In the Ditch (1972) is Emecheta's first published novel, and I think it shows. I've read Joys of Motherhood (1979) before, and I thought it a much more polished work. (Then again, I read Joys of Motherhood as a Finnish translation, which may also explain why it felt so different.)

Although In the Ditch is interesting in many ways, and surely the work of a talented writer-to-be, it felt unfinished. Sometimes the language was rather sloppy: I almost gave up reading when Emecheta used the word "hollow" three times in the first paragraph! Later on she often resorted to describing something as "very good" - such a dull expression! Also the structure of the book could have been better, I think.

A lot of the themes raised by this novel are as relevant today as they were in the seventies. Emecheta describes modern poverty, which is characterized by lack of power and initiative rather than lack of material things as such. I'm not saying Adah's family isn't poor: they face real and terrifying fuel poverty, and lack basic necessities such as blankets and good shoes. At the same time they are given plenty of hand-outs, such as plastic toys and unhealthy foodstuffs. They sometime receive free luxuries, even when they're missing the very basics.

Here in Britain we now have so-called generations of poverty, and I feel like Pussy Mansions in the 1970's were the kind of places where such generations were spawned. The novel criticizes the way social security works, or worked, in Britain: people on the dole were given semi-generous assistance (if they were lucky), but at the same time they were not made aware of their rights and were treated as charity cases. The assistance was really varied and seemed to come from many places: dole money, extra child care grant, free meals for kids at school, hand-out clothes, voluntary child care help in the evenings, free nursery for the smallest kids, and so on. However, it would have been better if Adah could have held a profitable job and supported the children herself. (I'm not moralizing here, I'm just attempting to paraphrase what the novel itself seems to suggest.) Or, better yet, she should have received some child support from the father of her five children! And of course she would have needed the nursery and some other childcare help to be able to work and study at the same time. I'm not saying she did not need support, but getting all the hand-outs that were not always useful in the first place surely was not the best solution.

Living on the dole really eats away Adah's initiative, and does not help her to live up to her full potential. When she is stopped from working full time, I keep thinking she should get a part-time job. She only does than when she feels she needs to buy some Christmas presents (more yucky plastic toys!) for her kids. And when the first part-time job she finds is not really very suitable, she does not even try to look for another one, but works herself sick and then drops off, accepting more charity (an extra grant) so that she can stay at home. Why couldn't she have hunted for another job? And why did the social worker Carol not assist her in this, rather than finding her more grant to live on? Didn't she realize Adah would have been better off as a more independent person, having more command over her own life? Adah may have been too depressed to hunt for a job effectively, or to work full-time, and that's another set of problems there. However, I'm sure a position of helplessness doesn't improve the feelings of a depressed person, either.

All in all, In the Ditch is an intriguing tale of multi-racial urban poverty and living on the dole in London. The issue of race is always present, but as the author herself states in the preface, the issue of class and living conditions binds people together even more than their ethnic origins. Racism still abounds, and is depicted in several subtle ways here.

There was one thing that really bothered be though: Carol's fatness is described (through Adah's eyes) as something really gross and vulgar, making her less of a woman and thus less of a person. ("In another woman the attitude and posture she adopted would have been feminine and maternal, but her bulk robbed her of all those female qualities, No wonder they made her the Family Adviser. Her weight would crush all family problems, however thorny, into powder.") What's more, fat Carol has no family and is described as a bit of a loser, a social officer with no social life except for mothering the tenants of Pussy Mansions. I kept wondering if this demeaning description of a fat woman was intentional or inadvertent. Adah is acutely aware that because of her race, she is sometimes treated as less of a person: at the same time, she has no scruples looking down on Carol because of her weight. That's weird!

All in all, In the Ditch left me with mixed feelings, but it was a quick read and I'm not sorry I gave it a go. I hope the book finds new readers soon! I'll release it shortly. Happy travels!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I've sent this book to CandyDarling today! Happy reading!

Thank you so much for this RABCK, harmaja! I'm looking forward to reading In the Ditch.

I read In the Ditch last September (but didn't manage to write a journal entry back then). I agree with everything Harmaja wrote in her journal entry - the book isn't very well written and that makes it less of a pleasure to read. But on the other hand, the issues explored are very important and that had me hooked to the book. I'm glad I got the chance to read this book as I learned a lot from it.

I'm releasing this book at the Helsinki BookCrossing-meeting.

Thinking about the Alphabet-challenge coming up, saw this one and thought this would be a short E to read when we start ;)
Hope it will be a good book...

I actually liked the book, as a first book it's not bad, has some humour in there and it's a clear autobiography-style thing, where you don't expect very great things. If you think it is anyway the story of the writer, and this book made it possible to leave the situation she was in and get independent, it's nice to read how she lived the years before she became a real writer. The book will go next to my wife to be read, as she has read some more books by the same writer from the library.

Siirtyy teddyke:n lukupinoon seuraavaksi ;)

Got the book to read from my husband.
I liked the book, so many things in there seemed familiar.
Was certainly a nice read while I was ill in bed

Sokos - kokoontuminen
--------------------------

Hoping someone will need this book for the "AAKKOS-haaste" ;)

I don't know if I'll need this for "Aakkoshaaste", but the book looked interesting anyway. I'll read it soon. Thank you for the book, kind Bookcrossers!

Somehow I liked the book even if something was disturbing me here and there.
The book is an interesting description of a young woman's development, getting up from the ditch. And as it seems that the story is autobiographical that makes the book even more interesting. But why did she not introduce properly her children?

This is my # 24 (110) in
"REDUCE MOUNT TBR 2012" Challenge arranged by Dove-i-Libri.

Kirja lähtee Sokokselle miittiin.
The book goes to the meet-up in Sokos in Helsinki.

This is my # 22 in
"KEEP THEM MOVING 2012" Challenge arranged by Booklady331.

Annelis onnistui vakuuttamaan minut miitissä, että tämä kirja on lukemisen arvoinen.