WINDMILLS OF THE GODS. By Sidney Sheldon

Another gripping work by Sheldon of course. For me the character of Angel the international assassin remains intriguing, if not quite convincing in the end.

It is some sort of masterstroke that the author ensures throughout this work that the reader would imagine that both Angel and Neusa are the same. One eg assumes that Angel would be a man, not a woman. 

The author writes - a fine sleight of hand really - "First Angel had some shopping to do. There was a good lingerie shop on Pueyrredon, expensive, but Neusa deserved the best". How would the reader suss out here that Angel was actually referring to himself...er, herself! 

Yet from a critical point of view, the concept does not ring true. Neusa is presented as a very unattractive, illiterate dithering, quite foolish individual; yet in reality she is sophisticated, canny, quite a genius. So maybe we should assume again that she is the greatest actress the world has ever seen with what she pulls off!

A horrific end for "The Controller" in the end; but how he deserves it... 

- Henry Ozogula

THE INTERPRETERS. By Wole Soyinka

'Wole Soyinka - one of the greatest writers Africa, and the world has ever seen. First African Nobel laureate. Celebrated poet. But also a sublime novelist, as this work proves. Actually the great man wrote this his debut novel many decades ago when he was still a young man. Here we concentrate on a coterie of articulate young men in particular as a nation - Nigeria- starts to stand on its own feet. Take a bow Sagoe, Egbo, Sekoni etc. Being Soyinka this is a brilliant, dense work with poetic undulations. From the start one might even give up when we read, "Metal on concrete jars my drink lobes". And what about the voluble Voidancy, "philosophy of shit" - the "business for latrine"? Farcical but gripping in its own way "farting like a beast " et al. A world class work indeed, this novel, with the author ventilating his wariness, his disdain for stultifying factors already pulling the African continent down from inception . Hark at the "moral turpitide", the hypocrisy, the smug sanctimonious elements already taking root. Apart from our intellectual young men here, broad strata of society is delineated here: eg the aristocracy, the hoi polloi, academics, demi-mondes, even albino.

The women in this novel are intriguing too, though the setting is many decades ago. Dehinwa, but Simi in particular. Simi comes across as an assertive, enigmatic, very seductive woman - in control even in respect of sex. Even the sexual details are brilliantly couched in poetic language here; yet Simi is in control. Life goes on here with ineluctable tragedies eg road accidents which the author has again been world famous for, for decades. Ravages on the road. Personally, unconsciously I find myself conflating this work with that of the talented SA writer, Deon Simphiwe Skade (author of A series of Undesirable events). In Deon 's work we are confronted too with young cerebral protagonists, with the author employing marmoreal poetic language echoing DH Lawrence. The Interpreters indeed...'

THE RADIANCE OF THE KING. By Camara Laye

One of the most remarkable and brilliant novels from Africa that I ever read. And this one was published very early many decades ago which illustrates what a great writer Camara Laye was…and from Guinea too. This book is a must for anybody interested in African writing. This is world class writing, incorporating the best from Africa, from Europe and cascading into intellectual apogee. This wonderful story of a white man in Africa, bewildered, bemused, brought down, even exploited, until attaining illumination of sorts at the end…should elicit grand applause and “clapping” all around. 
 - B Mantu

ALL FOUR ENGINES HAVE FAILED. By Betty Tootell

All Four Engines Have Failed: The True And Triumphant Story Of Flight Ba 009 And The 'Jakarta Incident'

By Betty Tootell

The trepidation and dread of it. Trapped in a plane, hovering among the clouds as it were...the craft rocking to and fro...realising that the ultimate disaster beckons: a shattering plane crash! 

Such aerial mishaps we often assume to be terminal and fatal. Imagine the plight, the thoughts, the acute psychological agony of both crew and passengers at such a time. Inadvertently we are soon going to meet our Maker. Fervent, melancholic prayers, some managing to scribble "last notes" to loved ones... hoping that such notes would survive the crash and be read by the missus, kids etc...

After all it's been announced that the engines of the plane - all four of them are no longer working! The end is nigh...implacable rocks in sight...but what if they manage to turn the plane around, and somehow land it in the sea?...the waters? Alas, where would the rescue come from? Horrid deaths by marine creatures like the sharks, a fetid, rippling crunching finale! Which one is better, horrific swift death with the plane hitting the rocks, or death in the waters?

Such horrors no doubt swirled on the crew and passengers in this particular flight (real life), subject of this trenchant book. In passing, what a splendid job the flight attendants orchestrate even in the face of death, glimpsing the precipice, as they continually assure the passengers that all would be fine, smiling, guiding, patting them all (don't panic!) Whilst knowing all too well that their own sojourn on earth would likely end very soon.

Yes, plane disasters, or near plane disasters happen intermittently all over the world, but really, it's the pertinent ones in board who can understand the horror, the trauma, the pathos they go through. Transcendental Dread. And so it is here. The plane seemingly on fire, all the engines not working, imminent disaster! Yet to our relief (as readers) miracle - miracles - happen. Somehow the engines work to avert certain disaster (short-lived) and even the plane has to be landed manually. Successfully! Glee, tears, fulsome celebrations all over. Jabulani !!! as we say in Africa. What a story. Kudos to everybody involved here, and of course the polished author...
- Eric Malome'