Similar to The Palm Wine Drunkard by the same author in form and yet still totally unique in content. A constant stream of strange out of the blue things happening and yet it doesn't feel "random" - there's a rhythm and progression and connections everywhere. It feels almost like a travelogue of sorts of the world of the supernatural. The first half it feels absolutely wondrous and amazing, completely fresh and captivating, but by the end I was glad it wasn't too long - it's a beautiful trip but the succession of fantastical events gets a bit overwhelming eventually. Still something I'd absolutely recommend to anyone as something completely unlike most "classic" literature yet with an incredible command of language that I feel would reward rereadings and deep study. ( )

It's this weird bildungsroman about a boy who gets separated from his village and family and has to survive in the world of 'bush ghosts' on his own. It has a lot of folkloric and horror elements.

-"And it was that day I believed that if fear is overmuch, a person would not fear for anything again."

-good/sad/beautiful part about singing the sad song of his village

-so much sacrificing, dancing, and feasting

-get-togethers, conferences,

-'flash-eyed mother' chapter reads like adventure time

-surreal, dreamlike, nighmarish, but also kind of funny

-also, gross, lots of bodily descriptions of smells and ugly excretions

-"I shall not do any evil work throught my life-time in this Bush of Ghosts."

-"clean places are driving a dirty person away as if it will hurt him." in the nameless town chapter.

-several scenes of him in front of figures of authority having to answer for a misdeed or mistake he did not wilfully do. kings, gods, judges, wizardkings, etc.

The final statement is so jarring, but also makes a lot of sense. ( )

This is one of the weirdest books I've ever read. Frustratingly enjoyable, and I have no idea how to rate it.

From the reviews of others, my initial reaction (as a Westerner) to this book seems a common one: WTF am I reading?! However, without wishing to uproot it from its African soil, the folklore motif a person lost in the otherworldly realm of spirits is universal: the Faerie of the Celts and Britons, and the land of Xibalba of the Quichi Maya springing to mind. Actually, the adventures of the twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué from the Popol Vuh are probably the closest thing I've read to "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" in terms of atmosphere.

So, a seven-year-old boy escapes from soldiers and unknowingly wanders into the spirit world. His experiences are nightmarish, comical, disturbing and wonderful. There is little in the way of plot, other than the boy's desire to return to earthly life, but it is in the reader's exposure to the surreal world of non-conscious experience that the book's power lies. ( )

It a story of ghosts tormenting boy, that's it. ( )