Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga Ebook
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Story of growing up in Zimbabwe as a young lady, with social unrest and conflicts and overcoming her brother's death.
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(Nervous Conditions #2)
A sequel to Nervous Conditions, this is a powerful and engaging story about one young woman's quest to redefine the personal and political forces that threaten to engulf her. As its title suggests, this is also a book about denial and unfulfilled expectations and about the theft of the self that remains one of colonialism's most pernicious legacies. The novel disrupts any...more
Published December 19th 2006 by Ayebia Clarke Publishing (first published January 1st 2006)
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ColleenNervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga - Zimbabwe. Coconut by Kopano Matlwa - South Africa. Spud by John van de Ruit - South Africa
Books Set in Zimbabwe 102 books — 103 voters
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This is the sequel to Dangarembga's seminal and fantastic Nervous Conditions. The back cover claims that the sequel 'is destined for similar success'. I have to disagree.
One of the most difficult tasks for an author is to come back and make their second book as good or better than their introductory smash-hit. Harper Lee essentially said 'fuck it' and left To Kill A Mockingbird alone in its brilliance. Stephen King still hasn't learned to shut up. So really, an author could go either way.
It to...more
Nov 10, 2012Claudia rated it it was amazingOne of the most difficult tasks for an author is to come back and make their second book as good or better than their introductory smash-hit. Harper Lee essentially said 'fuck it' and left To Kill A Mockingbird alone in its brilliance. Stephen King still hasn't learned to shut up. So really, an author could go either way.
It to...more
Shelves: read-in-grad-school-for-leisure, favorites
Another excellent read. This wasn't as exciting as 'Nervous Conditions' for me, but I think that's just because Nyasha is far less involved and you have less of an extreme contrast of views between main characters. I think this book is also harder to get into if you can't connect to the experience of colonization, yet at the same time I don't really understand how even a basic understanding of colonization could still remain so out of reach if you've already read 'Nervous Conditions'. That said,...more
This book was disappointing after having read Nervous Condition, which I rated very highly. Tambu sets her sights high as she continues her studies at the Sacred Heart School. She studies hard, setting her sights on receiving the top trophy that she has been admiring for a couple of years. Although she deserves it, a white student is the receiver. Tambu's disappointments throughout this story, send her into states of rage and despondency. Her mother chastises Tambu for her higher than mighty att...more
Apr 01, 2018Whitlaw Mugwiji rated it liked it
I thoroughly enjoyed Tsitsi Dangarembwa's first book, Nervous Conditions, unfortunately this her sequel did not live up to my expectations. This book is slow moving, with too much detail on mundane teenage activities as if the intended audience are teenagers.
Perhaps I am judging her book too harshly, but its not my fault, she set the bar too high with Nervous Conditions. It was always going to be such a tall order to replicate such brilliance.
May 01, 2007Josiah rated it it was amazingPerhaps I am judging her book too harshly, but its not my fault, she set the bar too high with Nervous Conditions. It was always going to be such a tall order to replicate such brilliance.
Recommends it for: Those interested in post-colonial literature.
Dangarembga’s own experiences are reflected in much of Tambu’s character. Their similar interests, and their pursuit of a higher education in this newly-established Zimbabwe make aspects of Tambu’s character blur with the author. This novel is the continuation of Tambu’s confrontation and reaction to societal oppression in her position as a black woman. Despite her intelligence, hard work, and education, Tambu is unable to overcome the roadblock of her position in the society. Appropriately, Dan...more
The Book of Not by Tsitsi Dangaremgba
‘In time of war’
Helon Habila follows one girl's struggle for identity in Rhodesia's dying days
Saturday Guardian 04.11.06
This is the much-anticipated sequel to Tsitsi Dangaremba's first novel, Nervous Conditions, which famously began, 'I was not sorry when my brother died.' The Book of Not opens just as boldly, with a leg, severed from its body, flying through the air and getting hooked on a tree branch, to remain there suspended, dripping blood. This pendant...more
‘In time of war’
Helon Habila follows one girl's struggle for identity in Rhodesia's dying days
Saturday Guardian 04.11.06
This is the much-anticipated sequel to Tsitsi Dangaremba's first novel, Nervous Conditions, which famously began, 'I was not sorry when my brother died.' The Book of Not opens just as boldly, with a leg, severed from its body, flying through the air and getting hooked on a tree branch, to remain there suspended, dripping blood. This pendant...more
Jul 14, 2017Wes De Silvestro rated it it was ok
Alright, I'm going to start out and be blunt with this review: This book was a disappointment. In fact, it was a major disappointment. (I wanted to give this three stars because the writing is still great, but a friend convinced me to round my 2.5 stars down to 2. Sorry Tsitsi Dangarembga...)
I absolutely fell in love with this book's prequel: Nervous Conditions. I knew very well going into reading The Book of Not that it wouldn't live up to the first book's success and fame: sequels never do. Th...more
Aug 09, 2018Xandria rated it I absolutely fell in love with this book's prequel: Nervous Conditions. I knew very well going into reading The Book of Not that it wouldn't live up to the first book's success and fame: sequels never do. Th...more
it was ok Shelves: historical-fiction, war-lit, literary, 1a-africa, feminist, 2a-zimbabwe
I immensely enjoyed Nervous Conditions, so when I picked up this book for my comps, I was hoping that it would continue the complexity of identity, patriarchy, etc. To an extent, it does, but we don't see the world unraveling in Tambu's mind like we did in the first book. And more than that, Nyasha is MIA for most of the book, which I get in some fashion, but in others I'm almost begging Dangarembga to allow readers more insight into her struggles. Or at least have her appear more.
The beginning...more
The beginning...more
Apr 10, 2010Andrea rated it liked it
I liked this book a lot, but the ending doesn't provide closure. Too much set up for the next book. Still, it provides a clear picture of life during civil unrest, the difficulty particularly of being a teenager facing the issues of loyalty and identity. How does one cope with violence and confusion without becoming overwhelmed? The book's structure is weak but the writing is sound.
The Book of Not is a much harder book to read than Nervous Conditions, and I can understand why people like it much less, but from the perspective of understanding the human condition, it is equally important, perhaps even more so.
Dangarembga's power and strength comes through in her refusal, even for a moment, to succumb to the western fairy tale that hard work is enough to improve people's conditions. She shows that even superhero like efforts are insufficient inside a rigged system. As much a...more
Dangarembga's power and strength comes through in her refusal, even for a moment, to succumb to the western fairy tale that hard work is enough to improve people's conditions. She shows that even superhero like efforts are insufficient inside a rigged system. As much a...more
Dec 07, 2018Orla Hegarty rated it liked it
I read the first book in this series a few weeks ago and was eager to read the second in this trilogy. I found the protagonist became shallower and the constant metaphorical writing irritating. Perhaps Tambu (the protagonist) was so traumatized by what occurs in the first chapter that there was no other way to portray her?
I did enjoy the further exposure to a country ravaged by colonialism and an insight into Zimbabwe's pre and slightly post 1980 world.
I did enjoy the further exposure to a country ravaged by colonialism and an insight into Zimbabwe's pre and slightly post 1980 world.
Apr 02, 2019Meredith rated it liked it
I love the concepts this book covers and the metaphors and social commentary she conveys, but it is a sequel to one of my favorite books ever and I found it disappointing. While I loved the story and the content and the ideas, the writing style was too complex. I found myself regularly having to reread long sentences to make sure I understood the meaning.
The first book was better. In the sequal, Tambu is less likable and morally depraved in a sense. Her life spirals downwards and you can't even sympathise with her because of who she is or rather who she has become.
Discovering this book, nearly 15 years after reading Nervous Conditions
Its quite okay, nothing compared to Nervous Conditions.
Nov 03, 2018Brenda Marean rated it really liked it
The second in the series begun many, many years ago. Enjoyed it; not as great as Nervous Conditions whic was terrific.
Apr 02, 2018Colleen rated it liked it
Dense, hard work. I related to Nervous Conditions, and found it enlightening, but this was very difficult to engage with.
she should have ended on th 1st one. The way Tambu turned out was such a disappointment
Dec 22, 2011Madeline rated it liked it Shelves: colonialism, race, women, 2012, historical-fiction, novels, depression, coming-of-age, revolution, lord-help-the-mister
1. Let's be honest: Nervous Conditions is just about the toughest book to follow up in the world. Dangarembga could have stopped there and literature would have yearned after more for her, but she'd still be a Major Author, but of the Harper Lee school. And if you haven't read Nervous Conditions yet, you should really, really, really get on that: it's an amazing book.
2. The Book of Not is less disappointing than it is confusing. Part of me thinks it would stand better on its own, that it doesn't...more
2. The Book of Not is less disappointing than it is confusing. Part of me thinks it would stand better on its own, that it doesn't...more
The sequel to Nervous Conditions, tells the struggles of a black girl in colonial Rhodesia with the backdrop of the rebel war and movement to an independent Zimbabwe. The story plots Tambu's achievements that are stolen, dismissed and hopes destroyed as she realises he rejection of her village life and embarrassment of her culture, cannot change the race politics of colonial/ post-colonial Rhodesia. Her determined attempts to enter new socio-economic standing under the misconception that a merit...more
Tsitsi Dangarembga Biography
This sequel to 'Nervous Conditions' is quite good, but not all that I wanted it to be. I still love Dangarembga's writing style, her use of language, her characters. But I wanted more tension between Tambu and her mother. This conflict opens the novel, but it fades in the distance, perhaps mirroring Tambu's own mind separating her life at a colonial Catholic school and her family's life on the homestead where the resistance to British colonialism is brewing. But I think this contrast could have...more
Jun 12, 2015Rebecca rated it liked it
This second book in the series is much more morally ambiguous than Nervous Conditions, where we find Tambu knitting dark green gloves for the white Rhodesian troops. This moral ambiguity makes it difficult to simply empathise with Tambu, although clearly racism is a key feature of her school life, and subsequent working life. As such, it reminds me most closely to Native Nostalgia (Jacob Dlamini) in generating discomfort around being compromised by compromising conditions. in some ways therefore...more
Sep 19, 2012Claire rated it really liked it
Having enjoyed Nervous Conditions, I was glad to find this sequel. It begins a bit slowly with descriptions to orient the reader, but soon picks up. After having followed Nyasha's identity struggles between European and African in Nervous Conditions, I found the variation experienced by Tambu valuable. It was not an easy time to be a charity minority scholar at a Catholic girls' school. Racism was systemic and profound.
For once, I felt an author handled an ending well.
It is a hard book to say m...more
For once, I felt an author handled an ending well.
It is a hard book to say m...more
May 12, 2014Melinda rated it really liked it
The sequel to Nervous Conditions we find Tambu's ongoing quest to redefine the personal, political and historical forces threatening to destroy her and her country pre/post globalization . Dangarembga showcases the education system, the liberation struggle and attitudes of contemporary Zimbabweans in an incisive and insightful examination of a system calculated to destablize the sense of self. After decolonization we find Tambu still searching for self-knowledge and her place in this new way of...more
Nervous Conditions Book
Having finished this novel I am sitting here wondering if the creators of 'Mad Men' had read it. There are quite a few parallels between Peggy and Tambu's experiences at an advertising agency, but Peggy only has to deal with some chauvinistic American males. Tambu is up against both white men and institutionalized racism. The ending leaves the reader hoping that Dangarembga will write a third novel about Tambu -- and wishing this one could have ended on a happier note.
I was disappointed with this book. Maybe it's too difficult to follow up Nervous Conditions, but I just expected more. Some stuff felt really dragged out, and then a bunch of stuff was crammed in the last 50 pages. And I didn't always get Tambu's motivation. Hopefully the last of the trilogy will return to earlier glory!
The second book follows the theme of nervous conditions - 'this business of womenhood is a heavy burden'. A truly emotive book that pulls at your gut as to the injustice of being born a certain gender, race and within an economic circumstance. The title sums up the feeling u are left with once you finish the book - the book of not.
Jul 23, 2011Michele rated it liked it
I picked up Nervous Conditions 20 years ago when I was backpacking in Zimbabwe. The story of Tambu provided insight on the country and was a souvenir that I treasured. The Book of Not while interesting was not as engaging and Tambu has developed some rough edges. I still plan to pick up the third book in the trilogy to follow Tambu's journey further.
Tambudzai's journey is fascinating in The Book of Not, but one would have expected an amazing rendition of her growth - something as electric as in Nervous Conditions. The burden of a great first novel!
The book is about women's quest to redefine the personal and political forces.In the book of NOT the author shows the struggles of young Tambu to fit in one of the black students at a largely white private school.This book shows the African similar interests and their pursuit of higher education.
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Nervous Conditions Summary
Spent part of her childhood in England. She began her education there, but concluded her A-levels in a missionary school back home, in the town of Mutare. She later studied medicine at Cambridge University, but became homesick and returned home as Zimbabwe's black-majority rule began in 1980.
She took up psychology at the University of Zimbabwe, of whose drama group she was a member. She also held...more
She took up psychology at the University of Zimbabwe, of whose drama group she was a member. She also held...more
Nervous Conditions(3 books)
“What I wanted was to get away. But the moon was too far beyond, and there were white bits under me, where the flesh was shredded off and the bone gleamed that famed ivory, and those below cowered and, if they were not quick enough, were spattered in blood. Then came the jolt, as of a fall, and I saw the leg was caught in an ungainly way in the smaller branches of a mutamba tree, the foot hooked, long like that infamous fruit.” — 1 likes
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