Aké

Aké. The Years of Childhood is the first-person account of Soyinka's childhood in a Nigerian village called Aké, in the years around World War II. There little Wole, a boy of infinite curiosity, a lover of books and prone to getting into trouble and adventure, grows up with the double influence of the western airs and the ancient spiritual traditions of youruba. This colorful evocation of the landscapes, sounds and scents that shaped the world of Soyinka takes on a beautiful, lyrical form, but also loaded with humor and the candor and insight of a childlike gaze.