When a Crocodile Eats the Sun

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun catches your interest right off the bat. Mr. Godwin seems to have a way with words that pulls you in and piques your interest so you can't wait to read the next chapter. I especially enjoyed reading about the people, their relationships, and about their everyday lives in Zimbabwe. I got a little bogged down in the middle of the book when it became more involved with the politics of the country. It definitely makes you wonder how one man in power can change the lives of so many people and ruin the complete economy of a country. Can no one do anything about it? If it can happen there, and many other places, could it ever happen here?




I left the book wanting to know what happened to Peter Godwin's mother. I wish he'd put in a epilogue. I can't find anything on the Internet either. And what about Mugabe, the leader of Zimbabwe, is he still in power? Well, you can see that the book has made me want to know more about the country and the people he writes about. How can he leave his mother in Zimbabwe and feel safe about her?


The most poignant parts of the book, to me, are about his aging parents and Mr. Godwin's efforts to care for them while he lives in the US. His father has diabetes and his toes are basically rotting off, so Peter has to bring medicines for him that they can't get in Zimbabwe. His mother was a doctor so has contacts and knowledge that is very helpful when she has to go in for a hip replacement during a general strike. She wakes up to find she is paralyzed from the waist down because the nurses have upped the epidural dose. They have knocked out their patients so they can enjoy a hassle-free shift.


I wonder that his parents want to stay in Zimbabwe when life is so hard there. Food is expensive and hard to obtain, the cars have been stolen, their windows barred, gates locked, the threat of abuse and murder hang over their heads every time they leave the house, but they have lived there 50 years and it is home - they don't want to leave. The book starts and ends with the death of Mr. Godwin's father - and still I wonder - where is his mother now?
Susan