Violet Kala

A short and straightforward novella about two young individuals faced with HIV, this is one of the less didactic early African narratives that tackles AIDS directly. Rather than focusing on the taboos and questions surrounding the diagnosis, this work focuses on the ethical reaction (or lack thereof) from those faced with a positive HIV test. Roderick and the young woman he infects, Loveless, are as different as could be imagined, and their reactions with one another and those around them work toward a surprisingly powerful treatment of the issues at hand. Though the novella is short, and unquestionably straightforward, it is also a thoughtful treatment of a topic that was only beginning to be understood when this was first written and published. As such, it is not only a worthwhile introduction to literature related to AIDS as related to Africa especially, but a careful look at what individuals were faced with in attempting to understand the situation that an HIV status could place them in. Admittedly, the ethics are more at issue here, so that taboos which were in reality a crushing reality are ignored, but this book still holds a careful niche of its own in dealing with a topic that was and is too little discussed. If you're interested, this is worth reading.… (meer)