Review: 'Minutes of Glory: And Other Stories' by by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Pub. Date: 3/5/2019
Publisher: The New Press
A dazzling short story collection from the person Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls "one of the greatest writers of our time"
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, although renowned for his novels, memoirs, and plays, honed his craft as a short story writer. From "The Fig Tree, " written in 1960, his first year as an undergraduate at Makerere University College in Uganda, to the playful "The Ghost of Michael Jackson," written as a professor at the University of California, Irvine, these collected stories reveal a master of the short form.
Covering the period of British colonial rule and resistance in Kenya to the bittersweet experience of independence—and including two stories that have never before been published in the United States— Ngũgĩ's collection features women fighting for their space in a patriarchal society, big men in their Bentleys who have inherited power from the British, and rebels who still embody the fighting spirit of the downtrodden. One of Ngũgĩ's most beloved stories, "Minutes of Glory," tells of Beatrice, a sad but ambitious waitress who fantasizes about being feted and lauded over by the middle-class clientele in the city's beer halls. Her dream leads her on a witty and heartbreaking adventure.
Published for the first time in America, Minutes of Glory and Other Stories is a major literary event that celebrates the storytelling might of one of Africa's best-loved writers.
Short stories are, for me, one of the best ways to get a taste for a culture, for a history, for a people. Because we all tell stories into which we pour our history, our loves, our fears, our beliefs, and our anger. While stories are a good introduction, it is nonetheless worthwhile to know some of the history of their country of origin. The Republic of Kenya has a history full of conflict, largely brought in from the outside. By the 15th century, Mombasa was a great trading city and became known to the Portuguese Empire. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Masai people settled in Kenya, taking over the Bantu people. Colonisation found them towards the end of the 18th century, first through a German protectorate, then via the Imperial British East Africa Company. The breakout of WWI also affected African colonies through proxy wars, as Western powers tried to keep each other busy there to prevent further fighting within Europe itself. As settlers established themselves, they began to occupy more and more land through land titles, which local farmers did not have, and so edged out the local population. This led to the Mau Mau Uprising from 1952 to 1959. During this uprising up to 80,000 Kikuyu were detained in detention camps and subjected to horrible treatment. The uprising was eventually defeated and saw many Kikuyu farmers stripped of their lands. British Imperial control came to an end on 12 December 1963 and Jomo Kenyatta became the Republic's first president. While independence is always the goal, it is not a happy ending in and of itself, as many previously colonised countries struggle to establish for themselves and identity and systems away from their colonised past. This history, especially the Mau Mau Uprising and the loss of land by local farmers play a major role in many of the stories in Minutes of Glory. While the stories themselves give enough background to understand, I nonetheless felt it was important to give this background here as well.
Minutes of Glory is split into four parts, each containing a number of stories. The first part is 'Of Mothers and Children' and features the story 'Mugumo', about a young woman, marriage, and the mugumo tree; 'The Rain Came Down', a story of motherhood, loss, and letting go; and 'Gone with the Drought', a really tragic story of family, famine, and madness. 'Fighters and Martyrs' is the second part. 'The Village Priest' tells the tale of a man struggling between the Christian faith and the faith of his people, while 'The Black Bird' describes the impact of strongly-held beliefs. 'The Martyr' is written from the perspective of white settlers and one of their servants and masterfully describes the different tensions of humanity, loyalty, and domination at play in this relationship. It is a brilliant story. 'The Return' shows a man coming home after having been imprisoned in a detention camp during the Mau Mau Uprising. Is his village waiting for him, or has time left its imprint here as well? 'A Meeting in the Dark' describes the pressures of living in two worlds, the village and the expectations of the new, white world. (This story does feature discussion of female circumcision, i.e. Female Genital Mutilation. The last story of this part if 'Goodbye Africa', another story told from the perspective of white settlers as they look back on their role in the "shaping" of Kenya.
Part three, 'Secret Lives' concerns itself with exactly what the title suggests. 'Minutes of Glory', the title story, tells of a young woman who simply, for a few minutes, wants to be everything she dreamed of, even if life has been a series of disappointments. 'Wedding at the Cross' shows a man losing himself in his desire to seem worthy, while his wife always knew him as good. 'A Mercedes Funeral' is perhaps one of the most tragic stories in Minutes of Glory as it describes the way the life and death of a man became a way for those around them to consider themselves better. 'The Mubenzi Tribesman' combines elements of 'The Return' and 'The Village Priest', showing a young man torn between a White life and the hopes of his tribe. Part four, 'Shadows and Priests' was perhaps my favourite part, featuring Thiong'o's most recent stories. 'Without a Shadow of a Doubt' is almost biographical, telling of Thiong'o' and his brother's experiments concerning shadows and how it led them to great truths. 'The Ghost of Michael Jackson' plays with supernatural elements while critiquing the blind adoration towards priests. This is a playful story, and perhaps also my favourite of the collection.
These stories were my first introduction to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and I am once again immensely pleased at discovering a new author. In the Preface Thiong'o states that: 'My writing is really an attempt to understand myself and my situation in society and in history'. Seeing someone so succinctly describe not just his own writing but his own relationship to his writing was intriguing. Reading the stories in Minutes of Glory it becomes clear to what extent his short stories indeed function as a king of soul-searching for Thiong'o. These stories deal extensively with Kenyan history, but also with the different expectations of his society. We see men and women struggling with their role, with the expectations on them, with their interactions with their elders. Much of this is very recognisable, even to a Western reader, while some offer insight to readers like myself. Others, however, are new and confronting. The way he evokes the internal battle of having been colonised and having that forever change and shape your culture honestly impressed the weight of colonial history upon my mind once again. When reading Japanese fiction I came to appreciate the different tone and style of Japanese writing, and similarly I have found something different to appreciate in Thiong'o's writing. There is a matter-of-factness, mixed with real insight, in Minutes of Glory which meant that each story had me gripped. I will definitely be looking out for more books by Thiong'o.
I give this collection...
4 Universes!
Minutes of Glory is a great collection of stories which have not just introduced me to Thiong'o but also made me appreciate the role literature has in understanding history, society, and culture. It also made me re-assess some of what I knew about Kenya's history, which I found very valuable.
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