Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

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As a small child, she resists punishment by saying "Then I'll fire you", which is awful, but reflects a degree of truth, and similarly, her disgust at using a cup that might have been used by an African is a learned reaction. I was completely mesmerized reading this highly compelling memoir of Alexandra Fuller's childhood experiences as a British expat family living in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), during the time of ending colonialism in the 70s-90s.

Captured wild cattle give "reluctant milk" and even after adding Milo milkshake powder, "nothing can disguise the taste of the reluctant milk". I would have never have dreamed of reading a book about Africa; the country just never appealed to me. The constant attention Fuller pays to her mother, to her agonies and her pleasures, results in an unforgettable portrait of a dashing, horse-riding, reckless woman, a constant reader and an expert in having a terrible, good time. This is one of those books that tops out on many different levels at the same time- the language is beautiful, the dialogue is great, the people come alive for you, it's hilarious, it's sad, it's beautiful, and it deals with the subject of entrenched racism incredibly well, by simply telling the truth about how people were and what people did, without ever stretching to make a political point. First of all is the smell, which in Zambia “is strong enough to taste; bitter, burning, back-throat-coating, like the reminder of vomit”.

By the time she is eight, the war is in full swing; her parents veer from being determined farmers to being blind drunk whilst the author and her sister, the only survivors of five children, alternately take up target practice and sing Rod Stewart numbers from sunbleached rocks. Raised by their parents on farms in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi during the 1970’s, they are white Africans, exposed to deeply ingrained racism from birth.

By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. I look back on my life and realize that there were many times that I could have been killed by something I had done when I was young and wandering the countryside by myself. I somehow had enough now for a while of all the hardship, tragedy, hurt, and everything else related to the wars in Africa and everywhere else. She relates all this, however uncomfortable, without judgment or criticism, and I like the fact that the reader is left to draw their own conclusions. The author's voice of herself as a young child is authentic and adds both pathos and humour to the incidents described.Life on this planet is never without dangers; some people are just more lucky than others to live a life where they have few fears.