GUINEA

READ

The book I read for Guinea, Camara Laye's The Radiance of the King, tells the story of Clarence, a Frenchman who has traveled to an unnamed African country for reasons that are never explained. He has gambled away all his money, been kicked out of the luxurious hotel catering to white people where he had been staying, and is being threatened with eviction by the landlord of the cheap caravanserai catering mostly to black people where he finds himself now.

He learns that the country’s king will arrive in the city soon, and he joins the throngs of people awaiting the king’s arrival. His plan is to somehow meet the king and offer his services, thinking that just by virtue of being white, he will surely be offered a post by the African king. He meets up with a beggar who says he will try to help him, but later comes back saying the king has no posts available. Clarence then travels with the beggar and a couple of mischievous boys to the southern part of the country where the king is expected to make an appearance eventually.

They arrive in a village where, unbeknownst to Clarence, the beggar trades Clarence to the head of the village to serve as a stud to his harem. A powerful narcotic keeps him from realizing what is happening to him, and when he finally discovers the truth, he tries unsuccessfully to escape. He becomes more determined than ever to meet the king, but as the day of the king’s arrival grows closer, Clarence’s shame at the person he has turned into nearly prevents him from finally presenting himself to the king.

The story seemed almost like a biblical parable to me, with Clarence representing a sinner and the king representing his salvation. However, in the great Toni Morrison’s 2001 review of The Radiance of the King, she writes that she doesn’t think Clarence’s trials “imitate an Everyman’s pilgrimage through sin and self-loathing necessary in order to effect an ultimate baptism.” Rather, she sees Clarence’s journey as one of personal growth, from a state of “immaturity and degradation” to one of truth and self-awareness. Morrison’s review can be found at https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2001/08/09/on-the-radiance-of-the-king/.

COOK

No particular Guinean dishes were mentioned in The Radiance of the King, so I looked online to see what I could find. The International Vegetarian Union’s website had a recipe for vegetarian kansiyé, which is a lentil stew with peanut butter as one of the ingredients. I have to say I enjoyed it quite a bit more than most of the lentil dishes I’ve made in the past. Served over a bed of rice, it made a great lunch.

GIVE

GlobalGiving.com listed four projects for Guinea, and I couldn’t resist the one to protect chimpanzees, organized by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. According to the project summary, “Every four hours, one chimp is being illegally taken from the wild to be traded as a pet or eaten as bushmeat. DSWF works with ground-based project partners who provide vital rescue, rehabilitation and release programmes for illegally trafficked chimps.” They also try to educate local communities about the consequences of the illegal wildlife trade in order to try to reduce the demand for trafficked chimps. More information about this project is available at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/protecting-chimpanzees/.

NEXT STOP: GUINEA-BISSAU