The Sunday Mail
Andrew Moyo Book review
Story-telling is an artform that has existed for centuries. However, the channels through which these stories are relayed from one generation to the next have evolved. From rock paintings to the advent of ink and paper, through to the age of technologically-advanced gadgets – artistes have passed on their stories.
Although writing is said to be on the decline, numerous young individuals still have interest in telling their stories in black and white.
My recent read, “True Lies”, is a collection of short stories and what impressed me was that most of the authors who contributed to this literary work are young and upcoming.
Of course, a few stories carry amateurish elements, but the majority of writers displayed exceptional talent and creativity. Despite being a work of fiction, the stories make sense in the real world and one might even learn a lesson or two.
This book comprises various genres, including thrillers, fantasy, tragedy, mystery and romantic stories, to name a few.
One story, “Gravity”, written by Munashe Rupazo, is intriguing, thanks to the author’s imagination.
Rupazo’s protagonist is Tony, a leaf that feels that it has come of age and is desperate to break away from its mother’s grasp.
Forgetting that the branch from which he hangs is the source from which he derives life, Tony only gets to realise that he cannot survive without his mother’s love when it is too late.
The author skilfully manipulated the ecosystem to create her own world where vegetation is given life, memory and feelings.
She also displayed excellent descriptive abilities, which added flare to the story and gave a vivid picture of the setting.
“Birds were chanting dulcets, the air was warm, flowers aromatically carpeted the earth, the sun was smiling, the wind was soft and flora and fauna were mating,” goes one of the statements describing the surrounding environment in the story.
When I read this story, I noticed that it relates to many youngsters who believe that their parents are depriving them of their “deserved” freedom only to realise how cold it is out there when they venture into the world on their own. The book also takes a hilarious twist in Givemore Mhlanga’s “A Misadventure I Will Never Tell My Wife”, a story about a lustful man who hooks up with a prostitute only to realise in the morning that he has slept with a ghost when he wakes up naked in the middle of a cemetery.
The reckless nature of the narrator is highlighted in the first few lines: “It all began with a text massage on my phone, confirming the deposit of my long awaited salary in my bank account. After harvesting the whole lumpsum that Saturday morning, my next destination was Zindoga Shopping Centre where I exchanged half of the salary with drunkenness the whole day.”
The storyline is gripping and the way it develops encourages the reader to dig deeper to really find out what transpired during the protagonists’ mysterious night venture.
Tafadzwa Brian Penny is another author who contributed an interesting and informative piece in which he reflected on the unpleasant results of promiscuity.
His story “The Pay Day” addresses men who neglect their families and instead prefer spending their hard-earned cash with friends and loose women. The central character is living large until he embarks on a misadventure with devastating results, leading him to realise his bad life choices when it is already too late.
Most of the stories in this book are not only interesting, but address societal issues and will surely provoke readers to reflect on their lives.
However, there are a few stories where either the setting or the time-line of events are jumbled up, an area which some of the writers need to improve on.
Other writers who contributed to the book include Edmond Shonhiwa, Catherine Mapanda, Taurai Sekenya, Knosiyazi Kanjiri, CJ Milton, Eleckias Manyadza and Cheryl Matizamhuka.
