Tropical Fish: Stories Out of EntebbeUniversity of Massachusetts Press, 2005 - 148 Seiten Tropical Fish is a collection of linked short stories that explore the coming of age of three African sisters. Introspective and personal, the stories reveal the unexpected ambiguities of the young women's lives. The setting is the lush beauty of Uganda and the background is the aftermath of Idi Amin's dictatorship. But even in such trying circumstances, the stories show that people everywhere face the same basic human struggle to understand themselves, their world, and their place in it. Each story develops the theme of exploration and discovery as the sisters mature and their interior and exterior lives expand. The youngest sister, Christine, becomes aware at an early age of the bittersweet dynamics of family love and later grapples with romantic and erotic, if problematic, love. Her explorations lead her across racial lines, when she has an affair with a British expatriate in the title story. What is initially an act of curiosity brings forth questions of racial and gender identity. Eager to stitch together a new pattern for her life, Christina ventures to another continent, North America, where she attempts to create a new home and a new self. In another story, Christina's sister Patti writes in her diary about the vicissitudes of daily experience at a typical Ugandan girls' boarding school and the impact of class and religion on her relationships with fellow students. Other stories are written in the voice of the oldest sister, Rosa, who as a precocious teenager tries to decipher the mysteries of sex. Unfortunately, her promising future is harshly disrupted. In the final story, Christine returns to Uganda and finds her perspective irrevocably altered. She is more acutely aware of her home's natural beauty, but its physical vibrancy is in stark contrast to the social and political conditions she encounters. Her journey of self-discovery comes full circle, but without any tidy resolutions. Ambiguities and uncertainties remain. What is clear, however, is that this book marks the arrival of a remarkably gifted writer. |
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... huge mound of her breasts like pillows ahead of her as she energetically marched in . She pulled back the thick cur- tains and flung open the windows to the startling sunshine outside , the squawk and trill of birds , the shouts and the ...
... huge hands wound over and over with prominent veins . Was his kanzu about to spring open and show his legs ? I covered my giggle with my hand because even I knew one shouldn't laugh at the dead , especially at your own relatives , who ...
... huge white sneakers like boats . I wasn't told , so I'm wearing a wide skirt . We walk through the same Altadena hills I've been through , but at dusk . The sun is softer now . I'm the only one on my own , so I walk behind the family ...