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4.5
When a book begins with a quotation from Notebook of a Return to the Native Land by Aime Cesaire, it is clear the direction that it will take. It is a book that I heartily recommend, especially for those who taught in Tanzania or have a special relationship to this country. We all have a native land we can return to, and many have another land that we shall always carry in our hearts. It is the exploration of these conflicting loves that makes this book so dynamic. The book is a homage to the past life of the author and an attempt to reconcile homeland with a wandering heart. It is an excellent effort to illustrate how language knowledge gives increased insight into the land; Vassanji takes several jabs at Paul Theroux. This book is a compilation of several trips this Canadian author has taken to his native land. Thus we learn more about Dar es Salaam, Kilwa, Ujiji, Tabora, Moshi, and Zanzibar. My good friend, Jay Jordan’s, Tanga is here, too. Vassanji weaves history and observation wonderfully, much as he did in the book he wrote about the India of his ancestors, A Place Within. From here I would launch into the histories of Asians in Africa, especially the Indian Ocean coast of Africa. I would use Vassanji as a complement to Abdulrazak Gunrah who also writes of the Swahili Coast and what happens when one departs from the native land or even what happens when one finds oneself cast on a distant shore. Ultimately, my literary soul stops by Ophelia’s grave as Hamlet wonders about to “what base uses we may return.” I really like this book, and I really like this author.
