THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2009
I’ve just finished reading ‘Many Rivers’ by Christopher Mlalazi. I was in Zim a few days back and am happy to say I purchased the first copy to be sold in Zimbabwe and Chris delighted me even further by signing my copy. ( I love signed copies- don’t we all? There is something personal about them) I must say I think Chris is a writer carving out his own niche, his writing style is not quite like the ‘common’ Southern- African writing styles I have seen. This is definitely a good thing, as there has been a lot of talk about breaking out of the stifling confines of the stereotypical notion of the ‘African’ story. Many Rivers is a pacey, racy thriller; a Southern-African mafia- type page-turner. This pumped up work is like the bold but quick strokes of a painter on his canvas, rummaging through the many layers of the Zimbabwean stature with a crafty and entertaining eye, and a wise and unusual economy of perusal. I think this suits the mood and pace of the novel well. Chris knows just what to do with his words too, no unnecessary fancy footing and extravagant lacing of words, which is common with many of us ‘writers’ who sometimes attack the English language with that excess zeal of one trying to prove an unnecessary point. It is so easy to get bogged down with how flowery to get the wording and in the end take your reader on a kaleidoscopic ride of the English language while leaving him in a blank space as far as the picture you are trying to get across is concerned. But not Chris. He manipulates this colonial language we have cleverly reshaped and endowed with that tasty African flavour very well. He gives you enough to conjure up the picture and keep turning that page just one more time, one more time, until you reach the final dramatic end and the disappointment grins at you as you realise that there are no more pages to turn. There has been the view that African writing is most often heavy, sombre, often too serious and, besides your regular pacesetters, not enough variety. Well, here is Christopher Mlalazi with some exciting new writing for you. A great read. One of the aims of the written word is to entertain. In Many Rivers, Christopher Mlalazi is certainly at the height of this craft.