Great African Reads discussion

I ordered my copy from amazon a couple of weeks ago and it hasn't arrived yet. :( i'll get into it as soon as i get it.

I have a copy but I haven't started reading yet because i'm trying to wrap up Cameroon with Egbert...and then I will jump right into Dog Days...I'm looking forward to it!

I've just got my copy and it's audio so i've got no excuse to not be able to "read" the book in June!! :) i'll get into next week.

I am almost finished. Anyone else? I am new to this. I am looking forward to following, and maybe contributing to, the discussion.

Hi rafiki and welcome! Yes, please feel free to post comments and questions at any time. I only just started the book but I'm curious already to see what others are thinking.

I've only just started too but I already really like the audio version i'm listening to. i'll post some thoughts asap! :)

i finished! i finished being sick and i finished reading "Dog Days"!
at first i had a lot of trouble getting into it, which accounts for part of the reason i was so delayed. but eventually i started to really enjoy the story. i still need to read the afterword, which may help answer my first question, but maybe someone here knows? i noticed the book was first published in 2001 and it seems he wrote it in the late 1990s...so was he writing a story of actual current events...did those demonstrations at the end actually take place? if so, when? i know so little about Cameroon, especially when it comes to current events there. i googled Biya since i'm not familiar with him, and i noticed that his wife Jean-Irene, who was mentioned in the story, died in 1992.
i guess i should read the afterword now!

Marieke,
i finished it last night as well and like you, i had so much trouble getting into it! once i was half way through so it improved and i found it a much quicker read (uhm, listen).

will post some more thoughts asap.

There were opposition movements,demonstrations of civil disobedience, and some riots 1990-92. Also,the Cameroon Lions football team was in the World Cup 1/4 finals in 1990. I believe Nganang wrote of the times just before he left Cameroon. Found the book really interesting. Will post later.

i'm looking forward to your comments rafiki...already with these few and what little i've read of the afterword, i'm thinking of changing my rating from a 3 to a 4. i had wanted to rate it 3.5 because i had so much trouble at the beginning. but i think i'm going to gain a much greater appreciation for it beyond my personal experience of not enjoying it so much to enjoying it.
i remember that football team clearly. i played varsity soccer and was obsessed...cameroon was amazing that year and had awesome little dances to go along with everything.

After quickly suspending disbelief, and accepting a dog would understand human(and other animal) language,I was intrigued as to how Mboudjak became a philosophical dog. The change in his treatment in his master's house after the loss of Massa Yo's civil service job, and his initial experience of 'freedom' on the streets leads him to ask "where is Man in all of this?" I found these experiences paralleled that of civil society. When oppressed, people can become apathetic(Cameroon is Cameroon), and will take it out on those around them, instead of on their oppressors. He experienced the invisible leash that binds one to those you depend on for food, shelter, and at least the impression of security .I thought a lot of this book was quite bleak, but fortunately Mboudjak's subtle ironic wit does come through to make it easier to take. The 'song' of the flies over the dead dog's body was chilling. It was a parody of a poem by Francis Nnaggenda that has been a comfort to me in times of loss. Things looked up with the talk of the opposition, and the appearance of the Crow. The demonstrations at the end were inspired more by grief and rage, than thoughtful dissent,but gave a glimmer of hope for better things to come. Although he declared himself at the start to be an "objective observer" ,it is evident at the end that he had hoped for something more from Man, as he says "Man is reborn",and marches proudly along side. Unfortunately, the knowledge that Biya is in control of the Cameroon Government to this day,takes away from the positive end. It was interesting and I am glad I read it. I just can't say I enjoyed it.

I'd been wanting to read this for a long time and it turned out to be kind of a disappointing read for me. It is set during a time in Cameroon when they were going through a financial crisis and economic reforms and the story is told by a dog observing human nature. I like the dog narrator. He is a good character and it gives the book a lighthearted feel, even if some of the content does not. I liked it in the beginning, but as the book went on, it became kind of boring and pedantic to me.