So Long a Letter

This novel is in the form of a letter, written by the widowed Ramatoulaye and describing her struggle for survival It is the winner of the Noma Award. Read So Long a Letter – kino-fada.fr So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba is an entry in the book 500 Great Books by Women by Erica Baumeister I am part of the goodreads group by the same name, and I have made it a long term goal to read as many of the choices as possible Ba was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1929 She attended school and achieved a profession at a time when women in her country had few choices outside of marriage Ahead of her time, Ba fought for equal rights for men and women both inside of and outside of the home So Lon So Long A Letter by Mariama Ba is an entry in the book 500 Great Books by Women by Erica Baumeister I am part of the goodreads group by the same name, and I have made it a long term goal to read as many of the choices as possible Ba was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1929 She attended school and achieved a profession at a time when women in her country had few choices outside o...Ebb and tide of feeling heat and dazzlement, the wood fires, the sharp green mango, bitten into in turns, a delicacy in our greedy mouths I close my eyes What you hear is the voice of the heartbroken Ramatoulaye, who has been forced into solitude according to the dictates of Islam to mourn the death of the husband who, when he lived, humiliated and abandoned her This is an epistolary a meditation on life and life s choices It is an anguished plea from one conservative woman, to her liEbb and tide of feeling heat and dazzlement, the wood fires, the sharp green mango, bitten into in turns, a delicacy in our greedy mouths I close my eyes What you hear is the voice of the heartbroken Ramatoulaye, who has been forced into solitude according to the dictates of Islam to mourn the death of the husband who, when he lived, humiliated and abandoned ...A brief, well crafted novella in the form of a letter between two middle aged friends The writer is Ramatoulaye her husband, has died suddenly and she is has to remain in seclusion for four months and ten days as per her religious strictures Islamic The recipient is her friend Aissatou Both women have had husband problems Aissoutou s husband had taken a second, much younger wife She had divorced him as a result and had left to make a new life in America Ramatoulaye s husband had five ye A brief, well crafted novella in the form of a letter between two middle aged friends The writer is Ramatoulaye her husband, has died suddenly and she is has to remain in seclusion for four months and ten days as per her religious strictures Islamic The recipient is her friend Aissatou Both women have had husband problems Aissoutou s husband had taken a second, much younger wife She had divorced him as a result and had left to make a new life in America Ram... Each profession, intellectual or manual, deserves consideration, whether it requires painful physical effort or manual dexterity, wide knowledge or the patience of an ant Ours, like that of a doctor, does not allow for any mistake You don t joke with life, and life is both body and mind To warp a soul is as much a sacrilege as murder. A comparison to Sleepless Nights is not too far apace, for what isfamiliar of the epistolary form is counterbalanced by a less novelized perspective, exp Each prof...Mariama Ba has crammed into less than one hundred pages a luminously beautiful reflection of an intelligent, wilful, self assured middle aged woman painfully conscious of the limits of her power in a patriarchal society, that is also a hymn to the glory of friendship between women and to the strength, courage, imagination, tenderness and sensuality of women as whole human beings interconnected to lovers, children, family members and friends.The language is elegant, fragrant of the rich, ringing Mariama ...Mariama Ba 1929 1982 was a Senegalese novelist, teacher, activist and feminist During her lifetime she was only able to publish this book Her two other works Scarlet Song and La Fonction politique des litt ratures africaines crites came out after her death This book, So Long a Letter, originally written in French, won the first Noma Prize for Publishing in Africa in 1980 and is now considered as one of Africa s 100 Best Books of the 20th Century.The book is basically a long series of lette Mariama Ba 1929 1982 was a Senegalese novelist, teacher, activist and feminist During her lifetime she was only able to publish this boo...If I m being honest, I want to like thisthan I do And it s not the subject matter or prose, it s the orientation There s an awkward angle I just can t shake Let me explain This novella is in epistolary form a long letter from an aging widow who is progressive by her society s normative standards, perhaps boldly and bravely so to her great friend, Aissatou Both women have been transformed by their husbands decision to make them co wives Ramatoulaye, our heroine, recounts her strug If I m being honest, I want to like thisthan I do And it s not the subject matter or prose, it s the orientation There s an awkward angle I just can t shake Let me explain This novella is in epistolary form a long letter from an aging widow who is progressive by her society s normative standards, perhaps boldly and bravely so to her great friend, Aissatou Both women have been transformed by their husbands decision to make them co wives Ramatoulaye, our heroine, recounts her struggles, and seems to gain strength as the ...Excellent How many novels by Senegalese Muslim women have you read Particularly ones dealing explicitly with both gender and religion This is only about 80pages long, so is a quick read, and will probably help...An excellent Sunday afternoon read and pertinent to much that is being written and read in the media under the banner of the silencing of women today.This short, articulate novella is actually a conversation, or a lengthy letter from one widow to her best friend, whom she hasn t seen for some years, but who is arriving tomorrow.Our recent widow is reflecting on how she is unable to detach from memories of better times in the past, during those 25 years where she was happily married and the only An excellent Sunday afternoon read and pertinent to much that is being written and read in the media under the banner of the silencing of women today.This short, articulate novella is actually a conversation, or a lengthy letter from one widow to her best friend, whom she hasn t seen for some years, but who is arriving tomorrow.Our recent widow is reflecting on how she is unable to detach from memories of better times in the past, during those 25 years where she was happily married and the only wife of her husband and thebitter, heart breaking recent years where she was abandoned by him for the best friend of her daughter, a young woman, who traded the magic of youth, for the allure of shiny things with the exception of his silver grey streaks, which he in turn trades in for the black dye of those in denial of the ageing process.Was it madness, weakness, irresistible love What inner confusion led Modou Fall to marry Bi... So long a letter is an intimate expose on Ramatoulaye s life as she writes a long letter to her life long friend, Aissatou The two women have known since they were little girls and now with many children each, one is divorced and the other is a widow The letter is written during the mourning period of passing of Ramatoulaye s husband Being one of the co wives, Ramatoulaye s situation in life is different from that of he...

• English
• 22 August 2018
Mariama Bâ
• Paperback
• 90 pages
• 0435905554
• Mariama Bâ
• So Long a Letter