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Nowhere in Africa: An Autobiographical Novel - Stefanie Zweig
by lillamarta
~ INTRODUCTION ~
I discovered this book while browsing one Sunday afternoon in Borders, Charing Cross Road in London with my partner. Once I read it, it immediately became one of my favourite novels. I tend to be drawn towards storylines in books or movies that deal with the Second World War or colonial Africa. As luck would ... have it, Nowhere in Africa has both of them. Written by German author-editor Stephanie Zweig and published in 1998, the autobiographical novel recounts the years the author spent in Kenya as a young girl during the Holocaust.
~ THE PLOT ~
From Leobschütz, Nazi Germany, 1937, Jewish-German lawyer, Walter Reidlich - sensing the ever-growing racial discrimination against Jews - moves to Britain-governed Kenya and finds a job to run a farm. With a job to hold down to, he's at least able to prepare for the arrival of his family: wife, Jettel and young daughter, Regina, who finally do emigrate (in the nick of time) in 1938 leaving the rest of the family, parents, uncles and friends behind.
Jettel is a spoilt, urban woman - who finds it hard to settle in her new, rural home as a poor expatriate. On the other hand, Regina is transformed from the frightened five-year-old to an open-minded, generous child. She particularly takes to Owour, the farm's cook who helps her befriend the village children and become immersed in African culture.
Conflicts between the couple ensue - tensions that have been brought out by the hard living and the sense of not belonging, not the mention the resentment towards the Nazi regime and the ever intermittent news from their family stuck in Germany? How will the Reidlich manage to cope and stay to-gether against all odds if at all? What will Regina become as she grows up?
~ WRITING STYLE ~
Nowhere in Africa is an epic tale, told for the heart and the soul. Regina, who's five years old at the beginning, is the author's alter-ego and the voice of the book. The moment she arrives at the farm with her mother, they meet Owour, their cook or houseboy as they were called, who lifts Regina up in the air. A great and important moment of their beginning friendship, the author will share with us throughout the book in detail and with great emotion.
Told from her memories, the text is of course written in retrospect. What captured me most is the authenticity of Zweig's voice, you are really there in the midst of the events viewing it mainly through the child's eyes. Not only that, I noticed there was just as much say for all the family, that came across as if the author was capable of getting under each complex character's skin, her parents' for example and recount their problems, joys, conflicts and struggle, their confusion but also their love for each other.
~ READING EXPERIENCE ~
What enchanted me the most was the African scenery the book describes so well. In my mind's eye, I picture the dusty and insignificant farm and its meagre crop in the cruel climate against the snowy peaks of the Kilimanjaro. Nevertheless, I travelled a bit in this part of Africa so have some idea of what it feels like. I remember after the third day in this country of heat, adjusting to the way of life e.g. the food you cannot eat, touch, place you step, always look at the people around you etc, how I wanted to go back to London. Then something draws you in and I must admit it this part of the world has become the most magical and powerful place I've experienced of all the travels I've done in my life.
Surprisingly, there are lots of dialogues which are short but powerful. Having read the book a few times and being totally immersed by it, I was captivated by the richness of these short dialogues. Some phrases were invariably in German and this added a touch of the family being an outsider and their language acting as the glue that kept them to their roots even in Africa. However, their native language was also the main barrier that separated the family and their new surroundings. The more they learned to speak the language, the more the uneasiness and feeling inadequate and foreign went away with it.
Scattered around were also words in Swahili, the local language that the family was learning at the time as well as English, being the official language of colonial Kenya. The sounds of this beautiful African language were magical to Regina and so was it to me. I caught myself thinking and sometimes saying out loud simple words to myself in Swahili such as 'memsahib kidogo' (little miss) or 'toto' (baby). (Again, this was not long after our couple of weeks hearing Swahili around us on our holiday so this was something to be accounted for also.)
~ CONCLUSION ~
The fact that this German novel has become an international bestseller is no accident. It captures what is most important to us in our lives, relationships and being committed to our loved ones no matter whatever life throws at you and you'll grown and learn in the process just like all the members of the family did. It's told naturally and with soul that isn't patronising or moralising in any way.
I recommend it strongly as you'll rarely come across such a unique premise of an autobiographic book dealing with the Holocaust.
~ PRICE AND AVAILABILITY ~
The book seems to be less known in the English-speaking world therefore only occasionally reprinted. New (reprint) from Amazon for £17.58 or used from £10.29.
Thanks for reading.
©powered by lillybee also posted on ciao.co.uk
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Basic Math and Pre-algebra for Dummies - Mark Zegarelli
by bamamo
Being at an unemployed loose end, I am trying to fill my time with as productive activities as possible. Besides the two OU courses I've been taking a while, I decided it was time once and for all to battle those maths "demons" as the adverts will insist on calling them. Am I the only one who find the ads a tad ... creepy?
I wouldn't say I'm at all horrible at maths, but the more calculators are readily available on phones etc, the more I realise I can't do a thing without them. I was good enough to do my GCSE a year early and then promptly forgot absolutely everything, so that I'm ashamed to admit I didn't even know some primary school basics such as long division and multiplication. I wanted to take a certain OU course and after taking the test to see if I'm at the right level, turns out my maths let me down.
So after a little searching I downloaded an electronic version of this book, so I can't comment on the paper version. However having owned a couple of other For Dummies titles I can say though that they are usually spiral bound, which is handy, although not always printed particularly well on quality paper.
This book covers all your maths basics - ranging from simple addition and subtraction to graphs, working with fractions and decimals, word problems and geometry. It then moves onto algebra. It is arranged in such a way that you will use everything you have already learned by the time you get to the algebra section. Sometimes the text makes it seem as though algebra is a big scary thing looming in the distance, although for me this is the part of maths I've always found easiest, because it's so logical.
Each chapter takes on one subject and explains the process, then works out a problem, explaining each step. If it's a more confusing concept, there are often a couple more examples to make sure it hits home. If there is more than one way to do something, the easiest way is shown first, followed by any drawn-out techniques that maths teachers tend to favour.
The text itself is friendly and not at all patronising, as you might expect after being called a dummy on the cover! There are a few Americanisms, as you can tell by the title, but wherever something may have more than one name, it they are all listed. There are often examples in terms of objects rather than numbers, to help illustrate a point, such as the good old pieces of cake for fractions. There are also jokes, and each chapter is not too long and text-heavy. I find that simply by reading each chapter beginning to end, I have a concept straight in my head.
Here's the problem though - there is no practise. If you want to have a stab at using your new maths skills, you either need to shell out again for the workbook which goes alongside this title, or do as I did and find a maths worksheet online. I do wish some practise questions were incorporated, perhaps with some sort of a test at the end of the whole book, because when operations are brought up again in later chapters, I sometimes find I have forgotten already. As it teaches each concept so clearly, it's a real shame that there is no reinforcement to help lodge them into my head.
As the book is so easy to read through, I would recommend it for a revision tool if you just need to brush up a little. However if you're starting from scratch or have a lot of work to do on your maths, the trawling around to find questions to practise with is just annoying.
The price is also really high, I think, especially as the For Dummies titles I have owned don't tend to be especially well printed. The RRP is £13.99, with it being available at Amazon for £8.37 at present, the same price as the workbook. I just can't see a reason to pay this much, especially if you only need a few sections of the book.
If you're cheap like me, I'd have a look for a download, otherwise perhaps look for a more well-rounded package with lots of practise.
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Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty, and Everything Glamour - Rachel Zoe
by EmaD2009
Rachel Zoe is a stylist. She is based in America and has worked with loads of celebrities, Nicole ritchie, Lindsay Lohan, Cameron Diaz, Misha Barton etc. She is the person behind Nicole Ritchie's makeover a few years back which transformed her into a glamazon, whos style is copied everywhere.
The book contains lots of ... glamourous pictures of Rachel, her celebrity clients, designers and some famous hair and make up peole that she uses. She offers loads of advice in this book and she keeps referring to the fact that you dont have to spend a fortune to look good. At one point in the book she even suggests the five most important items needed for a night out all for under 50 dollars.
She also offers tips how best to organise a wardrobe to get the most out of it, how to throw a glam party and what essentials are needed for going on various holidays. As well as giving you a sneek peek into her uber glam home, and offers even more tips for decorating your own home.
She has included advice from Donatella Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Misha Barton and a few other famous faces, on how to achieve glamour in every day life.
Rachel offers endless tips and advice on how to improve and glam up all areas of your life. A must read for anyone interested in fashion and celebrities, the pictures alone are enough to make you want to try out a new style!
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