This is a beautifully crafted book, rich
in sensuous language evoking a flavour of Africa. The structure of the book
is most unusual, with events, past and present, revolving around one
particular episode. It is a story that holds you, envelops you, until the
very last page. The characterisation is truly masterful. The plot
intriguing. This is not a light, something and nothing, beach read, it has a
depth and atmosphere that only a truly talented author can create. It is a
classic and it is certainly one of my all time favourite books. I shall be
most disappointed if this book doesn't win one of the prizes for literature.
***********************************
A review of
Mission,
by
Cao Thac,
Australia
Budget
airlines have made travelling far easier in recent years and many of us have
enjoyed holidays in exotic places: on safaris in East Africa, trekking
through Nepal, cruising the Amazon. However, after putting away the
souvenirs and sorting out the snap shots, we often feel that there is
something amiss. Yes, the animals are great, the local markets colourful and
some of the foods quite exquisite. But do we get to know anything of the
local people? We exchange a few words with them, engage in bargaining over
prices, and laugh over misunderstandings, but we know nothing of their hopes
and aspirations. Sometimes, we may have serious conversations in bars or
restaurants with some locals that are fluent in our language or with some
expatriates working in the country. Unfortunately, even these conversations
may be just stereo-types: the country is utterly corrupted, the government
is hopelessly incompetent; the people have not moved from the Middle Ages,
etc.
Mission, by Philip
Spires, offers an armchair exploration of the locals and foreign workers in
a poor village in Kenya. Through their stories, we get to know their hopes
and aspirations, their dilemmas, the circumstances that force them to act
the way they do and, ultimately, their humanity. The book begins with a car
accident in which the village drunk, a character nobody liked much, got
killed. However, the day of the accident proves to be fateful for the major
characters of the book. Like Kurosawa’s movie Rashomon, each of the major
characters – a Catholic priest who cares more about the welfare of the
people in this life than for their souls in the next life, an earnest young
Kenyan who wants to become a Catholic priest, a couple of local
entrepreneurs who cleverly exploit the business and political opportunities
in Kenya just after it gained independence etc – tells their hopes and
ambitions, their circumstances and their dilemmas. The car accident at the
beginning of the book turns out to be the denouement for the major
characters.
The
book is only published recently but has been incubated by Philip over many
years while he spent time in Kenya,
London, Brunei and the United Arab Emirates. While his portrayal of Kenya
and London is quite vivid, we also recognise the basic humanity of the
characters in the book. It is comforting to know that while we face
different circumstances, we are basically the same round the world. This is
a message we need to remind ourselves constantly as tribal and sectarian
conflicts exploded in recent years.
***********************************
...and another summary from Philip Spires
Mission
is set in mid-1970s Kenya. Five characters, a priest, a politician, a
teacher, a school graduate and a retired army officer see a series of
events from their own perspectives and thus respond differently to one
particular event. The central chapter is thirty years later and is set
in London to offer a perspective on how lives change. The novel deals
with the concept of identity, seen through filters of poverty, religion,
politics and, underpinning everything, an idea of justice, a continuum
within which each character is seen to pursue some personal mission.
Michael, a missionary
priest in Kenya, has just killed Munyasya, a retired army officer. It might
have been an accident, but Mulonzya, a politician resentful of the power of
foreign churches, tries to exploit the tragedy for his own ends. Boniface, a
young church worker, and his wife, Josephine, have just lost their child.
They did not make it to the hospital in time, possibly because Michael made
a detour to retrieve a letter from the Mission, a letter from Janet, a
former volunteer teacher who was the priest’s neighbour for two years. It is
Munyasya who has the last laugh, however, when he reveals that he was
probably in control of events all along. Thirty years on, the same
characters find their lives still influenced by his memory.
The novel deals with
complex themes and relationships through a style which aims to achieve a
simplicity which will allow the reader to feel the depth of the
inter-relationships between the characters. Influenced by religion, politics
and global events, each of the five main actors in Mission weighs idealism
against selfishness, altruism against self-interest and cultural identity
against relativism. The book asks questions. It may even suggest answers,
but on each re-reading a new nuance will clarify into sharper focus. It is,
I hope, a rich experience.
Philip Spires is British, born in 1952 in Wakefield and spent his
first ten years in Sharlston, then a mining village, followed by eight in
Crofton, a mile nearer Wakefield. He went to London
University, where he obtained a BSc from Imperial College and a PGCE from
King's. After two years as a VSO in Kenya, he taught in London for 16 years
and devoted much of his spare time to assisting an NGO concerned with
development and human rights. After completing an MA in 1992, he worked in
Brunei technical education until 1999. He then worked in Zayed University
in the United Arab Emirates for three years. Since 2003, he has lived in
Spain,
and has completed a PhD in education’s role in Philippine development and
his first published novel, Mission.
************************************************
...and here are some more reviews by Philip Spires
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