Arts Views with Thabani H Moyo
RAISEDON BAYA is a name that is synonymous with politically charged stage plays. His writing has won him numerous awards too many to mention but among them is the International Novib Pen Freedom Award for his hard hitting play, The Crocodile of Zambezi. The long wait for his first novel is over. Shut Your Eyes & Run is now here. The initiation is over. Now is the time for a pleasurable read.
Baya flawlessly weaves the plot around the main character, a young photographer and filmmaker Rushmore. Rushmore like any other young Zimbabwean is a dreamer who tries to find himself first in his community Makokoba and the wider world, Zimbabwe.
The writer gives a vivid picture of Makokoba as a human settlement that was a construct of a system that cared little about the comfort of those who lived in it. The architecture is well outlined in images that presents a settlement with ‘little thought to design and aesthetics.’ This is the settlement that nurtures Rushmore. His life is presented as that of stress and strain that is caused by the environment he finds himself in.
Rushmore’s personal, social, economic and political challenges under the despotic rule of a failing government are laid bare. Peer pressure, women, alcohol, STIs are pursued from a male perspective which gives the book a fresh insight into the uncertainties faced by young males with no firm support base.
The story is a fast read which is engaging and insightful. The young photographer finds himself in search of growth and this leads him to a film project funded by UNESCO.
He tries to find himself and the world around him. He finds that he is surrounded by a broken world and people with scarred lives and broken dreams. As he pursues his dream he finds himself faced with political challenges that characterised Zimbabwe under Mugabe’s rule around the turn of the century. His story becomes that of love and politics.
The real Zimbabwe seeps in these pages, in its loudness and in its physicality. It is a story by a Zimbabwean for Zimbabweans, any Zimbabwean will relate with the events and characters in the story.
Baya fuses flashbacks and flash-forwards as he juggles with time zones brilliantly, maintaining the suspense with such skill that the novel slips by like a thriller. The story is beautifully written, suggestive, persuasive, and full of humour and at the same time an intricate work of intellectual argument.
Baya’s play writing experience is reflected in the interesting dialogue that sufficiently exposes his characters, their environment and events vividly. Sensations of growing up, senses of loss, gain and inhibitions that his characters face are well outlined in the words they say.
Baya’s writing in this novel appeals to all human senses. Baya is a brilliant storyteller. Shut Your Eyes & Run is a serious book which stretches, tantalises and delights. His writing is daring, artistic and successful. It is a page turner and a must read.
