The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

it's really beautiful.

Not any one of Soyinka's or Achebe's books can hold a candle to this particular work by Ayi Kwei Armah. I studied this book for a critical appreciation of Literature course at University in the '80s and until this moment the grating images of corruption and a derelict society that breeds corruption upon itself still erupts vividly in my head. Ayi Kwei Armah succinctly and subtly depicts corruption through his writing with bold imagery and flawless writing. You would pick this book up to read three decades after it was written, and it would still seem like a novel that just came out; it still rings true to this day in many corrupt societies and it is a book that should be up there with the greatest literary giants of our time. T.J. Nanna, Author: Mind Untamed: Collected Poems

Beautiful Ones was required reading at secondary school. I didn't quite understand it, all the same it left an impression, and early this year i sought it out. It is an amazing book. Two weeks of careful reading, my copy is left heavily lined and dog-eared.I strongly recommend it to all budding social revolutionaries. It is one lone man's struggle against seemingly inescapable corruption and filth. A "settled mind"/resolved principles triumphs in the face of hunger, severe poverty, a nagging wife and his own conscience.His stance is eventually justified when the corrupt government along with his much envied politician friend falls.There is a lot of filth- environment, human nature, even language. Nothing is spared. Its easy to get caught up in its general ugliness. This is ironically the beauty of the book and does not rob it of its essence. For those who have not been exposed to widespread corruption, rotteness or had to struggle with "doing the right thing" and against all the odds, it may seem a "sick book".

Set during the last days of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president and noted exponent of Pan-Africanism, this book chronicles the fortunes and misfortunes of "the man," the nameless focalizer of Armah's finely crafted novel, who struggles to retain some semblance of integrity, barely surviving in a country where corruption is "the national game." Intense, introspective, darkly melancholic but never misanthropic, Armah's novel celebrates a strong sense of hope in the midst of savage adversity, the small but not insignifcant victories that enable "the man" to live from day to day -- such existentia Africana is a philosophy forged on the anvil of hard toil and experience.

I have just finished reading this book a few hours ago, and although I have barely had time to digest its contents, it has to be considered a modern literary classic. I read it for a Western African history class, and although I think it helps to have a rudimentary understanding of Ghana's post-independence history, this novel definitely stands on its own literary merit. "The Man" (as he is referred to) is an honest and introspective individual torn apart by the corruption and greed of his society. This creates conflict between not only him and the majority of the world around him, but also between him and his family. This book speaks volumes of the nature of a society that has been decimated by the repressive rule of an entirely different culture. Ayi Kwei Armah weaves beautiful poetry, intellectual insight, and explicit (and at times repulsive- but that is the desired effect) imagery into his story. The reader can truly feel the struggle and search for balance of the man. Humorous at times, depressing at others, "The Beautyful Ones" is a moving masterpiece. "As he went down a shadow rose up the bottom wall to meet him, and it was his own."

Armah's book is among the best. Dense and ponderous yet eloquent use of symbolism is what made this book most enjoyable for me. A great introduction to Ghanaian literature, it captures many aspects of life there, past and present, with wonderful adeptness. Utilizing beautiful imagery, the style is very fluid, while leaving diverse impressions. Though the overall tone is something of a justified bitter, this book leaves the sweet aftertaste only fulfilling reading can and a yearning for more of Armah's masterful writing.