This is a book that you want to throw into the ring for a bookclub read. I can imagine it would lead to a lot of lively discussions with some people loving it and others hating it. I can see both points of view. This book deals with philosophy in everyday life and at points i really loved it. Finding the joy in the everyday little things is always a good thing to be reminded of. I laughed at points and I was also compelled to read on to see if I felt the characters matured and changed in a satisfactory way. Unfortunately for me I don’t think the book was successful in what it set out to do overall and there were a few sticking points for me that I can’t get past. This book is very much a product of its time and I found it to honestly be kinda racist. It’s also the kind of liberal racist that is sometimes called polite racism. Because liberals are mocked a lot in the novel I wondered if we were going to come back at any point , but no, the ideas that were made in a racist way we’re just kind of stand alone statements. One that stood out to me was a passing mention of sharia law being used as an example of humans being depraved. The character says nothing against Islam but the book was published as the illegal war in Iraq was taking place. It felt like a choice. The only black character who is named and half Nigerian is described as having hair like a lions main. This combined with the magical Asian trope had me side eyeing the book. Yes theres a Japanese character who is wise and can truly see our other white protagonist’s for who they truly are and helps them grow. Theres also the use of class in the novel and I’m just gonna keep it short and say once again I’m incredibly unconvinced. The novel had some great ideas at points but ultimately didn’t succeed. I’m not convinced that someone as smart as Renée who has read Marx would behave how she did in the book overall. Especially not in union loving France . This book has some lovely writing and you can engage with its ideas but it needs to be read with a critical eye imo.

Something that stuck with me from Akala’s book natives was him mentioning that white radicals (not white saviours) who worked alongside movements for racial justice are often left out of history deliberately. After all you don’t want people inspired and to realise who the real enemy of freedom is. Ruth First was one such woman. She stood against the South African apartheid regime and sadly lost her life because of this. This is her memoir of her being imprisoned under the 90 day rule. They took people to prison and didn’t charge them for this time period. They could also do this consecutively as many times as they wanted. The political prisoners were kept in solitary confinement and weren’t allowed any books other than the bible. I’m in awe of Ruth and how she talks about what it was like. Whilst reading I couldn’t stop thinking about the Filton 4 in the uk , they have been sentenced as terrorists even though they were convicted of criminal damage. Or a judge underplaying the fact that the suffragettes bombed stuff. These stories matter even more right now as we need to know our history and how people in the past coped with injustice.