The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski: book review

The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life (1998, 2001 in English) by Polish newspaper reporter and journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932-2007) takes the reader on a journey through a large part of Africa, from east to west, and north as far as Sudan and south as far as Tanzania. The novel is about his experiences, thoughts, insights, and adventures during his reporting years when he was based in Africa, intermittently from 1957, but often for long periods of time. Interspersed with his views of Africa, is a historical account of kings, politics, elections, conflicts, and the genocide in Rwanda.

Each chapter is a tale from a region, a city, a drive, or – for the most part – his waiting. He begins his tales in Ghana in 1958 and zigzags across the country – Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Uganda in 1960, Kenya, Nigeria in 1966, Mauritania, Ethiopia (Lalibela), Uganda (Karimajong), Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Senegal, Ethiopia (Gondar), Liberia, Cameroon, Mali, Nigeria (Onitsha), and Eritrea. He finishes in Wollega.

The tales are fascinating, interesting, evocative, and descriptive - externally from landscapes of bustling cities to refugee camps and remote isolated villages - and internally from kitchens to government offices. In parts it is whimsical and dreamy, and in other parts it is serious and didactic, yet always informative.

It is his flexible, easy style that is most impressive: “It is the girls who rise first in the village of Abdallah Wallo and go for water even before the sun is up. This is a fortunate village: water is nearby.” Or “The sight of the sun acts like a starter’s pistol: the town instantly springs to motion.” And his short sentences.

With most tales, it is never really clear when he was in that location, and often the history is blurred with the actual time of his visit. The structure of the novel is almost chronological, but criss-crosses back and forth across a vast continent, so it is loosely organized – and if a reader is looking to dip in and read a tale at a time, the chapter titles seldom reveal the destination, making it a lucky-dip. For example, the chapter called The Well doesn't tell you in the title that it's about Somalia. With no list of contents, which chapter is about Mali? Who knows?

While critics describe The Shadow of the Sun as reportage or history, it is neither, and it is both, but spasmodically, fitfully, and sporadically. It is literary reportage with a personal disposition.

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