Short stories
Fools and Other Stories
Njabulo Ndebele · 1983
Synopsis
Five stories of township life, four of which follow a young boy. Thoba and a slightly better-off schoolmate measure themselves against each other in the rain and cold; a child goes to fetch holy water from a prophetess who has become a legend, for his sick mother; another finds an uncle, a trumpeter long absent, who becomes a father figure for him; Vukani is forced to learn the violin by parents who want to rise in the world. In “Fools”, the longest, Zamani, a disgraced schoolteacher, and Zani, a young activist and the brother of a pupil he has mistreated, are bound to each other by both affection and hostility.
Context
The collection appeared in 1983 from Ravan Press, in the Staffrider series, and was reissued in 2006. The following year, its author delivered in London the lecture “The Rediscovery of the Ordinary”, published in 1991 in the collection of essays of the same title. The short story “Fools” was brought to the screen in 1997 by Ramadan Suleman, who shifted its action by about ten years, to the last days of apartheid; the film received a Silver Leopard at Locarno.
Who it is for
Short stories in English of uneven length, the last much longer than the others; accessible without preparation; not translated into French.
Prizes and reception
Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, given to the book in 1984, and the Mofolo-Plomer Prize; reissued in 2006.