Scribbling the Cat: Travels with an African Soldier

I read Ms. Fuller's first book strictly by accident. I thought Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight would have been a political view of the struggle in Rhodesia between the white settlers and the indigenous people. It wasn't, however, and while at first I was disappointed as I kept reading I found a brilliantly told tale of a family that lived in Rhodesia that is very similar to many families I know all over America.Scribbling the Cat is another Fuller memoir set in Africa, and this one is even more personal. The first book tells the story of the Fuller family, and as the mother is the focus of the family the story is truly a mother daughter tale. This book is a story about who Alexandra Fuller became, not how she grew up, and I love it.Just as in the first book, this is a story that is distinctly rooted in Africa, but if you change some of the names and some of the locations, it truly has played out in America as well. Fuller meets a former Rhodesian soldier, warrior more like it, and is awestruck by his lifestyle. He is now a gentleman farmer living in an area that doesn't have many white gentleman farmers, especially ones who in the past were killing their African gentleman farmer counterparts.Fuller does a great job of bringing the reader along on the journey. Her writing style reminds me in a way of Hemingway. Hemingway had a way of making me feel the heat in Key Largo, feeling the strength of the fish in Old Man. Fuller really made me feel the mud on the trail to the farm, the smell of the fruit bearing trees she passes, the heat from the African sun, and most important I felt the affection that the old soldier began to feel for Ms. Fuller, and the confusion Ms. Fuller felt for him.All in all a great book by a great writer. Alexandra Fuller is one of the truly great writers alive today and while she lives in America her heart still resides in the Africa of her childhood. She seems keenly aware of the problems the white Rhodesians inflicted upon their native residents. I definitely feel her sense of, I hate to say it because it is far more complex, but guilt for what happened to the Africans subject to white Rhodesian rule. Her escort, the former Rhodesian soldier, was part of the problem, a very bloody part of the problem, and she truly struggles to get past the things he did. She doesn't make him a villain, but she doesn't deify him either. I can also feel that she would take issue with my use of African in that last paragraph. When I say Rhodesian I am thinking of them as white European settlers. In Ms. Fuller's case, however, she is just as African as any black African subject to Rhodesian rule. Reading between the lines Ms. Fuller is in many ways a victim of the same colonialism many black Africans suffered from. She was white, but hardly wealthy.Throughout this journey I truly had a sense that I am seeing Africa through the eyes of an African, something that Ms. Fuller can't shake, because it is who she is. One great thing I got from this book was fair notice that my simple categorization of the problem, this is white, this is black, this is African, this is European, the European whites were oppressive, the Africans are the victims, speaks to my ignorance of the reality many people are living in these former colonial areas that can't be categorized. Good people had to do bad things to become free, good people did bad things to serve a belief they later realized was wrong.

Ms. Fuller is a magnificent writer. Her command of language is truly awe-inspiring. But the “hero” of this book simply didn’t interest me. He seemed cartoonish. I hope the author will find a better subject for future books, one that matches her formidable talents.

Scribbling the Cat is a strange and unsettling book. Like Fuller's two other Rhodesian memoirs, Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight and Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, it's hauntingly evocative and elegantly written. Once more, I was effortlessly transported to Southern Africa, "a land of almost breath-taking beauty or of savage poverty; a land of screaming ghosts or of sun-flung possibilities; a land of inviting warmth or of desperate drought" (143). But unlike the other two Rhodesian memoirs, Scribbling the Cat is elusive and dark and ultimately it loses its momentum. Fuller's charming sense of humor and endearing optimism are largely absent here, replaced, instead, by meandering reflections and a sense of foreboding that is never truly resolved.When reading fiction, I normally try very hard to separate my feelings about the author from my attitudes about the book. With memoir, however, that's a little bit harder to do, because the author is selling not just her story, but also herself, to some extent - her values, impressions and presuppositions. And while I had started to develop a sort of benign "girl crush" on Fuller after reading her two other memoirs, this one left me questioning her character a little bit, and the book as a whole.Instead of focusing on her childhood and family life growing up in Rhodesia, this memoir centers on Fuller's friendship and travels with a man whom she calls "K," an ex-soldier who fought on the losing side of the Rhodesian war. She meets "K" while visiting her parents' fish and banana farm in Zambia, and despite her father's warnings to steer clear of him, Fuller, who seems to be suffering from a kind of spiritual malaise, quickly develops a kindred connection with the man as they travel together alone, often in very intimate settings, through Zimbabwe and Mozambique. "K" is very much reminiscent of Stanley Kowalski , a volatile, choleric soul trapped in a shell of hyper masculinity. It's clear throughout the memoir that Fuller finds herself both repulsed by and strangely attracted to "K", which is problematic, since she is married with two children. Throughout the book, Fuller, who is so transparent in her other memoirs, remains silent on the appropriateness of this arrangement.Fuller probably wouldn't have been able to write this book had "K" not developed romantic feelings for her shortly after their first meeting. And more than a few readers, myself probably included, seem to think that Fuller exploits "K's" feelings order to get the goods---that is, the material she needs to write a compelling story. She's also on a kind of spiritual journey herself, and she thinks that if she can just figure out "K", then she might be able to make sense of her family's own involvement in the war. She expresses her desire to "label ["K"] and write him into coherence," and, by extension, herself. But "K" is a complex person, a professing "born again" Christian who is tormented by the ghosts of his past and driven by an unpredictable brew of sincere faith, erratic superstition, debilitating guilt and blind rage. By the end of both her literal and metaphorical journeys, we know very little about "K," and very little about Fuller and only a little bit more about Africa. Her goal - "to patch together enough words to make sense of [their] lives" (239) - is never realized, and only two major insights are communicated: that war indiscriminately breaks people's bodies and souls and that Fuller indiscriminately breaks men's hearts. The first insight I already suspected before reading this book and the second one I was sad to discover.

I bought this book having read and enjoyed the author's other 2 memoirs ("Don't let's go to the dogs tonight" and "Cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness") immensely. This is a very different book, but the writing is still excellent and the people and places come alive through the vivid writing. It details the author's relationship with a neighbour of her parents,an enigmatic veteran of the Rhodeisa-Zimbabwe war, and her travels with him through Zimbabwe and Mozambique visiting other veterans and battlefields from the war. The author's motives for writing this book are complex - she seems to be exploring her own conscience with regard to the war in Rhodesia, when Rhodesia was becoming Zimbabwe. The result is a very reflective piece of writing that is shocking and harrowing to read and makes the reader think about the wider consequences of war. There is very good background information on this conflict and others related to it. I re-read and highlighted many passages whilst reading and gained a lot from reading this book.

A fascinating story about a complex man and his effort to come to terms with the terrible things in which he was involved in during the attempt to shore up the power held by 250,000 white citizens over the black majority in 1970's Rhodesia. At times a tough read, but Alexandra Fuller's powers of observation and superb prose make this a memorable book.

I would highly recommend reading both "Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight" followed quickly by "Scribbling the Cat". That way you would be at home with Bobo - Alexandra Fuller - and her strange and quirky life, without trying to work out whether she was just downright brave or stupidly unaware. (Very, very brave) Also the setting is complicated it is worth looking up in an Atlas if you aren't familiar with Zimbabwe and Mozambique. As in the first book the accompanying photos are of poor quality and have a 'looking through Granny's album' feel although there are some very odd ones to get you in the mood. Anyway you won't find a picture of "K" as AF explains, she covers her tracks. This book is rich in atmosphere and the descriptions are beautiful. AF has a finely tuned ear for dialect and idiosyncratic expression. This sets the mood perfectly. "K" is barely controlled and rather frightening, you wonder if AF recognises the power of the embers that she is poking. I liked the way in which she points out that "It should not be physically possible to get from the banks of the Pepani River to Wyoming in less than two days, because mentally and emotionally it is impossible". This explains why wherever she is she feels "exiled by who I was". That was well put. Read this book alone for the wonderful descriptions of the lion Mambo and the introductions to the dogs she meets, the fishermen in the night and the kindness of the strangers that she meets. Cigarettes assume a whole new role as currency, inspect repellents, hunger suppressants and sedatives. Throughout the theme is of the soldiers' memories, erupting into their dreams, ghastly confessions of war crimes and efforts to put themselves right after all the horror are shaming to anyone who agrees and promotes war without considering the men that have to fight them. A most unusual, rich read with high educational value. I loved it.

Wonderfully written book, I’ve only recently discovered the books of Alexandra Fuller but I look forward to reading them all. I have spent time in Africa and find her descriptions astounding.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book; maybe because I love stories about Africa, but also I love Alexandra Fuller's writing style. I found the reading of it transporting. I read it around 6 months ago and can still feel it's "taste in my mouth", so to speak, whenever I think about it.