The Shrunken Dream

In the context of the renewed interest in the cultural understanding of the Nandi people in a time of change and uncertainty, Jane Tapsubei Creider's book offers a fresh interpretation of a society undersiege. The characters in the novel are moving and unashamedly depict the Nandi way of life and speech. The tragedies and joys in the lives of the characters show what real life is and how people cope with it. Its value is even more manifest in the many flashback and the idioms used in the speeches of the charaters which reflect the knowledge of the author. The writers juxtaposition of the past and the present makes it even more contemporary while at the same time maintaining touch with the past. This being the only novel I know of written by a Nandi it offers not only a story but also the culture of the Nandi people their resistance to change. The saddest thing as I read the novel was the death of Cheptabut and the sadness that her husband Kiptai underwent. The death of Taptamus is equally sad. The lives of the characters and the tragedies they face are terrible. But inspite of the hopelessness of the situation there is respect and love. There is joy and there is the will to survive. This is one book that I would recommend for reading both for personal and anthropological purposes.