Devil on the cross

Devil on the Cross

NGUGI WA THIONG'O is Kenya's most prolific writer. His first work, Weep Not Child (1964), launched him as a pioneer African writer and made the literary world realise that writers in Africa were making a fresh and original contribution to the world of literature. Since then, there has been no stopping Ngugi. The work was quickly followed by The River Between (1965) and A Grain of Wheat (1967), both of which confirmed Ngugi as a writer of great ambition. The subsequent novels, Petals of Blood (1977) and Devil on the Cross (1982), had great impact around the world due to their powerful political message. Besides writing novels, he is an internationally renowned playwright and literary critic, and has been an ardent advocate of writing in indigenous languages. His novels, A Grain of Wheat and Caitaani Mutharabaini, were nominated among Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century. All of Ngugi's novels are published in the Peak Library.

Devil on the Cross, first published in Gikuyu as Caitaani Mutharabaini (1980), is a portrayal of corruption and how it has entrenched itself in society. The celebration of corruption in all its forms forces Wariinga, whom despair has driven out of Nairobi back to her home town of Ilmorog, to acknowledge that her life has been nothing more than passive acceptance of corruption itself. In this novel, the ancient rhythms of traditional story-telling are used in contrast to written styles. Ngugi provokes with the forces of Brecht, Bunyan, Swift and Beckett.