays, and recipient of numerous high honors. Currently he is Distinguished Professor in the School of Humanities and director of the International Center for Writing and Translation at the University of California, Irvine.
      Moses Isegawa was born in Uganda and is the author of the novels Abyssinian Chronicles and Snakepit.

      Customer Reviews

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      Petals of Bloodby Anonymous

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      January 20, 2000: i keep remembering this story... it is a story of some rural refugees of the turmoil of Kenyas 1950s war for independence from Britain, and how the new Kenyan business/political/religious leaders are not much better than the British were. i hate communism but somehow i think the story is bigger than communism or capitalism... the new Kenyan 'leaders' are portrayed (somewhat accurately from what I am told) in many ways,, from vile greedy sadistic rapists to self-assured christian holier-than-thou elitists to people out trying to make a buck or a political image... all certain of the righteousness of their factories and shantytowns full of poor people who are no doubt 'shiftless and lazy and deserve their squalor' in their leaders eyes.. for ngugi even drought stricken starving farm life is preferable to the hell of these cities.. for the farmers at least care for one another and treat each other as human beings. the things he sees in city are so.. heinous.. from murder to rape to theft.. i keep remembering where he says something like 'does the world have to work this way,, does everyone have to be out to get everyone else, dog eat dog, either on top or on bottom, the only way to stay alive by using and abusing someone else...' it just seems like he is on to something so big.. people are supposed to have self respect and dignity.. to treat each other decently.. and progress without that is meaningless.. but progress seems often to be without it. his character happens to be a communist but could be anything.. really. the truths he explores are universal. ps thx to J. Kamoche for showing us this book at Univ. Oklahoma

      Petals of Bloodby Anonymous

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      December 21, 1999: Never slick and not always graceful, this novel is courageous, robustly lyrical, and enormously informative. Keep an eye on that wonderful woman, Wanja!