Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote

Posted on 12 January 2017 by Ahmadou Kourouma

Ahmadou Kourouma s remarkable novel is narrated by Bingo, a West African sora storyteller and king s fool Over the course of five nights he tells the life story of Koyaga, President and Dictator of the Gulf Coast Orphaned at the age of seven, Koyaga grows up to be a terrible hunter he fights mythical beasts, and is a shape shifter, capable of changing himself into beasts and birds He fights in the French colonial armies, in Vietnam and Algeria, but on his return he mounts a coup and becomes ruler and dictator of the Gulf Coast For thirty years he runs a corrupt but clean state, surviving repeated assassination attempts and gaining support and investment from abroad But when the First World decides it no longer want to support dictatorships and call for democracy, he needs another ruse to maintain himself in powerPart magic, part history, part savage satire, Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote is nothing less than a history of post colonial Africa itself. Read Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote Author Ahmadou Kourouma – kino-fada.fr It is widely acknowledged that, through the likes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, Latin America has pretty much cornered the market in political mysticism.So it is tempting, when reviewing the late Ahmadou Kourouma s epic Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote to seek to draw some kind of parallel re imagine a blend of Vargas Llosa s twin totems, Feast Of The Goat and War Of The End Of The World in post colonial Africa, and you get part of the picture.In reality, though, if It is widely acknowledged that, through the likes of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, Latin America has pretty much cornered the market in political mysticism.So it is tempting, when reviewing the late Ahmadou Kourouma s epic Waiting For The Wild Beasts To Vote to seek to draw some kind of parallel re imagine a blend ...Cette geste d un tyran africain menac par la folie qu il a contribu implanter dans la terre de son pays si peu cependant, ceci est un livre de destin passons est un livre impressionnant, d autant que j ai eu la chance quasi miraculeuse de le lire en parall le avec La Morte d Arthur de Malory, ce qui m a permis de me rendre compte de l incroyable travail d adaptation de la chanson de geste dans un contexte moderne non occidental ce titre le livre est monumental, et le travail d critu Cette geste d un tyran africain menac par la folie qu il a contribu implanter dans la terre de son pays si peu cependant, ceci est un livre de destin passons est un livre impressionnant, d autant que j ai eu la chance quasi miraculeuse de le lire en parall le avec La Morte d Arthur de Malory, ce qui m a permis de me rendre compte de l incroyable travail d adaptation de la chanson de geste dans un contexte moderne non occidental ce titre le livre est monumental, et le travail d criture r ellement frappant La lecture est facile et plaisante, mais l on s aper oit en refermant le livre qu on a manqu la moiti des symboles, les trois quarts du message et la quasi totalit des r f rences En soi ce n est pas une faiblesse, au contrai...This is a satirical novel about a fictitious African dictator, which interweaves myth with colonial and postcolonial history and a brutal sense of humor I thought it was about 200 pages too long and o...i was impressed by how the author has chronicled the life cycle of a typical dictator in Africa, the western hypocrisy in all respects and how the common person is a totally forgotten aspect for all the powers that be.the book is a delight to read.There is a point in Ahmadou Kourouma s Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote when the first elected President of the newly independent Republique du Golfe is attempting to resist the coup that will soon cost him his position and his life If he is killed, he says to his advisers, it would mean that everything I have lear...This is the story of Koyaga, fictional African dictator It s a larger than life biography, told in the form of an oral history by his minstrels Their tale panders to him he is elevated beyond humanity, and is celebrated as a god His powers, we are told, are mystical.Never mind that he was a murdering tyrant.I was totally enad with the voice of Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote for the first couple of hundred pages It was incredibly lyrical and expressive I loved the author s commitm This is the story of Koyaga, fictional African dictator It s a larger than life biography, told in the form of an oral history by his minstrels Their tale panders to him he is elevated beyond humanity, and is celebrated as a god His powers, we are told, are mystical.Never mind that he was a murdering tyrant.I was totally enad with the voice of Waiting for the Wild Beasts to Vote for the first couple of hundred pages It was incredibly lyrical and expressive I loved the author s commitment to this book s unique style.but I slowly started to lose interest with itand by the end, this book became a slog that I struggled to finish.This novel had a tinge of Emperor s New Clothes to it the style was impeccable, but there wasn t enough underneath to sustain the look, and by the end I was wondering why it had enchanted me for so long The plot seemed incredibly uneven, and I felt that the author did himself a disservice by stretching the novel ...Brilliant read A book infused with so much African spirit I am steeped in it The sayings, the flow of the story The narrator is an African storyteller, I felt like I was sitting by the fire listening to this man weave this beautiful story.He speaks the truth, he understands ...In stand by it didn t conquer my heart a couple of months later Gave upKoyaga president dictator of the Republic of the Gulf a great hunter, one of the three greatest hunters in human history Koyaga s adventure unfolds across 6 sumus ritual gathering , each with its own theme, while he sits in a circle surrounded by master hunters all listening to the sere, Bingo, as he recites the purificatory epic, the donsomana In this way Kourouma brings us into the story telling tradition, brings us into the circle of truth, a circle encompassing the years of French colon Koyaga president ...Je n ai pas t plong e dedans mais bouquin int ressant Quelle part invent e et quelle part vraie Je n ai pas les r f rences pour juger, et c est difficile de lire une satyre sans avoir une r f rence pour comparer Mais informatif quand m me.

English
12 January 2017

Ahmadou Kourouma