Sunday, November 2, 2014

Reading Response 11/03


I first should admit that I was not able to finish the book, Welcome To Our Hillbrow, written by Phaswane Mpe. I made it about two-thirds into it and finally decided to stop. The story and I had a hard time connecting, even though, I appreciated the way Mpe describes the scenery and the way he narrated the story line was like nothing I've ever read before. The story had too many names and key words that no matter how hard I tried, I could not remember who the characters were or what those key words meant. I don’t think I was able to understand exactly what the author was getting at, making the book as I read increasingly boring. Maybe, with more time I can read Welcome To Our Hillbrow, and understand the story’s meaning.

Even though I could not find it within me to finish the book, there were several subjects that spark some thought. For example, how the authors goes about describing the city of Hillbrow. He described it as being full of corruption, poverty, violence, and disease. I thought to myself “Wow. That’s a really shitty place to live. I’m glad I live the Bronx.” Never would I ever think I would say something like that. Mpe brought me to an extreme thought; he made me thankful of my current situation by describing the extreme realities of Hillbrow. Hats off to him for that one.

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