Thama Kase (Thamae Kaashe), Different Snakes, 2013
(March 8) I never tire of these.Throughout this one, I began to think “Violet Sephotho is getting a bit cartoony”... but I was wrong to think that… I should have trusted AMS. In fact, I fell into the very trap all the characters in this book plunge into -- jumping to a conclusion.
Great two-sentence scene: “The silence continued. One or two of the men shifted uncomfortably in their seats; others remained quite still, as one stays still in the presence of great danger, hoping that the source of the danger will not notice one.”
Lovely image: “They sat together on the verandah, watching the sun sink beneath the canopy of acacia that made the horizon. The sun was copper-red, a great ball, and it floated down so gently, as if to nudge us into the night, to let us take the garments of the dark about us slowly and deliberately, without haste and without fear.”
The love of Africa in these books always makes tears stream down my cheeks.
Did notice that the book ended rather abruptly after fairly leisurely build-ups to the climaxes in the various “mysteries.” The characters usually get to relish the confrontation scenes, but… well, maybe that’s why they’re being dialled back: we’ve seen that.
