Wow, wow, wow. It took me a little while to get into the rhythm but once I did I was absolutely blown away by Bulawayo's latest offering. She presents an allegory that is a riff on Animal Farm, removing relocating the story from Europe to Zimbabwe in the aftermath of the coup that unseated Robert Mugabe. Orwell's original premise is given new life and incredible power by the strength of Bulawayo's incredible writing which uses rhythm and language to sweep her readers away into her reimagined world. Her use of repeated phrases is spellbinding and it some cases acts like a physical beat behind the story. Her writing is lyrical and rhythmic and showcases the impact of stylistic linguistic choices and an invented lexicon to create a fully realised world with its own structures and language. This world populated by anthropomorphised animals (or zoomorphised humans?) and the language cleverly reflects this with 'mals' and 'femals' replacing males and females, 'persomal' instead of personal. Bulawayo is well aware of the power of language, her execrable politicians ruthlessly mine it for meaningless catchphrases to disguise the truth, the "other country" (social media) uses it for viral hashtags and activist phrases are spotlighted through repetition. One in particular is repeated over a hundred times consecutively and it is deeply moving and powerful.

The satire is by turns darkly funny and horrifying and Bulawayo manages the shifts between the two moods with delicacy. There is farce, there is folly, there is irony, there is absurdity, aided by inherent surrealism of its characters but none of this blunts the power of the biting satire, the outrage at the cruelty and corruption of leaders, the power of fear and apathy and the courage of the who stand up regardless of the consequences to themselves. I learned a lot about about Zimbabwe and the impact of colonialism and post-colonialism and I can only hope that this becomes a key work for teaching these periods. I am in awe of the way Bulawayo has taken such an iconic premise and created something fresh and modern and new and packed with innovation. By suffusing her creation with African folklore and history and filling it with a unique language and expression, Glory transcends being just an "African Animal Farm" and stands wholly in its own right and deserves a reputation just as lasting and pervasive as Orwell's.

We follow Jidada, a fictional country with horses, dogs and other animals as its inhabitants, as it struggles with its first regime change, corruption, political instability and the violence that simmers alongside it all. Like all previously colonised nations, Jidada’s graves are still dug by the hands of oppression, by those with too much power and too much money and too little heart. Each burial is bloody. There is no peaceful end when you have to beg for a beginning: for water to wash the blood off your church dress, for electricity to look into your lover’s eyes just after midnight when you both lie awake waiting for better, waiting for your country to become more than a funeral home.

Yes, Glory is bleak. It is dark, and bloody, and I cried tears of anger, because Glory and Jidada is Zimbabwe but it is also everywhere else, everywhere where one man gets to decide who is what, and why, everywhere where the people do not have the power. But at the heart of it is a burning mess of song and spirit and remembrance, a mess we call hope, adamantly and bravely: it is the writing on the wall when everyone says NO, it is the dogs throwing their guns to the ground, it is the sacrifices that no longer need to be made. It is the idea of peace, of jubilance, and while it might not be there yet, it is simmering in the ground, in the hands of the people who have had enough.

Wonderfully written and unique in its balance and narration, Glory deserves all the stars.

"Because failure of leadership can change the heart of an animal. Because callous governance can change the heart of an animal... Because crushed hopes, betrayed dreams, the broken promise of independence – all of it – had changed our once patient, loyal hearts so that when the Father of the Nation was waiting for us to show the Defenders how much we loved and needed him, to rise up in his name, we instead poured onto the streets to help them finish what they had started, yes, tholukhuti to put the nail in the coffin."

NoViolet Bulawayo's allegory – a glorious nod to Orwell – is a very obvious one that mirrors the demise of Zimbabwe's long-time president and once-upon-a-time liberator, Robert Mugabe. In the book, the Mugabe figure, named the Old Horse, believes himself the beloved Father of the Nation of Jidada, despite his people's suffering, with the majority languishing in poverty. So when his army of Defenders turns against him, and he's overthrown, he's shocked, especially by the people he believes love him unto death.

But the new leader himself isn't interested in uplifting his people. Instead, it's more of the same: empty promises about free and fair elections, promises about creating jobs and foreign investment. As the revolution is happening, Destiny returns to Jidada after spending years in exile. Her courage will become instrumental in creating Jidada's future.

There is no other way to describe this book other than as genius. It's a masterpiece. As someone who lives in a neighbouring country to Zimbabwe, I could draw the parallels between the story in the book, and the history it satirises. And it does so brilliantly. By using animals as her characters, Bulawayo creates something primordial for the reader to connect with. Her indictment of Zimbabwe's past and current leaders is scathing. The writing is radiant and vivid. It's no wonder this was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Glory is an energy burst, an exhilarating joyride. It is the story of an uprising, told by a bold, vivid chorus of animal voices that helps us see our human world more clearly.
This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. Thanks to the publisher for the copy. What a great read it was.

This book just was not for me. I could not get past the first chapter. It has multiple headings within each chapter which break the flow. It is set in a generic African republic and, based on the first chapter and a skim read, is satirising this in a comic way. I found tge subject matter uninteresting and am sure this is to my detriment.

I also do not like the device of telling the story through animals.

Short listed for Booker but not on my short list.

A satirical take on the 2017 Zimbabwe political situation using Animal Farm as it’s basis. Sounds absurd, but it works. Funny, heartbreaking and utterly captivating. Not what I expected but a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Glory by Noviolet Bulawayo
~~~~~
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars
#glory #netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage, for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
~~~~~
Booker Prize shortlisted novel; a satirical, Animal Farm-esque take on the political history of Zimbabwe set in the fictional African country of Jidada.
~~~~~
I'll admit that this book is much, much cleverer than I am and the first 5% of it left me baffled; I did not understand what I was reading at all. My solution was to find a few interviews with the author that gave me some background and context to understand, and ultimately appreciate, what Bulawayo did in this book. And I'm so glad I persevered because this was phenomenal.
It is witty and funny; the greed and corruption of the Government is shown by the titles of its Ministers: the Minister of Looting, the Minister of Disinformation, the Minister of Propaganda, the Ministers of Things and Nothing...
It is also heartbreaking. The parallels between what mother and daughter, Simiso and Destiny, have suffered at the hands of the brutal government militia, the Defenders, is so painful and emotional to read.
There is such a sense of hopelessness too. Hopes for fair and credible elections are dashed, dissension is brutally repressed, the desperation of the citizens of Jidada who suffer from massive unemployment, shortages of food, fuel and electricity while those in power live and travel in luxury is palpable.
The writing is amazing; Bulawayo's style is nothing like I have ever read before. This was a book that demanded my attention and focus but that rewarded me with a lyrical and gut-punching ending. I honestly didn't know what to do with myself and all the feelings this book elicited in me when I finished it. This will be in my top 10 books of 2022, without a doubt.
~~~~~

i am sure there is a type of reader for this but i find the characters, anthropomorphic animals, to be very cartoonish. the narration has no specific perspective which made me all the more detached from the story.

'Glory' is not a novel that is easy to sum up in a review. Descriptions of the concept just sound bizarre when given out of context, but it works better than expected when you actually read the book. Initially the book is a thinly disguised (or not even disguised) story of the downfall of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, only Zimbabwe is called 'Jidada' and its inhabitants are various animals rather than humans. Other than that the circumstances, history and general geopolitics are the same. The story goes on to cover the 'new dispensation', and the eventual corruption and downfall of that. Some of that is speculative - President Mnangagwa has yet to rename every road after himself for example.

The novel follows the perspectives of a number of characters, including all the main political players, and in particular a young goat named Destiny who has returned to the country after ten years in exile following the last major crackdown on dissent. The writing style is varied, and includes short sections with Twitter-style comments, and reflections on some of the past horrors committed in the name of the revolution.

Probably the most common word in the novel is 'Tholukuthi' - which doesn't have a direct translation but means something like 'truly' or 'and then'. It would help to have it explained somewhere, although a quick internet search soon enlightened me. Initially I found it annoying but over time I came to accept it and understand it in the instinctive way you do a word that you know, with its different nuances.

That also describes my attitude to the book. At first I didn't really 'get' it. I didn't understand the point of having the characters be animals, and I found the style hard to read and annoying. Then over time I got used to it and felt there was a purpose to the style and set up that was hard to define but ultimately felt 'right'. Bulawayo can write in a more conventional style - her other novel is written so - therefore this is a conscious choice and knowing that made me make more effort to appreciate it.

My three star rating is really a compliment for a book of this type - I am not someone who likes books written in a 'clever' style. I like a linear narrative, clear plot, plain writing and loveable characters. So the fact that I didn't hate this suggests it is actually very good. People who like 'clever' literary novels will likely appreciate it more.

“This is not an animal farm but Jidada with a ‑da and another ‑da! So my advice to you is, Stop it, and Stop it right now! Immediately! At once!”

My thanks to Random House U.K. Vintage Chatto & Windus for a digital review copy of ‘Glory’ by NoViolet Bulawayo. It was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize for Fiction and while it didn’t win, I felt that it was an impressive work of fiction that took an unusual approach to political satire that contained a hard hitting message.

‘Glory’ is set in the fictional African country of Jidada, which is populated by animals. Since the European colonisers were ousted almost forty years ago, the country has been led by the ‘Old Horse’. While he considers himself President for Life and Father of the Nation, he is about to be overthrown himself.

It is fairly obvious that ‘Glory’ is a fable in the tradition of ‘Animal Farm’ and is a thinly veiled political satire about the 2017 coup in Zimbabwe and the fall of Robert Mugabe.

In reference to her decision to populate Jidada with animals she said that it was homage to her late grandmother, who had entertained her and her siblings with folk tales populated by animals. I am always drawn to novels that are informed by mythology and folk lore.

Literary fiction is by its nature often challenging and satire, whether general or political, even more so. In addressing the subject in this form, I felt that NoViolet Bulawayo had granted herself more freedom than might be have been possible in a more traditional account of the period, whether in fiction or nonfiction. In addition, satire allows for universal themes linked to politics and social issues, no matter the nation, to be explored.

Overall, an intelligent, thought provoking novel that combined the absurd with the tragic.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Having read We Need New Names nine years ago, I greatly anticipated the author's sophomore novel. This book could be difficult to get your head around. It is a novel that begins with a lot of noise as characters constantly yell at one another, proclaiming that Jidada is ruined and seeking a new leader. Once we pass through all of that, we focus in on one character who helps the story move in a different direction. Now, we begin to explore what lives are like for the ordinary people living in the city, and it is a life filled with fear and strife.

All of the characters in Glory are animals. I am not sure if there was any necessity for this, as the animals do have very human attributes. However, I wonder if the author made this decision to emphasise a lack of humanity in such a violent society. There are satirical moments in what can be quite a dark novel, and for those I was grateful. There was also great characterisation when it came to showing the pain that characters feel at the loss of their loved ones.

It isn't what I expected from NoViolet Bulawayo, but it is a novel that I cannot stop thinking about.

I can see why this book divides readers, with some just not getting it whilst others enthuse. I think the conceit either works for you or it doesn’t – and for me it did. I found it an hypnotic read, with the repetition, the refrain of Tolokuthi (which alone needs following up, and a possible fall down a YouTube rabbit hole), with occasional pages of almost incantatory lines (“I can’t breathe” repeated again and again for page after page) and an immersive narrative style. The novel is set in a fictionalised Zimbabwe called Jidada, populated by animals and obviously inspired by, but not derivative of, Animal Farm. It takes place in the aftermath of Mugabe’s fall when for a short while a better future seems possible. The Father of the Nation is a thinly veiled Mugabe clinging on to power as the population struggle with a collapsed economy, corruption and state violence. We gradually learn about the atrocities and mass killings that culminated in Mugabe’s repressive regime. But it’s not long before the New Dispensation that ousts him is shown to offer nothing new at all. Just more of the same. Satire and scathing denunciation, farce and tragedy, heart-rending at times, hilarious at others, this is a narrative tour de force, an allegory, a fable and an insightful and bitter portrait of a corrupt and all too familiar dictatorship. Powerful and moving.

On the 2022 Booker Prize Shortlist

NoViolet Bulawayo is inspired to write this powerful and heartbreaking post-colonial satire of the fictionalised nation of Jidada, a thinly veiled political history of Zimbabwe, when she returns from exile with the fall of Robert Mugabe in 2017, and seeing the desperate hope of the people trickle away with what followed. The disappointment, she notes, led many Zimbabweans on social media to 'casually refer to the country as an Animal Farm, damning the callous and clueless leadership'. This opens her eyes into seeing the power and universality of stories, the people seeing themselves in Orwell's classic of another place and another time, highlighting the surreal absurdity that underlines tyranny and oppression.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

This and Zimbabwe's colourful and enthralling folklore drive her exhilarating, at times comic, and vibrant narrative, inhabited by animals as the characters, with all their various perspectives, relating the all too real and turbulent history of British colonial rule, the ruthlessness, terror, abuse, brutality, genocide, massacres, rigged elections, tyranny, and oppression, and where family and tribal ties play a critical role. Bulawayo focuses on the ordinary people, and the legacy of women, unrelenting in her determination that the real, bitter and tragic history is not forgotten under the weight of the official versions.

There is hope in the storytelling here, which I hope to see will eventually translate into reality in Zimbabwe's future, along with the understanding that oppressive regimes survive only through the compliance and silence of the people. This is a thought provoking read, informative and educational for the reader seeking to know more about Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular, and deserves to be on the Booker Prize shortlist. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.