He’s my brother reviewed

Deus Bugaywa

Binyavanga Wainaina’s He’s my bother story is very interesting, especially if you are a novelist like I am, it will be even more interesting if you are an east African.

It tells about African Hospitality in attending guests, in a Tanzanian way. The author tells his audience how Tanzanians are still maintaining the natural African generosity, that they perceive all people are equal and relative to one another.

He is telling us that for Tanzanians hospitality is exceptional that it can hardly be found anywhere in the continent especially in these era where all Africans are moving violently the Western way.

“In which other African airport can you get real assistance? I walk from one official to another, irate that my luggage seems to have disappeared. Everyone is hugely supportive and soon the entire airport seems to know that my luggage is missing and I am headed for a funeral. I am overwhelmed by assistance.” He narates.

In all he is trying to send the massage that Tanzania is one of the very few country that still maintains the African communal values of hospitality unlike her colleagues who “like to feel that we are a progressive people who have left all this communal African nonsense and acquired a hard-nosed get-with-the-programme attitude.”

In my opinion the author has done a god job to explain the true nature of Tanzanian, especially on the issue of Tribalism, as the experience he get at the open air traders space they went for dinner. Its true that in Tanzanians daily life no body bothers to ask a colleague his or her tribe, even if they meet for the first time.

Wainaina is Kenyan author born in Nakuru, get his early eduactaion in Kenya before going for further studies in Souther Africa at Transkei University. After his Study he nmoved to Cape Town where he is living and working as writer on tourism issues.

In 2002 he won the Caine Award for African literature, he is the founder of the Kwani magazine. He is now working on his novel The fallen World of Appearance.