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Beneath the Lion Gaze A Novel Maaza Mengiste 9780393071764 Books

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Beneath the Lion Gaze A Novel Maaza Mengiste 9780393071764 Books

This factional/fictional version of the end of the Emporer's reign and the onset of its brutal, misguided replacement is given humanity through the effects on one family and circle of friends. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes repulsive, the story unfolds compellingly. My only reservation about the author's approach is that the resolution of Dawit's struggle comes too quickly in the end, with far less explication of how he comes home than of how and why he left.


Tags : Beneath the Lion's Gaze: A Novel [Maaza Mengiste] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <strong>An epic tale of a father and two sons, of betrayals and loyalties, of a family unraveling in the wake of Ethiopia’s revolution.</strong> This memorable,Maaza Mengiste,Beneath the Lion's Gaze: A Novel,W. W. Norton & Company,0393071766,Addis Ababa (Ethiopia),Epic fiction,Ethiopia - History - Revolution, 1974,Families - Ethiopia,Families;Ethiopia;Fiction.,Fathers and sons,Fathers and sons;Fiction.,Physicians,Physicians;Fiction.,1970s; addis ababa; ethiopia; haile selassie,1970s;addis ababa;ethiopia;haile selassie,American Historical Fiction,Ethiopia,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Literary,FICTION Political,Families,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction Historical,Historical - General

Beneath the Lion Gaze A Novel Maaza Mengiste 9780393071764 Books Reviews

Very descriptive of the period of Selassie's death and the Deng takeover, the novel also gives you an strong portrayal of the idealism of the youth (and others) that propelled the revolution, with dreadful consequences. It took a long time to read, as the torture was continuous and unabated, and I could not sleep with those images.
Received when promised. Very well written. Book club read it to learn about difficult history in Ethiopia. It's not a "feel good" book because the subject is violent and heart rending. We're glad we read it, but are happy to move on to a lighter read.
Ethiopia was for me just one more country until I read this novel. The author used historical facts together with his vivid imagination to create an extraordinary history/fiction masterpiece. Becoming aware of the Ethiopian revolution and the terror that followed under the violent Derg's rule, made me want to know more about the country's prior history under Emperor Selassie, and the current development of this country The novel shows what we all know, but seems so hard to understand, the high political and personal costs that come with a revolution that most times go awfully wrong.
This is a book that is easy to get lost in as the prose draws you diretly into the characters' lives and thoughts. You are there during the horrific days of the Marxist revolution in Ethiopia. The bitter taste of a movement gone bad is palatable. Brilliant writing. Don't miss it.
This book is a novelized description of the end of the Haille Sellasie reign (1930-1975) in Ethiopia, when he was deposed by a socialist "committee" the Derg in a popular uprising. It is told though the story of an upper middle class family, and its effect on them. As it turned out, the Derg turned Ethiopia into practically what we see in North Korea today. Very interesting for the historical perspective. They were deposed in 1991,and fortunately today Ethiopia has a much better government, and has seen good economic growth over the past decade, although the novel ends in about 1980. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Ethiopia.
Hailu and his family are the perfect centerpiece propelling this story of horror and atrocity forward and they are also central to the themes of love and friendship. A strong secondary cast of characters add depth to this powerful tale of Ethiopian life up to and after the fall of Selassie's reign. This is a deeply engaging fictionalized story of actual events in Ethiopia in the mid 70's and should be widely read by anyone interested in historical fiction. Emotionally gripping and powerful writing. Highly recommended and I eagerly await the author's upcoming second novel.
The tremendous difficulty in writing a historical novel is striving to find a balance between narrative and history. The reader of historical fiction is either aware of the history of the story she reads; or is "interested" in the history of the story he reads. Likewise, the writer of a historical novel is often entirely focused on his story; or similarly focused on the history that's irrevocably connected to her story.

It is in managing to strike the perfect balance between these dialectics that a book is either successful or not. Maaza Mengiste's Beneath the Lion's Gaze is a powerful novel that successfully manages to do this. She has written a gripping tale, yet at the same time it is clearly evident that she is intent on teaching us about this very important part of Ethiopian history.

It is this aspect of Beneath the Lion's Gaze that forces a reader to ask himself/herself what do we know of Ethiopia? On a populist level, we know about their runners. We "know" about the very public famine that was televised all over Europe and in the United States. And we "know" of Kapusinski's fictionalized tale of Emperor Haile Selassie. Which is interesting because the educated reader "knows" more about the former Emperor than of the Communist revolution that cost the lives of so many and that pitted families, neighbors and loved ones against each other.

This is precisely why Maaza Mengiste's novel is such an important work. She demands that her reader truly scrutinize what we think we "know" of Ethiopia. And to imagine a reality that has never been presented to us, the Western reader, until now. In this wonderfully constructed tale of a doctor and his family, and how each member of his family is forced to come to grips with the revolution, she paints a vivid picture of the humanity that isn't present in a history textbook, or in Kapusinski's allegorical tale. [Beneath the Lion's Gaze, unlike Lorraine Adams' review in the NY Times, is ultimately about this family and not about Haile Selassie.] And in the process, Maaza Mengiste challenges us to try to understand this very important moment in human history.

The events of our world in the recent years have tested our humanity in so many ways. If we look at how we interact with news, the "facts" and "fiction" of the world around us, it is easy to see how divided we are. In Beneath the Lion's Gaze, Maaza Mengiste, explores just how our humanity can be impacted by our leaders and their visions. In showing best friends at odds; brothers, so similar in appearance and in their capacity to love, yet so different ideologically; a husband and wife, who love each other and their daughter, and whose love is tested by the daily horrors of the Derg; and a highly respected doctor, who is questioned and incarcerated and who emerges a shadow of himself, Maaza Mengiste makes every reader of Beneath the Lion's Gaze a part of this family, a part of this history and connects us to the Ethiopian people. How many historical novels accomplish this much?

At the same time, I felt as though I was involved in a meticulously researched tale. And ultimately, I'm willing to accept Maaza Mengiste's descriptions--which sometimes are presented through metaphor and sometimes horrifically blunt. Perhaps I am willing to follow her through this tale because her story forces me to challenge my own humanity, and look at the world around me. Throughout Beneath the Lion's Gaze, I felt sympathy for some characters, empathy for others, and more often than not I felt guilty as well. I was forced to question what I would do in the face of such horror, and what I know I could never do.

I look forward to her next novel.
This factional/fictional version of the end of the Emporer's reign and the onset of its brutal, misguided replacement is given humanity through the effects on one family and circle of friends. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes repulsive, the story unfolds compellingly. My only reservation about the author's approach is that the resolution of Dawit's struggle comes too quickly in the end, with far less explication of how he comes home than of how and why he left.