Popular Gabon Books

Mema by Daniel M. Mengara

Mema's sharp tongue and apparent barrenness makes her a target for dislike and disapproval in her village. When she finally succeeds in having four children, her husband dies in a witchdoctor's haven, followed by her daughters. Her in-laws accuse her of being a wicked witch who sacrificed her husband and children to the dark forces. In spite of this Mema's strength and cou Mema's sharp tongue and apparent barrenness makes her a target for dislike and disapproval in her village. When she finally succeeds in having four children, her husband dies in a witchdoctor's haven, followed by her daughters. Her in-laws accuse her of being a wicked witch who sacrificed her husband and children to the dark forces. In spite of this Mema's strength and courage cause her to fight for her sons and her family's rights. In this story of a practical African society her actions owe nothing to Western feminism and the theme of struggle against colonialism is left behind in favour of a struggle between new and old values. The author demonstrates that a story relating the impact of psychological and social forces on Africans can also focus mainly on conflicts within African society.

Travels in West Africa by Mary Henrietta Kingsley , Anthony Brandt (Introduction)

In 1893, defying every convention of Victorian womanhood, Mary Kingsley set off alone for West Africa to collect botanical specimens. Unaccompanied except for native guides, she plunged boldly into forbidding jungles, often the first European--and almost always the first white woman--ever to arrive. Undaunted by tales of ferocious cannibals, she made friends with the tribe In 1893, defying every convention of Victorian womanhood, Mary Kingsley set off alone for West Africa to collect botanical specimens. Unaccompanied except for native guides, she plunged boldly into forbidding jungles, often the first European--and almost always the first white woman--ever to arrive. Undaunted by tales of ferocious cannibals, she made friends with the tribes she met and collected priceless samples of flora and fauna. Along the way she fought off crocodiles with a paddle and hit a leopard over the head with a pot. When she fell into a trap lined with sharp sticks, she was saved by her voluminous crinolines--for she always dressed like a lady. Travels in West Africa is a book as vivid and unforgettable as the extraordinary woman herself. "The charm of West Africa is a painful one: it gives you pleasure when you are out there, but when you are back here it gives you pain by calling you . . . Come back, come back, this is your home."--Mary Kingsley National Geographic Adventure Classics is a series that celebrates the "100 greatest adventure books of all time," as compiled by a panel of experts for National Geographic Adventure. These titles have been carefully selected for their adrenaline quotient and their status as classics of the adventure genre.

Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, the Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure That Took the Victorian World by Storm by Monte Reel

The unbelievably riveting adventure of an unlikely young explorer who emerged from the jungles of Africa with evidence of a mysterious, still mythical beast--the gorilla--only to stumble straight into the center of the biggest debate of the day: Darwin's theory of evolution. In 1856 Paul Du Chaillu marched into the equatorial wilderness of West Africa determined to bag an a The unbelievably riveting adventure of an unlikely young explorer who emerged from the jungles of Africa with evidence of a mysterious, still mythical beast--the gorilla--only to stumble straight into the center of the biggest debate of the day: Darwin's theory of evolution. In 1856 Paul Du Chaillu marched into the equatorial wilderness of West Africa determined to bag an animal that, according to legend, was nothing short of a monster. When he emerged three years later, the summation of his efforts only hinted at what he'd experienced in one of the most dangerous regions on earth. Armed with an astonishing collection of zoological specimens, Du Chaillu leapt from the physical challenges of the jungle straight into the center of the biggest issues of the time--the evolution debate, racial discourse, the growth of Christian fundamentalism--and helped push each to unprecedented intensities. He experienced instant celebrity, but with that fame came whispers--about his past, his credibility, and his very identity--which would haunt the young man. Grand in scope, immediate in detail, and propulsively readable, Between Man and Beast brilliantly combines Du Chaillu's personal journey with the epic tale of a world hovering on the sharp edge of transformation.

Tropic Moon by Georges Simenon , Norman Rush , Marc Romano

Newly translated for this edition. A young Frenchman, Joseph Timar, travels to Gabon carrying a letter of introduction from an influential uncle. He wants work experience; he wants to see the world. But in the oppressive heat and glare of the equator, Timar doesn't know what to do with himself, and no one seems inclined to help except Adèle, the hotel owner's wife, who take Newly translated for this edition. A young Frenchman, Joseph Timar, travels to Gabon carrying a letter of introduction from an influential uncle. He wants work experience; he wants to see the world. But in the oppressive heat and glare of the equator, Timar doesn't know what to do with himself, and no one seems inclined to help except Adèle, the hotel owner's wife, who takes him to bed one day and rebuffs him the next, leaving him sick with desire. But then, in the course of a single night, Adèle's husband dies and a black servant is shot, and Timar is sure that Adèle is involved. He'll cover for the crime if she'll do what he wants. The fix is in. But Timar can't even begin to imagine how deep. In Tropic Moon, Simenon, the master of the psychological novel, offers an incomparable picture of degeneracy and corruption in a colonial outpost.

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord. In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa. Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

Into the jungle. Into the wild. Into harm’s way. When he was a boy, Luc’s mother would warn him about the “mock men” living in the trees by their home—chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night. Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc t Into the jungle. Into the wild. Into harm’s way. When he was a boy, Luc’s mother would warn him about the “mock men” living in the trees by their home—chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night. Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc tries to rob him, the man isn’t angry. Instead, he offers Luc a job. Together, Luc and Prof head into the rough, dangerous jungle in order to study the elusive chimpanzees.  There, Luc finally finds a new family—and must act when that family comes under attack.

The Fury and Cries of Women by Angele Rawiri , Sara Hanaburgh (Translation) , Cheryl Toman (Afterword)

Gabon's first female novelist, Angele Rawiri probed deeper into the issues that writers a generation before her--Mariama Ba and Aminata Sow Fall--had begun to address. Translated by Sara Hanaburgh, this third novel of the three Rawiri published is considered the richest of her fictional prose. It offers a gripping account of a modern woman, Emilienne, who questions traditi Gabon's first female novelist, Angele Rawiri probed deeper into the issues that writers a generation before her--Mariama Ba and Aminata Sow Fall--had begun to address. Translated by Sara Hanaburgh, this third novel of the three Rawiri published is considered the richest of her fictional prose. It offers a gripping account of a modern woman, Emilienne, who questions traditional values and seeks emancipation from them. Emilienne's active search for feminism on her own terms is tangled up with cultural expectations and taboos of motherhood, marriage, polygamy, divorce, and passion. She completes her university studies in Paris; marries a man from another ethnic group; becomes a leader in women's liberation; enjoys professional success, even earning more than her husband; and eventually takes a female lover. Yet still she remains unsatisfied. Those closest to her, and even she herself, constantly question her role as woman, wife, mother, and lover. The tragic death of her only child--her daughter Rekia--accentuates Emilienne's anguish, all the more so because of her subsequent barrenness and the pressure that she concede to her husband's taking a second wife. In her forceful portrayal of one woman's life in Central Africa in the late 1980s, Rawiri prompts us not only to reconsider our notions of African feminism and the canon of francophone African women's writing but also to expand our awareness of the issues women face across the world today in the workforce, in the bedroom, and among family and peers.

Answering the Call: The Doctor Who Made Africa His Life by Ken Gire

Revere life, and give yours away for the sake of servingothers. As ayoung man, Albert Schweitzer seemed destined for greatness. His immense talentand fortitude propelled him to a place as one of Europe’s most renownedphilosophers, theologians, and musicians in the early twentieth century. YetSchweitzer shocked his contemporaries by forsaking worldly success andembarking o Revere life, and give yours away for the sake of servingothers. As ayoung man, Albert Schweitzer seemed destined for greatness. His immense talentand fortitude propelled him to a place as one of Europe’s most renownedphilosophers, theologians, and musicians in the early twentieth century. YetSchweitzer shocked his contemporaries by forsaking worldly success andembarking on an epic journey into the wildsof French Equatorial Africa, vowing to serve as a lifelong physician to “theleast of these” in a mysterious land rife with famine, sickness, and superstition. Enduring hardship, conflict, andpersonal struggles, he and his beloved wife, Hélène, became French prisoners of war during WWI, and Hélène later battled persistent illnesses. Ken Gire’s page-turning,novelesque narrative sheds new light on Schweitzer’s faith-in-action ethic andhis commitment to honor God by celebrating the sacredness of all life. The legacy of this 1952 NobelPrize honoree endures in the thriving African hospital community that began ina humble chicken coop, in the millions who have drawn inspiration from hisexample, and in the challenge that emanates from his life story into our day. Albert Schweitzer seemed destined for greatness—and he achieved it bymaking his life his greatest sermon to a world in desperate need of hope andhealing.

One Dry Season by Caroline Alexander

The Primeval Forest (Schweitzer Library) by Albert Schweitzer , William H. Foege (Foreword by)

"There, in this sorry world of ours, goes a great man."—Albert Einstein, on Albert Schweitzer In July of 1913, thirty-eight-year-old medical doctor Albert Schweitzer gave up his position as a respected professor at the University of Strasbourg and celebrated authority on music and philosophy in order to go as a physician to French Equatorial Africa (present-day Gabon). The "There, in this sorry world of ours, goes a great man."—Albert Einstein, on Albert Schweitzer In July of 1913, thirty-eight-year-old medical doctor Albert Schweitzer gave up his position as a respected professor at the University of Strasbourg and celebrated authority on music and philosophy in order to go as a physician to French Equatorial Africa (present-day Gabon). The Primeval Forest is Schweitzer's own fascinating story of these eventful years—a thrilling tale of his amazingly successful attempt to practice modern medicine and surgery in the face of wild elephant raids, marauding leopards, famine, an flood—a story rich in human interest and high drama. Schweitzer describes how he and his wife, a qualified nurse, worked to establish a hospital in the steaming jungle at Lambaréné. At first they treated patients in the open air, amid unbelievably primitive conditions—with few drugs, medicines, or adequate instruments. But they worked tirelessly, caring for as many as forty cases a day, battling the misery caused by sleeping sickness, leprosy, pestilence, and plague. And, as the years went on, they gradually built a more permanent hospital to alleviate the terrible suffering of the Congo people.

Alpha. Abidjan-Gare du Nord: Abidjan-Gare du Nord (Hors collection) by Bessora , Barroux (Illustrator)

Alpha vit seul à Abidjan depuis que sa femme et son fils sont partis sans visa pour Paris, Gare du Nord. La rage au coeur, il décide de tout quitter pour les retrouver. C’est toujours mieux que de pourrir sur place. Plusieurs trajets sont possibles, des années de voyage en perspective... Sur les interminables routes de poussière, l’aventure se construit au gré de ses renco Alpha vit seul à Abidjan depuis que sa femme et son fils sont partis sans visa pour Paris, Gare du Nord. La rage au coeur, il décide de tout quitter pour les retrouver. C’est toujours mieux que de pourrir sur place. Plusieurs trajets sont possibles, des années de voyage en perspective... Sur les interminables routes de poussière, l’aventure se construit au gré de ses rencontres, inoubliables. De passeurs malhonnêtes en routes désertiques, de camps de réfugiés en canots surchargés, envers et contre tout, Alpha garde le cap : Gare du Nord.

Anywhere But Here by Peter Pinney

Peter Pinney's latest record of his travels is as lively, unconventional, and a using as ever. Still the traveller without visas and without baggage, and usually without money, he wanders across Africa from Mozambique to the Sahara - sometimes alone, sometimes with raffish companions picked up on the way, but mostly with Anna, the gay and resourceful Dutch girl was was his Peter Pinney's latest record of his travels is as lively, unconventional, and a using as ever. Still the traveller without visas and without baggage, and usually without money, he wanders across Africa from Mozambique to the Sahara - sometimes alone, sometimes with raffish companions picked up on the way, but mostly with Anna, the gay and resourceful Dutch girl was was his companion in earlier adventures.

Unmanifest Poems by Aida Toure

This collection of poems celebrates the wisdom, beauty and perfect mathematics of the Universe. It is a tribute to the pulsating Light humanity mysteriously fuses into once we overcome our self-inflicted limitations.

Zanzibar to Timbuktu by Theodore Dalrymple

'Africans, I discovered, have a unique talent for finding happiness where others would find only misery.' While working in Tanzania in the 1980s, British doctor Theodore Dalrymple hatched a plan to cross Africa using only public transport. Avoiding planes, his journey took him by bus, lorry, train, boat and canoe. Along the way he encountered corruption, poverty and oppres 'Africans, I discovered, have a unique talent for finding happiness where others would find only misery.' While working in Tanzania in the 1980s, British doctor Theodore Dalrymple hatched a plan to cross Africa using only public transport. Avoiding planes, his journey took him by bus, lorry, train, boat and canoe. Along the way he encountered corruption, poverty and oppression as well as pragmatic and cheerful travelling companions and the result is this humorous, beautifully-written and sharply-observed travelogue. Theodore Dalrymple is the author of many books including: 'If Symptoms Persist', 'Second Opinion' and 'The Policeman and the Brothel'.

Awu's Story: A Novel by Justine Mintsa , Cheryl Toman (Translation) , Therese Kuoh-Moukoury (Foreword)

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, villages in the Fang region of northern Gabon must grapple with the clash of tradition and the evolution of customs throughout modern Africa. With this tension in the background, the passionate, deft, and creative seamstress Awu marries Obame, after he and his beloved wife, Bella, have been unable to conceive. Because all three are At the dawn of the twenty-first century, villages in the Fang region of northern Gabon must grapple with the clash of tradition and the evolution of customs throughout modern Africa. With this tension in the background, the passionate, deft, and creative seamstress Awu marries Obame, after he and his beloved wife, Bella, have been unable to conceive. Because all three are reluctant participants in this arrangement, theirs is an emotionally fraught existence. Through heartbreaking and disastrous events, Awu grapples with long-standing Fang customs that counter her desire to take full control of her life and home. Supplemented with a foreword and critical introduction highlighting Justine Mintsa’s importance in African literature, Awu’s Story is an essential work of African women’s writing and the only published work to meditate this deeply on some of the Fang’s most cherished legends and oral history.