My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
How to describe a book that both feels so surreal and so confusing at the same time?
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is one of those books from this project that will remain with me for a long time. Its been a while since I finished it, and I am still unsure of what I think of it, how to rate it or even write a proper review. I suppose this will be a bit of a rambling on my thoughts on this book.
Synopsis
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is a novel or a short story by Nigerian author Amos Tutuola and was published in 1954. The story is about a young boy who as he is fleeing from slave traders gets lost in the bush. Unbeknownst to the young boy, he has now crossed over to the world of ghosts. A place that is filled with magic, ghosts, spirits and gives him a surreal journey as he tries to get back to his mortal world.
The book is, if I am not mistaken, partly based on the Yoruba folk-tales and culture, combined with the European colonialism, that gives a unique exploration of culture, identity and to me, a very different kind of fantasy.
A folktale fantasy
I had no clue what I was getting into with this book, as both the book itself and the author were unknown to me. The only research I did in advance was to google the book and see who the author was and when it was published, in an effort to not just pick books that were from my own time.
This is a folktale, filled with symbolism and surreal scenes and deeper meanings that sometimes take time to sink in. The writing style is much more connected to an oral tradition rather than a typical story that is written down, as the structure is more of how you would speak it, not read it. The combination of vagueness, we never know the boys name, and the surreal feeling of the world he moves through is truly fascinating. It keeps you confused, but also intrigued.
The thing is that I am still finding myself so confused and conflicted on what my thoughts are on this book. And as I have gone through my notecards, I have found that I still am the same place.
One notecard states: I am so confused with this book. Like I do not love it, but I dont hate it either. What I did love is how bizarre it all is.
The spirit world is so bizarre, disturbing, comical and yet so magical. Tutuolas imagination is so deep and limitless, that I am left amazed. It is like walking through a strange dream and waking up and only remembering strange parts of it. It has left an impression that is still with me now. It is one of the most unusual books I have ever read, and I cannot think of another fantasy book that this book could be compared to. At least not at this point.
There are certain elements of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts that did not really work for me, the main one being that it really felt like certain elements were used over and over again - to the point it became repetetive. Some stories were pretty much the same, just in a different location in the spirit world. Another element was how it was told, more of a: and then this happened, and then this AND then this. Not a good flow in all, but then again, this is a story told from the POV of a child. So this is one of those things that I do think was right for the book, but to me, it became a little exhausting towards the end.
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is going to be one of those books from the list, that I am not sure of how to rate. Nevertheless, it is a book I am happy to have read and experienced. It does feel like I will have to reread it at a later point, maybe I’ll discover something new in the Bush. Sometimes the shorter stories are the ones that leave you with the deepest impact.