The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Pictures of a Dying Man by Agymah Kamau
Alan Tinkler

Agymah Kamau. Pictures of a Dying Man. Coffee House, 1999. 230 pp. $23.95.

In his second novel, Agymah Kamau explores the intricacies of rumors surrounding death and life within the cultural milieu of a small, unnamed Caribbean country. The novel starts with the suicide of Gladstone Augustus Belle, a village boy who became deputy prime minister, and ends with the revelation that Belle was murdered. The novel, though, is less about the turn of events than about how a man is perceived during his life and after his death.

The novel’s strength stems from Kamau’s ability to quilt together within a fairly tight structure the various projections of Belle. The novel’s narrator, Vic, a village schoolteacher, demonstrates that individuals are not monolithic entities, as no two perceptions of any one person are the same. Belle is at once a corrupt politician who orders torture while being a compassionate man who takes time to visit with the homeless. Belle is a poet and a college dropout. He is a populist reformer who is despised by his wife and her family. And, of course, Belle is a suicide who is murdered.

If Pictures of a Dying Man were simply an exploration of the paradoxes of an individual’s life, it would be a fine novel. The novel gains additional resonance through its subtle exploration of cultural identity. As a boy, Belle is chased off of resort beaches. As an outsider in New York City, Belle spends time on the streets after being evicted from his apartment. As deputy prime minister, Belle becomes embroiled within the political pastiche of a small country existing within the hegemonic zone of the U.S. and operating under the rule of a despotic prime minister.

Kamau has matured as a novelist. One failing of Kamau’s first novel, Flickering Shadows, was the attention paid to lyricism at the expense of the structural integrity of the novel. In Pictures of a Dying Man, the cultural milieu and the associative language advance rather than damage the project. Pictures of a Dying Man is a compelling novel. [Alan Tinkler]


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The Review of Contemporary Fiction Pictures of a Dying Man by Agymah Kamau Alan Tinkler Agymah Kamau. Pictures of a Dying Man. Coffee House, 1999. 230 pp. $23.95. In his second novel, Agymah Kamau explores the intricacies of rumors surrounding death and life within the cultural milieu of a small, unnamed Caribbean country. The novel starts with the suicide of Gladstone Augustus Belle, a village boy who became deputy prime minister, and ends with the revelation that Belle was murdered. The novel, though, is less about the turn of events than about how a man is perceived during his life and after his death. The novel’s strength stems from Kamau’s ability to quilt together within a fairly tight structure the various projections of Belle. The novel’s narrator, Vic, a village schoolteacher, demonstrates that individuals are not monolithic entities, as no two perceptions of any one person are the same. Belle is at once a corrupt politician who orders torture while being a compassionate man who takes time to visit with the homeless. Belle is a poet and a college dropout. He is a populist reformer who is despised by his wife and her family. And, of course, Belle is a suicide who is murdered. If Pictures of a Dying Man were simply an exploration of the paradoxes of an individual’s life, it would be a fine novel. The novel gains additional resonance through its subtle exploration of cultural identity. As a boy, Belle is chased off of resort beaches. As an outsider in New York City, Belle spends time on the streets after being evicted from his apartment. As deputy prime minister, Belle becomes embroiled within the political pastiche of a small country existing within the hegemonic zone of the U.S. and operating under the rule of a despotic prime minister. Kamau has matured as a novelist. One failing of Kamau’s first novel, Flickering Shadows, was the attention paid to lyricism at the expense of the structural integrity of the novel. In Pictures of a Dying Man, the cultural milieu and the associative language advance rather than damage the project. Pictures of a Dying Man is a compelling novel. [Alan Tinkler]

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