Ndalu, the narrator of this novel, is a schoolboy in Luanda, the capital of Angola, in the spring of 1991, a time in which the country was led by President José Eduardo dos Santos of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), who rode in public in a bulletproof Mercedes surrounded by heavily armed guards, as the country was in civil war against the Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Savimbi. The MPLA was supported by Cuba and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union, and between 1975 and 1991 400,000 Cubans served as teachers, physicians and soldiers there. UNITA was mainly supported by the United States, especially during President Ronald Reagan's two terms in office, along with the apartheid South African government, as both feared the spread of Marxism to other sub-Saharan countries, including South Africa itself. The MPLA held control of Luanda and the urbanized coastal areas of Angola and were supported by the Mbundu people, whereas UNITA's power was in the north and less populated interior of the country and were favored by the Ovimbundu, Angola's largest ethnic group. Due to the strength of MPLA and the large presence of disciplined Cuban soldiers Luanda at that time was relatively safe especially after 1988, when the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale repelled a South African/UNITA armed invasion, cemented Cuban/MPLA control of the country, and led to the downfall of South African President P.W. Botha. Guerrilla attacks on schools and other establishments was a constant fear, although a questionable reality.

The title of this novel refers to the use of the word comrade to formally address nearly everyone in the MPLA controlled territory; Ndalu's favorite visitor at home is Comrade António, and his primary teachers are Comrade Teacher Maria, the wife of Comrade Teacher Ángel, both from Cuba. Ndalu and his schoolmates are in the last few days of their classes, and are good kids although somewhat rebellious and apt to get into mild trouble, even though they love the school and their teachers, although they find them and other Cubans to be somewhat inscrutable and overly idealistic. Through Ndalu's eyes the reader views the everyday life in Angola in the early 1990s, which is marked with frequent mass rallies, socialist holidays, and speeches at school in opposition to imperialism, Ronald Reagan and apartheid, along with the use of ration cards to purchase goods. Most of Ndalu's classmates and their families are relatively well off in comparison to their Cuban teachers, and they sit alongside each other in an ethnic melting pot of Blacks, mixed race mestiços, and white Cubans and Portuguese.

At the end of the school year the children are saddened to learn that their teachers would soon return to Cuba, leaving their future education in charge of native Angolans. Soon they would learn that a peace agreement between MPLA and UNITA had been reached, and Cuba withdrew its presence from the country. What they could not foresee is that the presidential election held the following year kept President dos Santos and MPLA in power, and led to a vicious resurgence of the Angolan Civil War after Jonas Savimbi and UNITA, who were assured that they would win the election, lost instead.

'Good Morning Comrades' is a valuable insight into Angola during the end of the Cold War, and what appeared to be the end of the Angolan Civil War, which is mainly drawn from the Ondjaki's own childhood in Luanda. The afterword by the book's translator, Stephen Henighan, provides valuable context to the novel, which is essential for those unfamiliar with the country's history, and his comments bumped my rating of the book from 3½ to 4 stars. ( )

“…dipende tutto dagli uomini, dai loro cuori, dalla fermezza con cui lottano per i loro ideali, dalla semplicità che mettono nelle loro azioni, dal rispetto che sentono per i propri compagni…”

Ancora una realtà africana, questa volta ben viva e in salute e con una penna leggera nel racconto ma incisiva nel tratto, a raccontare del suo paese, l’Angola, della sua lunga marcia verso l’indipendenza dal Portogallo che gli ha lasciato in eredità la lingua ufficiale, e delle interminabili guerre civili e non che da poco hanno finito di martoriare questo immenso paese ricco di risorse naturali.
È durante una di queste guerre, negli anni 70 del secolo scorso, che si svolge l’infanzia dello scrittore raccontata in queste pagine facendo conoscere un po’ di questo paese, di un tentativo di socialismo instaurato, di una presenza cubana dovuta a una operazione militare di supporto al governo, presenza che durò molti anni e che lascio anche dei segni tangibili nelle istituzioni di una nazione ancora giovane nella sua indipendenza.
Ed è appunto in questo flash temporale, fissato nel momento in cui la maggioranza dei cubani abbandonò il paese, che la voce narrante di un bambino, alter ego dell’autore stesso, fissa i suoi ricordi: la fine della scuola, la malinconia per l’addio ai compagni, le speranze lasciate dai maestri cubani, le aspettative di un futuro che purtroppo dovrà ancora attendere anni per essere certezza, tutto questo spiegato con gli occhi ancora incantati di un bambino che si adatta bene a vivere il presente e messo un po’ in ansia da un domani pieno di incognite.
Una bella lettura, molto ben raccontata e scritta, con grande semplicità, da questo ancora giovane talento angolano, che apre uno spiraglio verso realtà lontanissime, soprattutto nell’immaginario, meritevoli comunque di attenzione e considerazione anche nei loro esponenti culturali… ( )

Well written enchanting tale of a young boy growing up during turbulent times in Angola. Captures the youth, fears, and revelations very well. ( )

Angola.

A terrific, deceptively simple, and artful tale of fear in Angola. The story centers on a schoolboy. Through his interactions with his visiting aunt, his apparently straightforward and uncritical view of life in Luanda is called into question, both for the reader and, ultimately for him. His casual and matter-of-fact narrative transforms as events both real and imagined break through his facade. This description doesn't do justice to Ondjaki's economical and precise prose. I highly recommend Good Morning Comrades for both historical and literary reasons. ( )