Boubacar Boris Diop Book order

This dark and suspenseful novel tells the story of a fictitious West African country caught in the grip of civil war. The dispassionate and deadpan narrator, Asante Kroma, is a former head of Secret Services and finds himself living with the corpse of the dictator, a man who once ruled his nation with an iron fist. Through a series of flashbacks and letters penned by the dictator, N'Zo Nikiema, readers discover the role of the French shadow leader, Pierre Castaneda, whose ongoing ambition to exploit the natural resources of the country knows no limits. As these powerful men use others as pawns in a violent real-life chess match, it is the murder of six-year-old Kaveena and her mother's quest for vengeance that brings about a surprise reckoning.

In April of 1994, nearly a million Rwandans were killed in what would prove to be one of the swiftest, most terrifying killing sprees of the 20th century. In Murambi, The Book of Bones, Boubacar Boris Diop comes face to face with the chilling horror and overwhelming sadness of the tragedy. Here, the power of Diop's acclaimed novel is available to English-speaking readers through Fiona Mc Laughlin's crisp translation and a compelling afterword by Diop. The novel recounts the story of a Rwandan history teacher, Cornelius Uvimana, who was living and working in Djibouti at the time of the massacre. He returns to Rwanda to try to comprehend the death of his family and to write a play about the events that took place there. As the novel unfolds, Cornelius begins to understand that it is only our humanity that will save us, and that as a writer, he must bear witness to the atrocities of the genocide.

The first novel to be translated from Wolof to English, Doomi Golo is a masterful work that conveys the story of Nguirane Faye and his attempts to communicate with his grandson before he dies.

The media tends to portray Africa in a manner that grossly distorts reality. The picture they paint is intended to make people of African descent feel ashamed of their past and their identity. This is unacceptable and must change. It is therefore a moral imperative for all those who can make themselves heard, to speak out. These texts reflect the point of view of an African intellectual who has selected them for this book since they were all born out of the desire to tell the truth as it is. Besides chapters that pay homage to Cheikh Anta Diop and Mongo Beti, the wide variety of topics in this book include the dilemma of the writer who is stuck between two languages, the shipwreck of the Joola in Senegal, the continuing waves of migration towards Europe and the cultural challenges of globalization. The genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda, which too many people are still trying to deny, has been given special importance. The implication of the French government is stressed, because its responsibility in this tragedy, via François Mitterrand, is neither well-known nor accepted, despite all the irrefutable evidence. Projecting one’s gaze beyond the mirror means trying to expose the lies that hide behind so many clichés that are common currency about Africa. Above all, it means ringing the alarm bell as a warning against the sinister political intentions that feed a growing Afrophobia.