Aké: The Years of Childhood

Many words are split with a space where a line ended in the original book. Some words are lost entirely, as in this sentencealmost looked the top of lt6ko straight in its pagan eye. Or For Eniola (the 'Wild Ch ristian'), and to the memory of 'Essay'. Al so fo r Yeside, Koy <; > de and F <; > lab <; >. who do not inhabit the mem ory span of the years recounted in th ese pages.The Kindle version is unreadable/

Wole Soyanka is a Noble Prize winning Nigerian author. In this book he tells the story of his childhood. He grew up in the 1940's in Nigeria. His father was a teacher, his mother ran a shop and his extended family could be called middle class.Through the eyes of this young boy, the reader glimpses a time and a place where Nigerian and British culture mixed. World War II is going on but it is glimpsed from afar. More pressing to the child is his day-to-day encounters with his parents and his teachers. School is strict: children are canned as a matter of course and the adult world around him is accepted in all its irrationality.The child's voice is engaging and he has a fine sense of humor but I found the book hard to follow sometimes, getting the characters confused and incidents not really fleshed out enough for my taste. However, it is a rare glimpse into a time and a place that is unique and is no more. I'm glad the author took the time and the trouble to share it with the world.

Parts are slow and boring, but other parts are interesting. More importantly this book gives a good glimpse into a completely different world and you learn a lot from parts of it!

Book listed as "very good", but it was nowhere near. No highlighting or writing, but spine damaged, creases over cover, generally torn up. It was not "undamaged". A more accurate description, by Amazon guidelines, would have been "acceptable" or at best, "good".

I found the book fascinating given that I already have some knowledge of the characters. It was a real pleasure meeting Mrs Bere Ransome-Kuti in a setting different from the picture painted by the media. She and Eniola are truly an inspiration. so also is Daodu... great guy!

Read it to enrich your soul.

I laughed at the antics Ake was guilty of because I experienced similar events with my American born and raised boys. Boys will be boys where ever they live

He is a fine writer and full of character and perceptions. I love this Africa.

To understand small town life in colonial western Nigeria this is the book to read. However the amazon edition I seem to have bought is appalling- I can only assume it is a working proof - riddled with typos Repeats and spelling errors- thank you amazon for making my read such a miserable and challenging chore. Soyinka's memoir however is magical and Aaron joy to read

The book is great, but I don't know what happened to Kindle: the typescript is all over the place

Very good quality and delivered on time.

Once you get used to the "colonial" style grammar, you begin to realise you are reading an amazing book, by a unique author. Shakespeare's got nothing on Wole Soyinka. A true classic!

I was transported to Soyinka's childhood world by his writing. It is hard to put into word just how good this book is. I have read it several times over the years, and will no doubt read it several more as each time I get more from it. Soyinka is a master wordsmith who draws you in to his books with his lyrical naratives and true to life characters. I highly recommend you buy this book.