Description
A 50th-anniversary edition of one of the most powerful novels by the great Kenyan author and Nobel Prize nominee
A legendary work of African literature, this moving and eye-opening novel lucidly captures the drama of a people and culture whose world has been overturned. The River Between explores life in the mountains of Kenya during the early days of white settlement. Faced with a choice between an alluring new religion and their own ancestral customs, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who fear the unknown and those who see beyond it.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
On two neighboring mountain ridges in Kenya during the early days of white settlement, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who are drawn to the newcomers' fiery Christianity and those holding fast to their people's 'magical' customs.
About the Author
NGUGI WA THIONG'O is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and essayist from Kenya whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. He is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Irvine, California.
UZODINMA IWEALA is the author of the award-winning novel Beasts of No Nation and is one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria, and New York City.
Reviews
"One of the greatest writers of our time." -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Guardian
"His novels . . . have been deservedly canonized by the iconic [Penguin Classics] series." -The Wall Street Journal
"Beautifully compact . . . It takes its reader on a journey out of the colonial matrix and into the world of the real, showing us life reclaimed in all its complexity from the simplifying template of colonialism. . . . It has an undeniable power." -Uzodinma Iweala, from the Introduction
"It has the rare qualities of restraint, intelligence and sensitivity." -The Times Literary Supplement
"A sensitive novel about the Gikuyu in the melting pot that sometimes touches the grandeur of tap-root simplicity." -The Guardian
Book Information
ISBN 9780143107491
Author Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Penguin USA
Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
Weight(grams) 147g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 12mm
A legendary work of African literature, this moving and eye-opening novel lucidly captures the drama of a people and culture whose world has been overturned. The River Between explores life in the mountains of Kenya during the early days of white settlement. Faced with a choice between an alluring new religion and their own ancestral customs, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who fear the unknown and those who see beyond it.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
On two neighboring mountain ridges in Kenya during the early days of white settlement, the Gikuyu people are torn between those who are drawn to the newcomers' fiery Christianity and those holding fast to their people's 'magical' customs.
About the Author
NGUGI WA THIONG'O is an award-winning novelist, playwright, and essayist from Kenya whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. He is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Irvine, California.
UZODINMA IWEALA is the author of the award-winning novel Beasts of No Nation and is one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria, and New York City.
Reviews
"One of the greatest writers of our time." -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Guardian
"His novels . . . have been deservedly canonized by the iconic [Penguin Classics] series." -The Wall Street Journal
"Beautifully compact . . . It takes its reader on a journey out of the colonial matrix and into the world of the real, showing us life reclaimed in all its complexity from the simplifying template of colonialism. . . . It has an undeniable power." -Uzodinma Iweala, from the Introduction
"It has the rare qualities of restraint, intelligence and sensitivity." -The Times Literary Supplement
"A sensitive novel about the Gikuyu in the melting pot that sometimes touches the grandeur of tap-root simplicity." -The Guardian
Book Information
ISBN 9780143107491
Author Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Penguin USA
Publisher Penguin Putnam Inc
Weight(grams) 147g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 12mm
