One of the book I read is: "Ways of dying" by Zakes Mda a black South African author.First thing to say about this book is that it is not as macabre as the title would lead you to believe, in fact in a sort of a way it is cosmical in parts.
Toloki is a professional mourner. He has invented the profession and the rules by which he thinks such professionals should live. The way he approaches his job, the way he feels about it is probably the funniest part of the book. But then of course this is actually only a small part. The book starts when he finds himself working at the funeral of Noria's son. Noria was a girl who grew up in the same village than him and who had two gifts: her laughter who make people happy and her singing which made Toloki's father, a blacksmith, able to create metal figurines.
As the book goes along through the descriptions of what is happening and through the memories of Toloki we see how Noria end up leaving together in her shack in the slums.
I thought that the story in itself wasn't really that interesting but I liked the little shreds of truth about South African during Apartheid that came through, things like:
"..people of his complexion could not own a house in this area" (he does write "complexion");
or the observation that women are the most active people in the townships but that the leaders area always men. There is quite a few chances to grab onto some insight like this throughout the book. I enjoyed the description of how they rebuilt Noria's shack after it was burnt and how they plastered the inside with pictures from magazines and catalogs to make it look nice. I liked it because I know that it is very much something that people did and in some cases still do in south African Townships. I liked the descriptions of their dream-walks through the garden in the magazine pictures because it explained to me the value of fancy magazine pictures on the wall of shacks that can be burnt and rebuilt in one day.
"Ways of dying" is a thin easy book and if you happen to see it, but I would say to go and look for it, I would recommend reading it as an easy way to get a simple insight into what it was like for some people to live in the townships of South Africa during apartheid. But remember: don't expect a big political statement, don't expect great rallying passionate passages which could start a revolution it is just a simple book which shows a little bit of what life was/is like fr other people...and this is why I liked it.
