The Cockroach Dance
Sitawa Namwalie shares her thoughts on Meja Mwangi’s The Cockroach Dance.
The book captures Nairobi life in the 1970s, telling the story of Dusman Gonzaga, a meter reader and parking attendant living in a squalid building within Kenya’s capital.
Meja Mwangi reveals an interesting range of characters who live in Dusman’s world such as the Bathroom Man, Mganga – the witch doctor and Chupa na Debe, the bottle collector. Dusman’s fortunes have plummeted and he has gone from having prospects, owning a car and believing in a bright future to recognising that his life may be over before it even began.
Having been fired from a prestigious job in a hotel, the story navigates through his current unsatisfying job with the city council. His efforts to get a better posting from the council through his bosses is met by uncaring bureaucracy. Written in the 1970s it was unique in that most other African writers were writing books with a rural focus.
Here is a sentence I love.
“The clothes which at one time had fitted him snuggly now hung loose and flabby over him like a retired scarecrow.”
I loved the very urban setting of the book and the language used by Meja Mwangi is exceptional. Though over forty years old, the story has aged well, and is surprisingly as relevant today as it was when it was authored. The descriptions are wonderful, where one can easily see the reality of the gritty poverty filled environment described in the book.
Sitawa Namwalie is a Kenyan poet and author of the celebrated Cut Off My Tongue show.
#KeReads #HadithiZetu
2 Comments
Brilliant book by Mejja Mwangi. I admire the story because its almost similar to mine. Dusman is a true saddist I might add.
We are glad to hear the story resonates with you.Thank you for sharing your insights!