Official Review: Lubukusu by Sakari Wanyonyi

[Nikolas Farmakis]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Lubukusu" by Sakari Wanyonyi.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Lubukusu by Sakari Wanyonyi is a non-fiction book focusing on the Lubukusu language. Lubukusu is an old language spoken in Kenya that is gradually fading away. Therefore, the author wishes to prevent Lubukusu from dying by writing a book that teaches readers how to speak the Lubukusu language. The author writes in a formal style, as he wants to teach and inform the reader about this language.

The author begins this book by writing about Lubukusu grammar, as he writes about the different parts of speech in Lubukusu, as well as how verbs are conjugated. Then, he provides a huge Lubukusu-English dictionary, but also an English-Lubukusu dictionary, which can teach the reader the language. The book also provides information regarding the idiomatic expression used in Lubukusu. In other words, this book is a guide that teaches the reader how to speak in Lubukusu.

There were plenty of positive attributes in this book. To be more precise, this book is very informative, as it can easily teach a reader to speak and understand Lubukusu. Moreover, the author explains the grammar of his language clearly, coherently, and logically, thereby helping the reader to understand what he is writing. The author also attaches some elements of Kenyan culture in the book, which assists the reader to understand the Kenyan way of life along with the language. Furthermore, what I liked most in this book was the fact that the author included a translation of the idiomatic expressions in Lubukusu, as this helps the reader reach an expert level in the language, but it also adds a fun tone to the text.

Nonetheless, this book contains some negative characteristics too. The formatting in this book is poor, making it difficult for the reader to read some sections in this book. Additionally, because this book contains many pages full of words with no pictures or color, the reader may find the mood of the text boring and monotonous. Lastly, this book contains many errors, which undermine the author’s credibility. Thus, the book must go through another round of professional editing.

This book is best suited for readers who are interested in Kenyan languages and Kenyan culture. Readers who do not like learning new languages are likely to find this book boring and uninteresting.

Conclusively, I rate this book with 2 out of 4 stars. I did not give this book a higher rating because the book was boring and poorly edited. However, a lower rating would have been unfair, as the author successfully teaches Lubukusu to the reader.

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Lubukusu
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