Ambiguous Adventure (Neversink)
Language: English
Published by Melville House, 2012
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Else Fine Booksellers, Tacoma, WA, U.S.A.Else Fine Booksellers
AbeBooks seller since January 27, 2023
Condition: Used - Very good
US$ 50.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Minor wear to edges, bump to heel of spine, light scuffs to front cover. Contents are clean and the binding remains solid.
Seller Inventory # 006167
- Title
- Ambiguous Adventure (Neversink)
- Author
- Hamidou Kane, Cheikh
- Publisher
- Melville House
- Publication year
- 2012
- Condition
- Very Good
- Binding
- Soft cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 1612190545
- ISBN 13
- 9781612190549
- Seller catalogs
- Literature
Hailed by Chinua Achebe as one of the greatest African novels ever written, this long-unavailable classic tells the tale of young Samba Diallo, a devout pupil in a Koranic school in Senegal whose parents send him to Paris to study philosophy.
But unknown to Samba, it is a desperate attempt by his parents to better understand the French colonial forces transforming their traditional way of life. Instead, for Samba, it seems an exciting adventure, and once in France he excels at his new studies and is delighted by his new "marvelous comprehension and total communion" with the Western world.
Soon, though, he finds himself torn between the materialistic secularism and isolation of French civilization and the deeper spiritual influences of his homeland. As Samba puts it: "I have become the two."
Written in an elegant, lyrical prose, Ambiguous Adventure is a masterful expression of the immigrant experience and the repercussions of colonialism, and a great work of literature about the uneasy relationship between Islamic Africa and the West—a relationship more important today than ever before.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
CHEIKH HAMIDOU KANE was born in 1928 in Mataru, Sen- egal, the son of a local chief. Having started at a Koranic school, he went on to a local French primary school, and eventually was sent off to read philosophy and law at the Sorbonne in Paris. Subsequently, he studied at the École Nationale de la France d’Outre-Mer, which had been founded by the French government to train colonial administrators. During Kane’s years in Paris he wrote a novel based closely on his experience, Ambiguous Adventure, and after his return to Senegal in 1959 he set about getting it published, while also taking a job as a governmental bureaucrat. The novel was published in 1961 to immediate acclaim, and the following year won the Grand Prix Littéraire d’Afrique Noir. Kane meanwhile went on to rise in ministerial positions in the Senegalese government, serving as Director of the Department of Economic Planning and Development, Governor of the Region of Thies, and Commissioner of Planning. He has also worked for UNICEF in Lagos and Abidjan. Kane lives in Dakar.
KATHERINE WOODS, besides being known for her translation of Ambiguous Adventure, is perhaps best known for her 1943 translation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Else Fine Booksellers
Tacoma, WA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since January 27, 2023
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | US$ 5.50 | US$ 10.00 |
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Store description
“Else Fine” is a play on words, perhaps referring to something of value yet slightly worse for wear. It perfectly describes the booksellers at Else Fine, who have been dealing in used and rare books for over 25 years. We specialize in science fiction, interesting ephemera, books on books, radical literature and history, Pacific Northwest Americana, literature, and whatever else catches our eye.
Seller's business information
Else Fine Booksellers
WA, U.S.A.
Terms of sale
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