Eleanor's Reviews > We Need New Names

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We Need New Names
by

NoViolet Bulawayo

Eleanor's review

Aug 03, 2013

really liked it

At first I found We Need New Names challenging. I persisted and ignored the nightmares that the story generated. I'm glad I did because this is an excellent book. The story line is clear and NoViolet Bulawayo's articulate writing paints the pictures. I recognise the Zimbabwe she is writing about and it breaks my heart. From the minutiae to the broad, global scene, there is a resonance any immigrant - black or white - can identify with.

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Quotes Eleanor Liked

“The problem with English is this: You usually can't open your mouth and it comes out just like that--first you have to think what you want to say. Then you have to find the words. Then you have to carefully arrange those words in your head. Then you have to say the words quietly to yourself, to make sure you got them okay. And finally, the last step, which is to say the words out loud and have them sound just right.
But then because you have to do all this, when you get to the final step, something strange has happened to you and you speak the way a drunk walks. And, because you are speaking like falling, it's as if you are an idiot, when the truth is that it's the language and the whole process that's messed up. And then the problem with those who speak only English is this: they don't know how to listen; they are busy looking at your falling instead of paying attention to what you are saying.”
― NoViolet Bulawayo, We Need New Names

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