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The Camel Bookmobile
The Camel Bookmobile follows an American librarian who travels to the arid bush of northeastern Kenya to give meaning to her life, but ultimately loses a piece of her heart. A compelling novel that shows how one life can change many, in spite of dangerous and seemingly immutable obstacles.
When Fiona Sweeney tells her family she wants to do something that matters, they do not expect her to go to Africa to help start a traveling library. But that is where Fiona chooses to make her mark: in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya, among tiny, far-flung communities, nearly unknown and lacking roads and schools, where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease.
In The Camel Bookmobile, Fi travels to settlements where people have never held a book in their hands. Her goal is to help bring Dr. Seuss, Homer, Tom Sawyer, and Hemingway to a largely illiterate and semi-nomadic populace. However, because the donated books are limited in number and the settlements are many, the library initiates a tough fine: if anyone fails to return a book, the bookmobile will stop coming.
Though her motives are good, Fi doesn't understand the people she seeks to help. Encumbered by her Western values, she finds herself in the midst of several struggles within the community of Mididima. There the bookmobile's presence sparks a feud between those who favor modernization and those who fear the loss of the traditional way of life in the African bush. The feud heightens when one young man—"Scar Boy"—doesn't return his books. As promised, the library stops all visits, but Fi goes to the settlement alone, determined to recover what has been lost.
Evocative, seamless, and haunting, The Camel Bookmobile is a powerful saga that challenges our fears of the unknown. It is a story that captures the riddles and calamities that often occur when two cultures collide. It follows an American librarian who travels to Africa to give meaning to her life, and ultimately loses a piece of her heart. In the end, this compelling novel shows how one life can change many, in spite of dangerous and seemingly immutable obstacles.
When Fiona Sweeney tells her family she wants to do something that matters, they do not expect her to go to Africa to help start a traveling library. But that is where Fiona chooses to make her mark: in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya, among tiny, far-flung communities, nearly unknown and lacking roads and schools, where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease.
In The Camel Bookmobile, Fi travels to settlements where people have never held a book in their hands. Her goal is to help bring Dr. Seuss, Homer, Tom Sawyer, and Hemingway to a largely illiterate and semi-nomadic populace. However, because the donated books are limited in number and the settlements are many, the library initiates a tough fine: if anyone fails to return a book, the bookmobile will stop coming.
Though her motives are good, Fi doesn't understand the people she seeks to help. Encumbered by her Western values, she finds herself in the midst of several struggles within the community of Mididima. There the bookmobile's presence sparks a feud between those who favor modernization and those who fear the loss of the traditional way of life in the African bush. The feud heightens when one young man—"Scar Boy"—doesn't return his books. As promised, the library stops all visits, but Fi goes to the settlement alone, determined to recover what has been lost.
Evocative, seamless, and haunting, The Camel Bookmobile is a powerful saga that challenges our fears of the unknown. It is a story that captures the riddles and calamities that often occur when two cultures collide. It follows an American librarian who travels to Africa to give meaning to her life, and ultimately loses a piece of her heart. In the end, this compelling novel shows how one life can change many, in spite of dangerous and seemingly immutable obstacles.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Masha Hamilton
8 books87 followersMasha Hamilton is the author of five novels: Staircase of a Thousand Steps, (2001) a Booksense pick by independent booksellers and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection; The Distance Between Us, (2004) named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal, The Camel Bookmobile, (2007) also a Booksense pick, and 31 Hours, named by the Washington Post as one of the best books of 2009. Her latest novel, What Changes Everything, comes out in May 2013.
Currently serving as the Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, she worked as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press for five years in the Middle East, where she covered the intefadeh, the peace process and the partial Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. She also spent five years in Moscow, where she was a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, wrote a newspaper column, “Postcard from Moscow,” and reported for NBC/Mutual Radio. She reported from Afghanistan in 2004 and in 2006, she traveled in Kenya to research The Camel Bookmobile and to interview street kids in Nairobi and drought and famine victims in the isolated northeast.
She has founded two non-profits, the Camel Book Drive to supply books to children in northeastern Kenya, and the Afghan Women's Writing Project, to support the voices of Afghan women. A Brown University graduate, she has been awarded fiction fellowships from Yaddo, Blue Mountain Center, Squaw Valley Community of Writers and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. She has taught for Gotham Writers’ Workshop, at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and in numerous other settings. She is a licensed shiatsu practitioner and is currently studying nuad phaen boran, Thai traditional massage.
Currently serving as the Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, she worked as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press for five years in the Middle East, where she covered the intefadeh, the peace process and the partial Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. She also spent five years in Moscow, where she was a correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, wrote a newspaper column, “Postcard from Moscow,” and reported for NBC/Mutual Radio. She reported from Afghanistan in 2004 and in 2006, she traveled in Kenya to research The Camel Bookmobile and to interview street kids in Nairobi and drought and famine victims in the isolated northeast.
She has founded two non-profits, the Camel Book Drive to supply books to children in northeastern Kenya, and the Afghan Women's Writing Project, to support the voices of Afghan women. A Brown University graduate, she has been awarded fiction fellowships from Yaddo, Blue Mountain Center, Squaw Valley Community of Writers and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. She has taught for Gotham Writers’ Workshop, at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and in numerous other settings. She is a licensed shiatsu practitioner and is currently studying nuad phaen boran, Thai traditional massage.
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January 19, 2016
Have you ever gotten so angry after reading a book that you wanted to 1) throw it out of a moving car 2) tear all the pages into itsy bitsy pieces or 3) make a effigy of the author with the pages of the book and burn it. Okay, the Camel Bookmobile was not terrible. The writing wasn't bad. The characters weren't off-putting. The story wasn't unpleasant. And yet it made me so angry! That's because it could have been so much more! I picked up this book at a second hand bookstore while on holiday and it held so much of promise. A book about a American librarian travelling to remotest Africa to bring literature to nomadic tribes. It seems magic! It could have taken us on a journey of what it is like to read a book for the first time. It could have been about the experience of children learning to read or even understanding what books are. It could gone deeper and explored the idea of what rural communities can teach the 'western' world i.e., the importance of traditional knowledge systems. It could have asked the question of whether books and written stories have resulted in the loss of powerful memories that would have existed had we favoured oral story telling instead. This book fell flat on all accounts. The characters were half baked and never reached their full potential (a lazy author perhaps?). The story started to revolved around a contrived romance between the American and the African and all the depth went flying out the window. The most interesting characters were tangential and ended up only sneaking their heads into the story to make way for said contrived romance. The ending felt as though someone told the author that she needs to end with a bang so she decided that a 'bang' meant flatten out all the life from the story.
Flat. That's the one word I would use to describe this book. Disappointing, unfulfilling, contrived, and amateurish, are a few other words.
Also, can someone please tell me what was the deal with all the mosquito references? These were scattered throughout the book, at the beginning of every chapter... but it didn't tie in to the story (even if I stretched my metaphorical and figurative muscles to their max). FYI... I'm from Africa and mosquitoes are not the defining characteristic of this continent.
Flat. That's the one word I would use to describe this book. Disappointing, unfulfilling, contrived, and amateurish, are a few other words.
Also, can someone please tell me what was the deal with all the mosquito references? These were scattered throughout the book, at the beginning of every chapter... but it didn't tie in to the story (even if I stretched my metaphorical and figurative muscles to their max). FYI... I'm from Africa and mosquitoes are not the defining characteristic of this continent.
May 26, 2012
A downside of living abroad in a country with a different language is that the selection of books in English is always minimal. Searching through the raggedy shelves at hostels or tourist-oriented cafes becomes a treasure hunt. Finding a copy 1984? Elation. Finding out that it is in German? Back to the shelves.
All of which is to say, I didn´t pick up this book on purpose. But I finished it because a lack of other options.
If you want a book where you can lose track of how often ´African´ is used as an adjective, this is the book for you. An entirely heavy-handed account of a naïve do-gooder in Kenya, and the unintentional consequences/responses to her portable library. I admire Ms. Hamilton´s desire to show the more complex side of development, but to literally have a board meeting where the corporate sponsors declare they only wanted good press and don´t actually care? This total lack of subtlety runs through the entire book, taking what could have been an interesting premise into a rather dull and flat story.
All of which is to say, I didn´t pick up this book on purpose. But I finished it because a lack of other options.
If you want a book where you can lose track of how often ´African´ is used as an adjective, this is the book for you. An entirely heavy-handed account of a naïve do-gooder in Kenya, and the unintentional consequences/responses to her portable library. I admire Ms. Hamilton´s desire to show the more complex side of development, but to literally have a board meeting where the corporate sponsors declare they only wanted good press and don´t actually care? This total lack of subtlety runs through the entire book, taking what could have been an interesting premise into a rather dull and flat story.
November 4, 2016
Fiona Sweeney is a librarian who accepts a job with a charitable foundation to bring books to remote villages in Africa, promoting literacy among the tiny, far-flung communities of northeastern Kenya. These settlements are impoverished, lacking roads or schools, and the people’s lives are steeped in tradition and superstition. Because the donated books are limited in number and the settlements are many, the library has initiated a tough fine: if anyone fails to return a book, the bookmobile will stop coming.
Talk about a clash of cultures! What use is reading Tom Sawyer, or a how-to book on raising children to these people? They don’t understand the references, can’t imagine why someone would paint a fence, and have no place to buy ANY formula (let alone a variety of formulas). These are the arguments that the local African officials make, trying to dissuade Fiona from persisting in taking the caravan of camels to the villages. And yet, the reality is that there are stories that inspire and pique interest. Some of the residents see good in learning to read and dream of going to the city to further their education. Of course, others are certain that the drought is a punishment for their reaching beyond their borders, or allowing the bookmobile to come to them in the first place.
That clash of cultures was what was most interesting to me in the book. But Hamilton also includes a couple of relationships that become somewhat entangled in the story. This took the book in a direction I wasn’t expecting and found somewhat dissatisfying.
Talk about a clash of cultures! What use is reading Tom Sawyer, or a how-to book on raising children to these people? They don’t understand the references, can’t imagine why someone would paint a fence, and have no place to buy ANY formula (let alone a variety of formulas). These are the arguments that the local African officials make, trying to dissuade Fiona from persisting in taking the caravan of camels to the villages. And yet, the reality is that there are stories that inspire and pique interest. Some of the residents see good in learning to read and dream of going to the city to further their education. Of course, others are certain that the drought is a punishment for their reaching beyond their borders, or allowing the bookmobile to come to them in the first place.
That clash of cultures was what was most interesting to me in the book. But Hamilton also includes a couple of relationships that become somewhat entangled in the story. This took the book in a direction I wasn’t expecting and found somewhat dissatisfying.
February 26, 2009
Fiona Sweeney is an American librarian with a desire to do something with her life, something that matters. Her family has always been rooted in the same New York neighborhood, but Fi isn't content to stay rooted. Instead, she decides to take a job in Kenya, helping to start a traveling library. The library takes books, by camel, to different tribes of people throughout the bush of northeastern Kenya.
The people of Mididima have differing feelings about the traveling books. Matani was sent away by his father to be educated in Nairobi, and he returned to teach the children of Mididima. However, most of the people of Mididima do not share his values or appreciation for books and learning. They believe that by learning to read the stories are lost because people do not make an effort to keep them in their brains to retell them orally. The elders know that the paper can be destroyed, but if the story is in one's brain, it cannot go away, it cannot be lost.
Many of the people of Mididima want the library to stop coming altogether. And when Taban, a.k.a. Scar Boy, does not return his library books, an action that is strictly forbidden, chaos erupts in the community.
I fell in love with The Camel Bookmobile on page one, paragraph one.
One of the strengths of this novel is Hamilton's efforts to take the reader inside the minds of the characters, all of the characters. The point of view changes by chapter, alternating between Fi, various people of Mididima, and the Kenyan librarian. The reader is able to experience the plot from different age perspectives, different cultural perspectives, different gender perspectives. The mesh of these perspectives illustrates the mammoth complexity of cultural change.
Fi travels to Kenya with the best of intentions, but what Fi doesn't realize is that she is seeing everything through the eyes of Western culture. And likewise, the people of Mididima who are dead set against literacy see things through the eyes of their own culture. And when Nature begins to tell them that their way of life cannot be sustained much longer, their response is not to learn a new way of living but rather to move to another geographic location that will support their present way of life.
The novel is almost a tennis match, volleying back and forth between the two cultures. But then there are times when the cultures mesh and the similarities between fellow members of the human race emerge.
The themes of this novel are powerful, and they raise questions that don't have right or wrong answers. Themes of this magnitude demand three-dimensional characters with strengths and flaws; characters who are forever and realistically altered by the events they experience. Hamilton doesn't disappoint on this front. The silent and most powerful character is Nature. Hamilton manages to brilliantly blend the setting into character in this novel. The beautiful Kenyan bush is also a remorseless killer and it plays as much a role in the community as any of the human characters do.
I can't imagine reading this book and not being more aware of how we view cultures that differ from our own. The Camel Bookmobile is a stunning multi-layered, multi-perspective novel about tolerance, about humanity, about change. I highly recommend it.
The people of Mididima have differing feelings about the traveling books. Matani was sent away by his father to be educated in Nairobi, and he returned to teach the children of Mididima. However, most of the people of Mididima do not share his values or appreciation for books and learning. They believe that by learning to read the stories are lost because people do not make an effort to keep them in their brains to retell them orally. The elders know that the paper can be destroyed, but if the story is in one's brain, it cannot go away, it cannot be lost.
Many of the people of Mididima want the library to stop coming altogether. And when Taban, a.k.a. Scar Boy, does not return his library books, an action that is strictly forbidden, chaos erupts in the community.
I fell in love with The Camel Bookmobile on page one, paragraph one.
One of the strengths of this novel is Hamilton's efforts to take the reader inside the minds of the characters, all of the characters. The point of view changes by chapter, alternating between Fi, various people of Mididima, and the Kenyan librarian. The reader is able to experience the plot from different age perspectives, different cultural perspectives, different gender perspectives. The mesh of these perspectives illustrates the mammoth complexity of cultural change.
Fi travels to Kenya with the best of intentions, but what Fi doesn't realize is that she is seeing everything through the eyes of Western culture. And likewise, the people of Mididima who are dead set against literacy see things through the eyes of their own culture. And when Nature begins to tell them that their way of life cannot be sustained much longer, their response is not to learn a new way of living but rather to move to another geographic location that will support their present way of life.
The novel is almost a tennis match, volleying back and forth between the two cultures. But then there are times when the cultures mesh and the similarities between fellow members of the human race emerge.
The themes of this novel are powerful, and they raise questions that don't have right or wrong answers. Themes of this magnitude demand three-dimensional characters with strengths and flaws; characters who are forever and realistically altered by the events they experience. Hamilton doesn't disappoint on this front. The silent and most powerful character is Nature. Hamilton manages to brilliantly blend the setting into character in this novel. The beautiful Kenyan bush is also a remorseless killer and it plays as much a role in the community as any of the human characters do.
I can't imagine reading this book and not being more aware of how we view cultures that differ from our own. The Camel Bookmobile is a stunning multi-layered, multi-perspective novel about tolerance, about humanity, about change. I highly recommend it.
February 14, 2021
...sognava un viaggio in Africa. Quando su un sito web per bibliotecari apparve l’inserzione di un gruppo di società americane che cercavano qualcuno disposto a lavorare temporaneamente come consulente e a contribuire a organizzare una biblioteca trasportata su cammelli in Kenya, all’inizio non riuscì quasi a crederci. Sembrava che una divinità al corrente del suo desiderio segreto avesse creato un impiego su misura per lei.
Ho faticato un po’ a leggere questo libro. Mi spiego.
L’idea di partenza è buona (pare sia stata attinta da un progetto reale cui si possono fare addirittura delle donazioni) e cioè quella di portare - attraverso i libri (in questo caso con i cammelli, l’unico mezzo possibile) - l’alfabetizzazione fra le remote popolazioni africane; anche l’inizio è promettente... ma poi si perde un po’, si appiattisce, diventa troppo “romanzo”.
C’è il solito incontro/scontro di culture: da una parte quella chiusa di un popolo nomade africano che tramanda oralmente la propria, fatta di riti, superstizione, segni, magia; dall’altra quella occidentale che vorrebbe imporsi, suscita curiosità ma scompiglia idee, tradizioni, certezze e di sicuro non è ben vista, soprattutto quando invoglia - in soggetti più aperti ai cambiamenti - ad andare via per oltrepassare non solo i confini territoriali, ma anche quelli della conoscenza.
L’anello di congiunzione potrebbe essere Scar Boy (ma poi perché questo nome così inglese? qualcosa in swahili no?), un ragazzo dal volto sfigurato, emarginato, che trova nei libri il suo mondo e scopre in essi la bellezza del disegno. Invece sarà proprio lui a dividere la popolazione: ad un tratto non vuole/può restituire i libri presi in prestito dalla biblioteca; questo strano atteggiamento verrà visto dal consiglio degli anziani del villaggio (ah, dimenticavo: siamo a Mididima) come un atto che sicuramente attirerà sventure sulla tribù (in primis, la carestia); la punizione degli anziani sarà severissima.
C’è anche spazio per storie amorose, primi approcci, sogni, tradimenti, ecc.; su questo tema sono veramente poche le varianti culturali...
Il finale, forse l’unico possibile, lascia un po’ di amaro in bocca. Ammetto che lo avrei voluto diverso.
Nel complesso mi aspettavo qualcosa di più... accattivante.
Peccato: 2,5/5
🌍 LdM: Kenya 🇰🇪
🔠 LxNL: AZ + sfida trim.
🔠 Alphabet autori
📚 Biblioteca
Ho faticato un po’ a leggere questo libro. Mi spiego.
L’idea di partenza è buona (pare sia stata attinta da un progetto reale cui si possono fare addirittura delle donazioni) e cioè quella di portare - attraverso i libri (in questo caso con i cammelli, l’unico mezzo possibile) - l’alfabetizzazione fra le remote popolazioni africane; anche l’inizio è promettente... ma poi si perde un po’, si appiattisce, diventa troppo “romanzo”.
C’è il solito incontro/scontro di culture: da una parte quella chiusa di un popolo nomade africano che tramanda oralmente la propria, fatta di riti, superstizione, segni, magia; dall’altra quella occidentale che vorrebbe imporsi, suscita curiosità ma scompiglia idee, tradizioni, certezze e di sicuro non è ben vista, soprattutto quando invoglia - in soggetti più aperti ai cambiamenti - ad andare via per oltrepassare non solo i confini territoriali, ma anche quelli della conoscenza.
L’anello di congiunzione potrebbe essere Scar Boy (ma poi perché questo nome così inglese? qualcosa in swahili no?), un ragazzo dal volto sfigurato, emarginato, che trova nei libri il suo mondo e scopre in essi la bellezza del disegno. Invece sarà proprio lui a dividere la popolazione: ad un tratto non vuole/può restituire i libri presi in prestito dalla biblioteca; questo strano atteggiamento verrà visto dal consiglio degli anziani del villaggio (ah, dimenticavo: siamo a Mididima) come un atto che sicuramente attirerà sventure sulla tribù (in primis, la carestia); la punizione degli anziani sarà severissima.
C’è anche spazio per storie amorose, primi approcci, sogni, tradimenti, ecc.; su questo tema sono veramente poche le varianti culturali...
Il finale, forse l’unico possibile, lascia un po’ di amaro in bocca. Ammetto che lo avrei voluto diverso.
Nel complesso mi aspettavo qualcosa di più... accattivante.
Peccato: 2,5/5
🌍 LdM: Kenya 🇰🇪
🔠 LxNL: AZ + sfida trim.
🔠 Alphabet autori
📚 Biblioteca
March 12, 2016
Certain books are allowed to be less than perfect. For example, any book about librarians or book collecting or even writing is such a welcome publishing event that I give it some slack; just the mere fact that someone decided to choose these as subjects is enough to allow the author some latitude. The Camel Bookmobile, consequently, I have let the belt out a couple of notches. The writing is acceptable. The characters shimmy up against stereotype here and there. The author lets the genuine details appear now and then and the book shines. I worried through the first few chapters, concerned the author was trying to make a point, change the world, but she got bigger as the novel moved along and showed both the dark and the light. The chief librarian seemed thin throughout; surely time in England would have developed his character a bit more? I ended up deciding to like the book, despite its small flaws. It is, after all, the story of the power of words on lives.
June 25, 2007
Big disappointment. Interesting premise, but so poorly written. She includes some neat proverbs here and there, but the book as a whole has a cardboardy feel - the sort of formulaic writing of a cheap romance. At times they even start speaking in "thees" and "thous", not a way I've ever had the urge to translate Kiswahili or any other language.
September 16, 2018
This book was stirred in my memory today. I’m sure it’s been over five years since I read it, and I remember enjoying it. Now after reading some of the reviews here on GRs, I’m thinking maybe I ought to read it again. Not many people care for it. So you are on your own as to whether it’s worthwhile for you to read it. The author has written several other books—maybe I’ll take a look at one of those.
September 6, 2017
Sadly this was as good as I thought it would be. The plot was slow. , the characters didn't really make me care for what happened to them.
February 26, 2023
The Camel Bookmobile
is a much better book than its Goodread's rating indicates.
The novel is the current title for our Book Club and I will be surprised if our ten members do not rate it much more favourably. The story presents some pertinent ethical questions which I imagine will engender much discussion.
It is a common theme in literature to question whether 'outsiders' should be allowed to foist their ideas and ventures on people of other cultures. The Camel Bookmobile does a fine job of presenting this conundrum, yet again, in an even-handed manner.
An interesting, engaging read with plenty to chew over.
The novel is the current title for our Book Club and I will be surprised if our ten members do not rate it much more favourably. The story presents some pertinent ethical questions which I imagine will engender much discussion.
It is a common theme in literature to question whether 'outsiders' should be allowed to foist their ideas and ventures on people of other cultures. The Camel Bookmobile does a fine job of presenting this conundrum, yet again, in an even-handed manner.
An interesting, engaging read with plenty to chew over.
December 1, 2018
I thought I ended up detecting an almost wokeness, a movement toward really problematising the issue in the book as a whole and I want to honour that even though the flaws made it in some ways a tiresome read. When I look at the suggested further reading and see Alexander McCall Smith on it (although in all fairness Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche heads the list as she should) I kind of see the source of the problem.
The fact is a white person's perspective on colonising mechanisms (such as globalising trends that privilege English and print literacy and a liberal democratic approach to self-expression) is always tainted by the inability to completely divest from hero narratives. So that Fi's self-conscious good intention is never interrogated. Her friend questions whether she caught AIDS from (something that happened in the book) but no one questions whether what the African people caught from her might be bad. The question hangs, on the minds of some of the (less centred than Fi) characters but the verdict in a passionate climax of the book is that everything is worth it because she has brought so much good in some way (that is not really clear). Well-intentioned capitalist philanthropy is portrayed not as a force of colonialism leading to oppression but a force for liberation and enrichment.
What the African people offer to the hopeful philanthropist on the other hand is experience, adventure, meaning, exoticism but nothing life-changing or liberating. At the end of the book Fi, ever the colonist is free to find her next "creative endeavour" new frontiers to colonise and never mind the human cost (because we have been reassured there isn't any).
Similarly as a teacher I resent the (admittedly common) understanding that anyone who knows a few nursery rhymes and likes books can teach. Both the teenage assistant teacher and "Miss Sweeney" are allowed to subtly deprofessionalise Matani and his vocation to teach in a couple of unnecessary scenes in the book. The naïve but basically a hero colonist trope takes no prisoners in the end and the "natives" are not just exoticised and paraded but ultimately forced to acclaim the enlightenment she brings.
Having sneered at the naïve "liberal democracy is always a blessing" tone of the book I feel that there was at least some attempt made to problematise capitalism. It was to me, nowhere near incisive enough but I want to honour that it was there at all.
The fact is a white person's perspective on colonising mechanisms (such as globalising trends that privilege English and print literacy and a liberal democratic approach to self-expression) is always tainted by the inability to completely divest from hero narratives. So that Fi's self-conscious good intention is never interrogated. Her friend questions whether she caught AIDS from (something that happened in the book) but no one questions whether what the African people caught from her might be bad. The question hangs, on the minds of some of the (less centred than Fi) characters but the verdict in a passionate climax of the book is that everything is worth it because she has brought so much good in some way (that is not really clear). Well-intentioned capitalist philanthropy is portrayed not as a force of colonialism leading to oppression but a force for liberation and enrichment.
What the African people offer to the hopeful philanthropist on the other hand is experience, adventure, meaning, exoticism but nothing life-changing or liberating. At the end of the book Fi, ever the colonist is free to find her next "creative endeavour" new frontiers to colonise and never mind the human cost (because we have been reassured there isn't any).
Similarly as a teacher I resent the (admittedly common) understanding that anyone who knows a few nursery rhymes and likes books can teach. Both the teenage assistant teacher and "Miss Sweeney" are allowed to subtly deprofessionalise Matani and his vocation to teach in a couple of unnecessary scenes in the book. The naïve but basically a hero colonist trope takes no prisoners in the end and the "natives" are not just exoticised and paraded but ultimately forced to acclaim the enlightenment she brings.
Having sneered at the naïve "liberal democracy is always a blessing" tone of the book I feel that there was at least some attempt made to problematise capitalism. It was to me, nowhere near incisive enough but I want to honour that it was there at all.
December 31, 2009
This was a very interesting story based on a real life experience. A librarian wanting to do more than work in a library and shush children applies for a job in Africa in order to deliver books by camel to villages that would otherwise not ever be able to have access to books. However, because the books are scarce, if any books are lost or damaged the camel bookmobile will not return to that village.
The book deals with issues of whether bringing books to a people who still depend on the earth and believe that drought must be the fault of the tribe (or someone in it) rather than an effect of the weather will change that people for the better or destroy their lifestyle in an attempt to educate them. Very interesting ideas.
The ending was a little jarring though in the sense that the author had set everything up to go one way and then went in the total opposite direction and then just left it there when the book ended. It did serve to illustrate her point that life goes on for these people in the way it always did and the books did not change anything (although there was potential).
The book deals with issues of whether bringing books to a people who still depend on the earth and believe that drought must be the fault of the tribe (or someone in it) rather than an effect of the weather will change that people for the better or destroy their lifestyle in an attempt to educate them. Very interesting ideas.
The ending was a little jarring though in the sense that the author had set everything up to go one way and then went in the total opposite direction and then just left it there when the book ended. It did serve to illustrate her point that life goes on for these people in the way it always did and the books did not change anything (although there was potential).
December 3, 2014
La biblioteca sul cammello �� un'idea bellissima: quella vera per��, qui sotto trovate il sito
http://www.africanlibraryproject.org per le donazioni in libri alle piccole biblioteche africane.
Questo invece �� l'indirizzo per donare in particolare alla Biblioteca sul cammello
Garissa Provincial Library
For Camel Library
���Librarian in charge
Rashid M. Farah
���P.O. Box 245
���Garissa, Kenya
Peccato invece che il romanzo, pur cercando di trasmettere a tratti idee e concetti interessanti come il significato dell'istruzione presso le popolazioni africane - di cui noi occidentali ci arroghiamo il diritto di essere gli unici depositari, senza curarci del fatto se questo incida con usanze e costumi la cui origine si perde nella notte dei tempi e senza chiederci, come si trova a fare Fiona Sweeneys alla fine del romanzo, chi sia ad avere insegnato e chi ad avere imparato - sia poco pi�� di un Harmony tra le gobbe di un cammello.
http://www.africanlibraryproject.org per le donazioni in libri alle piccole biblioteche africane.
Questo invece �� l'indirizzo per donare in particolare alla Biblioteca sul cammello
Garissa Provincial Library
For Camel Library
���Librarian in charge
Rashid M. Farah
���P.O. Box 245
���Garissa, Kenya
Peccato invece che il romanzo, pur cercando di trasmettere a tratti idee e concetti interessanti come il significato dell'istruzione presso le popolazioni africane - di cui noi occidentali ci arroghiamo il diritto di essere gli unici depositari, senza curarci del fatto se questo incida con usanze e costumi la cui origine si perde nella notte dei tempi e senza chiederci, come si trova a fare Fiona Sweeneys alla fine del romanzo, chi sia ad avere insegnato e chi ad avere imparato - sia poco pi�� di un Harmony tra le gobbe di un cammello.
March 31, 2019
I loved this book. It was interesting to read about other ways of life, other points of view on what is important in life.
I liked also the way the book was written, with different narrators that had their own look on things that were happening. The ending was unexpected, but I liked that.
*SPOILER below*
*SPOILER*
Had the ending been a good one, then for me it would have been too much of a romance book, that wouldn't have done the rest of the contents justice. But... as said, that's just my humble opinion...
I liked also the way the book was written, with different narrators that had their own look on things that were happening. The ending was unexpected, but I liked that.
*SPOILER below*
*SPOILER*
Had the ending been a good one, then for me it would have been too much of a romance book, that wouldn't have done the rest of the contents justice. But... as said, that's just my humble opinion...
December 8, 2018
This was a compelling read for many reasons. The most important being that this is actually happening in Kenya, camels loaded with books travel to remote villages and lend library books to villagers. This is a work of fiction and Fi, the main character, travels by camel every 2 weeks to the village Mididima in Kenya, where she becomes enamored with some of the people there. Anything more would probably be a spoiler so enjoy !
December 5, 2014
Basic plot of this book: Young boy in Kenya gets scarred by hyena attack. Then he grows up and causes problems by not promptly returning his library books.
Then there's other stuff...like failed marriages and deep thoughts about Americans and Europeans imposing their cultural viewpoint on Africans.
Then there's other stuff...like failed marriages and deep thoughts about Americans and Europeans imposing their cultural viewpoint on Africans.
August 2, 2018
I loved it. Yes it is about setting up a bookmobile in Kenya and bringing books and literacy to villages. But it is also about accepting or rejecting ways of the west. Very interesting. Also a bit of a love story too.
May 19, 2011
See my review on my book blog: http://quirkyreader.livejournal.com/2...
December 6, 2017
Onvan : The Camel Bookmobile - Nevisande : Masha Hamilton - ISBN : 61173487 - ISBN13 : 9780061173486 - Dar 320 Safhe - Saal e Chap : 2007
March 8, 2023
I originally liked the story about a real Camel Bookmobile & imagined the incredible adventure the young librarian was going to have.
The book took me to an area of the world & a community so different to mine. I loved the descriptions of the country, the animals,their customs, their beliefs, the food & their beautiful colourful clothes.
When the author introduced a couple of romances I wasn’t expecting, I lost a bit of interest as the focus of the story shifted.
I also wondered whether this nomadic tribe really wanted the books they were given. Most were inappropriate & they didn’t understand them.
I’ve recently read that the books provided now have stories about their own cultures & are in their own languages. A 2021 Camel Bookmobile has even gone digital. Instead of carrying up to 200 paper books, the camels have been fitted with solar panels to charge portable tablets which are loaded with story book’s & learning materials.
The ending also seemed a bit rushed. I would have liked to read about what happened to many of the characters.
The book took me to an area of the world & a community so different to mine. I loved the descriptions of the country, the animals,their customs, their beliefs, the food & their beautiful colourful clothes.
When the author introduced a couple of romances I wasn’t expecting, I lost a bit of interest as the focus of the story shifted.
I also wondered whether this nomadic tribe really wanted the books they were given. Most were inappropriate & they didn’t understand them.
I’ve recently read that the books provided now have stories about their own cultures & are in their own languages. A 2021 Camel Bookmobile has even gone digital. Instead of carrying up to 200 paper books, the camels have been fitted with solar panels to charge portable tablets which are loaded with story book’s & learning materials.
The ending also seemed a bit rushed. I would have liked to read about what happened to many of the characters.
September 27, 2021
I identified with many parts of this story. Many do-gooders go out of their way and unexpectedly are rewarded in the end. Volunteer programs give a stipend and/or lodging. Yes,. I have also paid for the experience on Safari in South Africa. The essence is that it is enriching.
October 11, 2011
Not an awful book but definitely not one to keep or recommend. The main story was just ok and I wanted to know how it turned out but I did not enjoy the individual stories and I didn't care for the characters. None of the characters were well developed. I always felt as if they were a bit unfocused and there wasn't enough for me to grab on to.
The book follows an American, Fi, to Africa as she volunteers to guide a new library program that sends books out to the villages on the African plains. The books and people travel to the villages via camel, therefore its the Camel Bookmobile. We meet many of the residents of one village and bounce back and forth between them with every chapter.
I don't even recommend this one as a light in-between book. I was left with more questions than answers and it definitely didn't leave me satisfied.
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
I thought the ending sucked. Royally. We were left with wide open stories with no ending. I get that everything can't be a "happy ending" but this one was very disappointing. What happened to Taban? What happened to Kanika wanting to leave the village. Are we supposed to believe that just because she gets into a relationship (we're presuming since that isn't even conclusive), she would lose her dream to leave? Are we supposed to believe that Taban is left as he was and nothing changes for him? How sad... And, what happened to Fi? Did she return to America? Did she search for Matani at all? Would she search for him? What happened to Matani? Did he end his marriage or go back to Jwahir as if nothing had happened? *sigh*
The book follows an American, Fi, to Africa as she volunteers to guide a new library program that sends books out to the villages on the African plains. The books and people travel to the villages via camel, therefore its the Camel Bookmobile. We meet many of the residents of one village and bounce back and forth between them with every chapter.
I don't even recommend this one as a light in-between book. I was left with more questions than answers and it definitely didn't leave me satisfied.
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
I thought the ending sucked. Royally. We were left with wide open stories with no ending. I get that everything can't be a "happy ending" but this one was very disappointing. What happened to Taban? What happened to Kanika wanting to leave the village. Are we supposed to believe that just because she gets into a relationship (we're presuming since that isn't even conclusive), she would lose her dream to leave? Are we supposed to believe that Taban is left as he was and nothing changes for him? How sad... And, what happened to Fi? Did she return to America? Did she search for Matani at all? Would she search for him? What happened to Matani? Did he end his marriage or go back to Jwahir as if nothing had happened? *sigh*
July 16, 2013
Fiona is an idealist who is tired of her New York life and wants to do something more to make her mark on the world. When she reads of an opportunity to work on a Camel Bookmobile, she decides to go immediately, even though her friends and family don't fully approve. Once in Africa though, the story focuses less on her, and more on the lives of the people of the small nomadic tribe of Mididima. Here people's lives are changing, in reaction to the ideas the books bring, the threat it brings to their way of life, the prospect of a coming drought.
The story is very simply written, but it's powerful. It raises a lot of questions about the process. Is it really ethical to bring literacy to these people? Can it really help them? The problems it brings up and the resolution that Hamilton decides on were heartbreaking but ultimately, I felt, appropriate.
This was especially good to read because I've been dealing with mixing cultures as we have had exchange students stay with us. Obviously entirely different things, but some of the miscommunications and things Fiona was learning sound awfully familiar right now!
The story is very simply written, but it's powerful. It raises a lot of questions about the process. Is it really ethical to bring literacy to these people? Can it really help them? The problems it brings up and the resolution that Hamilton decides on were heartbreaking but ultimately, I felt, appropriate.
This was especially good to read because I've been dealing with mixing cultures as we have had exchange students stay with us. Obviously entirely different things, but some of the miscommunications and things Fiona was learning sound awfully familiar right now!
February 4, 2010
New York librarian Fiona Sweeney believes in books and literacy with a missionary zeal that sends her to Kenya, traveling with camels loaded with books to distant villages in the bush where most people have never held a book in their hands, nor seen a white woman
Her camel bookmobile is popular, but many in the village worry that books will bring modernization which will destroy their way of life. Others believe that modernization; more contact with the outside world; is what the village needs to survive.
I liked The Camel Bookmobile well enough . I’m all bout books. Throw in an exotic location and camels, and you’ve got me.
However, The Camel Bookmobile just failed to hook me completely. For one thing, it was too predictable. Some things were, perhaps, telegraphed a little too soon. For another, some of the culture clash and the strife that she brought to the village were just a bit too cliché, and too expected.
I still enjoyed it, but I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the stellar read I had hoped for.
Her camel bookmobile is popular, but many in the village worry that books will bring modernization which will destroy their way of life. Others believe that modernization; more contact with the outside world; is what the village needs to survive.
I liked The Camel Bookmobile well enough . I’m all bout books. Throw in an exotic location and camels, and you’ve got me.
However, The Camel Bookmobile just failed to hook me completely. For one thing, it was too predictable. Some things were, perhaps, telegraphed a little too soon. For another, some of the culture clash and the strife that she brought to the village were just a bit too cliché, and too expected.
I still enjoyed it, but I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t the stellar read I had hoped for.
September 4, 2023
Il libro tratta di un progetto realmente esistito attraverso il quale una biblioteca di New York viene trasferita in Kenia per creare la prima biblioteca itinerante sul cammello. Il progetto ha lo scopo di diffondere la lettura tra i popoli che non hanno mai visto un libro e far entrare in contatto culture diverse.
Da alcuni personaggi del paese l'iniziativa è ben vista come dalla bambina Kinika che non vedeva l'ora arrivassero i cammelli, altri invece la vedevano come un'intrusione degli occidentali nel loro mondo.
La maggiorparte della storia è ambientata a Mididima, un villaggio di 175 abitanti abituati a spostarsi continuamente nel deserto per sfuggire alla siccità.
Ogni capitolo è dedicato ad un personaggio:
- Scarboy è un diciassettenne sfigurato da una iena che metterà a rischio la biblioteca in quanto non restituirà alcuni libri persi
Il romanzo non è niente di eccezionale e i personaggi non sono del tutto ben caratterizzati ma è stata comunque una bella lettura che mi ha messo a conoscenza dell'esistenza di questo progetto.
Da alcuni personaggi del paese l'iniziativa è ben vista come dalla bambina Kinika che non vedeva l'ora arrivassero i cammelli, altri invece la vedevano come un'intrusione degli occidentali nel loro mondo.
La maggiorparte della storia è ambientata a Mididima, un villaggio di 175 abitanti abituati a spostarsi continuamente nel deserto per sfuggire alla siccità.
Ogni capitolo è dedicato ad un personaggio:
- Scarboy è un diciassettenne sfigurato da una iena che metterà a rischio la biblioteca in quanto non restituirà alcuni libri persi
Il romanzo non è niente di eccezionale e i personaggi non sono del tutto ben caratterizzati ma è stata comunque una bella lettura che mi ha messo a conoscenza dell'esistenza di questo progetto.
April 4, 2009
A librarian who wants to do something that matters, goes to the
African bush to run a bookmobile that brings books to far flung
settlements by camel. The story focuses in on characters in a
particular settlement called Mididima. Because of the preciousness of
the books in such a setting, the Camel Bookmobile has a rule...if
anyone fails to return a book, the bookmobile will stop coming to the
settlement. In Mididima, one of the young men does not return some
books, and the librarian goes to the settlement to recover them.
I liked this book because it brings the reader to an area of the world
and a community that is so different from ours. It touches upon the
misunderstandings between our culture and the African bush culture,
and the appropriateness of even bringing western books, and therefore
ideas, to people who may not want or need them. Is "modernizing" the
future for these people, or is it their end?
African bush to run a bookmobile that brings books to far flung
settlements by camel. The story focuses in on characters in a
particular settlement called Mididima. Because of the preciousness of
the books in such a setting, the Camel Bookmobile has a rule...if
anyone fails to return a book, the bookmobile will stop coming to the
settlement. In Mididima, one of the young men does not return some
books, and the librarian goes to the settlement to recover them.
I liked this book because it brings the reader to an area of the world
and a community that is so different from ours. It touches upon the
misunderstandings between our culture and the African bush culture,
and the appropriateness of even bringing western books, and therefore
ideas, to people who may not want or need them. Is "modernizing" the
future for these people, or is it their end?
February 24, 2011
Fiona Sweeney is a 36-year-old librarian from New York. She decides, somewhat naively, to move to Garissa, Kenya in Africa in the hope of educating the children and adults of small villages dotting the vast landscape through reading books and learning English. Of course, their current language is Swahili. Fiona receives help from Mr. Abasi and soon her mobile library becomes a reality, thanks to the ‘camels’ who carry the books over the rugged terrain! As they set off, the village of Mididima becomes her favourite stop and there she meets a cast of characters you will come to love.
Written with humour, naivete, drama and wit, The Camel Bookmobile will be sure to brighten your day! It was one of those books that left me leaning my head back and smiling!
Written with humour, naivete, drama and wit, The Camel Bookmobile will be sure to brighten your day! It was one of those books that left me leaning my head back and smiling!
September 4, 2016
I loved that this book was set in a remote nomadic tribe in Kenya, and loved the idea of the camel bookmobile. Which is real! How cool!
I had recently watched The Queen of the Desert, with Nicole Kidman playing Gertrude Bell, whom I'd never heard of before, who was mentioned a few times in this book. Even before her name was mentioned I kept thinking back to the film because there were quite a few parallels. Just a nice coincidence.
I found the characters interesting, and while I did like the American librarian, I found her character to be quite chick-lit-y. I would have liked more substance from her. This is no literary masterpiece, but if you enjoy reading about African life, and appreciate books about books, you'll probably enjoy this. :)
I had recently watched The Queen of the Desert, with Nicole Kidman playing Gertrude Bell, whom I'd never heard of before, who was mentioned a few times in this book. Even before her name was mentioned I kept thinking back to the film because there were quite a few parallels. Just a nice coincidence.
I found the characters interesting, and while I did like the American librarian, I found her character to be quite chick-lit-y. I would have liked more substance from her. This is no literary masterpiece, but if you enjoy reading about African life, and appreciate books about books, you'll probably enjoy this. :)
February 15, 2013
I liked this book. It wasn't what I had expected, and didn't end as I had feared it would. While on the surface it appeared to be simple in scope, and the beginning of the book describing how the "The American" became involved in the camel bookmobile project supported this idea, it soon turned out to be quite complex. The author did a good job of weaving all the personal, cultural, environmental and zoological elements of the story together to create a very thought-provoking, disquieting picture of the realities of life.
November 11, 2020
For being only 300 pages, this book did a pretty good job of weaving together the multiple stories of the villagers in the tribe, along with the American woman who brings them books. But I think it ended rather abruptly and wasn’t quite long enough to really flesh out all the different plots.
Also, because I love pointing out inconsistencies in the cover art vs. the book itself, I think it’s funny that the woman on the cover has long, perfectly straight hair when in the book, Fiona’s hair is extremely frizzy. Why don’t the people who design the covers actually read the books?
Also, because I love pointing out inconsistencies in the cover art vs. the book itself, I think it’s funny that the woman on the cover has long, perfectly straight hair when in the book, Fiona’s hair is extremely frizzy. Why don’t the people who design the covers actually read the books?
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