Status
Available
Call number
Publication
London ; Portobello Books, 2008
Description
In captivating prose, Dowden spins tales of cults and commerce in Senegal and traditional spirituality in Sierra Leone; analyzes the impact of oil and the Internet on Nigeria and aid on Sudan; and examines what has gone so badly wrong in Rwanda and the Congo.
User reviews
LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
You feel like Chris Dowden's got to be winding you up a bit. He commits every one of the sins in Binyavanga Wainaina's classic essay "How to Write About Africa." The first sentence of his book is literally about how the sky is bigger there. Sure, Chinua Achebe blurbed the book, but immediately you
And yet there's a weird truth beneath the blithe idiocy of the phrase "Dowden knows Africa." He knows Uganda, more or less--lived there for a couple of years as a young man until he was chased out by Idi Amin and talks about it with that half-endearing, half-repulsive sense of ownership that you've heard from other ex-expats like the English teacher who spent all his time in Japan cursing Japan and now spends all his time here lionizing it, or like the sweaty-palmed nightmare who left Thailand under a cloud. But as much as a journalist is capable of knowing anything--and make no mistake, this is through and through a journalist's book--he knows other places: Somalia, where he covered the UN intervention, whence his riventing (journalist's) portait of the Somali people like somethimg out of Dune or Dark Sun; Rwanda, where the genocide, which unlike anything else in the book seems to have left Dowden unmanned, unable to find the words, which multiplied by the other journalists there helps make clear why nobody outside got what was going on till the enormity was done; Nigeria, where he successfully leavens an essay on the petrocurse with anecdotes on how he got taken advantage of in Nigeria just like everybody does. Other places, he's less convincing with his "Africa hand" schtick--Zimbabwe, where he reduxes the death of old Rhodesia and the subsequent waste of a country; Sierra Leone, where more of the same only diamonds and child soldiers; you know, Economist stories writ large. A chapter on China in Africa verges on parody.
But within the evident limits of Dowden's outlook on life he can be incisive and brilliant, and ultimately I chalk the compulsive, Tourettesy drawing of nine thousand absurd generalizations about Africa on every single page up not to winding-us-up and less to clownishness than overcynicism--giving the people just a bit too much of what they want, like. Sometimes his generalizations have plausible heuristic power, like the constant return to the "African trinity" of music, conversation, and God. (Maybe when I get back from Uganda in six months I'll chuckle in embarrassment that I ever thought that?) Other times, they're just readable Wikipedia articles, which is no bad thing really. His central motif is from Achebe, the house in A Man of the People liberated from the colonialists by "the smart and lucky and hardly ever the best," crumbling and swathed in barbed wire and with everybody kept out by guards with AKs. He doesn't seem to see the incongruity between that and his capitalist boosterism (although he's not just a neoliberal cheerleader--even as his bootstrap bromides fall flat, his support for African protectionism is surprisingly nuanced. Oh, another good chapter is on South Africa, where he gives Mandela, Biko et al. a kind of Old Guard Bolshevik treatment that is entertaining and puts a lot of failure on Thabo Mbeki's shoulders even if it can't actually really compare him to Stalin.
The book is informative, and the egregious indulgence in Wainaina's no-nos that Dowden falls into when he tries to draw cultural generalizations on their basis is forgivable because he ends on an upnote. I'm excited to be going to "Africa" (Uganda. Jinja, Uganda, formerly in the Buganda kingdom, part of the hereditary territory of the Baganda people. Y'know, "Africa") in an upnote moment. This has at least got me thinking in terms of many of the popular go-to discourses.
On the other hand, there's that title, and that shirtless kid with the soccer ball on the front. This book was informative and sometimes affecting, but and I'm glad I read it, but I won't be putting it out on my bookshelf where people can see.
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start thinking about how erratic great men can get in their later years and how blurbage is really just a type of payola (blurbola) and a frown creases your features.And yet there's a weird truth beneath the blithe idiocy of the phrase "Dowden knows Africa." He knows Uganda, more or less--lived there for a couple of years as a young man until he was chased out by Idi Amin and talks about it with that half-endearing, half-repulsive sense of ownership that you've heard from other ex-expats like the English teacher who spent all his time in Japan cursing Japan and now spends all his time here lionizing it, or like the sweaty-palmed nightmare who left Thailand under a cloud. But as much as a journalist is capable of knowing anything--and make no mistake, this is through and through a journalist's book--he knows other places: Somalia, where he covered the UN intervention, whence his riventing (journalist's) portait of the Somali people like somethimg out of Dune or Dark Sun; Rwanda, where the genocide, which unlike anything else in the book seems to have left Dowden unmanned, unable to find the words, which multiplied by the other journalists there helps make clear why nobody outside got what was going on till the enormity was done; Nigeria, where he successfully leavens an essay on the petrocurse with anecdotes on how he got taken advantage of in Nigeria just like everybody does. Other places, he's less convincing with his "Africa hand" schtick--Zimbabwe, where he reduxes the death of old Rhodesia and the subsequent waste of a country; Sierra Leone, where more of the same only diamonds and child soldiers; you know, Economist stories writ large. A chapter on China in Africa verges on parody.
But within the evident limits of Dowden's outlook on life he can be incisive and brilliant, and ultimately I chalk the compulsive, Tourettesy drawing of nine thousand absurd generalizations about Africa on every single page up not to winding-us-up and less to clownishness than overcynicism--giving the people just a bit too much of what they want, like. Sometimes his generalizations have plausible heuristic power, like the constant return to the "African trinity" of music, conversation, and God. (Maybe when I get back from Uganda in six months I'll chuckle in embarrassment that I ever thought that?) Other times, they're just readable Wikipedia articles, which is no bad thing really. His central motif is from Achebe, the house in A Man of the People liberated from the colonialists by "the smart and lucky and hardly ever the best," crumbling and swathed in barbed wire and with everybody kept out by guards with AKs. He doesn't seem to see the incongruity between that and his capitalist boosterism (although he's not just a neoliberal cheerleader--even as his bootstrap bromides fall flat, his support for African protectionism is surprisingly nuanced. Oh, another good chapter is on South Africa, where he gives Mandela, Biko et al. a kind of Old Guard Bolshevik treatment that is entertaining and puts a lot of failure on Thabo Mbeki's shoulders even if it can't actually really compare him to Stalin.
The book is informative, and the egregious indulgence in Wainaina's no-nos that Dowden falls into when he tries to draw cultural generalizations on their basis is forgivable because he ends on an upnote. I'm excited to be going to "Africa" (Uganda. Jinja, Uganda, formerly in the Buganda kingdom, part of the hereditary territory of the Baganda people. Y'know, "Africa") in an upnote moment. This has at least got me thinking in terms of many of the popular go-to discourses.
On the other hand, there's that title, and that shirtless kid with the soccer ball on the front. This book was informative and sometimes affecting, but and I'm glad I read it, but I won't be putting it out on my bookshelf where people can see.
Show Less
LibraryThing member davedonelson
As an author and activist, I am generally optimistic about Africa's future, but Richard Dowden tempered my hope with a sobering dose of reality based on his decades of reporting on the continent. His powerful guide to sub-Saharan Africa is a must-read for anyone who hopes to understand why Africa
Dowden is the director of the Royal African Society and spent two decades as Africa editor of the Independent and the Economist. His book is filled with both studied thoughts on the forces that have shaped Africa's history and pertinent personal tales of his experiences there. His message is ultimately fairly simple: Africa's problems can only be solved by African people.
The depressing counterweight to that conclusion that I drew from Dowden's accounts is that corruption is so ingrained throughout the power structure of most nations in Africa that it is unlikely that solutions can ever be implemented.
Having set my latest novel in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I was particularly interested in his conclusions about that beleaguered nation:
"In December 2005 a new constitution was confirmed by a referendum and elections were held in July 2006. The assumption of outsiders was that, forced to govern together, the warlords would check each other's theft and violence. The opposite happened. They keep the country divided, cut deals with each other and filled their pockets."
Dowden makes another observation which mirrors my own experience:
"Despite the politics of theft, violence and patronage, Congo still inspires great patriotism among its long-suffering citizens. They may have little loyalty to institutions or a ruler, but Congolese believe desperately in the Congolese nation and a few are prepared to fight its looting bosses."
Africa - Altered States, Ordinary Miracles reveals Dowden's great love for the continent he has spent his life discovering. It is no dewy-eyed romance, however. He reveals all his lover's warts and blemishes, bad breath and occasional frequent bouts of ill-temper in a paean to her beautiful potential.
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is the mess it is.Dowden is the director of the Royal African Society and spent two decades as Africa editor of the Independent and the Economist. His book is filled with both studied thoughts on the forces that have shaped Africa's history and pertinent personal tales of his experiences there. His message is ultimately fairly simple: Africa's problems can only be solved by African people.
The depressing counterweight to that conclusion that I drew from Dowden's accounts is that corruption is so ingrained throughout the power structure of most nations in Africa that it is unlikely that solutions can ever be implemented.
Having set my latest novel in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I was particularly interested in his conclusions about that beleaguered nation:
"In December 2005 a new constitution was confirmed by a referendum and elections were held in July 2006. The assumption of outsiders was that, forced to govern together, the warlords would check each other's theft and violence. The opposite happened. They keep the country divided, cut deals with each other and filled their pockets."
Dowden makes another observation which mirrors my own experience:
"Despite the politics of theft, violence and patronage, Congo still inspires great patriotism among its long-suffering citizens. They may have little loyalty to institutions or a ruler, but Congolese believe desperately in the Congolese nation and a few are prepared to fight its looting bosses."
Africa - Altered States, Ordinary Miracles reveals Dowden's great love for the continent he has spent his life discovering. It is no dewy-eyed romance, however. He reveals all his lover's warts and blemishes, bad breath and occasional frequent bouts of ill-temper in a paean to her beautiful potential.
Show Less
LibraryThing member janewylen
A highly readable and provocative description of Africa today. The author describes his personal experiences in Africa and comes up with a persuasive reason for the corruption and violence that corrodes many African countries.
LibraryThing member bas615
I picked this up at the behest of a coworker from Gabon as I looked for material to prepare me for my first trip to Africa. He recommended it largely because he disliked the lack of hope so evident in much literature on Africa. He, in his experience, did not find Africa to be the wasteland covered
From this starting point I found this to be a fascinating book that I would recommend to anyone looking for a primer on Africa. It is by no means a definitive work but provides a heavy dose of realism in the problems of Africa while still allowing room for hope. Its collection of anecdotes and narrative combine well and produce a well rounded work. The success stories of places such as Botswana and to some extent post-genocide Rwanda are often overlooked.
Dowden draws his noose strongly around corruption as the leading problem in Africa. From this starting point he exposes many aspects of the problem with significant time spent on the international aid structure. This is such a complicated matter that obviously he cannot, and does not intend, solve the problem.
All told I found this an excellent book that I would recommend as a part of an introduction to modern Africa. As with any book about such a vast area with such complex issues, this book is best used alongside several others to provide a well rounded perspective.
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in famine and disease, but instead a more complex and subtle place.From this starting point I found this to be a fascinating book that I would recommend to anyone looking for a primer on Africa. It is by no means a definitive work but provides a heavy dose of realism in the problems of Africa while still allowing room for hope. Its collection of anecdotes and narrative combine well and produce a well rounded work. The success stories of places such as Botswana and to some extent post-genocide Rwanda are often overlooked.
Dowden draws his noose strongly around corruption as the leading problem in Africa. From this starting point he exposes many aspects of the problem with significant time spent on the international aid structure. This is such a complicated matter that obviously he cannot, and does not intend, solve the problem.
All told I found this an excellent book that I would recommend as a part of an introduction to modern Africa. As with any book about such a vast area with such complex issues, this book is best used alongside several others to provide a well rounded perspective.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kimaoverstreet
Africa, Altered States, Ordinary Miracles is a well-researched primer on subSaharan Africa. I was expecting a dull geography text; I got vibrant descriptions, succint histories, and cultural studies, interwoven with personal anectodes. I read a chapter a night and had no trouble staying awake to
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complete my reading. Highly recommended! Show Less
LibraryThing member zebedeejr
Dowden has compiled his views of the political, social, and economic situations in various regions of Africa from numerous samplings of his writings and experiences over three decades of reporting and--more importantly--living in Africa. He did not initially take the job assignment of reporting on
Dowden's perceptive view of the culture is one only discovered by those who spend time outside of the urban centers or five-star hotels built by corrupt governments or multi-national corporations who care little about the welfare of the African "in the bush." This work provides readers with an engaging, accurate picture of Africa, and readers would do well to learn from his insight. Certainly the normal life of average Africans is under-represented in the number of pages of Dowden's work devoted to them, but Dowden still attempts to show how subsistence farming, family patronage, religious belief, and AIDS play as much a part of how most Africans live day-to-day as whether that general has overthrown this corrupt president, or whether this leader has "eaten" that much poorly placed international aid.
"Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles" is a must read for anyone serious about understanding modern Africa. The work is not overly scholarly or too complicated for average citizens who gets all of their information from local news channels. Similarly, it does not assume a vast knowledge of Africa's history, although reading Pakenham's "Scramble for Africa" (which Dowden recommends in "Further Reading") as a precursor to this book would prepare anyone to enter into intelligent conversations on the fate of Africa, rather than relying upon insulting and biased views of those who either hold false motives or incomplete and uninformed opinions of Africa and its residents.
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the situations of crisis and war and famine in the too-often stereotyped "Dark Continent" from a newspaper office in London or New York then seek to find and write shocking stories just so those in the Industrialized West would take notice. Rather, he seems to have grown fascinated with Africa during his formative years as a teacher in Amin's Uganda, and (as any who have taken similar career/life paths) had to find a way to get back to the continent so he could learn more, then express to people who rarely display interest and certainly never will step foot in Africa WHY events in Africa play out like they do.Dowden's perceptive view of the culture is one only discovered by those who spend time outside of the urban centers or five-star hotels built by corrupt governments or multi-national corporations who care little about the welfare of the African "in the bush." This work provides readers with an engaging, accurate picture of Africa, and readers would do well to learn from his insight. Certainly the normal life of average Africans is under-represented in the number of pages of Dowden's work devoted to them, but Dowden still attempts to show how subsistence farming, family patronage, religious belief, and AIDS play as much a part of how most Africans live day-to-day as whether that general has overthrown this corrupt president, or whether this leader has "eaten" that much poorly placed international aid.
"Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles" is a must read for anyone serious about understanding modern Africa. The work is not overly scholarly or too complicated for average citizens who gets all of their information from local news channels. Similarly, it does not assume a vast knowledge of Africa's history, although reading Pakenham's "Scramble for Africa" (which Dowden recommends in "Further Reading") as a precursor to this book would prepare anyone to enter into intelligent conversations on the fate of Africa, rather than relying upon insulting and biased views of those who either hold false motives or incomplete and uninformed opinions of Africa and its residents.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mnicol
A readable book, with interesting analogies and insights, some imaginary Afrikaans spelling and the odd dodgy generalisation. A very upbeat intro and epilogue sandwich some of the most depressing African stories I have ever seen in one place.
"Nigeria is now like eighteenth century Britain, deeply
"50,000 Chinese contract workers were brought by British mining companies to SA in 1904 to break astrike by African workers." p.489
"All over Africa I have come across Achebe's house, the house that the colonialists built and suddenly abandoned. Taken over by 'the smart and the lucky but hardly ever the best' ".(p.511 - earlier quoting "A Man of the People" on page 69)
"Nigeria is now like eighteenth century Britain, deeply
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corrupt and with an abyss between classes." p.466"50,000 Chinese contract workers were brought by British mining companies to SA in 1904 to break astrike by African workers." p.489
"All over Africa I have come across Achebe's house, the house that the colonialists built and suddenly abandoned. Taken over by 'the smart and the lucky but hardly ever the best' ".(p.511 - earlier quoting "A Man of the People" on page 69)
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LibraryThing member danoomistmatiste
One of the better books on Africa. Very well researched and written with profiles of countries and rulers of a selected few countries starting from the period of their independence from their colonial rulers.
When all of them start with good intentions, it quickly denerates into utter misrule and
When all of them start with good intentions, it quickly denerates into utter misrule and
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megalomania. What sort of persons would charter concordes, build lavish palaces, crown themselves emperors when their countrymen are dying of preventible diseases and starvation. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
xvi, 576 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
9781846271540