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"Anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job, Tambudzai finds herself living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. For reasons that include her grim financial prospects and her age, she moves to a widow's boarding house and eventually finds work as a biology teacher. But at every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point. In This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga returns to the protagonist of her acclaimed first novel, Nervous Conditions, to examine how the hope and potential of a young girl and a fledgling nation can sour over time and become a bitter and floundering struggle for survival. As a last resort, Tambudzai takes an ecotourism job that forces her to return to her parents' impoverished homestead. It is this homecoming, in Dangarembga's tense and psychologically charged novel, that culminates in an act of betrayal, revealing just how toxic the combination of colonialism and capitalism can be."--Amazon.com.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member EBT1002
I feel an odd mix of appreciation and frustration with this novel. I struggled with the second-person narrative at times, feeling like I missed whole chunks of the plot. Luckily, the narrative would smooth out again and there were magnificent sections in which the story, the mood, and the poignant
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struggles of Tambudzai were captivating. Our protagonist has quit her job in an advertising agency when she realized that her white coworkers were taking credit for her work. But putting herself out on the Harare job market at her age turns out to be very difficult. We follow her efforts to establish some financial security for herself as she sorts through her own personal limits in achieving this. What is she willing to do for a solid income? Returning to the village where she grew up, she confronts the dynamics of a country turning to tourism for its economy and faces her sense of failure and disappointment as she tries to help her family. It's a compelling story and well worth reading; the unevenness of the narrative bothered me but it didn't detract from the powerful ending. Also, I have not read the first two novels in Dangarembga's trilogy. I'm guessing that this novel will flow a bit more easily for readers who already know Tambudzai. Show Less
LibraryThing member hemlokgang
An emotionally and socially evocative novel, by the author of the fabulous "Nervous Conditions". A young Zimbabwean woman struggles with maintaining her cultural & familial dignity while trying to be successful. There are some intense stretches where it seems she may dissolve into a puddle of
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despair and hopeful moments as she tries to overcome self-doubt instilled by institutional racism and cultural sexism. I think the lessons in this tale are specific to Zimbabwe's history, yet also universal regarding the depths of despair and heights of hope and joy which people experience as they pursue their dreams. Show Less
LibraryThing member thorold
At the opening of this book we meet Tambudzai, central character of Dangarembga's two previous novels, at a low spot in her life. She's walked out of her prestigious job in an advertising agency on finding that (white) co-workers are taking credit for her work, but soon finds that a new generation
After a brief, disastrous, spell as a teacher, she finds herself back in the hands of her family anyway, and then she's offered a job by Tracy, the white woman who was promoted over her head at school and in the advertising agency, but still seems to think of Tambudzai as a friend. Tracy is running an eco-friendly safari company based on her parents' old farm, and for a while Tambudzai slots happily back into businesswoman mode. But sooner or later, she's got to face the ghosts of the village and the war...
This book has its irritations: I didn't like the way it's all in second-person narrative, for instance, and there are passages which are rather over-written, but it was a very interesting look at what it's like to live on that divide between tradition and globalisation in modern Africa. In some ways very similar to the themes that come up in European and American novels of fifty years ago (the child of a working-class family that goes to college and finds it doesn't fit in any more with either world), but in some ways very different (the trauma of the guerrilla war, the legacy of colonialism).
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of bright (thin) young women has come onto the Harare job-market since she was last looking for employment, and she's rapidly losing self-confidence. Finding somewhere to live has been every bit as difficult as finding a job. But the last thing she wants to do is seek the help of her family back in the village who made such huge sacrifices to enable her to go to a good school, and she's even more determined to stay away from the aunts and cousins who were in the bush fighting for freedom whilst she was getting her "O" and "A" levels.After a brief, disastrous, spell as a teacher, she finds herself back in the hands of her family anyway, and then she's offered a job by Tracy, the white woman who was promoted over her head at school and in the advertising agency, but still seems to think of Tambudzai as a friend. Tracy is running an eco-friendly safari company based on her parents' old farm, and for a while Tambudzai slots happily back into businesswoman mode. But sooner or later, she's got to face the ghosts of the village and the war...
This book has its irritations: I didn't like the way it's all in second-person narrative, for instance, and there are passages which are rather over-written, but it was a very interesting look at what it's like to live on that divide between tradition and globalisation in modern Africa. In some ways very similar to the themes that come up in European and American novels of fifty years ago (the child of a working-class family that goes to college and finds it doesn't fit in any more with either world), but in some ways very different (the trauma of the guerrilla war, the legacy of colonialism).
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LibraryThing member chrisblocker
This second-person tale of a floundering and embittered Zimbabwean woman started off well enough. While it was never a riveting or emotional read, the first several chapters kept me interested. Unfortunately, I felt like nothing about this novel moved in an upward motion. The protagonist's actions
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were a never-ending series of blunders resulting in tedious events. Too much of a slog. Best part: the excellent snapshot of modern day Zimbabwe. Show Less
LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I was incredibly disappointed in this book which I listened to instead of read. The narrator, Adenrele Ojo, actually did a pretty good job of narrating it and at least I didn't waste valuable reading time on the book. I saw that this book was picked for the 2020 Booker Prize shortlist. That was my
This novel is the conclusion of a trilogy set in Zimbabwe. The first two books take place around the War for Indipendence but this one is set 20 years later. The main character, Tambudza. quit her job at a public relations agency in Harare when she discovered that white males were taking credit for her work. Now in her 40s Tambu is finding it hard to find another job and she is living in a run-down boarding house with little money for food. Eventually she gets a job teaching at a girls' school but her mental health issues cause her to have a violent outburst against one of the students. She then spends some time in an asylum from which her cousin frees her, bringing her to her own house to rest and recuperate. Then, one day Tembu runs into her old boss Tracey who has started an eco-tourism business. Tracey offers Tembu a job there which Tembu accepts. The job comes with a good salary and free accommodation but Tembu continues to have emotional issues that threaten her employment. When it is suggested by Tracey that she set up a tourist destination at her family's village Tembu agrees even though she has not been back there for years. Her relationships with her mother, father, sister and nieces are problematic and, in the end, Tembu must leave her job and her village with no clear path for her future.
This whole novel is written from the second person point of view which was obviously a deliberate choice by the author but it just didn't work for me. It kept me from feeling any empathy for Tembu since she seemed so distant. I read in another review that they found the second person POV put them in the other person's shoes but that was not my experience. I also found that the discussions of Tembu's mental and emotional problems were left without any resolution which was frustrating and unsatisfactory. Perhaps if I had read the other two books I would have been able to see the bigger themes that the author was trying to explore but this book is not enough to let me do that.
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main motivation for listeneing to it and for continuing to listen to it. Otherwise I think I would have ditched it after a few hours of trying to get into it; I figured the Booker Prize jury must have seen something in it. Whatever that was it escaped me.This novel is the conclusion of a trilogy set in Zimbabwe. The first two books take place around the War for Indipendence but this one is set 20 years later. The main character, Tambudza. quit her job at a public relations agency in Harare when she discovered that white males were taking credit for her work. Now in her 40s Tambu is finding it hard to find another job and she is living in a run-down boarding house with little money for food. Eventually she gets a job teaching at a girls' school but her mental health issues cause her to have a violent outburst against one of the students. She then spends some time in an asylum from which her cousin frees her, bringing her to her own house to rest and recuperate. Then, one day Tembu runs into her old boss Tracey who has started an eco-tourism business. Tracey offers Tembu a job there which Tembu accepts. The job comes with a good salary and free accommodation but Tembu continues to have emotional issues that threaten her employment. When it is suggested by Tracey that she set up a tourist destination at her family's village Tembu agrees even though she has not been back there for years. Her relationships with her mother, father, sister and nieces are problematic and, in the end, Tembu must leave her job and her village with no clear path for her future.
This whole novel is written from the second person point of view which was obviously a deliberate choice by the author but it just didn't work for me. It kept me from feeling any empathy for Tembu since she seemed so distant. I read in another review that they found the second person POV put them in the other person's shoes but that was not my experience. I also found that the discussions of Tembu's mental and emotional problems were left without any resolution which was frustrating and unsatisfactory. Perhaps if I had read the other two books I would have been able to see the bigger themes that the author was trying to explore but this book is not enough to let me do that.
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LibraryThing member bookomaniac
I think it was the American literary critic Harold Bloom who once stated that the ultimate criterion for great literature was characters evolving throughout the novel, poem, or play: at the end they have to be no longer the same as at the beginning. If that's right, then this novel by the
We get to know main character Tambudzai Sigauke (Tambu) when she is looking for work and permanent shelter in the capital Harare. At this point she already has quite a background: relieved that she was able to escape her rural village through successful studies, she worked for a while in a flashy advertising agency, but left that office after apparent racial and gender-related discrimination; and now she is in a desperate condition while her family back home counts on her support. Her experiences have made Tambu a fragile, very insecure personality, while at the same time still cherishing the ambition to prove herself. Throughout this novel, we will see Tambu's star rising and falling, as a result of both unexpectedly prosperous and predictably dramatic events, eventually ending in a form of resignation.
Dangarembga aptly describes the difficult living and working conditions in Zimbabwe, which still is marked by the war of independence (veterans play a rather nasty role in this novel), by remnants of the colonial regime (in practice whites remain in the lead), and due to the rotting corruption of the current regime ('the old crocodile' is mentioned once, needless to say who this refers to). But above all, this novel shows how a fragile personality can be crushed by a particular culture, such as the ubiquitous macho-sexism, by structures that aim for cheap money, and by old family traditions that impose obligations, etc. It is one of the great achievements of this novel that it offers a complex cocktail of these elements, within many intermingling layers.
It’s the prudent resilience of Tambu that makes this novel stand out: she constantly ends up into trouble, regularly collapses under the pressure, but she also manages to surpass this, or at least adapt to her difficulties. It's a great example of female empowerment. And the great merit of Dangaremgba is that she did not turn this into a cheap feel-good story (along the lines of for instance The Color Purple): even in the end, Tambu remains vulnerable and insecure, albeit to some extent purified.
From a literary point of view, this novel is a bit precarious: there’s a succession of brilliant and slightly dragging passages, and especially at the end the story unwinds a bit too quickly. But it's mainly through the narrative point of view, - the author constantly addressing Tambu in the you-form (very unusual in literature) -, that Dangarembga succeeds in arousing our involvement as a reader and our sympathy with the fragile Tambu. I think this novel was rightly placed on the Short List of the Booker Prize.
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Zimbabwean writer Tsiti Dangarembga (° 1959) is an absolute success.We get to know main character Tambudzai Sigauke (Tambu) when she is looking for work and permanent shelter in the capital Harare. At this point she already has quite a background: relieved that she was able to escape her rural village through successful studies, she worked for a while in a flashy advertising agency, but left that office after apparent racial and gender-related discrimination; and now she is in a desperate condition while her family back home counts on her support. Her experiences have made Tambu a fragile, very insecure personality, while at the same time still cherishing the ambition to prove herself. Throughout this novel, we will see Tambu's star rising and falling, as a result of both unexpectedly prosperous and predictably dramatic events, eventually ending in a form of resignation.
Dangarembga aptly describes the difficult living and working conditions in Zimbabwe, which still is marked by the war of independence (veterans play a rather nasty role in this novel), by remnants of the colonial regime (in practice whites remain in the lead), and due to the rotting corruption of the current regime ('the old crocodile' is mentioned once, needless to say who this refers to). But above all, this novel shows how a fragile personality can be crushed by a particular culture, such as the ubiquitous macho-sexism, by structures that aim for cheap money, and by old family traditions that impose obligations, etc. It is one of the great achievements of this novel that it offers a complex cocktail of these elements, within many intermingling layers.
It’s the prudent resilience of Tambu that makes this novel stand out: she constantly ends up into trouble, regularly collapses under the pressure, but she also manages to surpass this, or at least adapt to her difficulties. It's a great example of female empowerment. And the great merit of Dangaremgba is that she did not turn this into a cheap feel-good story (along the lines of for instance The Color Purple): even in the end, Tambu remains vulnerable and insecure, albeit to some extent purified.
From a literary point of view, this novel is a bit precarious: there’s a succession of brilliant and slightly dragging passages, and especially at the end the story unwinds a bit too quickly. But it's mainly through the narrative point of view, - the author constantly addressing Tambu in the you-form (very unusual in literature) -, that Dangarembga succeeds in arousing our involvement as a reader and our sympathy with the fragile Tambu. I think this novel was rightly placed on the Short List of the Booker Prize.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
modern fiction set in Harare, Zimbabwe - follows a single woman struggling to gain security/stability when she can barely find/maintain housing and a job; she encounters and interacts with many other women who share similar circumstances but are often less fortunate.
I got halfway through this but
I got halfway through this but
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most of the time had very little idea of what was happening, other than that the main character was going through lots of different, confusing things. Show Less
LibraryThing member psalva
I got the point of this, but at the same time I felt a sustained sense of discomfort while reading due to the combination of Tambu‘s self-centered actions and the unceasing “you” which points the finger back towards the reader. It wasn‘t a pleasurable reading experience. However, the author
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has lived an incredible life and stood up for what she believes in, and I really admire what she tries to do with her writing. Show Less
Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 2020)
William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (Shortlist — Fiction — 2020)