Book Review – The must read “HURT”, by Joe Fotso

By Innocent Chia
Since I finished reading “Hurt”, an unvarnished 300 page autobiographical novel by first time writer, Joe Fotso, a mix of emotions have inhabited me. Even before I was done reading the book, I made an impassioned plea for a friend of mine to buy and read the book. My friend went ahead to purchase a soft-copy of the book on Amazon.com ($9.99) and almost raced me to the finish line, notwithstanding the fact that I had read over three quarters of the hard-copy before my friend started. The charm of “Hurt”, I find, is not in the outrageousness of each agonizing circumstance endured by the protagonist. I see its beauty in the author’s masterful ability to build hope by suspending the disbelief that it actually gets worse…

“Hurt” is set on two continents – Africa and the USA – but there is more than a symbolic rite of passage through Europe that informs, at a deeply intriguing level, the overriding discourse of political and fiscal dependency that has defined the nexus between Africa and Europe from colonial times till date. Therefore, place and time (America-Cameroon-Europe, from the 70’s till date) become consequential characters in “Hurt”, with each location and time either representing hope or hopelessness, abuse or kindness, exploitation or honesty, starvation or abundance, misery or happiness, peace or strife, vision or the lack thereof.

We meet our protagonist on his way in search of love, the thorns that keep piercing Joe Fotso as he strives time and time again to reach for the rose. It is the compass with which he holds the hand of the reader – your hand and mine - taking you into the sacred places in the world of children that live on less than a US cent a day, or about $3.50 a year… It is a life lived in the dumpsters, constantly in a tug-of-war for food with maggots and non-domesticated dogs and cats. But it is only salt to injury.

Hours went by and I became unable to feel my arms and my legs. They were tired and shaky from supporting my body mass. I wanted to give up, but could not. Jealousy came over with her puppies, shaking her tail, and jumping up and down. The little ones wrestled against one another, playing hide-and-seek in the open. The presence of the dogs attracted flies, some of which landed and walked on my face and limbs. I was too weak and disabled to chase them away; no matter how hard I tried with the facial movements, they always came back, seemingly in greater numbers. pg 35

The World that our protagonist survives in is a world that so many African boys and girls have walked by and played with. He reminds you of the kid that came to school without shoes; or the one whose pants had holes in them the size of an elephant’s ear and shorts were so tattered they looked like skirts; or the kid who sat alone in class because their stench was so unbearable the teacher had to isolate them? Anyone come to mind?

 It is inescapable that Joe Fotso’s “Hurt” gives credible agency to social causes that his contemporaries then, as now, either find anathema or heathen. Yes, “Hurt” dares those who say homosexuality is a recent Western ideaology to look closely around them. There are victims and victimizers. But there are also those who are who they are – they are gay men and women. It can be argued that not allowing them to express their love to one another only leads to hidden lives of abuse.  

“Hurt” is also the voice of those who have been silenced by the complacent majority that have watched on as priests have abused their province and authority before man and God. These priests are sheep in wolves clothing, engaging in indiscriminate and unprotected sexual encounters with married women and teenage girls. How he gains the authority to speak to these matters and chastise the very ones that are given authority to lead the flock is an additional layer of the onion to peel.

"Let me tell you: I have never hoped that I would get here for you to tell me, "Oh, by the way, I had a sexual relationship with your wife." I am not hoping for that... I came here because if I don't forgive, God will not. God will go through me to forgive... About the letter, it's true," I continue...

...

"I have no reason whatsoever, to lie." I proceed. "Chantal is at peace where she is, and it's not my intention to destroy anyone. I am a peaceful man, but this has been troubling me. How can I go to Church with my kids if priests can do this? I cannot trust any." pg 266

At this, the curious mind must wonder whether the troubles of the Catholic Church are over with and that sexual abuse settlements have been completely laid to rest. Can anyone say for sure that these deviant priests – including those from Europe and America who may have been “sent” on “missionary” trips to Africa – did these priests keep their lustful eyes only on the women? Or is it possible to entertain the thought that their sin against God was compounded by criminal acts of sexuality with innocent and unsuspecting boys? Are these boys, now men, ready to shake the shame off and tell their tales or die in shame? Is the choice to protect the physical Church or to protect the temple of God in each one of us? It is a beehive of questions that “Hurt” points Africans to, and questions that must be asked with the faith that the Church will be a partner in providing answers and succor, not recrimination and rancor.

In case you are feeling the weight of “Hurt”, there is respite. There is something to be said about the innocence of kids; there is a lot to be said about how far an act of love goes; there is a lot to be said about how far the act of hugging someone travels; there is a lot to be said about kids sharing toys and breaking barriers; there is a lot to read in the love of a stoic father; there is a lot to be said about what kids see that adults fail to notice; and it is true that a true mother will go any length to protect her child. 

Through it all, “Hurt” becomes a million pathways of finding ways of forging on even when the forecasts clearly indicate severe thunderstorms. How and when do you tell a child that their mother died of HIV-AIDS? How do you deal with the complex web of morality and legality on these matters? “Hurt” is about never ever giving up, no matter how dire your situation may be. You are guaranteed to shed a tear, crack a rib in laughter and feel the potency of hope. It is about the power of love and forgiveness. In the end Joe Fotso leaves little doubt that “Hurt” is just the first, certainly not the last, time we read from him. 

***Joe Fotso is a French Speaking Cameroonian. This footnote is important in providing context to the watered-down hilarity of some French Cameroonian expressions in the English translations. It may not be that the author ever wrote a word of "Hurt" in French, but that his default thought language is French and not English.