This Mournable Body (Nervous Conditions #3)

Dangarembga’s inspiration for the title is from a 2015 Teju Cole essay, “Unmournable Bodies.” (You can read this brief but weighty essay online). This was my first foray into Dangarembga, and now I know that she has a previous book, Nervous Condition, from the 1980s, which includes the same protagonist, Tambudzai Sigauke. The backdrop of TMB proceeds from the war for Independence, from colonialism to the liberation of Rhodesia to modern day Zimbwabe, and the freedom-fighters and current strife-filled citizens. Tambu’s PTSD from the war has taken on a life of its own. And Dangarembga didn’t drag us into her personal politics. Her way of writing is so uncommon/suis generis that I’d confidently argue that no writer can take on second person POV as exceptionally and naturally as she does. How is it both artful and artless simultaneously? It is the subtle combination that the author utilizes.. Tambudzai is from the village and is the one who got away to get a formal education from university and lived in Harare. She became a biology teacher, which ended in a rupture, provoking her worst period of life. Now in her mid-thirties, Tambu is an ambitious woman with unresolved issues from the war; many who were babies then are suffering, untreated, maladjusted. Guilt, anxiety, sorrow are burdens she carries–and periodically, disassociation. She survived continuous, unrelenting trauma. Tambu yearns for upward mobility, and her comparison to other people nags her day after day. She attended a private, elite high school, but was overshadowed by white students less talented. Similar encounters occurred at university and beyond. Demons from Tambu’s past have not been confronted and subdued. They are traumas—in the literal sense of the word, too, and their ghosts live within her and around her in many different forms, which is exhibited in in the author’s bracing figures of speech. Tsitsi uses animals to full metaphorical power, as well as body parts, including the womb: “…the snakes that hold your womb inside you open their jaws at the mention of war. The contents of your abdomen slide toward the ground, as though the snakes let everything loose when their mouths opened. Your womb dissolves to water.” For every new internal border crossing and reach to break the glass ceiling, there is the stuff of kid’s nightmares gone adult, and it follows Tambu everywhere, haunting her with all-consuming fear, withdrawal, isolation. Floors, ceilings, walls—their borders are often extended or dissolved. Ambition is tested, her sense of self wavering. Coping is a challenge; she manifests pain by existing apart from her body. Tambu peers in from a crack in the ether, decompensates by disassociating. Tambudzai carries her soul’s burdens in metaphorical images that can tear the reader apart. The first line of the first page is “There is a fish in the mirror,” reflecting herself. Animal metaphors penetrate the pages as encroachers—hyenas, snakes, ants, and more– and viscerally so. “You arrived on the back of a hyena. The treacherous creature dropped you from far above onto a desert floor. There is nothing here except, at the floor’s limits, infinite walls.” “You are an ill-made person. You are being unmade. The hyena laugh-howls at your destruction. It screams like a demented spirit and the floor dissolves beneath you.” “Mealie meal” given to Tambu by her mother, indirectly, precipitates Tambu’s inner brawl to stow or shed it. Her gestures and mordant wit adds a dimension to how she perceives her relationship with her maman and the rest of her family, as well as her colleagues, country and social hierarchy. How to balance the desire to succeed with kindness? It’s ripping her into pieces. Her sister lost a leg in the war and “Yes, I went and I am here but I never came back. Most of the time I’m still out there wandering through the grass and sand, looking for my leg.” Tsitsi’s use of the grotesque, the severed body parts, augment the borders of our bodies—how they become borderless in war. Life begets death begets life. These external symbols and figures crack something else open for the reader. Not only does Tsitsi think outside the box, her box is lightyears and constellations from convention. Tambu’s body and out-of-body intervals are both staggering and emotionally compelling. She is mournfully conflicted–is she accountable for her pain, or did her circumstances create this torment? Advocate for herself. Break the glass ceiling. But what if those shards fall and hit the ones you love in the flesh? Does ambition allow blindness instead of kindness? Tambu’s story is not easy to read, because there’s so much crushing pain, deep discouragement, and despair. Alienation, fear, shameless FOMO, shameful failed successes. But it is written in a picaresque style, also, that moderates the multiple tragedies. Redemption and reparation are just as noteworthy. The fraught heroine is unforgettable. THIS MOURNABLE BODY will make my top ten list of the year.

I read this for book club. It was not an easy read! It was written in the 2nd person, and I did not enjoy that. I\’m sure it was supposed to make me feel for the character, it did not. I couldn\’t decide if I didn\’t like the book or if I didn\’t like the main character. I had to challenge myself to look for her redeemable qualities. This book was quite dark and there was little hope to be found. Having said that, it was also something that challenged me, which I don\’t mind. Sometimes life and the world is like that. After the first two sections I wasn\’t sure if I was going to keep reading, but I soldiered on, because…book club. One of the other members had read earlier books in the series and indicated the main character has changed. So (minor spoiler alert), if you have read the other books and are expecting the same Tambu, you aren\’t going to get her. This book is dark. The title should have been a clue. Edit: As I was reading I found myself wondering what happened to this woman, before this part of her story, that lead her to where she is now. If I had read the previous books if I would feel more empathy and compassion for her? Would I even like her in the first books, knowing what I know about her now, when she is written as a more likeable character? I might go back sometime and read the other two, but I\’m not sure.

What makes great literature? In my mind, the work must be moving on some level- emotionally. It should draw the reader in and make turning the page something to look forward to. There should be some conflict the reader should concern themselves with. There might be some kind of statement on the human condition. The writing and descriptions should be outstanding. In this book, the plot moves at a glacial pace. There is no clear cut conflict and turning the page became true drudgery. This book was read by myself- and fully read to the last page- because it was long listed for the Booker Prize. I simply don’t get it. The book is not difficult to read. It is a challenging read because it is so freaking boring. One positive aspect is the writing can be lyrical but that alone will not carry the day. Please avoid.

This is a fine novel. As one reads through, one realizes it is not only the story of a woman searching and aspiring, it is the story of her country searching and aspiring. All of what she personally experiences, her country experiences. The doubts and uncertainties as she struggles to achieve independence and full functioning reflect the struggles Zimbabwe is experiencing as it navigates the same journey. The writing is superb and finely tuned..with enough native language to convey the flavor of the country, and even the english phrasing is just different enough that the reader knows that the author is from another country. This is not a novel for those looking for a light read…Yet I would recommend it highly for anyone interested in splendid novel construction and a thoughtful deeply meaningful reading experience.

I enjoyed this book, maybe not as much as her previous two but in much the same way. You could definitely tell you weren\’t reading an American written novel, there were sayings which introduced you to African thought and may not be fully appreciated by those outside of the culture but you were still able to get gems of knowledge. I enjoyed the continued journey of Tambudzai and a peak at her mental health. It made her more human. An engrossing read. I hope to be able to read much more by this author.

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