![]() Even more impressive are the dozens of memorable characters the author creates, and the imagination and authority with which he reveals their motivations. As one might expect from a future film director, the novel’s scenes are visually striking and each one has a dramatic point that carries the plot forward. Ousmane took part in this struggle as a young man, but his novel is not just a thinly disguised memoir and he does not limit himself to a single point of view. God’s Bits of Wood describes the epic strike of 1947-48, in which workers on the railroad line from Dakar in Senegal to Bamako on the Niger River walked off the job, demanding higher wages, pensions, family allowances, and the recognition of their union. A highly dramatic account of a revolutionary struggle, it carries a clear message but avoids descending into propaganda. God’s Bits of Wood, first published in 1960 and translated from the French by Francis Price, is not only one of the best novels to have come out of Africa but one of the best political novels of the 20 th century. ![]() Though better known in his later years as a film director, Sembène Ousmane (1923-2007) staked an early claim as one of Africa’s finest novelists.
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