美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)的同父异母弟弟马克•奥巴马•恩德桑乔(Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo)终于打破了对媒体的沉默。
Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, Barack Obama’s younger half-brother, has finally broken his media silence.
Ndesandjo, who has lived in the south China city of Shenzhen since 2002, appeared in Guangzhou Wednesday to launch his first novel, ’Nairobi to Shenzhen,’ which was started 10 years ago as an autobiography, Reuters reports. Ndesandjo’s final version, a work of fiction, reflects his own experiences of growing up in Kenya, living in the U.S., and eventually settling in China. It also makes reference to the author’s difficult relationship with his late father, Barack Obama Sr., who Ndesandjo describes as emotionally and physically abusive.
’My mother used to say of my father, he’s a brilliant man but a social failure,’ Ndesandjo told reporters. ’I remember times in my house when I would hear screams and I would hear my mother’s pain.’
Ndesandjo, who is described as bearing a striking resemblance to his half-brother in terms of ’height, complexion and gait’ by the NYT, also shares other deeper similarities. Ndesandjo’s mother, Ruth, is a white American, nee Nidesand (she became the elder Obama’s third wife and moved with him to Kenya, where she still lives). After high school in Nairobi, where he attended international schools, Ndesandjo moved to the U.S., where he attended Brown and Stanford. He also cites his maternal grandmother, a Lithuanian immigrant who inspired his love of classical piano, as a major influence in his life.
As noted in a description of Ndesandjo’s novel, he, like his brother, has grappled at length with issues of race, family and identity:
’The protagonist, upon arriving in China in the wake of 911 and the onset of a terrifying global war, is forced to confront his early experiences in Kenya and the United States as a result of his growing love for a beautiful Chinese woman and a young orphan. Parallels between his own upbringing and the potential family that lies before him lead to questions about his true identity, the complexities of his multi-racial family and the relationship he had known with his father.’
While still hesitant to speak at length about his brother, whom he is in touch with but not close to, Ndesandjo told the NYT that he hopes to introduce Obama to his new wife, who is Chinese, during the president’s upcoming trip to China.
And another book is apparently in the works: An autobiography that will give a more in-depth account of the brothers’ relationship.
|
