Just as China has 1.3 billion people, Mark Obama Ndesandjo's hopeful novel of self-realization, Nairobi to Shenzhen (2009, Aventine Publishing, 346 pages), contains 1.3 billion weighty thoughts, keen observations, flashes of insight and moments of reflection. So it seems, and the readers can share in all of them.
The author, a half-brother to a notable American politician named Barack, calls the book a “semi-autobiographical meditation on multiculturalism and love”. Aptly, the cover shows a leafless Kenyan tree against a big-as-the-sky red rose.
Nairobi to Shenzhen ponders long journeys in distance, time and emotion. It has nothing to do with United States elections and only passing references to politics in China or Africa.
“ ‘You know what they say in China about people's achievements.’
‘No, what?’
‘…First thank the Communist Party, then thank the leaders, next thank your teachers and finally thank your family and your wife.’ ”
Like Ndesandjo, the protagonist, David, an aging teacher, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, studied and worked in the U.S. and then sought rejuvenation by moving to Shenzhen, a boomtown in southern China. “As I live in China, I have come to discover more and more who I am, and what I am not. I have come to the realization that black, white and yellow are constructs that people use to distinguish themselves when it becomes hard to be singular. I was born black, grew white, absorbed yellow and now I am a citizen of the world.”
Nevertheless, feeling comfortable enough to relax in China takes a big effort. “While he waited, several people in the lobby looked at him curiously. It was as though he were a circus curiosity. Their looks were concentrated and direct, neither hostile nor friendly. Occasionally they were sensual, leering, paternalistic or solicitous. Most of all they were zoo-like, like the look of a child licking an ice cream bar while peering at the creature behind the cage.”
No matter where David goes, his past follows. Even while exploring new customs and surroundings, he broods about his multi-racial background and past grievances with a violent father.
“A brilliant man, but a social failure”, David's father often beat and betrayed his family. “David easily remembered the hulking man whose breath reeked of cheap Pilsner beer who had often beaten his mother. He had long searched for good memories of his father but had found none.
“He remembered one night in particular…. He was about six or seven then…. His mother's voice was screaming as if terrified. The child almost didn't recognize it. And then there were some thumps as of someone falling. His father's angry voice raised itself as if in duet with the unrecognizable voice. He didn't remember what they were fighting about, but his stomach felt sick and empty. His mother was being attacked and he couldn't protect her.”
Will the adult son inevitably repeat his father's pattern of cruelty? Or can David build a strong, lasting relationship with the young woman who enchants him?
“ ‘I couldn't control myself.’
‘You're a man. Of course you can control yourself.’
‘Sometimes I get so angry I can't hold back.’
‘Why?’
David paused, and then slowly said, ‘My father used to beat me. I promised myself I would never do it. I feel so ashamed.’ To his surprise, he started to cry.”
Again like Ndesandjo, David loves to play piano and teaches music at an orphanage. Evidently, not all Chinese orphanages are the abusive places sometimes depicted in the international media.
“At that moment it was as though David saw the sincerity and dedication of the staff. These were not blind ideologues, he thought. They were just good people trying to make a living. Helping children was part of their lives. David would discover that far from being in a monolithic and insensitive institution, the staff members in this grimy building were true gems.”
A potent subplot flows from David's fondness for Zhen Rui, a frail orphan who learns music while clinging to life. “Zhen Rui woke up in his hospital bed…. He was thinking of his music. He wanted so much to touch the piano, to feel the keys spring to life beneath his fingers. He wanted to see and hear the black and white machine that sang the songs of the earth. But he was weak and could barely move his hands.”
Nairobi to Shenzhen gains enormous strength by being thoughtful. References to poets, musicians and philosophers abound as the author and his readers grapple with big questions. There's even a generous sprinkling of Chinese folk wisdom: “Children will be children. Trying to control them is like herding monkeys.”
At times, Ndesandjo adds humor too. For example, not everyone speaks perfect English. “Furious, she yelled at him in English. ‘You're a very BAD man. You are such an ICEhole!’ ”
But the book also contains apparent miscues, including glaring ones like a mention of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in “1995” (two years early) and references to footballer David Beckett (not Beckham) and actor Andy Liu (not Lau). Did the author distort some details on purpose? Regardless, the entire text needed more proofreading to banish the gremlins that hamper punctuation and spacing.
This is Ndesandjo's first book, but presumably not his last. Already, he has another, more of a real-life biography, nearly finished.
In bustling Shenzhen, the author divides his time between advising Chinese enterprises about the Internet, pursuing his own business interests, creating artwork (often Chinese calligraphy), playing music, teaching piano to orphans and writing. He speaks Mandarin and has a Chinese wife.
By all indications, it took an intellectual, even a creative maestro, to write Nairobi to Shenzhen. Luckily, most readers don't need similar status to enjoy it.
Approval rating: 80 per cent.
For more information: www.markobamandesandjo.com
(December 24, 2009)
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