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Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 02, 2003 - 12:39 pm: | 
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Hello All,
I have read the most amazing book. The best book I will read this year. Seed by Mustafa Mutabaruka is EXTRAORDINARY!! The main character is Ulysses a dancer who is stranded in Africa. Ulysses will remember his life, his physically abusive father, and his abusive grandfather. Seed took me to places that only Gayl Jones had taken me before. Peep this, "The measure of a man", my father once said "is in his scars. Without a scar, he isn't even a man. He is, merely, male." I should have known then, when I read that sentence that I was in for a ride...and I was. That's book ain't for the faint hearted, but it is exceptional. Check it out. |
GG
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 08:55 pm: |
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Ok Thumper, I just finished reading Seed. It was indeed an extremely good book and very well written; however (there's always a however!)the time sequence thing had (has!) me a little confused. I was having fun with the book until the end when he is once again back at his father's house and his father is still alive, and he, Ulysses is looking at a picture of Maggie and Jonathan.??!! What gives? Supposedly, he meant Maggie after he buried his father. Was this real? And what about the first chapter that appears (word for word)again in the middle of the book? You know,the one about the size of his "you know what" and someone telling someone that his son's "Ulysses is larger". Help me here..maybe if I hear another point of view I will feel better. Thanks! |
Thumper
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 04:53 pm: |
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Hello GG,
I hope I can help. If my memory serves me correctly. Touissant wasn't dead. Lucien is the one that was buried in the back of the house. But the way Mutabaruka had it laid out, at first, I wasn't sure who was doing the burying and who had died. I don't have the book on me, so I can't tell you the page number, but when Ulysses' memories are unfolding in a chronological order, it is revealed then. If I'm not mistaken, it should be around the part where Ulysses tells Toussaint that he blamed him for Lucien's sexually abusing him because Toussaint didn't do anything to stop it. And then it turns out that something happened with some woman Lucien brought home who must have sexually abused Toussaint when he was younger. I'm kinda of leaning towards this explanation for Ulysses's behavior. It also clarified Ulysses encounter with that male steward in the airport bathroom. This also explains the penis size statement, which I believe was made by Lucien and not Toussaint.
The section you're referring to that Mutabruke repeated in a later section wasn't the only section he did this with. If you recall, all of those jumbled scenes were later repeated, often word for word in a sequence. |
GG
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 11:46 pm: |
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Thanks, your explanation did help somewhat. One thing is for sure, I really couldn't compare this book to anything else that I've read before. And you're correct, there were a number of scenes that were later repeated word for word. Quite original! Mutabruke is an excellent writer and I do look forward to reading more from him in the future. Once again, Thanks! |
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