To Asmara by Thomas Keneally
**To Asmara by Thomas Keneally** is a novel that deeply engages with the Ethiopian crisis of the late 1980s, focusing on the complex interplay of war, media representation, and personal narratives. The story is narrated by an Australian journalist who, grappling with his own emotional turmoil from a failed marriage, seeks to uncover the truth behind Ethiopia's suffering, marked by war and national despair. He is joined by a diverse cast of characters, including a celebrity photographer, an Englishwoman concerned with genital mutilation, a relief worker, and the photographer's estranged daughter, each bringing unique perspectives to the unfolding tragedy.
Keneally explores the plight of the Eritreans, who were forcibly incorporated into Ethiopia against their will, emphasizing the struggle for self-determination amidst external pressures. The narrative critiques the world’s media for often distorting or overlooking the realities of such conflicts, reflecting a broader commentary on the responsibilities of richer nations towards African crises. The novel's anger at the manipulation of information is palpable, though it raises questions about the balance between conveying a moral message and crafting a compelling story. Overall, **To Asmara** serves as both a poignant commentary on a turbulent historical moment and a reflection on the ethical obligations of storytelling.
To Asmara by Thomas Keneally
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1989
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Keneally has often taken on themes which have moved him not simply because of their artistic potential but because they have touched him personally. Usually this impetus does not create a problem, though sometimes if he feels very strongly about a subject he may develop his ideas in a nonfiction format, as he did for Outback (1983).
It must be acknowledged that a novel is not necessarily a success simply because it expresses admirable ideas or champions humane solutions to difficult moral problems. As a work of art, it is more than its content. Keneally has, usually, wanted to send a message in his novels, but he has also understood the necessity of incorporating that message into the story. This novel, however, poses the question of whether or not he has been successful in balancing the need to make a moral point with the responsibility to tell a good tale. Certainly the elements for a good story are there. The narrator is an Australian journalist, intelligent and open minded. Hurting from a failed marriage and, as a result, sensitive to the pain of others, he is determined to find out why Ethiopia is a running sore of national despair and suicidal conduct. He flies into the country, as does a celebrity photographer, who is risking his career by insisting on working in Ethiopia, with which the world is bored and wants to hear as little about as possible. A beautiful, titled Englishwoman arrives at the same time, concerned with the African custom of genital mutilation of girls. To add to the group, the photographer’s estranged daughter turns up to confront her father. There is also a weary, jaded American relief worker who is a constant source of trouble.
These characters explore two aspects of the Ethiopian disaster of the late 1980’s. One is the appalling nature of the war, and the other, almost as serious to Keneally, is the way in which the story was sometimes mistakenly, sometimes deliberately, misreported to the world. The Eritreans, living in the northern provinces, were, in fact, forcibly joined to Ethiopia by outside powers several years previously, contrary to their own wishes. Their refusal to be governed as Ethiopians was not simply a power struggle but an attempt to free themselves from a union that they had not made and that they never wanted. What made Keneally even more incensed at their plight was the way in which this information was deliberately suppressed, distorted, or simply misreported by the world press and by the world’s power brokers.
The novel is not only about the way that an African nation or two nations tear themselves apart. It is also about how the rich nations of the world have been, often mindlessly, involved in encouraging such mayhem. The novel shows the way in which information is wantonly manipulated by the press, without any concern for truth or fairness, in order to feed the mild curiosity of rich societies that do not much care to get the facts straight. It is a very angry book, and that anger may have gotten in the way of Keneally’s achieving an artistic fusion between the novel’s main ideas and the characters that move through the seared landscape.
Sources for Further Study
Library Journal. CXIV, September 15, 1989, p. 136.
Los Angeles Times Book Review. October 15, 1989, p. 2.
New Statesman and Society. II, September 29, 1989, p. 38.
New York. XXII, October 16, 1989, p. 82.
The New York Times. September 26, 1989, p. B2(N).
The New York Times Book Review. XCIV, October 1, 1989, p. 1.
Publishers Weekly. CCXXXVI, August 25, 1989, p. 48.
The Times Literary Supplement. October 20, 1989, p. 1149.