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From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this exquisitely written, deeply moving account of the death of a father played out against the backdrop of the collapse of the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, seasoned journalist Godwin has produced a memoir that effortlessly manages to be almost unbearably personal while simultaneously laying bare the cruel regime of longstanding president Robert Mugabe. In 1996 when his father suffers a heart attack, Godwin returns to Africa and sparks the central revelation of the book—the father is Jewish and has hidden it from Godwin and his siblings. As his father's health deteriorates, so does Zimbabwe. Mugabe, self-proclaimed president for life, institutes a series of ill-conceived land reforms that throw the white farmers off the land they've cultivated for generations and consequently throws the country's economy into free fall. There's sadness throughout—for the death of the father, for the suffering of everyone in Zimbabwe (black and white alike) and for the way that human beings invariably treat each other with casual disregard. Godwin's narrative flows seamlessly across the decades, creating a searing portrait of a family and a nation collectively coming to terms with death. This is a tour de force of personal journalism and not to be missed. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* When journalist Godwin, author of the memoir Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa^B (1996), learns that his father is gravely ill, he flies home to Zimbabwe. Against the odds, his father makes a full recovery, and Godwin seizes the opportunity to get to know both his father and his country better. He finds Zimbabwe in a sad state in the late 1990s. Disgruntled veterans of the Rhodesian war and mobs of young men are terrorizing and sometimes killing white farmers and seizing their land with the tacit approval of Robert Mugabe's government. Political opposition to the violence only brings more bloodshed as politicians from the opposition party are subject to similar attacks. On the personal front, Godwin's mother reveals a surprising secret: his father's real name is Jerzy Goldfarb, and he is actually a Jew born in Poland before World War II. Godwin is as enraptured by his father's history--and its effect on his own sense of identity--as he is by tumultuous Zimbabwean politics. Godwin seamlessly blends a journalistic quest to get at the heart of the problems plaguing his home country with a family memoir in this absorbing, powerful book. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly remarkable book,
By
This review is from: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa (Hardcover)
It was said of George Fox (the founder of Quakerism) that he was 'no man's copy' and the very same can be said of Peter Godwin's book 'When a Crocodile eats the Sun'. It is no other book's copy.For anyone who does not know the true history of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe over the last 30 years there can be no other book which provides a better insight into how Zimbabwe has been converted from a viable and flourishing country into a 'needless moral and physical debasement ' of its former self. When it comes to providing unvarnished details of what has actually happened in Zimbabwe ' without any embellishment or prevarication ' there can be no better source of information. The truth is that as far as destroying the very soul of a country is concerned Mugabe is in the company of the very worst demagogues in the history of mankind. As Godwin rightly says about his fellow countrymen (both black and white) 'they have made scavengers of all of us . . . Reducing us all to desperados and thieves'. Three simple statistic captures the extent to which Mugabe and his cronies have devastated the citizenry of the country they rule. When Mugabe came to power the life expectancy in Rhodesia was 65 but, in today's Zimbabwe, it has sunk to 33. The unemployment rate has now reached a staggering 80%. The annual rate of inflation is now over 3,000%. And all of this without any good reason whatsoever. Godwin's book is somewhat unusual in that it is really three stories rolled into one. Firstly the details of how his own family has been adversely affected by Mugabe's misrule. Secondly the manner in which he learnt of his father's Jewish antecedents. And thirdly a remarkable set of first hand experiences of how agricultural production in Zimbabwe has been effectively destroyed and individual farmers and their families have been degraded and all too often killed. Godwin is a superb craftsman and researcher. Once he learnt that his aunt (his father's sister) and grandmother had been exterminated in Treblinka by the Nazis he he took the trouble to find out exactly what happened in Treblinka. His measured description is nothing other than bone chilling and ought to be obligatory reading for all holocaust deniers such such as Iran's Ahamadinajad. All in all, this is a book which is bound to reward anyone who gives themselves the pleasure of reading it. The remarkable honesty and openness of Godwin's account is a rare treat unfortunately about a most depressing subject ameliorated only by the examples of human compassion that shine through the sombreness of the story as a whole. Godwin's book is clearly badly in need of being read by as many people as possible since the UN has bizarrely chosen to install a Zimbabwean as head of its Commission on Sustainable Development. What a mockery of all the malfeasance which Godwin so ably describes.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read,
By Avid Reader "Avid reader" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa (Paperback)
This book is an eye opener of what Zimbabwe has become. The novel provides a first hand look at the daily chaos and disintegration of a nation. A peak into the lives of Peter Godwin's parents adds an additional emotional component to the story line. Recent elections confirm that nothing has changed within its borders. A great read albeit heart wrenching.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A powerful personal account of Zimbabwe's ruthless decline,
By
This review is from: When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa (Hardcover)
Peter Godwin does many things in this wonderful book: he describes the admirable people who make up his family; he talks of their values, of their dedication and decency. He tells of how his parents made their adult lives, after large events in their younger lives during World War II, in what was Rhodesia and later became Zimbabwe. He describes their solid, good work to create a better society. He then tells of the awful hardships Zimbabwean people have suffered over the past 15 years or so. He does not exaggerate the ugly decline of Zimbabwean society as its ruler, Robert Mugabe, clings more voraciously to power. Mugabe appeals to the venality of his supporters, allowing them to plunder rather than to build. In the process a steady brutalization of Zimbabwean society occurs. Godwin sadly chronicles this horrible transition, as the society turns from one of hope, with human dignity respected, to one in which bullies and thieves thrive, and honest, hard-working people suffer. It is a depressing story, yet, through the detail, Godwin tells also of courage and kindness, despite privation, and of those who persevere to re-establish a democratic society in Zimbabwe. While the book is terribly sad, personally and socially, it is also uplifting, inspiring; telling of the people who will, one trusts, one day end Mugabe's military oppression and Zimbabwe's current nightmare. The book is very well worth reading.
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