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All Our Names - Dinaw Mengestu
All Our Names
by: (author)
3.67 15
"A fierce and tender examination of identity, love, disillusionment, friendship and sacrifice. . . . Extraordinary." National Post      All Our Names is the story of a young man who comes of age during an African revolution, drawn from the hushed halls of his university into the intensifying... show more
"A fierce and tender examination of identity, love, disillusionment, friendship and sacrifice. . . . Extraordinary." National Post      All Our Names is the story of a young man who comes of age during an African revolution, drawn from the hushed halls of his university into the intensifying clamour of the streets outside. But as the line between idealism and violence becomes increasingly blurred, and the path of revolution leads to almost certain destruction, he leaves behind his country and friends for America. There, pretending to be an exchange student, he falls in love with a social worker and settles into the routines of small-town life. Yet this idyll is inescapably darkened by the secrets of his past: the acts he committed and the work he left unfinished. Most of all, he is haunted by the charismatic leader who first guided him to revolution and then sacrificed everything to ensure his freedom.     Subtle, intelligent, and quietly devastating, All Our Names is a novel about identity, about the names we are given and the names we earn. The emotional power of Mengestu's work is indelible.
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Format: paperback
ISBN: 9780385679794 (0385679793)
ASIN: 0385679793
Publisher: Anchor Canada
Pages no: 272
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
Merle
Merle rated it
4.0 All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
If I were to sum up this novel in one word, it would be enigmatic. It is a short book, though not a fast read, centering around an unnamed young man from Ethiopia; alternate chapters present his life in Uganda, narrated by himself, and his later experiences in the U.S., narrated by a young social wo...
Merle
Merle rated it
4.0 All Our Names
If I were to sum up this novel in one word, it would be enigmatic. It is a short book, though not a fast read, centering around an unnamed young man from Ethiopia; alternate chapters present his life in Uganda, narrated by himself, and his later experiences in the U.S., narrated by a young social wo...
Steeped in Science, Submersed in Story
Steeped in Science, Submersed in Story rated it
4.0 All Our Names
I needed a little bit to digest this book, and it's probably closer to a 3.5 star for me. It's well written and I enjoyed reading it. It conveys the horror of war/revolution. It touches on race relations in the 1960s. It's well-constructed.But the book is really about someone who is not either o...
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