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God's Bits of Wood
In 1947-8 the workers on the Dakar-Niger Railway came out on strike. Sembène Ousmane, in this vivid and moving novel, evinces all of the colour, passion and tragedy of those decisive years in the history of West Africa.
'Ever since they left Thiès, the women had not stopped singing. As soon as one group allowed the refrain to die, another picked it up, and new verses were born at the hazard of chance or inspiration, one word leading to another and each finding, in its turn, its rhythm and its place. No one was very sure any longer where the song began, or if it had an ending. It rolled out over its own length, like the movement of a serpent. It was as long as a life.'
'Ever since they left Thiès, the women had not stopped singing. As soon as one group allowed the refrain to die, another picked it up, and new verses were born at the hazard of chance or inspiration, one word leading to another and each finding, in its turn, its rhythm and its place. No one was very sure any longer where the song began, or if it had an ending. It rolled out over its own length, like the movement of a serpent. It was as long as a life.'
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
About the author
Ousmane Sembène
24 books151 followersOusmane Sembène often credited in the French style as Sembène Ousmane in articles and reference works, was a Senegalese film director, producer and writer. The Los Angeles Times considered him one of the greatest authors of Africa and has often been called the "Father of African film."
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December 17, 2015
‘We know what France represents,’ Bakayoko said, ‘and we respect it. We are in no sense anti-French; but once again, Monsieur le directeur, this is not a question of France or of her people. It is a question of employees and their employer.’One of the tags I've been using on Tumblr with increasing frequency is 'life is politics is life.' Out of all the ideas the United States has actively worked against the most, this is easily one of the top five, because what I mean by this is not The West Wing or biographies of presidents or any other glamorized and commercialized rendering of an already glamorized and commercialized system of propositions and elections. I'm talking about what is happening in Ferguson at this very moment. I'm talking about the heart of Les Misérables, not the music or movie or the marketing campaigns but every time someone agonizes in jail, every time someone dies in the streets, every single fucking time a child is shot down in the name of justice. Your weekends, your lack of draft, your right to vote and your right to live, name any of your legal privileges and I guarantee you. Someone suffered so that it may come to pass.
‘The toubabs do all kinds of things that humiliate and debase us, and now you want to do the same.’In some ways, God's Bits of Wood is a better book than Hugo's longest creation. The 1400+ page behemoth is closer to my heart due to an exposure so lengthy that I can no longer determine whether the book fit my tastes or my tastes were formed by the book, but in all the hundreds of pages the methodology of thought is never questioned. There are oppressors, and there are oppressed, but the face off between ideological stances never reaches the magnitude of The Wretched of the Earth's maxim:
‘There is no law in this book that you would refuse to admit. It’s not an unbreakable set of rules, it’s…it’s a way of thinking.’
In the colonial context the settler only ends his work of breaking in the native when the latter admits loudly and intelligibly the supremacy of the white man's values.Here, it is not simply a matter of barricades and moral determination of right and wrong, but how much of that sense of intrinsic determination has been corrupted by those who view you as a subspecies to be drained to the very drippings of marrow and soul. The rights of women, the value of religion, systems of language and conspiracies of crime and punishment, all of which expand the phrase "to live" into a constant war of what is nourishment, and what is poison. Colonialism has been touched upon in literature before, but never like this.
There are a great any ways of prostituting yourself, you know. There are those who do it because they are forced to — Alioune, Deune, Idrissa and myself all prostitute our work and our abilities to men who have no respect for us. And then there are others who sell themselves morally — the ones like Mabigué and Gaye and Beaugosse. And what about you?Like many great writers, Sembène's strengths lie in a critical gathering where villains carry out conscientious acts and heroes still have much to learn after the battle is won. This work of his is inherently political not because of the words "Communist" and "strike", but in a structural emphasis on group over individual and holistic contextualization of cause and effect. Much as the US government loves to construct otherwise, politics is not a single person sitting in a chair earning $200k a year. Decried and belittled and maligned as it is, politics is the power of the people with the necessary levels of effort and will and faith required to face down a system that must always be forced to give in. It took 125 years of political action to get women the right to vote in this country of mine, and I have only this year celebrated the 50th anniversary. There are highlighted names and events and the usual quick and infantalizing methods with which history treats social justice movements, but it was never, ever, just one.
'Three million francs is a lot of money for a Negro lathe operator,' Doudou said, 'but even three million francs won't make me white. I would rather have the ten minutes for tea and remain a Negro.'A number of people die in this book. They die brutally, they die tragically, they give their lives just before the triumph of their efforts and lose their lives soon afterwards. In the name of all those who will follow in their footsteps in that obscene, dehumanizing, and necessary process that is political action, they will not be forgotten.
If a man like that is killed, there is always another to take his place. That is not the important thing. But to act so that no man dares to strike you because he knows you speak the truth, to act so that you can no longer be arrested because you are asking for the right to live, to act so that all of this will end, both here and elsewhere: this is what should be in your thoughts. That is what you must explain to others, so that you will never again be forced to bow down before anyone, but also so that no one shall be forced to bow down before you.
August 15, 2020
Some books contain a kind of Truth that burns when you touch it. This is one.
November 27, 2021
رواية محزنة بحق .,
February 2, 2011
Vividly capturing the 1947-8 Dakar-Niger railway strike, God's Bit of Wood never ceases to shock, to inspire, and to ultimately shed light on an event that truly shaped the importance of the African culture. Despite its many characters and at times confusing names and places, each story of the workers and their wives, the whites and the oppressors, the beggars and the unloved, all demonstrate the immense struggle that everyone was going through during the strike and the tremendous courage it took to follow through with it. The strike itself was certainly a revolt against the mistreatment and racism that the Africans had been experiencing for years by the European colonists that took advantage of them. Even more than that however, another type of prejudice is addressed in the novel and that is the issue of gender. The women are constantly battling with their roles in society and with equality that never seemed to be possible until the strike. Finally, particular strong female characters are each in their own way finding their inner strength and standing up to their men who think they are lower than themselves.
Sembene Ousmane weaves a beautiful piece of historical fictions with God's Bits of Wood and teaches the reader to never forget that matters of race, gender, and equality, are all matters that might never go away but we must still always fight for.
Sembene Ousmane weaves a beautiful piece of historical fictions with God's Bits of Wood and teaches the reader to never forget that matters of race, gender, and equality, are all matters that might never go away but we must still always fight for.
October 30, 2018
Incredible book. Highly readable, very gentle in tone. You almost are lulled into not quite feeling the real pain and cost of their months long struggle. Almost. It breaks to the surface, but what I'm most left with is the manner of peace, within the various family groups and communities.
It's a great book.
It's a great book.
November 19, 2021
Жерминал на сенегалски начин!
Роман је инспирисан стварним догађајима током вишемесечног штрајка (црних) радника на прузи Дакар – Нигер 1947/1948. године. То је још увек колонијално време, током кога су домаћи, црни радници третирани тек мало боље од робова од стране својих (белих) послодаваца. Временом ће међу самим радницима сазрети свест о томе да је њихов положај неиздржив, а са продором и неких комунистичко-марксистичких идеја, долази до одлуке о штрајку. Иако нису свесни свих последица које та одлука са собом може донети, радници су изразито солидарни, доследни и остају чврсти у својим ставовима и поред свих непочинстава па чак и суровог насиља, које колонизатори користе како би их „сломили“. Радња се одвија у више градова на прузи Дакар–Нигер и пратимо почетке радничког организовања, живот сиромашних радника, њихових жена и деце без основних услова, али и колонизатора и послодаваца који су у потпуности одвојени од афричке реалности. Усман Сембен пише о свему томе са великим жаром.
Ипак, књижевне вредности су овде у другом плану. Све је у потпуности подређено политичкој и социјалној поруци коју аутор хоће да пошаље (треба имати на уму да је роман написан 1960. године, дакле, у јеку буђења афричких нација и почетку урушавања колонијализма). Нема овде нијанси, сви ликови су црно-бели (добар црнац – лош колонизатор), нити је присутна било каква карактеризација. Ликови су потпуно типски, шаблонски, а чак и када имају унутрашње дилеме, то је све у сврху потцртавања идеје о еманципацији домаћег становништва.
Поред тога што је антиколонијални и антирасистички, овај роман је и изражено социјални, с обзиром да је главни лик заправо цела радничка класа која се бори против великих капиталистичких компанија. Значајна улога дата је и женама, те тако имамо антологијску сцену марша жена, све на челу са посрнулом Пендом, која ће се, како то већ бива, искупити за своје грехе... готово библијски. Феминизам деценијама пре него што је постало модерно о томе говорити.
Сцене се смењују као у неком филму, чему је можда узрок то што је Сембен филмски режисер (по овом роману снимљен је и филм 2008. године).
Иако са чисто књижевног аспекта ово није ремек-дело, оно је изузетно важно, а поруке су актуелне и шест деценија по објављивању.
Роман је инспирисан стварним догађајима током вишемесечног штрајка (црних) радника на прузи Дакар – Нигер 1947/1948. године. То је још увек колонијално време, током кога су домаћи, црни радници третирани тек мало боље од робова од стране својих (белих) послодаваца. Временом ће међу самим радницима сазрети свест о томе да је њихов положај неиздржив, а са продором и неких комунистичко-марксистичких идеја, долази до одлуке о штрајку. Иако нису свесни свих последица које та одлука са собом може донети, радници су изразито солидарни, доследни и остају чврсти у својим ставовима и поред свих непочинстава па чак и суровог насиља, које колонизатори користе како би их „сломили“. Радња се одвија у више градова на прузи Дакар–Нигер и пратимо почетке радничког организовања, живот сиромашних радника, њихових жена и деце без основних услова, али и колонизатора и послодаваца који су у потпуности одвојени од афричке реалности. Усман Сембен пише о свему томе са великим жаром.
Ипак, књижевне вредности су овде у другом плану. Све је у потпуности подређено политичкој и социјалној поруци коју аутор хоће да пошаље (треба имати на уму да је роман написан 1960. године, дакле, у јеку буђења афричких нација и почетку урушавања колонијализма). Нема овде нијанси, сви ликови су црно-бели (добар црнац – лош колонизатор), нити је присутна било каква карактеризација. Ликови су потпуно типски, шаблонски, а чак и када имају унутрашње дилеме, то је све у сврху потцртавања идеје о еманципацији домаћег становништва.
Поред тога што је антиколонијални и антирасистички, овај роман је и изражено социјални, с обзиром да је главни лик заправо цела радничка класа која се бори против великих капиталистичких компанија. Значајна улога дата је и женама, те тако имамо антологијску сцену марша жена, све на челу са посрнулом Пендом, која ће се, како то већ бива, искупити за своје грехе... готово библијски. Феминизам деценијама пре него што је постало модерно о томе говорити.
Сцене се смењују као у неком филму, чему је можда узрок то што је Сембен филмски режисер (по овом роману снимљен је и филм 2008. године).
Иако са чисто књижевног аспекта ово није ремек-дело, оно је изузетно важно, а поруке су актуелне и шест деценија по објављивању.
February 7, 2017
Ever since they had left Thiés, the women had not stopped singing. As soon as one group allowed the refrain to die, another picked it up, and new verses wereborn at the hazard of chance or inspiration, one word leading to another and each finding, in its turn, its rhythm and its place. No one was very sure any longer where the song began, or if it had an ending. It rolled out over its own length, like the movement of a serpent. It was as long as a life.
A fine book, that absolutely deserves its classic label. I don’t want to describe too much, because while the outcome is known from the blurb at the outset, the course to victory is so expertly drawn that the plot needs to unfold for each reader without any expectations. The beauty of the writing is that the development of the story is so tightly woven into the development of each character, as individuals and groups find unexpected strengths in themselves that lead them to take heroic steps to advance the cause. We admire and care deeply about all of these characters by the end of the novel. I don’t now how closely the novel mirrors actual events, but regardless of the details it must have been a mighty battle and dug deeply into the core resources of these workers to survive the hunger and abuse that accompanied their demands for fair treatment. The French do not come off well, to say the least. The portrait of colonial and capitalist West Africa is brutal, but very credible.
I will say that the start was a bit difficult. But about 60 pages in the women enter the story and things really take off. Keep going until you get there, and you will be rolling. This is an amazing portrayal of how women can have powerful roles in major events, and end up in different power relationships as a result. Yet it doesn’t read at all as strident; just pointing out that resistance strengthens everyone. Men and women are portrayed as equally complex, contradictory, wise, foolish, and emotional. Some are a bit unbelievably wise and heroic, it is true, but overall they are believable and admirable.
Such an inspiring and beautifully written book. Very highly recommended.
A fine book, that absolutely deserves its classic label. I don’t want to describe too much, because while the outcome is known from the blurb at the outset, the course to victory is so expertly drawn that the plot needs to unfold for each reader without any expectations. The beauty of the writing is that the development of the story is so tightly woven into the development of each character, as individuals and groups find unexpected strengths in themselves that lead them to take heroic steps to advance the cause. We admire and care deeply about all of these characters by the end of the novel. I don’t now how closely the novel mirrors actual events, but regardless of the details it must have been a mighty battle and dug deeply into the core resources of these workers to survive the hunger and abuse that accompanied their demands for fair treatment. The French do not come off well, to say the least. The portrait of colonial and capitalist West Africa is brutal, but very credible.
I will say that the start was a bit difficult. But about 60 pages in the women enter the story and things really take off. Keep going until you get there, and you will be rolling. This is an amazing portrayal of how women can have powerful roles in major events, and end up in different power relationships as a result. Yet it doesn’t read at all as strident; just pointing out that resistance strengthens everyone. Men and women are portrayed as equally complex, contradictory, wise, foolish, and emotional. Some are a bit unbelievably wise and heroic, it is true, but overall they are believable and admirable.
Such an inspiring and beautifully written book. Very highly recommended.
May 20, 2013
A novel about a labor strike!? In Africa?
Hell yes!
The novel starts slow, and introduces a gabillion characters, like a later day Dostoevsky, but the slow build up and the endless characters are necessary, since the strike is a complicated story that needs to be told with delicacy and many individuals need to be highlighted to show the collective effort and to bring home the collective AND individual plight (not to mention show us the lives of the people in order to feel their deaths, successes, or failures).
The book, as you probably know, is about a strike in French Senegal in 1947-48 against the shitty conditions of the railway. As usual for strikes, it's a story of exploitation and corruption; an once familiar story unfortunately forgotten by the people of today, despite the rampant exploitation by the powerful that happens all around us.
But enough of that, for now.
The story gradually builds momentum like the freight trains the characters are attached to, and the book, once it starts going, plunges forward in action, intensity, death, despair, moral quandaries, and even the occasional (potential) love affair. The prose is good and never draws attention to itself but recedes into the propulsion of the story. Ousmane, the author (who is also a fantastic film maker!) bounces back and forth largely between two towns, Dakar and Thiès. The various characters are generally stationed at one of the two towns, and the two sets of characters eventually converge at the end of an amazing march. But in-between the march, there are endless accounts of starvation and suffering punctuated with deaths, strikes, riots against the corrupt cops, a town burning down, sling shot kids, and the sad and heroic plights of many men, women, and children.
And that's something that I don't read about much any more: actual heroic people fighting to make the world a better place and taking deprivation and pain in order to make things better for the people who come after them.
I don't want to tell you much about the details of the plot, but it's a wonderful story, and as Ousmane says, "The men and women who... took part in this struggle for a better way of life owe nothing to anyone... Their example was not in vain. Since then, Africa has made progress."
Amen.
Hell yes!
The novel starts slow, and introduces a gabillion characters, like a later day Dostoevsky, but the slow build up and the endless characters are necessary, since the strike is a complicated story that needs to be told with delicacy and many individuals need to be highlighted to show the collective effort and to bring home the collective AND individual plight (not to mention show us the lives of the people in order to feel their deaths, successes, or failures).
The book, as you probably know, is about a strike in French Senegal in 1947-48 against the shitty conditions of the railway. As usual for strikes, it's a story of exploitation and corruption; an once familiar story unfortunately forgotten by the people of today, despite the rampant exploitation by the powerful that happens all around us.
But enough of that, for now.
The story gradually builds momentum like the freight trains the characters are attached to, and the book, once it starts going, plunges forward in action, intensity, death, despair, moral quandaries, and even the occasional (potential) love affair. The prose is good and never draws attention to itself but recedes into the propulsion of the story. Ousmane, the author (who is also a fantastic film maker!) bounces back and forth largely between two towns, Dakar and Thiès. The various characters are generally stationed at one of the two towns, and the two sets of characters eventually converge at the end of an amazing march. But in-between the march, there are endless accounts of starvation and suffering punctuated with deaths, strikes, riots against the corrupt cops, a town burning down, sling shot kids, and the sad and heroic plights of many men, women, and children.
And that's something that I don't read about much any more: actual heroic people fighting to make the world a better place and taking deprivation and pain in order to make things better for the people who come after them.
I don't want to tell you much about the details of the plot, but it's a wonderful story, and as Ousmane says, "The men and women who... took part in this struggle for a better way of life owe nothing to anyone... Their example was not in vain. Since then, Africa has made progress."
Amen.
June 18, 2010
Sadly, this book is extremely unsung. It is the African "Grapes of Wrath," in scope, politics, relevance, and in beauty of the prose. Sembene was as brilliant a film director as he was novelist. This books covers not just the events of the strike but the range of people involved, the workers, managers, and their families. Brilliant.
February 25, 2015
Before you read the book, God's Bits of Wood seems a strange title. I think it is because it is a reference that is native to West Africa. As you continue to read, you think to yourself that there was no title better than this.
Sembène, my goodness!
I will tell you that I was drawn into the descriptions like a scientist with magnifying glass captivated by the subjects and happenings on the slide in his hand. He's a tailor that weaves a cloth so intricate and great that this is more than skill. There is gift.
His descriptions immediately draw you in. You can see sunsets in his words. You can see loss, betrayal, rejection in high definition just in the way he describes things. I was in amazement.
The story is set in Senegal but is not limited to one place. In fact there are no chapters in the novel. Only names of cities and people. It is a tale that describes places and people with details. It alludes to places as bodies with parts, those parts the lives of the people in them and how they interact. It's like Senegal becomes a person and the cities mentioned different parts contributing to her movement.
The stories of the people at first seem subjective however, the more the story proceeds, we come to see how long a thread Sembene is using. Everyone is tied in to each other, at least from the eyes of the reader.
It contributes to the title being meaningful, "God's Bits of Wood", the pieces that make His house.
There is no character in the book that will not impact you. From Ad'jibid'ji, to Fa Keita, to Niakoro, to Bakayoko, to Penda and Ramatoulaye. Each character is so unique and yet adds to the wholeness of the tale. While Bakayoko might seem the most prominent figure in the tale because of his ability to cause major change in cities and in people's lives, the other characters also hold their ground.
I particularly found the build up very convincing. Histories, enmities, intentions, disappointments all woven together, or may I say, built together to build the house in the end we see.
The book is another story about a struggle of liberation in An African state from colonialism. In this case, it is not a struggle for political independence in the aspect of building new government and the like. It is a simple yet complex matter. Labour rights.
The Africans are paid less than their French counterparts, do not have family allowance, retirement benefits and leave benefits. They attempted a strike before and were crushed. This story is like a second attempt at a strike. What at first seems like a hasty decision, slowly moves into something that holds societies together, creating new problems but also new bonds.
So many different issues are highlighted. Polygamy, religion, education, equality, loss, war etc. How Sembene touches all these things in such a little volume is amazing.
I have read books where some characters clearly stand out but in this one, the hero is not really the hero. The struggle is held together by different bits of wood. In fact, it could be referred to as a fire not even a house.
The women touched me immensely. There is a blind woman Maimouna, who shows she sees more than those with eyes, in fact one of her songs sets a theme for many parts of the book such as fighting oppression without hating oppressors. Penda, the prostitute who is ready to die for a struggle more than the moral. A wife who is bound by duty and tradition. A young girl Ad'jibid'ji who knows and reasons better than her elders and men. There are so many of them that impacted me. One of the turning points in the story is because of collective action by the women.
Relationships between the French and African are described as almost non existent. The French live in their own part of the city as do the black and look down on the latter. Some have tried to understand the black but failed and turned that into contempt.
It's such a rich read evoking deep feelings when unexpected events happen. I at one point almost shouted at Sembene wondering why he had done what he had done!
I have not read such a delightful piece of literature in a while, and to think it is about a strike is equally astonishing.
Sembène, my goodness!
I will tell you that I was drawn into the descriptions like a scientist with magnifying glass captivated by the subjects and happenings on the slide in his hand. He's a tailor that weaves a cloth so intricate and great that this is more than skill. There is gift.
His descriptions immediately draw you in. You can see sunsets in his words. You can see loss, betrayal, rejection in high definition just in the way he describes things. I was in amazement.
The story is set in Senegal but is not limited to one place. In fact there are no chapters in the novel. Only names of cities and people. It is a tale that describes places and people with details. It alludes to places as bodies with parts, those parts the lives of the people in them and how they interact. It's like Senegal becomes a person and the cities mentioned different parts contributing to her movement.
The stories of the people at first seem subjective however, the more the story proceeds, we come to see how long a thread Sembene is using. Everyone is tied in to each other, at least from the eyes of the reader.
It contributes to the title being meaningful, "God's Bits of Wood", the pieces that make His house.
There is no character in the book that will not impact you. From Ad'jibid'ji, to Fa Keita, to Niakoro, to Bakayoko, to Penda and Ramatoulaye. Each character is so unique and yet adds to the wholeness of the tale. While Bakayoko might seem the most prominent figure in the tale because of his ability to cause major change in cities and in people's lives, the other characters also hold their ground.
I particularly found the build up very convincing. Histories, enmities, intentions, disappointments all woven together, or may I say, built together to build the house in the end we see.
The book is another story about a struggle of liberation in An African state from colonialism. In this case, it is not a struggle for political independence in the aspect of building new government and the like. It is a simple yet complex matter. Labour rights.
The Africans are paid less than their French counterparts, do not have family allowance, retirement benefits and leave benefits. They attempted a strike before and were crushed. This story is like a second attempt at a strike. What at first seems like a hasty decision, slowly moves into something that holds societies together, creating new problems but also new bonds.
So many different issues are highlighted. Polygamy, religion, education, equality, loss, war etc. How Sembene touches all these things in such a little volume is amazing.
I have read books where some characters clearly stand out but in this one, the hero is not really the hero. The struggle is held together by different bits of wood. In fact, it could be referred to as a fire not even a house.
The women touched me immensely. There is a blind woman Maimouna, who shows she sees more than those with eyes, in fact one of her songs sets a theme for many parts of the book such as fighting oppression without hating oppressors. Penda, the prostitute who is ready to die for a struggle more than the moral. A wife who is bound by duty and tradition. A young girl Ad'jibid'ji who knows and reasons better than her elders and men. There are so many of them that impacted me. One of the turning points in the story is because of collective action by the women.
Relationships between the French and African are described as almost non existent. The French live in their own part of the city as do the black and look down on the latter. Some have tried to understand the black but failed and turned that into contempt.
It's such a rich read evoking deep feelings when unexpected events happen. I at one point almost shouted at Sembene wondering why he had done what he had done!
I have not read such a delightful piece of literature in a while, and to think it is about a strike is equally astonishing.
September 23, 2017
To nick an idea I picked up from an introduction to War and Peace, this book is an excellent example of an ‘open novel’. This is in opposition to the (predictably named) ‘closed novel’. These terms merely serve to describe an aspect of the continuum between fable and history.
Fables are closed stories. When the protagonist is introduced, their backstory is either completely explained, or irrelevant. When the curtain closes and the story ends, every story-arc is tied up in a neat little bow, and they all live happily ever after. There is simply no more story after that.
History, meanwhile, is open. Any real event (the Peloponnesian War, for example), starts in medias res. The men who fought in the Peloponnesian War were not born to fight it, and many had significant political lives beforehand. The end of the war did mark an end of a chapter in the history of Greece, but certainly not the end of the whole story. History has no beginning or end. Any given history book merely singles out a section of it. The start- and end-points are arbitrarily defined.
On this spectrum—in-between fable and history—stands the novel. But not all novels occupy the same position. Some are at the ‘closed’ end. Jane Eyre is an excellent example of this; when the book begins, we know little Jane’s whole childhood history; and when we put the book down, there is nothing more to wonder about regarding her. Madame Bovary is another famous example, but the list is inexhaustible.
Meanwhile, the consummate example of the open form of the novel is War and Peace. No work of fiction more closely approached history than that great book. And I'd put God’s Bits of Wood alongside it in this category.
Like Tolstoy, Ousmane has an intuitive sense of history. Individuals operate with limited knowledge, for goals they aren’t quite sure of, obeying motivations that are only half-conscious, thrown around by forces beyond their control. In history, a stray bullet has no qualms about cutting down a young hero, and good and evil are never clear-cut. Such is life in God’s Bits of Wood. But the nice prose at least makes us feel better about it.
Fables are closed stories. When the protagonist is introduced, their backstory is either completely explained, or irrelevant. When the curtain closes and the story ends, every story-arc is tied up in a neat little bow, and they all live happily ever after. There is simply no more story after that.
History, meanwhile, is open. Any real event (the Peloponnesian War, for example), starts in medias res. The men who fought in the Peloponnesian War were not born to fight it, and many had significant political lives beforehand. The end of the war did mark an end of a chapter in the history of Greece, but certainly not the end of the whole story. History has no beginning or end. Any given history book merely singles out a section of it. The start- and end-points are arbitrarily defined.
On this spectrum—in-between fable and history—stands the novel. But not all novels occupy the same position. Some are at the ‘closed’ end. Jane Eyre is an excellent example of this; when the book begins, we know little Jane’s whole childhood history; and when we put the book down, there is nothing more to wonder about regarding her. Madame Bovary is another famous example, but the list is inexhaustible.
Meanwhile, the consummate example of the open form of the novel is War and Peace. No work of fiction more closely approached history than that great book. And I'd put God’s Bits of Wood alongside it in this category.
Like Tolstoy, Ousmane has an intuitive sense of history. Individuals operate with limited knowledge, for goals they aren’t quite sure of, obeying motivations that are only half-conscious, thrown around by forces beyond their control. In history, a stray bullet has no qualms about cutting down a young hero, and good and evil are never clear-cut. Such is life in God’s Bits of Wood. But the nice prose at least makes us feel better about it.
November 16, 2017
There is a bareness and sparseness to Ousmane's Senegal; a place where the people have had their humanity stripped away by their colonial oppressors; persecuted and down-trodden, the characters find themselves fighting to re-gain every aspect of what makes them human, from their language, to the culture and way of life, all of these things had been taken away by French colonists, who misguidedly viewed their exploitation as an attempt at civilisation. At the core of the novel is the labour movement and workers rights, the dynamics of not just the colonial system, but to a lesser extent the capitalist system which, according Ousmane seeks to exploit its workers for the gain of faceless corporations-the workers in the novel are triply exploited for their labour and because of their race and all under the auspices of benevolent colonialism. Ousmane is able to convincingly re-create the desperate, yet at the same time social febrile atmosphere engendered by the strike, the sense of common purpose and unity which it brought up. The characters are perhaps not as full realised as they could have been, with some of the more interesting characters, such as the charismatic Bakayoko, not receiving enough time-in many ways, this was very much Ousmane's intent, to document life from a variety of different perspective and characters, however he may have benefited from concentrating on a smaller cast of characters to allow the reader to build a better emotional connection with them, which would have helped increase the emotional impact of the story.
April 23, 2012
Shortly after WW2 the black rail workers on the Niger-Dakar line went on strike for six months. At the time, it was the longest labor strike in world history. This book is based on the events that surrounded the movement. It tells how community adapts as hunger and thirst set in. There are almost 45 characters in the book in three different settings, so the chapters become more like a set of short stories that are interconnected by the overall plot and a handful of selected characters. It is obvious soon into the story that the heroes are the women. They are the ones that continue to care for their families throughout the six months while the men wait idly for successful negotiations between the union and the company.
Ousmane makes it clear that the main conflict is not between races or the colonizer and the colonized, but it's a class issue that is complicated by these other matters. The strikers receive support from laborers in France, and they want to work for the railroad (which is French-owned), but for a dignified wage. The author acknowledges that the "machine" changed the way of life in West Africa, with the oldest characters being the only ones who can remember (vaguely) what it was like without the train to transport and distribute staples throughout the region.
This has become one of the most memorable novels I have read. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good book.
Ousmane makes it clear that the main conflict is not between races or the colonizer and the colonized, but it's a class issue that is complicated by these other matters. The strikers receive support from laborers in France, and they want to work for the railroad (which is French-owned), but for a dignified wage. The author acknowledges that the "machine" changed the way of life in West Africa, with the oldest characters being the only ones who can remember (vaguely) what it was like without the train to transport and distribute staples throughout the region.
This has become one of the most memorable novels I have read. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good book.
November 17, 2016
I expected to find this boring, for it to be a chore to finish. 380 pages of quite dense French, on the topic of a railway strike in Senegal in 1948. But it's so wonderfully well written that it's not a chore, even though it's not something you fly through. And the characters! I need to find more books by this author.
April 7, 2015
Sometimes foreign books in translation leave me cold, and sometimes I enjoy them although they’re quite different from the novels I’m used to reading, and it’s hard to tell in advance which books will be which. Happily, this one, written by a Senegalese author and relating the events of a labor strike in French West Africa (primarily set in what is now Senegal) in 1947-48, fell into the enjoyable category. But it is different from your standard English-language novel: it’s very much the story of a community rather than one or two individuals; though its chapters tend to focus on particular characters, the larger story follows a numerous cast in three primary locations (Dakar, Thiès and Bamako). It’s also a book that requires patience at the beginning, as many characters are introduced, but stick with it and they’ll sort themselves out.
It’s easy to imagine this book being taught in university classes, as it deals directly with big issues: classism and workers’ rights, racism and colonial power. Though the author is a man, it also deals extensively with women’s role in society; the book has many prominent female characters, who come into their own during the course of the strike, while the men of their communities are out of work. But while the author makes no bones about the politics of his work, it doesn’t end there, nor are the characters mere symbols or types; both they and their surroundings feel real. And the plot builds as it goes and includes several fights, marches and other dramatic scenes. One gets the sense of an epic struggle, with stakes much higher than better pay for railway workers. As the workers and the community learn to assert their own power, we can already see independence on the horizon. (It's probably no coincidence that this was published in 1960, the year of Senegal's independence; there is perhaps a bit of national myth-making at play.)
At any rate, the translation is good, there are some vivid descriptions, and there’s a sense of place and the ways the strike changes the culture. The story also turns out to be an interesting one. Not a new favorite, but I liked the book and would recommend it.
It’s easy to imagine this book being taught in university classes, as it deals directly with big issues: classism and workers’ rights, racism and colonial power. Though the author is a man, it also deals extensively with women’s role in society; the book has many prominent female characters, who come into their own during the course of the strike, while the men of their communities are out of work. But while the author makes no bones about the politics of his work, it doesn’t end there, nor are the characters mere symbols or types; both they and their surroundings feel real. And the plot builds as it goes and includes several fights, marches and other dramatic scenes. One gets the sense of an epic struggle, with stakes much higher than better pay for railway workers. As the workers and the community learn to assert their own power, we can already see independence on the horizon. (It's probably no coincidence that this was published in 1960, the year of Senegal's independence; there is perhaps a bit of national myth-making at play.)
At any rate, the translation is good, there are some vivid descriptions, and there’s a sense of place and the ways the strike changes the culture. The story also turns out to be an interesting one. Not a new favorite, but I liked the book and would recommend it.
September 25, 2011
The book is set in West Africa in a time of awakening for the African workers of the region. The story follows several strong characters and shows different ways in which they deal with the strike...it is a courageous tale of courageous people. The spirit that moves within this story fills me with hope that suffering creates strength to withstand anything...and eventually welcome celebration. Loss is part of life..
A beautiful study of the human spirit of endurance, and hope. Eternal and everlasting hope.
A beautiful study of the human spirit of endurance, and hope. Eternal and everlasting hope.
October 13, 2020
Niin outo lukukokemus! Kirja on kirjoitettu 1960 ja se kertoo afrikkalaisesta lakosta 1947. Henkilöitä eli kertojia on tarinassa yli neljäkymmentä.
Ajattelin, etten käsitä tästä mitään. Ensimmäiset satakunta sivua olivat kirjaimellisesti aivojumppaa.
Sen jälkeen löysin taitavasti kudotun asetelman, voimalla etenevän tarinan, hienon tarinankulun ja paljon painavaa sanottavaa. Ja ikimuistoisia henkilökuvia.
Tässä afrikkalaisessa lakossa oli kyse inhimillisyydestä ja aatteista. Myös rasismista ja totisesti myös naisten voimaantumisesta. Se oli todella upea ajankuva ja hyvin pätevä teemoiltaan vielä 2020. Helposti siirrettävissä mantereelta toiselle.
Vähäisistä tähdistäni huolimatta suosittelen, jos olet valmis kestämään alkuosan hämmingin. Afrikkalaisuus ilmenemismuotoineen ei ole vaivaton lukutehtävä, mutta tämän kirjan kanssa ehdottomasti kaiken vaivan arvoinen.
Ajattelin, etten käsitä tästä mitään. Ensimmäiset satakunta sivua olivat kirjaimellisesti aivojumppaa.
Sen jälkeen löysin taitavasti kudotun asetelman, voimalla etenevän tarinan, hienon tarinankulun ja paljon painavaa sanottavaa. Ja ikimuistoisia henkilökuvia.
Tässä afrikkalaisessa lakossa oli kyse inhimillisyydestä ja aatteista. Myös rasismista ja totisesti myös naisten voimaantumisesta. Se oli todella upea ajankuva ja hyvin pätevä teemoiltaan vielä 2020. Helposti siirrettävissä mantereelta toiselle.
Vähäisistä tähdistäni huolimatta suosittelen, jos olet valmis kestämään alkuosan hämmingin. Afrikkalaisuus ilmenemismuotoineen ei ole vaivaton lukutehtävä, mutta tämän kirjan kanssa ehdottomasti kaiken vaivan arvoinen.
May 23, 2020
A socialist realist novel which avoids the didadetic hectoring so common to that genre. A strike, even a victorious strike, can tear through a community. Social ties are frayed; all choices are made beneath the shadow of class struggle. A mundane action can get one labeled a class traitor. Sembene depicts the communal aspect of the strike. It's not just the workers go out on strike - their wives (this is a polygamous society) and their children suffer the consequences as well. Without the support of the broader community, the strike would've failed. This book has powerful lessons for anyone who believes, as I do, that the labor movement is the means to which we build a better world.
June 17, 2013
according to
http://www.labornotes.org/2013/01/nov...
God’s Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembene, nominated by UE organizer Erin Stalnaker, tells the story of a strike by Senegalese railworkers against their French employers in 1947-48. The novel isn’t just about anti-colonialism—it’s also a nuanced exploration of solidarity, including by women, who eventually become leaders in the strike begun by their men. - See more at: http://www.labornotes.org/2013/01/nov...
http://www.labornotes.org/2013/01/nov...
God’s Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembene, nominated by UE organizer Erin Stalnaker, tells the story of a strike by Senegalese railworkers against their French employers in 1947-48. The novel isn’t just about anti-colonialism—it’s also a nuanced exploration of solidarity, including by women, who eventually become leaders in the strike begun by their men. - See more at: http://www.labornotes.org/2013/01/nov...
April 7, 2014
Ousmane, forever the Africana feminist looked at workers strike that men thought they had under control-as always, the women were the ones that produced the final victory. Sembene continue the tradition of voicing exclusionary groups fight for equality as part of a larger social challenge. ultimately, victory is the way we treat our mothers, sisters, daughters. This point is illustrated in all his work: Xaxu, Guel War, Faat Kine...
Read
May 13, 2017Class warfare in Africa. Gives one heart.
December 18, 2019
God's Bits of Wood takes place in 1948. It is a powerfully written novel about a real event: In 1947-1948, the workers on the Dakar-Niger Railway came out on strike.
I am on a quest to read as many'world' books as I can. A world book, to me, is one that describes and is based on an event or culture of a particular country. The country featured here is Senegal.
The striking men are trying to negotiate with the French colonialists who manage the railway. They would like to see more benefits and rid themselves of the oppression exercised by these French.
As the workers struggle, their women see the struggle as their own. They stage a march from Thiess to Dakar (47 miles) to demand benefits and equality. The march is arduous: hot conditions, little water, etc. The superstitions of the women come out during this march. The courage of the women is seen too. In Senegal, tradition states that they not assume a public role.
The strike is eventually successful; the French government backs down.
The copy of the book that I read is part of The African Writer's Series. I understand that this book is studied as a part of college African studies. Glad that I found it.
4 stars
I am on a quest to read as many'world' books as I can. A world book, to me, is one that describes and is based on an event or culture of a particular country. The country featured here is Senegal.
The striking men are trying to negotiate with the French colonialists who manage the railway. They would like to see more benefits and rid themselves of the oppression exercised by these French.
As the workers struggle, their women see the struggle as their own. They stage a march from Thiess to Dakar (47 miles) to demand benefits and equality. The march is arduous: hot conditions, little water, etc. The superstitions of the women come out during this march. The courage of the women is seen too. In Senegal, tradition states that they not assume a public role.
The strike is eventually successful; the French government backs down.
The copy of the book that I read is part of The African Writer's Series. I understand that this book is studied as a part of college African studies. Glad that I found it.
4 stars
March 3, 2021
Une fresque historique passionnante et puissante sur la grève des cheminots au Sénégal en 1947.
Read
December 11, 2022read for my African Novel in French class
April 7, 2016
It is not necessary to be right to argue, but to win it is necessary both to be right and never to falter
Sembene brings to life the plight of workers in Senegal in 1947 as they fight for their rights. It is a well written account of an actual historical event, The Dakar Railway Strike which took place in October 10, 1947 to March 19, 1948.
This book was recommended by my Mom who insisted that I should read it after reading Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Petals of Blood. Both books highlight workers revolution and share similar plots and main characters, the difference is the volume and flow. Semebene's book flows easily and you can read it in one sitting, while Ngugi's requires your attention and patience for the scenes jump from one character to another, the past to the present. Ngugi's book is also larger in volume.
The action takes place in most parts of Senegal but the greatest impact on the strike is in Thies. The men are supported by the women and the French suddenly have a greater revolution than they expected and are forced to give in. The leader in this book, Bakayoko, is a locomotive driver and his eloquence in addressing their grievances is hailed by the workers and they rally together with him as their leader. He has a temper, and given his role in the stike he is rarely home and to his family he becomes distant.
There are themes like strength from worker unity and the search for identity that are evident as you read the book, but what I loved most was the women in this book. They spoke up, took action and demanded their men to accept responsibility in the strike. In the end, they are equal to the men and are even invited to attend the talks and share their thoughts.
In reading this I looked into the history as narrated by Sembene and though he compressed the strike into a year, in this story, it still stands out as being one of the best books on revolution of workers that I have read. I am tempted to compare it with Petals of Blood and conclude that it inspired Ngugi to pen the story- and mirror the lead characters: Bakayoko-Karega, Penda- Wanja, Niakoro- Nyakinyua. I rest my case.
April 30, 2018
يُخلّد الكاتب في هذه الرواية التاريخية ذكرى تفاصيل إضراب عمال السكك الحديدية الشهير الذي حصل في السنغال عام ١٩٤٧، يجسد فيها معاناة الأفارقة واستغلالهم المطلق من قبل المحتكر الأجنبي وحليفه الأفريقي الذي يشارك في اضطهاد العمال ليخلق لاحقاً مايسمى "بالاستعمار الجديد." تركز الرواية على دور المرأة الافريقية في النضال ضد الاستعمال -والذي غالباً مايتم تجاهله- ولكنه يصوره كجزء من الوحدة والنضال الجماعي الشعبي الذي يسعى للدفاع عن حقه في حياة كريمة ضد النظام الذي يسحقه. ولذا فالكاتب لايحمّل الأبيض وحده كل الشرور بل ماجلبه من نظام اقتصادي احتكاري يقتات على ظروف الآخرين البائسة (يتورط فيه كلاً من الأبيض والافريقي النخبة).
يقول الكاتب: "المصيبة الحقيقية ليست مجرد مسألة جوع وعطش، ولكن أن تدرك أن هناك من يريدونك أن تتضور جوعاً وعطشاً".
Real misfortune is not just a matter of being hungry and thirsty; it is a matter of knowing that there are people who want you to be hungry and thirsty.
يقول الكاتب: "المصيبة الحقيقية ليست مجرد مسألة جوع وعطش، ولكن أن تدرك أن هناك من يريدونك أن تتضور جوعاً وعطشاً".
Real misfortune is not just a matter of being hungry and thirsty; it is a matter of knowing that there are people who want you to be hungry and thirsty.
September 2, 2011
I use this with my students to try to teach about West Africa. I pair it with A Grain of Wheat for an East/West thing. The structure is much easier for them than A Grain of Wheat, but I'm not going to lie and say it really resonates with them. I want to bring labor history into the classroom and thought this would be a nice way to do it. It somewhat works because the story is compelling and there are interesting excursions into romance and the nature of love in Africa vs Europe. Let's face it, teenagers are not as into labor history as me and mid century French Communist sympathizers, go figure. Some great novelist will have to explore the fact that our cultures are out of step with each other. Maybe the problems can be overcome through struggle?
January 21, 2019
ONE OF Africa’s classic novels, majestic in its sweep, scope and breadth. What a work! The collection of huge, sprawling convincing characters, the way everything builds up is awe-inspiring. Ousmane at his best, and one can see the attention to details that made him a great movie director (producer?) too.
September 10, 2021
I was introduced to Sembène in my Francophone World course with Dr. Wilkins. We read Xala, his book about a Senegalese businessman struck with the "xala" curse, or temporary impotency, the night of his wedding to his third wife. As a political/post-colonial satire, with the businessman's impotency mirroring the impuissance/ineptitude of government in Senegal, I thought Xala funny, bitter, poignant, and illuminating.
I think God's Bits of Wood has all those traits but in lesser measure. Translation probably plays a role here. We were looking at the original French text in Wilkins class, and he was able to open up all sorts of metaphors, linguistic subtleties, and cultural significances for us. God's Bits of Wood also has about 15 equally important characters and hops among three cities, which muddled some plot lines for me.
The best part of the novel was also the greatest hindrance to my finishing it. Whether intentional or not, the movement of the narrative is heavy and torpid, a structural reflection of the grievously long months of the railroad workers' strike. There is a McCarthian scene where an old watchman, Sounkaré, forgotten and isolated during the strike, visits one of the empty railway warehouses, and, in a chain of depressingly avoidable mistakes, pitches headfirst into a grease pit. Rats surround his body in "a curious kind of ceremony" and begin to pick at his now unconscious/dead body. Like McCarthy, Sembène heightens the grimness of the scene with his ambling, casual sentences.
I think God's Bits of Wood has all those traits but in lesser measure. Translation probably plays a role here. We were looking at the original French text in Wilkins class, and he was able to open up all sorts of metaphors, linguistic subtleties, and cultural significances for us. God's Bits of Wood also has about 15 equally important characters and hops among three cities, which muddled some plot lines for me.
The best part of the novel was also the greatest hindrance to my finishing it. Whether intentional or not, the movement of the narrative is heavy and torpid, a structural reflection of the grievously long months of the railroad workers' strike. There is a McCarthian scene where an old watchman, Sounkaré, forgotten and isolated during the strike, visits one of the empty railway warehouses, and, in a chain of depressingly avoidable mistakes, pitches headfirst into a grease pit. Rats surround his body in "a curious kind of ceremony" and begin to pick at his now unconscious/dead body. Like McCarthy, Sembène heightens the grimness of the scene with his ambling, casual sentences.
August 18, 2023
A hefty slab of African socialist realism, the story follows an escalating railway strike in late 1940s French West Africa, and the hardships endured by the strikers as their colonial masters try to starve them back to work.
Each chapter offers a point of view on the strike from a different character from a different walk of life. This shifting perspective around a central theme allows the reader to visualise how decolonisation took place as both a social process, and a process which ran through the hearts and minds of families, friends, and individuals.
The essential theme of the novel is link between the emergent class consciousness brought about by colonisation, and the onset of decolonisation, and how one necessarily begat the other. The other important theme is the conflict between modern and traditional societal values, particularly in regard to gender and religious norms, and how that conflict was expressed itself in the changing identities of colonised Africans.
A bit heavy duty, but well worth the read.
Each chapter offers a point of view on the strike from a different character from a different walk of life. This shifting perspective around a central theme allows the reader to visualise how decolonisation took place as both a social process, and a process which ran through the hearts and minds of families, friends, and individuals.
The essential theme of the novel is link between the emergent class consciousness brought about by colonisation, and the onset of decolonisation, and how one necessarily begat the other. The other important theme is the conflict between modern and traditional societal values, particularly in regard to gender and religious norms, and how that conflict was expressed itself in the changing identities of colonised Africans.
A bit heavy duty, but well worth the read.
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