Key Details Title: Yakada Yaka (The Burgher Trilogy, Book 2) Writer: Carl Muller Year of Publication: 1994 Goodreads - Link "It is universally known that the railway is a watering hole for the mentally deficient" - Carl Muller on the railways in early 20th Century Ceylon Yakada Yaka which literally means "Iron Demon" is the name given by the locals to the loud coal-fired trains that belched black smoke as they wound their way around 20th Century Ceylon. The book is a continuation of Carl Muller's Burgher Trilogy and compared to the first Novel in the Series 'The Jam Fruit Tree' (Click for the Review), the novel is more narrow in its focus and deals almost exclusively with the Burgher communities experience as part of the Ceylon Railway Service where they primarily served as engine drivers. The experience of such communities tends to be neglected by other histories detailing the experiences of the Burgher Community where they nevertheless made a significant contribution to the development of the plantation economy in Ceylon where crops such as tea gained world fame during the British era. Carl Muller whose own father was a Railway driver probably drew on alot from his own experiences growing up as part of the railway community which lends the novel a particularly authentic feel to it. " A man who did not take kindly to discipline. A vastly lovable man, true, but a pain in the ass to pompous authority" - On the character of Sonnaboy Von Bloss The novel primarily follows the exploits of Sonnaboy Von Bloss as he staggers from the footplate from one train engine to another and details his experience as a railway driver. Sonnaboy's hot headed nature which is quick to take offense and who prefers to resolve situations with his fists involves a significant part of the humour of the novel. From blackening the British Club Gala anniversary by releasing a volcano of smoke while driving a wood-fueled train to beating up 'Mr. Ceylon'who was badgering him for a fight, the novel is packed with many such humourous incidents. However, the novel goes beyond this archetype of Sonnaboy that was built up in the first book and the story reveals the sentimental and emotional side of Sonnaboy where he is devastated by the accidental loss of lives that occur which is part an parcel being an engine driver. Throughout the novel, we also meet a cast of Burgher railway drivers that are equally colourful as Sonnaboy and add colour to the novel. The railway attracted personalities Like Dickie Byrd who fell upon a Pentecostal meeting like Satan due to the Cacophony of sound it was creating as it was adjacent to the railway bungalow thus disturbing his rest. Other colourful characters include the food connoisseur Van Der Smaught pilfering and eating a human heart which was bound for the general hospital in Colombo thinking it was ox-heart and even Von Haght who was hailed as a model Burgher, in a moment of annoyance told the M.P from Vavuniya to go and put a J-U-M-P "asking Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Rita, Saint Sebastian,Saint John, Saint Christopher,... can do miracles if want no? So i told them. This is last warning. If you won't stop the rain out you go! Took the cane and beat them also. - The Eccentric Mavis Kelaart and her collection of religious statues The novel is also interspersed with humourous moments such as the above which highlights life amongst the Burghers in Colombo and also touches on the trials and tribulations of Beryl's Sonnaboy's wife as she brings up their ever expanding brood of boys and girls. Like the first novel, Yakada Yaka also touches on some serious issues taking place at the time. In the post World War I period, the rising Nationalism amongst the Singhalese and Tamil Communities is touched upon. The Burgher's while staying out of the political discourse of the time increasingly came into contact with the other communities. In the case of the railway's while the Burgher's were content with their lot of being engine Drivers more Singhalese and Tamils with the benefit of English Education were jockeying for administrative roles within the railway which put them at times at loggerheads with the Burghers. The novel exploits these situations superbly for comedic effect which is well illustrated from the following extract from Sonnaboy's letter to Mr. Gonpala, the Sinhalese C.M.E explaining that the train was delayed due to Buffaloes. "..Buffaloes know the times of the normal trains so they stay in the jungle or on the side of the railway line. But the train I was driving was a special. Buffaloes don't know about the specials. ...The railway pays me to drive the engine. Who is going to pay me to get down and drive wild buffaloes? if you think that I am going to get down and chase wild buffaloes you are a bigger buffalo than the buffaloes on the line." If you enjoyed the first novel, it's well worth picking this up for a second helping of life in Colonial Ceylon.
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Key Details Title: Born a Crime : Stories from a South African Childhood Writer: Trevor Noah Year of Publication: 2016 Goodreads - Link "Where most children are proof of their parents’ love, I was the proof of their criminality." - Trevor Noah on Being Born a Crime Over the course of this autobiography you follow young Trevor Noah through the ups and downs of his quite simply tumultuous life as he takes the reader on a journey of the key events that shapes his life. From his early life of being 'born a crime' in Apartheid South Africa to a Black Mother and White father. From an early age, Trevor was self aware of his difference and was brought up to believe in himself that he is different and he would be able to escape the cycles of poverty and crime that dogged his early life. The first half of the book is written in a slightly non linear way where alot of the information Trevor receives about his early days which is narrated to him by his mother as and when she imparted this knowledge to Trevor. Over the 2nd & 3rd parts of the book,the story takes a more serious tone where Trevor gives more opinions based on his own and others experiences on topics such as Poverty, criminality etc. The book is interspersed with some tender moments. For example, when Trevor rediscovers his birth father who has been maintaining a scrapbook of Trevor's achievements. Thee final scene between Trevor and the mother who is lying in hospital from a gun shot wound is particularly touching. Te book is also not without its humor which is what many people associate Trevor Noah with and his tumultuous childhood which is filled with violent faith healers, lead Dancers named Hitler makes for an entertaining read! On Race and Discrimination "Then apartheid fell, Mandela walked free, and black South Africa went to war with itself." -Trevor Noah on Post-Apartheid South Africa The book is quite informative about the history of South Africa with each chapter in the first half of the book giving a brief insight into the history of South Africa. Trevor was born into a repressive time while at the same times makes clear that the end of Apartheid was not the end of South Africa's problems. He touches on the suspicion and conflict between the different races in South Africa which had been cultivated during colonial and later under Apartheid where the minority white government used it to keep the much larger black population in check. This resonates with Sri Lanka's own history where similar policies that were followed in Colonial and Post Colonial period that had stoked ethnic fears for decades. It is also quite informative on the distinction between 'Coloured' persons and people of 'Mixed race' which is two completely different things and which does relate to the ethnic makeup in the Sri Lankan context as well. The book critiques the system has been designed such that a little bit of whiteness confers advantages and leads to resentment and division among groups. At the same time, Trevor acknowledges that he himself benefits from the racist system - The little bit of whiteness that he possessed gave him power and vastly improved his chances in life. Even his grandparents don't know how to discipline him and his closest relatives treat him in a different manner. From an early age, Trevor was brought up to be different and the Mother firmly believed that he had the best chance of escaping from the cycles of poverty and crime that surrounded life in South Africa This is possibly why even his mother viewed him very differently compared with her other children as she saw that he had the potential to aspire to a different way of life because of the colour of his skin. On the Power of Language “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” - Trevor Noah quoting Nelson Mandela Alongside the race concerns, South Africa has a multitude of languages with different languages denoting different ethnic and class divisions. By putting Nelson Mandela's words of into practice, Trevor learnt to become a chameleon and mix between different groups which allowed him access to different worlds in South African Society. Trevor highlights that in addition that racial grouping has a strong hold on people and defines many aspects of South African Society. At the same time, the book also highlights that language is not an insurmountable barrier between groups as was the experience of Trevor where he went to a high school dance with a girl he had been seeing for awhile only to later discover that neither spoke a common language! The Mother "When it was time to pick my name, she chose Trevor, a name with no meaning whatsoever in South Africa, no precedent in my family. It’s not even a Biblical name. It’s just a name. My mother wanted her child beholden to no fate. She wanted me to be free to go anywhere, do anything, be anyone." Apart from his own life, the novel is very much an ode to Trevor's mother; Patricia Nombuyiselo who played such an integral role in Trevor's life. Apart from Trevor's unique circumstances of being a mixed race child, where his mother brought him up on her own, the novel also explains the important role women played in Apartheid South Africa where absent fathers was a common occurrence where many fathers were away working in mines, fighting for a cause or in prison or exile. Trevor's Mother is a complex and contradictory character which makes her a very fascinating person. On the one hand she is extremely devout and a headstrong character which clashes with her actions This might be because this is the story that is narrated by the son point of view and it is possible that Trevor's memory of the experiences has been altered to fit the narrative. The story is one of choices and they show that the mother is always in control. Even when she is abused by Trevor's Step father Abel; She chooses to stay and support him, which is something the reader might grapple with given her strong character. On Poverty & Crime People always lecture the poor: “Take responsibility for yourself! Make something of yourself!” But with what raw materials are the poor to make something of themselves? People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing. -Trevor Noah on not being judgmental on poverty The novel highlights that the lines between whats right and wrong becomes blurred when people are desperate and impoverished. At the same time, these moments of poverty that mark Trevor's upbringing also brings out his entrepreneurial side which ranged from burning music CD's, taking orders and waiting in the queues at the school tuckshop as well as hustling in hood where he had some of his best memories. But at the same time, the story emphasizes the optimistic nature of South African's which is highlighted in the fact that driveways being a mainstay of houses in Soweto even though nobody owns a car. The story of Soweto is the story of the driveways, It’s a hopeful place. Even during times where Trevor has to face such extreme hardships of sleeping in cars or having to eat dog bones, he remains optimistic and in the case of living in Hood, he applauds the camaraderie and the friendships he formed there. But at the same time Trevor doesn't romanticize the hood and knows full well the gravitational pull the hood has where people are trapped in cycles of poverty by it due to its very nature. "The hood has a gravitational pull. It never leaves you behind, but it also never lets you leave. Because by making the choice to leave, you’re insulting the place that raised you and made you and never turned you away. And that place fights you back." Humor "If you’re Native American and you pray to the wolves, you’re a savage. If you’re African and you pray to your ancestors, you’re a primitive. But when white people pray to a guy who turns water into wine, well, that’s just common sense." Even when dealing with serious topics like poverty and crime, Trevor Noah's humor shines through the novel. Interestingly, the novel actually doesn't talk about specific instances or actions that put him on a path to become a comedian, but rather the tumultuous nature of his childhood may have helped him develop his humorous outlook in life and would have provided ample material for his comedy sketches! Trevor makes good use of exaggeration in his humor to satirize certain issues such as the ridiculousness of the Apartheid System. One of the most humorous moments in the books is where Trevor in his role as a DJ is performing at a Jewish school with a dance troupe where the lead dancer is named 'Hitler". Apart from the comedic value it may also be aimed as a critique of Western Education and values where he highlights that certain incidents like the Holocaust are highlighted above all else as incidences of human tragedy while the many genocides and conflicts that have scarred the African continent are ignored. His sense of humor also seems to have been influenced by his mother where while being an extremely devout woman was also utterly practical and is able to engage in a form of double-think and justify certain actions that may on the one hand conflict with her beliefs. This is brought out in scenes such as this which takes place right at the end of the book where Trevor's mom lying on a hospital bed and responding to Trevor's questioning on why she doesn't have health insurance: “Jesus.”“Jesus is your health insurance?”“If God is with me, who can be against me?”“Okay, Mom.”“Trevor, I prayed. I told you I prayed. I don’t pray for nothing.”“You know,” I said, “for once I cannot argue with you. The gun, the bullets—I can’t explain any of it. So I’ll give you that much.” Then I couldn’t resist teasing her with one last little jab. “But where was your Jesus to pay your hospital bill, hmm? I know for a fact that He didn’t pay that.” She smiled and said, “You’re right. He didn’t. But He blessed me with the son who did.” Verdict Overall, with its mix of humor, the amazing personal story makes this a really enjoyable and compelling read. Going beyond the enjoyment factor, the broad topics of discrimination, lack of education, Crime & poverty that are discussed resonates with our own Sri Lankan experience which makes it a compelling book. I highly recommend checking it out. Quotes "race-mixing doesn’t merely challenge the system as unjust, it reveals the system as unsustainable and incoherent. Race-mixing proves that races can mix—and in a lot of cases, want to mix. Because a mixed person embodies that rebuke to the logic of the system, race-mixing becomes a crime worse than treason." - On the uselessness of Race Discrimination "One of the most sinister things about apartheid was that it taught colored people that it was black people who were holding them back. Apartheid said that the only reason colored people couldn’t have first-class status was because black people might use coloredness to sneak past the gates to enjoy the benefits of whiteness". 'It’s easy to be judgmental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it. But the hood taught me that everyone has different notions of right and wrong, different definitions of what constitutes crime, and what level of crime they’re willing to participate in.' "For my mother’s part, the fact that this man didn’t particularly want a family with her, was prevented by law from having a family with her, was part of the attraction. She wanted a child, not a man stepping in to run her life." "As a nation, we recognized the power of women, but in the home they were expected to submit and obey" - Trevor Noah on the role women played in the struggle against Apartheid "Christian karaoke, badass action stories, and violent faith healers—man, I loved church". - Trevor Noah on his experiences of church "The whole issue of Santa Claus is a rather contentious one when it comes to African Christmas, a matter of pride. When an African dad buys his kid a present, the last thing he’s going to do is give some fat white man credit for it. African Dad will tell you straight up, “No, no, no. I bought you that.” |
AuthorAvid reader of Historical fiction, High fantasy novels, Comics & Graphic Novels. Passionate about teaching & the future of education in general. Categories
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