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    A Grain of Wheat
    A Grain of Wheat
    A Grain of Wheat
    Audiobook10 hours

    A Grain of Wheat

    Written by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

    Narrated by Ron Butler

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Set in the wake of the Mau Mau rebellion and on the cusp of Kenya's independence from Britain, A Grain of Wheat follows a group of villagers whose lives have been transformed by the 1952-1960 Emergency. At the center of it all is the reticent Mugo, the village's chosen hero and a man haunted by a terrible secret. As we learn of the villagers' tangled histories in a narrative interwoven with myth and peppered with allusions to real-life leaders, including Jomo Kenyatta, a masterly story unfolds in which compromises are forced, friendships are betrayed, and loves are tested.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 9, 2019
    ISBN9781630155575
    A Grain of Wheat
    Author

    Ngugi wa Thiong'o

    One of the leading writers and scholars at work today, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was born in Limuru, Kenya, in 1938. He is the author of A Grain of Wheat; Weep Not, Child; and Petals of Blood, as well as Birth of a Dream Weaver and Wrestling with the Devil (The New Press). He has been nominated for, among other honors, the Man Booker International Prize and is currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.

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    Reviews for A Grain of Wheat

    3.5/5

    129 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      OK, learnt something about the Mau Mau and colonialism. He's a proficient writer but I really didnt find it very interesting.
    • 4/5
      Novel set at the moment of Kenyan independence from the British, where the victorious Kenyans are not united but divided by their experience of colonial rule and the fight to be free. Tries to provide a panoramic view through the eyes of several characters, but Thiong'o clearly cares about some more than others, so it's all a bit uneven. The good bits are good though, and one of the characters (Mugo) is put in a desperate situation it would have been intriguing to read more about (if the whole book had been about him, I'd have been happy). The book lacked a bit of humour and vibrancy, but he has a good eye for the complexities present even at the liberation movement's moment of triumph. A book I liked more sitting and thinking about it afterward rather than in the process of reading.
    • 4/5
      A Grain of Wheat takes place during Kenya's struggle for independence from British rule in the 1950s. It centers around four central African characters and one British administrator. The central theme of the story is deceit both on a national and personal level. Two examples:Ngugi's main character is Mugo, a quiet Kenyan who is sent to the concentration camps. He is a complex, yet human character in that he is seen as a hero in the concentration camps but once released he sides with the British as a traitor. Another strong character of A Grain of Wheat is Gikonya, another detainee from the concentration camp who is released early only to find that his wife has been unfaithful and has a child with another man.
    • 2/5
      No doubt a beautiful book for its time, I couldn't handle the sexism of the story, and as such, had to give up on the read.
    • 4/5
      A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi. This novel is set on the eve of independence from British rule in Kenya, in the early 60s. The protagonists are a handful of men, including Gikonyo and Mugo who each face their own demons after time spent in prison and detention camps, as political prisoners. This is a country on the brink of change, so there is a fair amount of hope as the resistance plots and plans for the new, free nation they envisage.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 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!
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      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.