Sample from the e-book "Pšenično zrno" (A grain of wheat)

Name: Sample from the e-book "Pšenično zrno" (A grain of wheat)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Description: This entry contains the first part of the e-book "Pšenično zrno" (A grain of wheat) by Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa translated into Slovenian by Katja Zakrajšek and published by Založba /*cf in Ljubljana in 2026 (COBISS.SI-ID: 288489475, ISBN: 978-961-257-211-2). The events in the novel "A grain of wheat" (1967) center on the moment of Kenya’s formal independence. This serves as a focal point from which the author looks back at the past while simultaneously reflecting on the future, blending the grounded realism of social realism with a web of biblical references, reminiscences, and symbolism drawn from the Gikuyu tradition in an original, surprising, and compelling way. The village of Thabai, where the story is set, is like a microcosm of a society undergoing turbulent changes, striving to make sense of its past struggles and sacrifices for a better tomorrow at the very moment when that dreamed-of tomorrow turns into a real and uncertain today, revealing both promise and the cracks already appearing within it. Through the personal stories of the villagers, the novel examines the processes of revolutionary resistance and the establishment of a new political reality, the perception and reality of sacrifice and heroism, the complex relationships between loyalty and betrayal, commitment to a loved one, commitment to family, and commitment to the wider community, as well as punishment, revenge, and forgiveness.