≫ PDF We Need New Names A Novel NoViolet Bulawayo Books

We Need New Names A Novel NoViolet Bulawayo Books

Download As PDF : We Need New Names A Novel NoViolet Bulawayo Books

We Need New Names A Novel NoViolet Bulawayo Books

We Need New Names is a lush, language-rich narration by a young African girl who gradually becomes an expat in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The narrator's voice has a wonderful innocence, even as she and her playmates (I'd say schoolmates but the teachers have all left the country and the school closed) play such games as "Find Bin Laden." She also has a special gift for capturing expressions on other characters' faces: "like she was hearing music inside her head and dancing to it" is a description of the expression of an aunt who has been complimented by an old flame who is marrying someone else.

The disintegration of the home country, the desperate desire to be somewhere else, and the bitterness of those left behind are rendered in muscular, lyrical prose studded with native ("our language" which is never identified) and childish phrases. The description of eating the guavas (on which she used to gorge herself as a child) for the first time since coming to the U.S. Is worth the price of admission: funny, tender, voracious, and yearning.

The only piece of this novel that hit a sour note for me was a chapter at the end of the book narrated by a "we" rather than the "I" in every other chapter. It consisted of a lyrical, wild description of the labor of largely undocumented newcomers to the US. While beautiful in its own right, and easily capable of being a brilliant standalone essay, it was oddly out of place, especially as our narrator herself had barely begun to work. It sounded like an angry political squawk in an otherwise equally powerful but more subtle birdsong that is ultimately more personal and persuasive.


Tags : Amazon.com: We Need New Names: A Novel (9780316230810): NoViolet Bulawayo: Books,NoViolet Bulawayo,We Need New Names: A Novel,Reagan Arthur Books,0316230812,Coming Of Age,Cultural Heritage,Families;Zimbabwe;Fiction.,Girls;Zimbabwe;Fiction.,Political violence;Zimbabwe;Fiction.,Africa,FICTION Coming of Age,FICTION Cultural Heritage,FICTION Women,Families,Fiction,Fiction-Coming of Age,GENERAL,General Adult,Girls,LITERARY COLLECTIONS African,Political violence,Southern Africa,United States,Zimbabwe,african literature; zimbabwe; african novels; immigrant experience; american immigrants; african immigrants; african fiction; immigrant fiction; coming of age books; coming of age novel; coming to america books; Booker Prize; Detroit Michigan; hitting budapest; political novels; edwidge danticat; african authors; zimbabwe books; books about zimbabwe; books about detroit

We Need New Names A Novel NoViolet Bulawayo Books Reviews

This novel is the story of a young African girl who eventually leaves her homeland to come to America. Her life in Africa is described in rich, textured detail. You really get the descriptive sense of what she was experiencing; the sights, smells, and sounds. Even though she was living in extreme poverty and experiencing political oppression, she managed to create a childhood for herself and her friends. The description of her acclimating to life in cold, snowy Michigan is masterful. So is the development of the second half of the novel, as she tries to balance her life as an American, while trying to retain her African identity. A throughly engaging read.
This writing in this book is as creative as the author's nom de plume, No Violet. Her unusual use of language in showing the reader life in Zimbabwe through the eyes of a special wise child, becomes part of the reader's experience. Then, she juxtaposes it with her new life in cities she dreamed of in the USA. Neither is perfect. But she is self-possessed enough to navigate and explain the world of immigrants. "Undocumented" has become a loaded word. But her words render humor and compassion. Equal to her favorite book, "The Haidresser of Harare", she shines a light on life in post colonial Africa . Junot Diaz chose her as an outstanding new voice. I agree.
NoViolet Bulawayo's debut novel WE NEED NEW NAMES is an original, and a stunning work.
It has been identified as a coming of age work--with the central character of Darling. It has been described as having a plot that moves from Darling's childhood in Zimbabwe, to her coming to America, and her experiences as she moves into adulthood.
I don't disagree with these descriptions; I just find them inadequate.
First, this is definitely not a plot driven work. Certainly you can follow a progressive story line--but the story being told is of an interior landscape rather than a series of external adventures.
Second, as the novel progresses, it settles into a shifting kaleidoscope of alternating focus--Darling's experiences; the larger geopolitical scene; and the interior anguish of people unmoored in their place in time and country.
This novel is not for the faint of heart. There was at least one chapter that, frankly, I would have rather not read. And the experiences of Darling in Zimbabwe are searing--as befits the current geopolitical scene. There is the genuine heartbreak of leaving and losing one's country.
One of the reviews--in the New York Times--wrote about the third chapter from the conclusion.
"At one point, in an effort to make Darling’s experiences broadly representative, Ms. Bulawayo writes an entire chapter using the plural pronoun “we” — speaking of the move to America, and the bitterness so many immigrants feel, as they are forced to take menial jobs or find their hopes frustrated...Such generalizations are the one misstep in this otherwise stunning novel. Not only because they try to project one point of view onto the experiences of a wide and varied group of immigrants, but also because they are not always true."
And as evidence of this assertion, the review writer points out that NoViolet Bulawayo has flourished as an immigrant.
TALK ABOUT MISSING THE POINT. Yes, this is a story of an immigrant, and of immigrants. But MORE SO--it is a story about losing one's country, one's connection to ancestors, one's place in the past and the future.
For just that near final chapter alone--titled "How They Lived"--WE NEED NEW NAMES is a most compelling work.
We Need New Names is a lush, language-rich narration by a young African girl who gradually becomes an expat in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The narrator's voice has a wonderful innocence, even as she and her playmates (I'd say schoolmates but the teachers have all left the country and the school closed) play such games as "Find Bin Laden." She also has a special gift for capturing expressions on other characters' faces "like she was hearing music inside her head and dancing to it" is a description of the expression of an aunt who has been complimented by an old flame who is marrying someone else.

The disintegration of the home country, the desperate desire to be somewhere else, and the bitterness of those left behind are rendered in muscular, lyrical prose studded with native ("our language" which is never identified) and childish phrases. The description of eating the guavas (on which she used to gorge herself as a child) for the first time since coming to the U.S. Is worth the price of admission funny, tender, voracious, and yearning.

The only piece of this novel that hit a sour note for me was a chapter at the end of the book narrated by a "we" rather than the "I" in every other chapter. It consisted of a lyrical, wild description of the labor of largely undocumented newcomers to the US. While beautiful in its own right, and easily capable of being a brilliant standalone essay, it was oddly out of place, especially as our narrator herself had barely begun to work. It sounded like an angry political squawk in an otherwise equally powerful but more subtle birdsong that is ultimately more personal and persuasive.