Glory

LoveReading Says

Glory is an irreverent, political satire novel, set in a fictitious Zimbabwe called Jidada, where animals are governed by a corrupt dictator, an Old Horse who fought for the country’s independence during the Liberation War of colonial times and whose rulership is so uncontested that he can even command the sun. But when a military coup ousts him from office, the ‘mals’ of Jidada wonder if it finally means an end to the oppressive regime of the Party of Power. Will the Opposition pave a new way forward to freedom or will the ‘mals’ finally realise what power they have when they all stand together?

Glory’s allegorical use of animals to symbolise societies and human governments gave the book a fabled feel à la Aesop’s collection of cautionary tales. In essence, Glory is a parable that takes cultural inspiration from the animal representation that is prolific in Zimbabwean folklore. Though it may have been a contentious choice to render the story of an African dictatorship through the lens of farm animals, doing so gave the narrative a striking, attention-grabbing kick that may not have existed otherwise.

Dictators like the Old Horse, Tuvius Delight Sasha and the pastor pig, Dr O. G. Moses, are depicted with a level of slapstick buffoonery that might be off-putting, but also adds a compelling irony to their otherwise tyrannical characters. Then comes the return of a prodigal daughter, a goat called Destiny, who after ten years away, returns to her mother, Simiso and thus sets the story down a more haunting and serious path of greater significance and leads to the story’s hopeful end.

I really admire the unorthodoxy of the writing style and how it pinballs between multiple narrators; from an omniscient perspective to the collective voice of the people to the oratory style of second-person narration. This book took so many linguistic liberties such as its pointed and sometimes completely outlandish use of repetition bound amongst pages of social media threads and exaggerated dialogue. It was chaotic in a structured chaos sort of way and made for sharp-witted and vigorous storytelling.

I thought Glory was brilliant! It's a post-colonial story with polarising audacity and an uplifting vision for a better future.

Lois Cudjoe

Find This Book In