The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable....
Review: Beautiful Ones was required reading at secondary school. I didn't quite understand it, all the same it left an impression, and early this year i sought it out. It is an amazing book. Two weeks of careful reading, my copy is left heavily lined and dog-eared.

I strongly recommend it to all budding social revolutionaries.

It is one lone man's struggle against seemingly inescapable corruption and filth. A "settled mind"/resolved principles triumphs in the face of hunger, severe poverty, a nagging wife and his own conscience.

His stance is eventually justified when the corrupt government along with his much envied politician friend falls.

There is a lot of filth- environment, human nature, even language. Nothing is spared. Its easy to get caught up in its general ugliness. This is ironically the beauty of the book and does not rob it of its essence. For those who have not been exposed to widespread corruption, rotteness or had to struggle with "doing the right thing" and against all the odds, it may seem a "sick book".

Rating:
Summary: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
Review: I have just completed this book and can only say that i would not have read it had i not been required to. It is the story of a poor man in a material world who, despite the pressures around and within him, is able to maintain a sense of dignity within himself. The author manages to create vivd scenes of filth and vileness throughout the novel but the plot leaves something to be desired. Characters are vague and action begins very late in the text. Despite valiant attempts to create a classic, this book still belongs in the attic with all the other dusty volumes. The only people i would recommend this to would be those who love descriptions and those who act too perky.

Rating:
Summary: Heart Wrenching, Repulsive, Genius
Review: I have just finished reading this book a few hours ago, and although I have barely had time to digest its contents, it has to be considered a modern literary classic. I read it for a Western African history class, and although I think it helps to have a rudimentary understanding of Ghana's post-independence history, this novel definitely stands on its own literary merit. "The Man" (as he is referred to) is an honest and introspective individual torn apart by the corruption and greed of his society. This creates conflict between not only him and the majority of the world around him, but also between him and his family. This book speaks volumes of the nature of a society that has been decimated by the repressive rule of an entirely different culture. Ayi Kwei Armah weaves beautiful poetry, intellectual insight, and explicit (and at times repulsive- but that is the desired effect) imagery into his story. The reader can truly feel the struggle and search for balance of the man. Humorous at times, depressing at others, "The Beautyful Ones" is a moving masterpiece. "As he went down a shadow rose up the bottom wall to meet him, and it was his own."