The Perfect Nine

I’m a huge fan of Ngugi wa Thiong’o, having read everything that I could get. I always exit a reading experience feeling that I have just learned a great deal, even while I simultaneously understood embarrassingly little. Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s backstory is so remarkable and his knowledge so vast. I think that he is an artist and a hero. I keep waiting for the Nobel Prize.

As soon as I became aware of “The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gikuyu and Mumbi”, I knew I had to read it. I will admit to some trepidation – given the complexity of other works such as “Petals of Blood” and “Wizard of the Crow”, I was afraid that I would be challenged with an epic poem and have to struggle to find the nuggets that are always buried in wa Thiong’o’s work.

No need to worry. “The Perfect Nine” is a highly accessible read. The flow is sublime, the visuals created spectacular. And what an spectacular story! “The Perfect Nine” is highly political in nature, describing a feminist, matriarchal world where violence is shunned upon. The journey, the quest, the races, the Ogres, lightness and dark, magic. As always, I learned so much, and probably understood embarrassingly little. Wonderful, compelling read.

Thanks to The New Press and NetGalley for the eARC. Much appreciated.

Fascinating for an outsider with no idea of Kenya's tribal beliefs. Reads like an epic poem with the advantage it is quite sort. The book follows the original man and woman who find the perfect land, give birth to nine beautiful girls, then a tenth to make it a perfect nine. The girls grow into beautiful women who have various skills and achievements so they are all quite self sufficient. But they need to marry so men are invited to come and show why they should be worthy of one of the girls. The main part of this courting takes place in an odyssey of the women and their suitors across various lands, ogres and other dangers where the morals of the people are displayed and produced. I probably missed most of the symbolism due to my ignorance but nonetheless it was an interesting read.

I'll just start by saying: I don't think I have ever read anything like this! And I mean that in the best way. I've read some African lit before (although there is definitely a lot of room for improvement in terms of branching out to different authors and different countries), but this was my first experience with an epic poem or really any form of mythology from the continent. I found The Perfect Nine incredibly easy to just dive into. It's an immersive tale that is both classic and traditional, and also straightforwardly, delightfully feminist. The epic tells the story of the founding of the clans that make up the Gĩkũyũ people of Kenya through the betrothal of ten daughters—the titular Perfect Nine, who are given this title for reasons that I won't get into here—choosing from a pool of 99 suitors. [read this next part in a Stefon voice] This myth has everything: lions, ogres, sacred mountains, archery, morality, and two satisfying plot twists towards the end. I sped through it in just over a day and finished the story with a deeper appreciation for and interest in exploring this rich mythological tradition.

This is my first approved request on NetGalley so I was really excited to read the book.

"The Perfect Nine is an epic about the origin of Kenya's Gĩkũyũ people, with Gĩkũyũ, the father; Mũmbi, the mother and their ten daughters who made the title of the story, the journeys, and challenges that these women and their suitors took in order to take the daughters' hands.

I absolutely love this take on Gĩkũyũ people that Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o has shown me. It is an old tale written with such a modern mindset that many other books these days couldn't even achieve. I was amazed and in love many times over with these female figures. All are beautifully described in appearance and character. Each possesses its own morality, bravery, talent, and wisdom. You can clearly see the admiration the men showed in the book. I appreciate the values he spoke of in the book, which include gender equality, feminism, the desire for peace, courage, etc. I was even more surprised to know that all these details were written by a man. Props to Mr. Thiong'o for this.

I did not know the story was executed in poetry form and at first, I thought that the book should be how most stories are. The lines rarely rhymed But as I read more of it, I realized I pay more attention to the sentences than I did most of the other books. He did not abuse big words for flowery but instead used many simple but gorgeous expressions that depict the beauty of Kenyan nature, black beauty, and the ethics that the author aimed for.

My only complaint is that there were many repeating details that seem excessive. I had to reread about Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi's adventure, only with a different perspective. I think they could have been merged together. but maybe I'm not the one to tell. The same things happened to many other lines in many other chapters. Still, I want to give this 5 stars instead of 4 to encourage people to read this.

When you read this epic poem, imagine someone telling this around a fire.

This is the origin story of the Gĩkũyũ people of Kenya. A mother and father have ten daughters (nine are perfect) who have so many suitors that their parents send them on a quest to prove themselves. The perfect nine daughters go with them so they may fall in love.

This was a fun story with lessens about equality and treating each other well. Especially in a land that has dangerous creatures like lions and ogres.

This review is based on a copy provided through Netgalley for an honest review.