The highly awaited and undisputed upcoming African classic literature ‘BITÉK, He From Whom Death Ran’ by Cameroonian Author, Massocki Ma Massocki and which will be released on the first of September was featured on the Daily Info, magazine of the University of Oxford in England. The review is titled ‘ A ballad of ancestry’.
The review was made by Natty Mark Samuels, founder of the African School in England, a cultural and educational project that provides education in African studies to the general community, focusing on pre-colonial sub-Saharan societies.
“When last did you read a book that you couldn’t put down? It happened to me the other day. I started on the bus to London, continued on the tube, pausing only when I got to my sisters’ house near the Arsenal stadium. I resumed after the visit; from Holloway tube to Marble Arch, then on the way back to Oxford, during which I finished the book.
It reads like an elongated folktale – a ballad of ancestry – because the writer of the book, Massocki Ma Massocki, is a master storyteller. He tells the saga of his grandfather, as told to him by his father. And when we talk about Cameroon, we tend to focus on the Bamum, the Fulani or the Bamileke; Massocki introduces us to the Basaa, who speak of a shrine called Ngok Lituba…
Because of this book, I had one of my best ever journeys on public transport: between Oxford and London and the return. Creating a brilliant fusion of narrative, speech, and chant, Massocki Ma Massocki celebrates ancient monotheism, ancestral protection, and the great tradition of African storytelling.”
Click on the link below for the full review.