Zimbabwe: Unfeeling by Ian Holding
Thoughts: I tried but couldn’t get past the casual racism of the book and whether it was supposed to be an indictment of the white African’s mindset or an endorsement, I don’t know. It’s hard to sympathize with characters, even when bad and unhappy things are happening to them, when they are talking about how much easier it is when they had total control (i.e. slavery, abuse, etc.) over the black Africans.
I think there needs to be more nuance. Farm reclaimations are barbaric, politically motivated, and bad for Zimbabwe overall; I doubt anyone will disagree with that as the land isn’t given to farmers, but to Mugabe’s political allies. But this book completely checks out of any concept of white privilege having helped lead to the current situation. The white Africans are blameless in everything, even when they are being racist.
The dénoument was good. I appreciated that. It was the only time throughout the entire novel where there was an admission that black Africans maybe were good for something other than thuggery or farm labour.
Rating: 3.5/5