Warriors, Warthogs and Wisdom

A deeply moving piece about a young child's memories of growing up in Africa. Lyall Watson relates the stories of dramatic characters that people his childhood, including the dramatic Zulu warrior/healer turned farmer Jabula, his precocious and determined grandmother Ouma and their cunning warthog Hoover. Each page is lovingly illustrated by Keith West in black and white ink, which evoke the distant memories of childhood perfectly. The stories range from the Watson eating caterpillars with Jabula and his tribe, to leaving his grandfather Oupa upon his death to be eaten by lions, vultures and hyenas, to the warthog Hoover capturing poachers. Childhood memories are often idealistic. Thus, upon reading this book, one gets the impression that, at least on his grandparents' farm, there were no racial tensions, that everyone lived in perfect harmony. There is little mention of the great injustices forced upon the Zulu and other native peoples of Africa by 'the new people' who happened to be of Watson's race. One wonders what Jabula, who was to have been a clan chief, really thought of working as a farmer under the direction of Watson's grandparents, on land that may have once belonged to his people before it was taken away. How did Jabula and other native Africans working on the farm deal with the injustice and indignities forced upon them by apartheid? Perhaps Watson did not want to add adult insights which would spoil the childhood innocence permeating the book. Yet, adding even a forward, or a conclusion with some of these lessons would have added much to the book; it would have taught additional valuable lessons to children of all ages.

I bought this book for my daughter, prior to leaving the continent as a sort of rememberance to our lives in Africa. Dr. Watson has done well to capture the essence of life, growing up on a farm in Africa. There is no better place. His story is perhaps fact, perhaps fiction, but is a true to life narrative of what Africa is really like. I have read a few novels that "attempt" to relay the spirit of Africa and its' people, but all too often they are written by travellers or idealistic authors. I commend Dr. Watson for giving us a true to life piece of litrature that is a good read for all, not just children.