Read Series: The African Trilogy
by Author Peter Matthiessen
African Silences (1992)
A field diary written by a (poetic) naturalist for naturalists & other extremely patient people who will tire through detailed descriptions of various fowl (peafowl, water fowl, rock fowl), stone partridges, francolins, laughing doves, pranticoles, etc for Matthiessen's tiny shocks of lovely, dre...
The Tree Where Man Was Born (1995)
I have often heard Peter Matthiessen described as one of the all-time best nature writers, but my first experience with his work (The Cloud Forest) didn't do as much for me as I had expected it to. This one though? This one got me. While reading The Cloud Forest, I mostly had the impression that ...
Arrow of God (1989)
I was first struck by how funny this novel was. I guffawed several times while reading it. It takes a remarkable writer to do this with humor, especially across cultures.I thought this work illustrated well the role of religion in society. For the Igbo there was no separation of religion from soc...
Sand Rivers (1982)
My dad gave me this after I read and loved Douglas A. Chadwick's The Fate of the Elephant. I couldn't help but compare this book to that one, which is actually one of my favorite books. I like Matthiessen's writing--he has some really beautiful and vivid descriptions of Africa's plants, landscape...
No Longer at Ease (1994)
A village African from Nigeria is sent to University in England after his entire village pools their resources for his tuition. He comes back a bit angry and quite a lot determined to succeed without succumbing to the corruption and commonplace bribery which allows Nigerian society to function i...
Things Fall Apart (1994)
أفريقيا الساحرة القارة السمراء ، المهضوم حقها فنياً وأدبياً يخرج منها عمل أدبى من أجمل ماقرأت لعل أجمل ما ميّز نجيب محفوظ ، وجعله على قمة الكُتّاب المصريين والعرب أجمعين، وجعله واحد من أعلام الكتابة فى العالم ، هو قدرته الساحرة على رسم صورة المجتمع المصرى والحارة المصرية بكل تفاصيلها وهذا مافعله...