Reviews for The Heart of the Ngoni

The average rating for The Heart of the Ngoni based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-03-24 00:00:00 Michael Warde 'The Heart of the Ngoni' retells stories from the Kingdom of Segu which existed along the upper Niger River in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. They come from the bardic tradition of that nation, the ngoni being a stringed instrument utilized by the hereditary djeli (griot) caste attached to noble houses. These are tales of heroes, aristocrats, and their adventures, and these retold versions balance the needs of modern story telling with the spirit of the originals ' the heart of the ngoni beats through all of them. 'No matter how a river winds, it begins at the beginning and ends at the end.' So speaks a Bambara proverb quoted in one of the tales here. There is a decidedly fatalistic feel, reflecting the culture of Segu and its people. 'If I die tomorrow I will not die the day after,' speaks a chieftain, and the bards sing, "War is not good. Yet without war there can not be victory.' An interesting read in and of itself, 'Heart' also introduces us to a culture through the best of all means ' its legends and its songs.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-12-12 00:00:00 Misty Acheson The Heart of the Ngoni is a great collection of stories about the Kingdom of Segu. I found many similarities to other stories told in the djeli tradition, such as Gassire's Lute and Sundiata Keita. These tales confirm the honor and nobility of these kingdoms while revealing the personalities of the heroes they praise. An excellent book for anyone wanted to read more heroic tales of West Africa and more insight to the cultures of the people of the Sahel and the Joliba (Niger) River.