The Thunder That Roars, by Imran Garda
The Thunder That Roars, by Imran Garda. Random House Struik Umuzi. Cape Town, South Africa 2014. ISBN 9781415207123 / ISBN 978-1-4152-0712-3
The Thunder That Roars is international journalist and Al Jazeera news anchor Imran Garda’s cosmopolitan, fast-paced debut. He has interviewed spokespersons and ministers from the governments of The United States, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, India and Pakistan, among others. He has interviewed Hamas, Somali rebel groups, Chechen rebels, Uganda's LRA and others.
The layers were stacked on top of each other. To the boy, they looked like cake. Green and spongy on the top, brown and choc-olatey in between. Around the neat boxes of grass, the first dry leaves of autumn rustled in the wind. The boy sat on the steps leading out from where the veranda dropped into the wide-open space of the garden. He sipped strawberry milkshake through an oversized straw. There was a slight chill in the air but beads of sweat rolled down the side of the gardener's head. He had been digging, pulling, raking, prodding and poking for the best part of three hours now. The boy had been watching, calmly, for a few minutes. It was mid-afternoon and he had been back from school for a while, but he was still in his striped cap, starched shirt and grey-trousered uniform. 'I don't understand why you have to take out all the grass and put new grass,' said the boy. The gardener looked over his shoulder while digging out the last remaining corner of the existing lawn. 'Because it is dying, Sufi. There will be very little rain for a long time. It must look green and nice.' 'But you are just replacing grass with grass. The new grass will also die.' 'Yes, but this new one is different. See, the old grass is Kikuyu. When there is no rain and too little sunshine and it is very much cold, it dies. It is grass from Kenya. It doesn't know how to survive in South Africa.' The boy was endlessly curious. 'How is that new one different?' The gardener put down his spade, walked over to the green chocolate-cake imposter, carefully lifted a square with both hands, as if caring for a baby, and walked towards the boy. He placed it at the boy's feet and twiddled his long fingers over the blades, as if playing an instrument. 'This, this ... is Buffalo.' 'Buffalo grass? Like the animal?' The boy was wide-eyed and amused. 'Yes, Sufi, just like the animal. It is strong, doesn't mind the cold, can survive in the sun or the shade, and it doesn't give up. It doesn't die. Like a Zimbabwean.' He chuckled, pleased with himself. 'Is it from Zimbabwe?' 'I don't know, but it should be.' [....]
This is an excerpt from the novel: The Thunder That Roars, by Imran Garda.
Title: The Thunder That Roars
Author: Imran Garda
Genre: Novel
Publisher: Random House Struik
Imprint: Umuzi
Cape Town, South Africa 2014
ISBN 9781415207123 / ISBN 978-1-4152-0712-3
Softcover, 13 x 22 cm, 208 pages
Garda, Imran im Namibiana-Buchangebot
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