Review: Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah
Title: Two Thousand Seasons
Author: Armah, Ayi Kwei
Length: 316 pages
Genre: Fiction, General
Publisher / Year: Per Ankh / 1973
Source: Sent to me by the wonderful Geosi.
Rating: 3/5
Why I Read It: Geosi recommended it.
Date Read: 14/11/11
This was both a difficult and interesting read, but one which left me in the end slightly unsatisfied. The book is the story of a group of young men and women captured and sold into slavery during the height of the slave wars in Africa. These young men and women are dedicated to The Way, the ancient religion and way of life of the entire African peoples. They stage a revolt and then work to end destruction.
That is the easy summation of the novel as given on the back of the book. In truth it isn’t until almost page 150 that any of that happens and that we meet the ‘characters’, if they may be termed such. The book starts by describing the way, the way of reciprocity, that all African people originally followed. It then discusses the cripples, those Africans who sell themselves and their souls to those who come to stage their destruction and work with those who would convert them to broken religions and steal their souls. It then spends chapters discussing the predators (i.e. Arabs) and the destroyers (i.e. whites). Through these chapters the author and his narrator aims to tell the story of the migration of the African people through the continent and especially of the one particular group.
Throughout the book bad is always equated with whiteness. Apparently all African people are wonderful and kind, though some have strayed from the way thanks largely to the influence of these predators and destroyers. All Arabs are predators indulging in sexual orgies and drugs and feasts and all whites are evil. While I understand this book was set during the slave trade when they didn’t have much contact with anyone other than those coming to convert their souls and sell them into slavery, it still seemed too simplistic.
For example, on the Arabs:
The predators from the desert, they who found so much to do among us turning living bodies to carrion, what are they now? A bizarre sort of egrets feast impudent on their very eyeballs in other deserts they once called their own. Thirty hundred seasons consumed in the lazy oppression of other peoples have killed their minds. All they can be now is willing instruments of worse predators than themselves, of destroyers even greedier. (page314-5)
That being said, there were some really interesting and insightful pieces as well. The majority of the book could be more aptly termed philosophical musings than a true novel. Sometimes these musings though did give a lot to think about.
We had been forced to think of multiform death: death of the body for all whose bodies resisted oppression; death of the body also for those whose minds resisted, for any way different from the predatory conquerors’ road was to them diseased, unholy, dangerous. We with our way were all condemned, our very color turned into the predators’ name for evil. (pg 75)
Overall I found the book to be a bit dry and lacking in true story. While it was interesting and at times really made me think, it lacked any true story line, developed characters, or true examination of issues. It spelled out every issue to the point of losing interest, failing to imagine that a reader could want to think of the issues and in some cases be smart enough to get some of it without it being made so clear. There was also a lot of repetition, again as if Armah had no faith in the reader’s ability to understand or deduce anything without it.
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys philosophical works, or who has patience. I do wish Armah had more faith in his readers, and I hope in his others works that perhaps he does. Interesting work but ultimately not a new favorite. While I want to read more by him, I won’t be rushing out to find them.
I probably would have been bothered a little bit by this book because of the lack of development early in the game and the way that all whites are portrayed as evil. I am sorry to hear that this one was not totally satisfying for you.
Well I can understand the portrayal as evil, zibilee, especially given the time the book was set. The lack of character development and story line, and that it was all telling just took away from it for me though.
This particular book of Armah is slightly difficult to get into. Yes, it doesn’t fully develop its characters like most novels do, but perhaps that isn’t Armah’s aim. The book was more on charting the course of migration and the history of slavery and the spreading of the African race. Yes, whilst I agree that he equated whites with the destroyers, I might not just call that simplistic. Here is a place where the only white people available to them are those who have come to trade, whether in people or in gold. And who have come to take their land from them. The names of the characters were taken from most places in Africa thus representing Africa. So from the character’s point of view, these whites are destroyers, for they know no other. Similarly, Armah had some harsh words for those Africans who aided the whites in their looting calling them ostentatious cripples and more.
But then this very book has been described as woody by Soyinka et al., though I found it not as such. And I agree it is more philosophical than a novel. In fact, due to its ‘perceived’ blandness, when I read on Kinna’s that you were reading this I was shocked and waited to hear your views.
Yes Nana there was definitely a lot to interest anyone in the book, especially the migration and history. I just felt it was too forceful, if that makes sense. The generalizations made sense for the time, though with so much philosophizing especially about those Africans who became zombis I did find it interesting that there was no acknowledgement that others could be zombis as well – i.e. perhaps not all are evil but those they meet are? But that was a small frustration.
My main issue was just that he didn’t seem to be able to trust readers to understand anything themselves. Every single point was philosophized upon and talked to death rather than trusting that the reader had brains enough to understand on their own any of the underlying issues, even just one. It was all tell, tell, tell, and no showing. Readers could work to comprehend and think on what he was saying but he was spelling it out so clearly that there wasn’t as much thought necessary.
I guess I just prefer to have a bit more story or tale behind it and the ability to use my brain to think about it and understand, and philosophize WITH the author rather than just taking in everything he is saying. If that at all makes sense. So still a 3 star book for me, still interesting, but I wanted more showing and less telling
Hmm. The idea that there could be one way of life for all of Africa seems like it could be troubling, too. Or much too simplistic, at the very least. It does sound like the book is kind of metaphorical/mythological, though, so maybe it works in that sense? I don’t know, sounds interesting at least.
Yes, I did find that quite odd as well Emily. That everyone lives the same and is the same, just by having black skin, wherever in the world you live. It was also a tad troubling how it portrayed those living in slavery after being captured. Although not directly discussed, he says basically that being sold to slavery you lose your soul and become a zombi. Which I’m sure survivors of slavery may not have been so happy to hear.
What it really comes down to is choice. While I don’t agree with missions and trying to convert people and etc, the view expressed is really that it is the way or you are a soulless zombi. So people no longer have the option to convert, because doing so simply proves they are brainless, corrupted, etc. Therefore it is a kind of religious superiority that comes into play no matter what religion is being discussed. Sigh.
Sounds like an interesting book but one of those that I’ll read if I have nothing else on hand. Usually the outcome, for me, of difficult to read books is that they give me a lot to think about and I actually end up liking them a lot more after I finished reading them as oppose to during.
http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
Such a true point Man of la Book – the more you have to think, the better it is. Which may be why I like more showing and less telling.
Sounds interesting, maybe because of those shortcomings. Though I need to google the author first, your reviews always make me painfully aware of how un-diverse my reading is!
Yes definitely a very interesting book Bina, the author himself is also a really interesting man. He’s written quite a few works. Also, your reading is quite diverse in ways mine isn’t – i.e. more crime, more British authors, more classics, etc!
I accept everything that you’ve written. And I agree with everything that Nana (whom I consider an expert on Armah) has said about this book as well. It’s a tale of two writers when one approaches the works of Armah. He can be very philosophical and even preachy in some of his books and I try to stay away from those books. If you ever feel like giving him a try again, I would recommend The Healers.I’ve reviewed it on my blog. When he quits his preaching and instead lets his characters breathe and be who they were meant to be, the result is very very good indeed. . Thanks for the review.
That is really great to know Kinna, both that others found some of his work preachy and that all of his work isn’t the same. I will certainly keep an eye out for The Healers because I did love his work in so many ways but it was just so preachy!
To call Armah “preachy” is to miss his agenda as a writer. His craftsmanship is not simply about art for art’s sake; for him it is about unpacking the weighty historical and cultural questions that the African experience(in a collective sense) has had to grapple with. To expect Armah to grovel over form when it comes to the novel is to ignore the psychic architecture that this thinker brings to his work: irreverence and free thinkery.
Ayi Kwei Armah does not pull punches; if Africa’s foremost bogey in the last 500 years and still counting were white Europeans and their Black African allies aided by Arabs Armah will say so and urge that ways be FOUND to deal with that. If the Egyptian civilization was built by Black Africans( a fact that some historians are in denial about contrary to the overwhelming weight of evidence) who then migrated to the Southern parts of Africa Armah will say so. Artistic license means that he can pack philosophical diatribes in a novel form and I think that is what he does in The Healers. I love his works both for their artistic power(when he decides to go that route) and their programmatic agenda!!!! After all even the leading centers of intellectual, media and financial power in our world essentially PREACH.
*Artistic license means that he can pack philosophical diatribes in a novel form and I think that is what he does in Two Thousand Seasons.
Definitely not saying that he can’t do it, or that he doesn’t do it well strategeminc, just that the form doesn’t work as well for me. No single book will ever please everyone though which is why there are so many authors writing on the same topic and authors themselves play with different forms as well. I would certainly not want him or any other author to choose a different form just to please me, especially as I know that many others love it. Certainly a well written and interesting book, just not quite what I was expecting. Now I know what to expect in future reads though!
I understand you point better now Amy….I recommend Osiris Rising though…maybe it will cater to you stylistic buds and then we can banter again on AKA as an author
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I’m adding it to my wish list right away strategeminc, thank you for the recommendation! I love chatting books and authors so will try to find a copy soon!
Completely agree with you saying it’s wordy. If I were not forced to read this for class, there would have been no way i would have made it through the first 60-70 pages. While I know that he probably wrote in this style on purpose, mixing in “the way” into the journey instead of all at once in the beginning would have been far less painful. Not to mention, to go along with one of your points, it seems as though he is trying to force “the way” onto the reader, which seems no different than what he says the evil whites are doing by trying to turn them into souls beings when they say the whites region is better.
Thanks for your comment Ryan, that’s an interesting point on the evangelicalism!