Fantastic.
Pleased to find this gem of ethnography and travel. Such an interesting and compelling mind, and above all story. But it is also interesting to step back and think about how most of our stories of culture are filtered through a European viewpoint first, and interesting to see that mind outside of the main narrative - though of course colonialism is present in both cases, and still doing its thing. Really enjoyed the reflections and interpretations and connections made. ( )

This memoir is about a young man who grew up in the former Togo dreaming of Greenland because of a book he encountered in his youth. Due to an accident involving a snake he is as pledged to a snake cult. He decides to run away to Greenland because, obviously, no snakes. He worked his way across Africa and Europe to finally fulfill his dream. He was apparently a charmer because he found helping hands along the way. His observations about nature and the peoples he meets along the way are wonderfully descriptive. ( )

fter an illness caused by a fall from a tree, Tété-Michel Kpomassie's father pledges him as an apprentice to the python cult priestess in Togo. Tété-Michel runs away from home in 1957 aged 16, determined to go to Greenland as a country devoid of trees and pythons. Eight years later he arrives there and explores the country looking for locals still living a traditional way of life unaffected by colonialism and modernity.

Beautifully descriptive of both Togo and Greenland and the local cultures. ( )

I like books that show me another culture or way of life. This one has a bonus because it is written from the POV of someone of an entirely different culture. Kpomassie has a fascinating story of how he decided to leave his native Togo and travel to Greenland: he spent many years working his way there. And then he provides an intimate look at the people and customs he encounters there. I will be looking for more treasures like this one from New York Review of Books Classics. ( )

An interesting travel memoir about a young man from Togo, Tété-Michel Kpomassie, who read a book about Greenland became determined to travel there. This is the account of the roughly 18 months that he spent in Greeland in 1965-66, living with Greenlanders and learning about their way of life. It's a detailed account of Greenlandic culture, with some fascinating if often gruesome parts. (If you're squeamish about hunting or butchering, don't read this book.) However An African in Greenland maybe betrays a bit too much its origins as notes kept by the author during his stay—it's fairly episodic and lacking in much by way of emotion or reflection. While Kpomassie touches on the shared experiences of the Togolese and the Greenlanders in being colonised, he doesn't really go much further than that. ( )