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Books & Literature
Book Review
By the E- Reader
H
ello fellow book worms.
Starting this month, I will
be taking you on a tour of
the literary world as we talk
about all matters concerning the written
word.
We start off with a look at the newlycrowned National Arts Merits Award
(NAMA) Book of the year, Albert Nyathi’s
My Daughter.
Written as an epic poem, the book is
the advice of a father to his blossoming
daughter. He urges her to heed his
warnings as his only wish is to guard her
against the evils that await the unwary in
the dangerous world that she is entering
almost seamless through her gradually
dawning maturity.
On the surface, the book is hilarious
with the merciless descriptions of the
beast eliciting laughter. And
if, like me, you are
privileged to see
Nyathi perform
the poem, you
will be doubly
enchanted. But
beyond
the
humor there
is a serious
and
dark
undertone.
Nyathi’s
b
o
o
k
highlights the
generational
differences
between
most
parents and their children. The father is
an authoritarian figure and the daughter
is starting to rebel against his restraints.
Now the father is unbending to explain
why he gives his daughter strict rules to
live by.
He tells her of the different predatory
animals waiting to feast on her innocence.
Men whose characters resemble those
of vultures, lions, hyenas and leopards
are all just anticipating the chance to
pounce on her. Thus the father says
that his daughter should not take his
injunctions to be home before dark as
wishes to suppress her.
The book’s message is apt in the times
when teen pregnancies, HIV and child
sexual abuse are all on the increase.
The recent rape and murder of the
young Budiriro, Harare, girl is a case in
point. The predators found a chance and
attacked with very tragic results.
In the light of such happenings, the
reader cannot help but empathise
with the man’s worry that
the world is full of people
who harbor ill-intentions
towards his daughter.
The father’s rules
are based on the
principles
for
raising a girl-child
that are inherent
in most of our
local traditions,
whether
we
are
Ndebele,
Kalanga, Zezuru,
Manyika or any
other ethnicity.
N y a t h i ’ s
language is simple
but highly effective
and his imagery is
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spot
on.
One
c a n
literally
picture a
hyenalike man drooling as he
watches
a potential victim pass by. You can almost
hear the evil intentions racing through
his mind as he calculates how he will
catch the unwary girl.
With the vivid illustrations of the
animals being described to put terror
into the heart of the daughter, the book
is a visual feast as well. The animals are
realistically sketched and coloured and
their expressions gel perfectly with the
words of the ode.
My Daughter is recommended reading
for both parents and their children.
It makes a good starting point for
negotiating rules as it clarifies where the
parent is coming from. The daughter must
understand that freedom comes with a
price and sometimes it is better to be safe
inside a seeming prison than to run wild
in a jungle full of ruthless hunters and
she is just the defenseless prey.
For the message if nothing else, I say
this is a good book and well-deserving of
its NAMA.
April 2013
Page 25