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Title: Ancient to the Future
Review: Outside of its value as a polemic, the book is enjoyable for Armah's use of language, a stylized somewhat archaic diction that perfectly suits the telling of a legend--a legend and a mythology which Armah creates to re-examine history. It's like what Wole Soyinka said about it, the book makes new gods to replace the old ones which have been destroyed. Armah's at his best when launching into poetical observation and instruction (e.g. the beginning of Chapter 7). His narrative flow gets a bit bogged down with the stylization, and that makes it drag from time to time. But this isn't a book about plot or character, really: it's a social history and a vision of a future based on a reinterpretation of the past. As the Art of Ensemble of Chicago would say, "ancient to the future".
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