“One October morning, while it is raining, a young man arrives at a small African village, with a church on one side and a smiling baobab tree on the other. He enters the church and starts whistling. The sound is so beautiful, that the priest is left in tears and the doves listen in absolute silence. And there are the people of the village, like the madman KaLua, the old widow Dona Rebenta in her large wooden bed, the gravedigger KoTimbalo, KeMunuMunu, the travelling salesman and Dissoxi, who fills her house with sea salt and longs for the ocean.
For a whole week the reader accompanies these characters, their dreams and their longings, the village’s whisperings and gossiping.
All are surrendered to the moods of these melodies. But the whistler himself is affected by the inhabitants of the village. His melodies can rouse happy or sad feelings. The priest announces that the following Sunday mass will be held with the whistler. On the Sunday he bewitches the priest and the people in the church to such an extent,that they fall in a state of trance and unimagined sensuality and zest for life. The mass is followed by an orgiastic celebration. On Monday the whistler and KeMunuMunu leave the village and the reader likewise bids his wistful farewell to a bewitching world.”
The Whistler is fascinating book by young Angolan author Ondjaki. He has published several novels and poetry books and is translated in several languages.
Ondjaki has recently been awarded with the Grinzane for Africa Award, in category of young writer. He has also made a documentary about his hometown Luanda “Hope the pitanga cherries grow - tales of Luanda”.
By Vania Mendes
Manifesto: a means of expression
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