Nuruddin Farah

[QansaxMeygaag]

Any lovers of Nuruddin Farah's work here? I recently saw a piece on him in Sahan Journal: http://sahanjournal.com/nuruddin-farah-keeping-somalia-alive/#.UXZzW0oqWK0

 

He is still writing 30 years down the line; talk of dedication to a cause!

[NGONGE]

Some books can be utter twaddle but if you happen to read them at the right time or in a specific environment, they turn into pillars of literature. It is what happened when I recently decided to read Farah’s first book (From a Crooked Rib). There I was, reading about the heroine of the novel and her struggle in a masculine Somali society when I heard of the Tunisian girl that stripped on Facebook and the furore that followed her actions. Now without needing to agree or disagree with the girl’s stance, reading Farah’s book at the same time seemed to amplify the issue and bring into sharp focus some of the ideas he was attempting to share. Worse still, the rape case in Somalia made me end up thinking that I read a massive novel when in reality the book is a couple of hundred pages long.

 

Having said all of that and, for those who read his subsequent books, did his style improve with time? Do his later characters come out bursting of the page or is it all hurried and quick as in his first novel?

[QansaxMeygaag]

^

I absolutely agree with you, re: books can be utter twaddle depending on many situations.

 

I also read From a Crooked Rib and felt it had a "quite not finished" feel about it. I read 2 other novels of his, Maps and his latest Crossbones and they are much better.

 

You have to remember he was like 20 when he wrote From a Crooked Rib and for some strange reason it has turned out to be one of his most famous novels, even much more so than others which in my eyes are better.

 

On the contrary, young Chinua Achebe at only 28 penned his most famous work, Things Fall Apart, yet his latest on Biafra/There was a Country was quiet a disappointment...

 

You would think the older you get the better you get at a skill like writing, but it doesn't seem to be so...

[Gheelle.T]

I think he mentioned that he wrote the novel Crooked Rib in about a month and half. Here is the interview (5 parts) at the

in SF.

[Safferz]

NGONGE;941775 wrote:

Having said all of that and, for those who read his subsequent books, did his style improve with time? Do his later characters come out bursting of the page or is it all hurried and quick as in his first novel?

I think From a Crooked Rib is well known not only because it's his first book, but because it's one of the earliest African novels (itself a relatively new genre in 1970) to tackle gender issues. His earlier novels are also much more Somali, but I think my favourites are the novels from the "Blood in the Sun" trilogy.

 

Gheelle.T;941808 wrote:

I think he mentioned that he wrote the novel Crooked Rib in about a month and half. Here is the interview (5 parts) at the

in SF.

lol I uploaded that

[Coofle]

I quote Nuraddin Farah from interview with prof. Ahmed Ismail Samatar on Bildhaan Magazine...When asked about who to blame for the demise of Somalia he replied:

 

"The one thing that disturbs me, keeps me awake, gives me nightmares, is this falsehood we tell ourselves all the time: denying that we had anything to do with it; denying, for instance, that somebody who was a Prime Minister of the country for years, together with Siyaad Barre, had no involvement, or a Minister of Education declaring a little later, “No, I had nothing to do with it.” I, who have never worked for the state of Somalia, except as a small, lowly typist earlier in my life and a few years of teaching at the University, am willing to say that I, too, am an accomplice in the ruin of Somalia. "Nuraddin Farah""

 

~Even I coofle who was a mere Kid in the Siyaad Barre era, is ready to take part of the blame...

 

Nuraddin is a heavy weight philosopher and thinker, unfortunately he came in the wrong time to the wrong people!

[NGONGE]

^^ Sounds like MJ's "Man In The Mirror" song.

 

That's Why I Want You To

Know

 

I'm Starting With The Man In

The Mirror

I'm Asking Him To Change

His Ways

And No Message Could Have

Been Any Clearer

If You Wanna Make The World

A Better Place

(If You Wanna Make The

World A Better Place)

Take A Look At Yourself, And

Then Make A Change

(Take A Look At Yourself, And

Then Make A Change)

[Waranle_Warrior]

Coofle watch my boy, he nails it on the heard.

 

 

[Alpha Blondy]

Introducing Nurrudin Farah.

 

I walked into the Louis Leakey Auditorium tired from a long day but yearning for a mind zap (re-awakening of my mind). You see every once in a while we need to remember why we do what we do and reignite the passion that once burnt so bright. I’ve learnt that hearing others speak with passion on their life’s mission awakens my own passion so I never miss such an opportunity. In fact I am so enthusiastic, I get to the venue an hour earlier and have a coffee with my friend Noela as we wait for the forum to begin.

 

Its 6.30pm and the auditorium is almost filled to capacity. Two men take to the stage. One I know. He is Binyavanga Wainaina a renowned Kenyan writer, widely published and whose work I have sampled. Then there is Nurrudin Farah. At this point, all I know is that He is Somali and a Nobel peace prize winner with several books to his name. The small frame, light skin toned wrinkled man is dressed so casually (cheap looking sneakers, old blue faded jeans, a t-shirt and track suit jacket) I almost wonder if he was aware that he is the main guest at this event. However as soon as he begins to speak he draws me in with his animated expression, witty humour, very down to earth real nature. He grows on me and by the end of the event I am desperately looking for his work and searching for any additional information I can find on him.

 

Nurrudin Farah is not your typical Somali. He informs us that he speaks and writes in at least five languages (Somali, Amharic, Arabic, Italian and English). Binyavanga asks him why he writes and his response goes something like “Why do I write? There are 24 hours in a day and too little to do, there’s also the fact that I am trained in literature, there’s also the need to teach the world about Somalia, and it’s a different answer depending on who is asking.” He smiles and looks straight at Binyavanga and asks, “But why do you ask?” That is the style of his conversation. He is witty sometimes sarcastic but comes off with such a wealth of experience and you want to hear more and more. Five minutes into the conversation and I can see how he is a writer. He is opinionated, funny and quite the story teller.

 

Nurrudin started writing at the age of four. His Mum sent him to Quran School because she was pregnant and couldn't cope with him. By age 9 he spoke 4 languages and began a letter writing business for illiterates. He was fascinated by giving shape to sounds. Flash Forward to the present, Nurrudin spends every weekday between 8 and 5 pm either writing or thinking about writing. He doesn’t wait for inspiration, he just faces a blank page every day and does not travel unless he has just finished a novel or just before he is about to start a novel. He is a professional writer. He writes in long hand.

Nurrudin is not without controversy. For example, he tells us ‘there is only truth in fiction’ and leaves it to us to interpret what that means. When he is asked why he writes about Somalia? He says, “I don't miss it, the Somalia I write about is more ordinary, more truthful, less chaotic.” It is at this point that we learn that he was exiled from Somalia because of a book that he wrote. They threatened to give him a 30 year jail term which he jokes is too long for any man in the prime of his life so he sought refuge in various countries around the world.

 

Nurrudin speaks of Somalia with such authority and love all in one. He flashes back to the Somalia he saw just before he left. He saw a country without harmony. He saw a family breakdown with no communication from parents to child. Nurrudin looks at us in the auditorium and categorically states that “the more adoration exists between family community the more respect we give to individual and disregard clan, tribe or race. He says that people invent stories about Somalia and calls out American anthropologists and Somalis in the diaspora who he feels should not write about Somalia because they are the same people who send money back home to fuel the war. In contrast he says that he can write about Somalia because “Somalia lives in me, I live it, I eat it, I breathe it and I love it.” You can rebuild the structures of the country Somalia but you can’t replace the feeling of what was in the hearts of those whose rights were abused. According to Nurrudin, Africa has not progressed in the last 200 years.

 

On tribalism and Clanism he doesn’t hold back his views. He says where tribalism is prominent, all second rate citizens put themselves forward because they know they can get spots they don’t really deserve. According to him equality is not diversity in tribe or clan but rather who is the best for the job. He say “If 6 of the best people for the job belong to the same mother and father, leave alone tribe or clan, give them the job. Why reward ineffectiveness? Were all equal” Nurrudin focuses on the individual even in his writing style, he starts from an individual to a community because it is what is on the inside of the individual that becomes collectively a community. He thrives in a cosmopolitan society where everyone is different and you then have to make a choice on whether to focus on the differences or focus on the individuals, society’s that are successful do the former.

 

-----

 

written by a Kenyan. i'm fuming right now. :mad:

[Safferz]

Not your typical Somali kulaha :mad:

[Alpha Blondy]

Safferz;944417 wrote:

Not your typical Somali kulaha :mad:

 

its madness, ma istidhi? :confused:

[QansaxMeygaag]

Alpha Blondy;944396 wrote:

Introducing Nurrudin Farah.

 

I walked into the Louis Leakey Auditorium tired from a long day but yearning for a mind zap (re-awakening of my mind). You see every once in a while we need to remember why we do what we do and reignite the passion that once burnt so bright. I’ve learnt that hearing others speak with passion on their life’s mission awakens my own passion so I never miss such an opportunity. In fact I am so enthusiastic, I get to the venue an hour earlier and have a coffee with my friend Noela as we wait for the forum to begin.

 

Its 6.30pm and the auditorium is almost filled to capacity. Two men take to the stage. One I know. He is Binyavanga Wainaina a renowned Kenyan writer, widely published and whose work I have sampled. Then there is Nurrudin Farah. At this point, all I know is that He is Somali and a Nobel peace prize winner with several books to his name. The small frame, light skin toned wrinkled man is dressed so casually (cheap looking sneakers, old blue faded jeans, a t-shirt and track suit jacket) I almost wonder if he was aware that he is the main guest at this event. However as soon as he begins to speak he draws me in with his animated expression, witty humour, very down to earth real nature. He grows on me and by the end of the event I am desperately looking for his work and searching for any additional information I can find on him.

 

Nurrudin Farah is not your typical Somali. He informs us that he speaks and writes in at least five languages (Somali, Amharic, Arabic, Italian and English). Binyavanga asks him why he writes and his response goes something like “Why do I write? There are 24 hours in a day and too little to do, there’s also the fact that I am trained in literature, there’s also the need to teach the world about Somalia, and it’s a different answer depending on who is asking.” He smiles and looks straight at Binyavanga and asks, “But why do you ask?” That is the style of his conversation. He is witty sometimes sarcastic but comes off with such a wealth of experience and you want to hear more and more. Five minutes into the conversation and I can see how he is a writer. He is opinionated, funny and quite the story teller.

 

Nurrudin started writing at the age of four. His Mum sent him to Quran School because she was pregnant and couldn't cope with him. By age 9 he spoke 4 languages and began a letter writing business for illiterates. He was fascinated by giving shape to sounds. Flash Forward to the present, Nurrudin spends every weekday between 8 and 5 pm either writing or thinking about writing. He doesn’t wait for inspiration, he just faces a blank page every day and does not travel unless he has just finished a novel or just before he is about to start a novel. He is a professional writer. He writes in long hand.

Nurrudin is not without controversy. For example, he tells us ‘there is only truth in fiction’ and leaves it to us to interpret what that means. When he is asked why he writes about Somalia? He says, “I don't miss it, the Somalia I write about is more ordinary, more truthful, less chaotic.” It is at this point that we learn that he was exiled from Somalia because of a book that he wrote. They threatened to give him a 30 year jail term which he jokes is too long for any man in the prime of his life so he sought refuge in various countries around the world.

 

Nurrudin speaks of Somalia with such authority and love all in one. He flashes back to the Somalia he saw just before he left. He saw a country without harmony. He saw a family breakdown with no communication from parents to child. Nurrudin looks at us in the auditorium and categorically states that “the more adoration exists between family community the more respect we give to individual and disregard clan, tribe or race. He says that people invent stories about Somalia and calls out American anthropologists and Somalis in the diaspora who he feels should not write about Somalia because they are the same people who send money back home to fuel the war. In contrast he says that he can write about Somalia because “Somalia lives in me, I live it, I eat it, I breathe it and I love it.” You can rebuild the structures of the country Somalia but you can’t replace the feeling of what was in the hearts of those whose rights were abused. According to Nurrudin, Africa has not progressed in the last 200 years.

 

On tribalism and Clanism he doesn’t hold back his views. He says where tribalism is prominent, all second rate citizens put themselves forward because they know they can get spots they don’t really deserve. According to him equality is not diversity in tribe or clan but rather who is the best for the job. He say “If 6 of the best people for the job belong to the same mother and father, leave alone tribe or clan, give them the job. Why reward ineffectiveness? Were all equal” Nurrudin focuses on the individual even in his writing style, he starts from an individual to a community because it is what is on the inside of the individual that becomes collectively a community. He thrives in a cosmopolitan society where everyone is different and you then have to make a choice on whether to focus on the differences or focus on the individuals, society’s that are successful do the former.

 

-----

 

written by a Kenyan. i'm fuming right now. :mad:

I don't think even Somalis understand Nuruddin Farah's work let alone some silly Kenyan who confesses that he did not know the man or his work. Just pure drivel, if you make a living out of writing, why not at least pick up a book written by the person you want to write about? Rubbish.