Nelson Mandela`s Favorite African Folktales(Nelson Mandela`s

Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales(Nelson
Mandela's Favorite African Folktales)
by Nelson Mandela
This is another freebie that I have had sitting in my audible account for a while. It was excellent. Two wonderful
folk tales with absolutely fantastic narration. I'm impressed.|The folktales are wonderful narrative representations
from many African countries including South Africa. The prize however is the audiobook loaded with many
talented narrators/actors (Gillian Anderson, Benjamin Bratt, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean
Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Debra Messing, Helen Mirren, Parminder Nagra, Sophie
Okonedo, CCH Pounder, Alan Rickman, Jurnee Smollett, Charlize Theron, Blair Underwood, Forest Whitaker, and
Alfre Woodard).
Most do a very good job with the reading and characterizations. Some, however, do an outstanding job, while a
few narrators inadvertently transport the African stories to Europe or South America, and yet the stories still work.
A worthwhile listen.
|Do not read this, listen to it.
Besides the veritable buffet of Hollywood A-listers from various ethnic backgrounds providing narrations, there's
beautiful music and songs in the interludes between stories and in the stories themselves. I've derived much
enjoyment from the imaginative and enthusiastic performances from the narrators, most of whom possess great
skills with accents. Even if you don't recognise a couple of the narrators' names, odds are you'd recognise their
faces.
Whoopi Goldberg and Hugh Jackman's performances were outstanding though most were above average.
Urban legends, origin stories, fables, parables, myths, magic, time travel, African versions of well-known fairy tales,
clever and devious characters, and emotionally touching stories - what more could you want?
Well, the publisher has donated 100% of its takings from the audio to Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Artists
for New South Africa who work with children affected by HIV/AIDS.
Well, the publisher has donated 100% of its takings from the audio to Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and Artists
for New South Africa who work with children affected by HIV/AIDS.
Introduction - Desmond Tutu
➛➛➛➛➛
The Ring of the King (Mythical African kingdom) - Alan Rickman
Slightly iffy narration. Very clever story. I laughed at the end.
➛➛➛➛➛
Asmodeus and the Bottler of Djinns (South African English) - Whoopi Goldberg
Excellent and highly enjoyable narration. Another clever story.
➛➛➛➛➛
Mpipidi and the Motlopi Tree (Botswana) - Matt Damon
Beautiful singing. Heartwarming story of a boy who finds and takes care of an abandoned baby girl.
➛➛➛➛➛
Natiki (Namaqualand, South Africa) - Parminder Nagra
An African version of Cinderella.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Mantis and the Moon (San, South Africa) - Forest Whitaker
A mantis tries to capture the moon.
➛➛➛➛➛
How Hlakanyana Outwitted the Monster (Nguni, South Africa) - Sean Hayes
How Hlakanyana outwitted the hare was more interesting than him outwitting the monster.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Message (Namibia) - Charlize Theron
Greed leads to the garbling of a message of comfort and hope into one that compounds grief and desolation.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Wolf Queen (Cape Malay) - Benjamin Bratt
A girl requests a silver dress, then a gold one, then a diamond dress to put off having to reject the sultan's
marriage proposal as she was already in love with another. She eventually shapeshifts with the help of a wolfskin.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Snake Chief (West Africa/Zululand, South Africa) - Scarlet Johansson
Never make bargains you don't intend to fulfil, especially if it involves gifting a family member to a stranger, the
snake. Luckily it was a Frog Prince story - the snake turns into a human because a virtuous girl had accepted him.
➛➛➛➛➛
King Lion's Gifts (Khoi, Southern Africa) - Ricardo Chavira
How the animals came to look and sound the way they do. The King Lion bestowed gifts such as suits and laughs
upon them.
➛➛➛➛➛
Words As Sweet As Honey from Sankhambi (Venda, South Africa) - Debra Messing
How monkeys gained their muscular physique.
➛➛➛➛➛
Sakunaka, the Handsome Young Man (Zimbabwe) - LeTanya Richardson Jackson
Great narrator. A selfish mother depriving her son of a wife for fear of losing him to another woman. Sad that the
mother had to die. Why couldn't she live with or near her son after he'd married?
➛➛➛➛➛
Wolf and Jackal and the Barrel of Butter (Cape Dutch) - Hugh Jackman
Awesome narration. Poor wolf didn't know he'd been hoodwinked by the Jackal.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Guardian of the Pool (Central Africa/Zululand, South Africa) - Gillian Anderson
A daughter uses her mother's multiple sacrifices to keep her child alive to give her the strength to take a risk to
save her mother's life. Another Frog Prince story.
➛➛➛➛➛
Sannie Langtand and the Visitor (South African English) - C.C.H. Pounder
Excellent narration. Time travel. Dragonflight. Flying carpets.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Sultan's Daughter (Cape Malay) - Blair Underwood
➛➛➛➛➛
The Sultan's Daughter (Cape Malay) - Blair Underwood
Excellent narrator. Lovely story and moral- doing a kindness when there is no chance of reward.
➛➛➛➛➛
Van Hunks and the Devil (Cape Dutch) - LeVar Burton
Urban legend explaining why there's smoke around Table Mountain.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Clever Snake Charmer (Morocco) - Samuel L. Jackson
Great narration. Not as clever as I'd hoped, except for the tiny donkey. He just gives vague answers to riddles and
questions posed by the king.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Enchanting Song of the Magical Bird (Tanzania) - Jurnee Smullett
Children sometimes see and hear truths where adults hear only lies.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Hare and the Tree Spirit (Xhosa, South Africa) - Sophie Okenado
A girl is struck dumb after unknowingly she was cursed by an old woman who'd tripped over the girl's rubbish. A
hare hoodwinks a man into providing him fresh green meals, until he feels guilty and makes good on the deal he
made by helping the girl regain her voice.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Mother Who Turned to Dust (Malawi) - Helen Mirren
A unique human origin story.
➛➛➛➛➛
Fesito Goes to Market (Uganda) - Don Cheadle
Telling the difference between those who take advantage of you and those who genuinely need help, and
overcoming great difficulty to succeed. Great narration.
Niggling downsides to the audio are: narrators are not introduced nor is the origin of the each tale, the stories are
in a radically different order to the paperback and not all of the stories in the paperback are bundled into the
audio. Ten are missing, five of which can be found on Audible for which I paid an extra £7:
➛➛➛➛➛
The Cat Who Came Indoors
(Zimbabwe) - Helen Mirren
Even if you're not a cat lover, you'll like this origin story of the cat-human relationship.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Lion, the Hare, and the Hyena
(Kenya) - Alan Rickman
Don't try to break up a relationship in order to befriend one of your victims, it could turn out badly for you.
➛➛➛➛➛
Spider and the Crows
(Nigeria) - Don Cheadle
Greed can make friends into enemies and leave you rich but without allies.
➛➛➛➛➛
Mmadipetsane
(Lesotho) - Alfre Woodard
Excellent narration. A disobedient girl dances with danger by encroaching on a monster's territory despite
warnings from her mother, until her luck runs out.
➛➛➛➛➛
The Cloud Princess
(Swaziland) - Matt Damon
Stockholm Syndrome. Princess wants to marry her captor. He follows her back to her kingdom where the king tries
several times to have him murdered until he decides to return to his home. The princess follows and their gifted
Stockholm Syndrome. Princess wants to marry her captor. He follows her back to her kingdom where the king tries
several times to have him murdered until he decides to return to his home. The princess follows and their gifted
with a village of people who worship them.
The others found only in the paperback are:
➛
➛
➛
➛
➛
The Great Thirst (San, South Africa)
Mmutla and Phiri (Botswana)
Kamiyo of the River (Transkei, South Africa)
The Snake with the Seven Heads (Xhosa, South Africa)
The Hare's Revenge (Zambia)
*Read as part of The Dead Writers Society's Around the World challenge.|Piccole storie di vita e di cibo.
Questo libro di fiabe africane è un piccolo preziosissimo dono che Nelson Mandela ci fa a fianco del dono molto
più grande per cui è famoso.
Le storie seguono una struttura molto simile rispetto alle favole tradizionali che la tradizione ci ha consegnato:
l'antropomorfizzazione degli animali, il forte carattere educativo e moraleggiante, lo stile e l'immaginario molto
semplici e lineari.
Ma proprio questa apparente somiglianza in realtà sottolinea i punti di distacco, che sono quelli dove lo spirito
dell' Africa nera emerge con la sua travolgente e primitiva vitalità. Sono storie di una umanità non ancora
inquinata dalla socialità complessa degli stati occidentali, e dove i bisogni e le necessità sono ancora di tipo
primitivo. Nella versione africana di Cenerentola la protagonista vive in un villaggio, raccoglie erbe e tiene acceso
il fuoco, mentre il principe in realtà è un cacciatore il cui fascino principale sta nel riuscire a tener sempre piene di
carne le ciotole.
Caccia, pesca, raccolta: il cibo la fa da padrone in tutte queste favole, a testimonianza di una cultura che ancora
non dà per scontata la sopravvivenza: che proprio per questo non è capace di intristire il suo spirito con vuote
elucubrazioni. Le storie d'amore sono genuine e lineari, quasi sempre a lieto fine ma molto poco confortanti. Il
racconto di una vita dura ma semplice, con risposte scomode ma comprensibili: questo arriva agli occhi del lettore
occidentale di queste favole.
E forse è quello di cui molti lettori hanno bisogno, le orecchie piene del tormento spirituale di cui molta della
narrativa dei paesi evoluti è piena. Pare di vedere il piccolo bimbetto bianco e sovrappeso, correre con gli occhi
lucidi di lacrime a chiedere una storia al vecchio schiavo, i piedi ancora impolverati e legati da catene, e quello
seduto a terra anzichè rivoltarsi sorride, alza lo sguardo e comincia a raccontare...raccontare di come forse la
felicità sta non nell'avere delle risposte ma nel farsi domande giuste, semplici e che portino ad apprezzare il poco
che si ha.
L'immaginario è potentissimo: l'Africa è ancora oggi un continente a tinte forti, violenta e selvaggia in tutte le sue
manifestazioni. Non poteva essere diffferente il folklore che produce. E' anche molto ricco e variegato il panorama
che esse tratteggiano: Madiba ha fatto un lavoro degno della sua potente mente politica nello scegliere queste
storie in modo che restituiscano tutto il complesso e stratificato scenario della cultura africana di fine millennio.
Sono presenti storie di tutte le etnie Zulu, contaminazioni introdotte dai colonizzatori boeri prima ed inglesi poi,
per arrivare persino a storie di tradizione arabo-islamica (squisitamente simili alle mille e una notte) introdotte
dalla comunità bengalese di Città del Capo, deportata in tempi remoti dalla loro madre patria. E non è certo un
caso che il machiavellico vincitore sull'apartheid abbia scelto quasi sempre versioni trascritte e rivedute da
antropologi bianchi, quasi sempre di origine olandese.
Ma leggendo queste fiabe non viene voglia di parlare di politica, siamo lontano dalle dichiarazioni di poetica
polemiche di un Fedro alla ricerca di gloria e compensi: e queste favole non nascono per imitazione pedissequa da
paradigmi grecizzanti, ma dal pianto dei bambini.
Il lettore di "le mie fiabe africane" è in cerca di conforto e di sicurezza, un po' come quel piccolo bambino nudo
zulu che chiese a Nelson Mandela di far scrivere la sua storia altrimenti nessuno la avrebbe imparata: e leggendo
di Mpipidi e dell'albero Motlopi, siamo anche noi un po' insieme a quel bambino a ricevere la carezza di quel
vecchio sorridente, coi piedi ormai liberi dalle catene, che la storia chiamerà vincitore.|It has been a long time since
I have been read to by adult. It was a true pleasure being read to by the familiar, expressive voices of famous
actors, such as Whoopi Goldberg, Blair Underwood, Sean Hayes, Matt Damon, Benjamin Bratt, LaVar Burton, Hugh
Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, and the list goes on and on. Each story ranges anywhere from four minutes to
eighteen minutes, so it is easy to listen to the three CD's in short spurts. Some of the stories are more interesting
than others, the majority of which I think would be most appreciated by fourth graders up through adults, mostly
Jackman, Samuel L. Jackson, and the list goes on and on. Each story ranges anywhere from four minutes to
eighteen minutes, so it is easy to listen to the three CD's in short spurts. Some of the stories are more interesting
than others, the majority of which I think would be most appreciated by fourth graders up through adults, mostly
because of the vocabulary and how quickly some of the actors read. A few of my favorites were: “The Sultan’s
Daughter,” “The Wolf and Jackal and the Barrel of Butter,” “The Mother Who Turned to Dust,” “The Clever Snake
Charmer,” and “The Wolf Queen.” There are also very brief musical interludes that help transport the listener to a
more relaxed and rhythmic state of mind. For younger children (or tired adults) it is a great bedtime CD.
As if you don’t already have a good reason to go out and purchase this CD for your home or classroom, the
proceeds go to a few charitable, humanitarian organizations: Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) and the Nelson
Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF). Both organizations are involved in efforts to help children in South Africa
orphaned and impacted by HIV/AIDS. You get three hours of total playing time for only $17.00.
The pictures shown on the CD jacket are authentic, cultural works of art. The introduction spoken by Archbishop
Desmond Tuto gets the listener’s attention right off the bat. The music is by Johnny Clegg and Vusi Mahlasela and
the whole experience was directed by Alfre Woodard. By the end of the three hours (spread out over many days), I
had the same content smile on my face as the sloth pictured on the back cover. An enjoyable escape and sleeping
children… what more could a middle-aged mother want? Who wants to borrow it first???