Book Report

Wizard of the Crow, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, 2006, Pantheon Books, 768 pages, available at the San Leandro Library.

I didn’t know how long this book was when I proposed it as a book group selection. It probably never would have worked out. On the other hand, I was able to read it in two weeks, so I know it is doable. The book takes place in a fictitious African country, the Free Republic of Aburĩria. The second Ruler of Aburĩria has just announced the launch of a grandiose new project, “Marching to Heaven,” to begin just as soon as he can get funding from the “Global Bank.” Kamĩtĩ, a poor but highly educated job seeker, meets Nyawĩra, a privileged and highly educated political activist, in the office where she works as the administrative assistant of the man chosen to head up “Marching to Heaven.” From there, events snowball to transform Kamĩtĩ and Nyawĩra together into the Wizard of the Crow, a wizard and healer, and just in time too. Right after the appearance of the Wizard of the Crow, as it turns out that the Ruler himself is in need of some magical help.

This book has all the things I like in a book, rebellion, adventure, political intrigue, magic, and satire. I particularly enjoyed the dynamics between the Ruler and his ministers, how he plays them off against each other, and the lengths to which they are willing to go to abase and mutilate themselves to win the approval of the Ruler and gain advantage over each other. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the author, was imprisoned and then banished from Kenya, his native country, due to the political content of his writing, and it is easy to see how he offended the mighty. You can read more about his life and his writings at his website. As harsh as he is in his portrayal of the mighty, the author is sympathetic and affectionate toward the ordinary people caught up by the regime’s cruelty and greed, especially one character who turns out to be (in my opinion) the hero of the book.

Like I say, there are magical happenings in the book, and I know that will steer many people away from the book. A lot of people do not like “magical realism,” and who am I to argue with them? In defense of the magic in this book, it seemed to me like it was aided and abetted significantly by people’s need to believe in magic. The powerless believe in magic because it is the only hope they have, and the powerful believe in magic because they believe they deserve it.