Musa Okwonga – In the End, it was All About Love

There’s something about the third person that I don’t like. I have always found it jarring and there are very few books utilising this writing which I have liked. Musa Okwonga’s In the End it was All About Love has joined that tiny list.

Considering that Annie Ernaux’s brief memoirs have dominated my reading over the last few weeks, I am in awe of the author who manages to squeeze a lot of topics using a limited about of space. In the End…. is also a memoir and is a mere 120 pages but there is A LOT going on. The thing is that Musa Okwonga writes so fluidly that the reader doesn’t even know that this is quite a rich book.

In the End.. starts with the narrator moving to Berlin, the native land being Uganda. We readers are already introduced to some of the themes: the author is nearing 41, the same age as his father when he died and the author has gone through a break up. Thus this trip to Berlin is a new beginning of sorts. However there is the stress of living in a different culture, especially when one is black. The question is how does one cope and adapt to such a new environment? The author is also bisexual, and this adds another layer to the narrative as the narrator also debates when to tell people about his bisexuality.

The book is divided into small vignette style pieces, all focusing on a different section of the author’s life in Berlin and his past actions in London and Uganda. These range from the importance of therapy, racism, the different types of cakes one finds in Berlin to the minimalist architecture. At times it’s gently humorous, sometimes it poignant. Musa Okwonga is also a poet and there are some poets which also express the author’s feelings about Berlin.

By the end of the book Okwonga has to return to his homeland and manages to confront his fears and at the same time realise where the true roots lies. Yet, can someone who has lived abroad be able to adapt back to the place of origin?

In the End, it was all About Love is a compulsive read. The poems, witty memoir pieces are fantastic and Okwonga has an original style. As I said earlier if someone uses the third person and I enjoy it then this book is truly something special.