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Editorial Review:
Thomas Wolfe's trusted axiom about not being able to go home again gets a compelling spin through the African veldt in Alexandra Fuller's Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier. Fuller (Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood) journeys through modern Zambia, to battlefields in Zimbabwe and Mozambique with the scarred veteran of the Rhodesian Wars she identifies only as "K". Intrigued by the mysterious neighbour of her parent's Zambian fish farm and further enticed by her father's warning that "curiosity scribbled the cat" ("scribbling" is Afrikaans slang for "killing"), Fuller embarks on a journey that covers as much cratered psychic landscape as it does African bush country. Though she and "K" are both African by family roots rather than blood, she quickly discovers that 30 years of civil war have scarred them--and the indigenous peoples they encounter--in markedly different ways. "K" is a figure of monumental tragedy, a decent man torn by war-fuelled rage, a failed marriage and painful memories of an only son lost to tropical disease. His adopted Christianity offers him only partial absolution, and Fuller details his gut-wrenching confessions of quarter-century old atrocities with compassion and rare insight. Her prose liberally salted with a rich, melange of Afrikaans and local Shona slang, Fuller nonetheless struggles with a narrative whose turns are often unexpected, yet driven by humanity. There's a clear sense that the author's fitful journey into the past with "K" has opened as many wounds as it has healed, and spawned more questions than it has answered. It's that discomfort and frustration that often reinforces the honesty of her prose--and reinforces Thomas Wolfe's adage yet again. --Jerry McCulley, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
superb Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier
Astonishing, moving, transporting, funny and a thoroughly good read.
Good but.... Her first book was quite fantastic. The second good, brilliant in parts but not throughout. She has chosen an extraordinarily difficult subject who is clearly a closed and introspective individual who, while reluctant to communicate and engage with Fuller, does have a fascinating life to recount. I somehow was left at the end of the book with many more questions than answers - although this might be Fuller's intent. The descriptions and stories are beautifully told as her ability to convey a passion for... more info
Another good, if uncomfortable, read by Fuller In her first book, I really liked Fuller both as a "character" and an author. In this book, however, we see a more ruthless side to her character in her attempts to get under the skin of "K". K is a, white, former soldier in the Rhodesian Independance War and the other conflicts that spilled over into neighbouring countries. It is K who first gave Fuller the premise for this book, and after a series of meetings at her parent's farm in Zambia, they undertook a trip across K's former battlefields in... more info
Heart of Darkness Alexandra Fuller grew up in Rhodesia, a country that doesn't exist anymore. Her memoir "Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight" was published a couple of years back, an honest, thoughtful story told in the easy flow of a natural writer. At the centre of that book was the description of her parents; hard-drinking and tough white farmers, leading what would be a life of hardship according to European standards, but luxury compared with what most people around them faced. It seemed striking how ready Fuller was to... more info
