Jungle Chronicles and Other Writings

ATEM YAAK ATEM, 2003Sudan from which South Sudan split in 2011 has been known for its years of political and social upheaval since the end of the British colonial rule. The two countries are intimately linked to one another by their history that anyone writing about what has become known as the Sudans cannot hope to provide a meaningful context without reference to that shared past. This is what the author has done in this volume of his memoir. Some of the writings appearing in this book examine other social and cultural aspects of the South Sudan either at times of conflict or during interludes of tranquillity. Some of the stories are funny, for instance, “If rudeness were a commodity, we would be its biggest exporters in the world”; while his handling of “Sudan Time Syndrome”, he is as excoriating as he is unforgiving in his denunciation of the laxity with punctuality some people show when expected to attend public functions.Atem Yaak Atem has covered – and commented on- the affairs of his country, Sudan and later, South Sudan, for four decades, in his role as a senior journalist. Some of those writings appear in this collection; they capture the essence of his non-chronological, four- volume memoir, of which Jungle Chronicle (which he considers a “starter” is the first instalment.ATEM YAAK ATEM, 2003Sudan from which South Sudan split in 2011 has been known for its years of political and social upheaval since the end of the British colonial rule. The two countries are intimately linked to one another by their history that anyone writing about what has become known as the Sudans cannot hope to provide a meaningful context without reference to that shared past. This is what the author has done in this volume of his memoir. Some of the writings appearing in this book examine other social and cultural aspects of the South Sudan either at times of conflict or during interludes of tranquillity. Some of the stories are funny, for instance, “If rudeness were a commodity, we would be its biggest exporters in the world”; while his handling of “Sudan Time Syndrome”, he is as excoriating as he is unforgiving in his denunciation of the laxity with punctuality some people show when expected to attend public functions.Atem Yaak Atem has covered – and commented on- the affairs of his country, Sudan and later, South Sudan, for four decades, in his role as a senior journalist. Some of those writings appear in this collection; they capture the essence of his non-chronological, four- volume memoir, of which Jungle Chronicle (which he considers a “starter” is the first instalment.