AMERICANAH by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

First book that Chimamanda ended "happily" or at least on a note that pleased me. As I read that last conversation between Obinze and Ifemmelu, I silently begged: "don't do more. Let this be the last chapter". I wanted it to end before the good thread changed. And boy was I glad! I feared Chimamanda Ngozi loved ending stories sadly and so was going to forever pry Obinze and Ifemelu apart, but thank goodness.

So here are my thoughts on the book:
First, I felt it was rather different from her other writings. It was great, don't get me wrong, but it was free from that encompassing wit in the thoughts of the characters. Okay, not free from. But it was not as much as I expected from her main characters, which only shows how diversified she can be. Her main characters do not all fall into the same stereotype.

I couldn't help feeling I was reading bits of the author's life. For one, I know she is an advocate of hair au naturale. I couldn't help feeling some parts like...you know were also exclusively hers.
Let me leave the author's life alone and go to the book. Insightful amongst other things. Ifemelu's race blog posts excited me because I had never really thought of race like that. It delivers race as it is. Can't decide who I like better: Zemaya or Shan?

Pardon me, I'm too happy with the ending to remember what I should say about the book. Anyway, I mostly talk on only parts of a book. Ifemelu is something of an unconscionable ashawo. She didn't even care how Kosi felt. Again, she just went and slept with someone random while dating Curt. Good thing he left her. (Anybody know his phone no?)

Sometimes I felt like the author wanted to air her views on certain things, but they might not have received as much readership if encapsulated in something other that a novel. The excerpts from Ifemelu's blog, the conversations between Blaine's friends about race, some general descriptions and even conversations about Nigeria and some other things seem rather resolute and more than normal for a novel. Only few people can have made such into novels.

So, I fell like I just read a story and a book on certain issues concurrently. It is not a bad feeling. Infact I am pleased. It is not a usual novel. But the best things are unusual, right?

P.S. I've always wanted to have that sort of relationship with a really rich white boy like Ifemelu had with Curt. So if you qualify, contact me before I get older.

THE BLACK MARBLE by Joseph Wambaugh

Andrushka!
Natasha!
Andrushka!
Natasha!

I read that part gleefully, imagining two extremely drunk people calling their names in Russian.

The book is something of a love story, ending happily. I'm wary of novels that don't end happily (Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche's Half of a Yellow Sun immediately comes to my mind). This book is basically about dogs; specifically a schnauzer gets dognapped and two seemingly odd cops try to get it back. Well, one cop tries. The other cop tries to get evidence that the first cop was mad. Ends up a happy love story with the two cops falling in love.

I love the wit of the author. It is a little old. Okay, not old. It was copyrighted in 1978. Somehow, I discovered a new copy in my house. Enjoyed the book. It has that special thing that makes you want to put aside other things until you are done reading it. Lovely plot with great characterization. Nice chapter heading and division. Powerful ending. Makes me want to learn the Russian language (something I've never really considered) just so I can listen to Russian songs and learn some exotic words.

I've decided to rename my husband "Andrushka", or maybe I'll be blessed enough to marry someone with that name. Where are the fine Russian men?

P.S.: To anyone who feels like he or she always picks the black marble, HEADS UP! There may yet be an Andrushka behind the gloom.

I DO NOT COME TO YOU BY CHANCE by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani

This book…it could have been award-winning.  The characters are powerful, the plot is strong. The writing is not bad either. The wittiness is initially very amusing, but then she overdoes it. I can’t believe I am complaining of metaphors, analogies and jocose remarks but too much of them in any piece of writing passes off novice rays.

I don’t know. Maybe I should blame the editors. The middle of this story is lovely (with the lowest amount of wit). So the beginning which was good (save for the witticism) was pardonable at the middle. You do not regret reading it.

The end does not suffer from witticism. It suffers from okay conclusions. It was predictable. Don’t get me wrong a lot of great novels have predictable endings but they are written beautifully. It seems this end was just that, a conclusion. Not significantly touching or moving, like the story ended a few pages before that epilogue.

Now, as earlier stated, it has a great plot and is worth read. (Yeah, I think every book that was written deserves to be read.) But honestly, it does. It doesn’t come to you by chance : D. The middle bulk is very interesting and exciting, taking you on the trip into the lives of some fraudulent Nigerians who make money (a lot of it) from scamming foreigners and it can make the most decent person empathize with fraudsters.

Favourite character: Cash Daddy. I learnt some good stuff from the book.

Sorry for the harsh review, I just think this good book could have been better. Hopefully, her subsequent one, will be. Let me know what you think.
I look forward to reading her next book.

THE ILIAD by Homer

The first classical book I've had the courage to read. Okay, I didn't really read it, I listened to an audio recording of the whole book. Saves time and I didn't have to worry about mispronouncing the  Greek names.

The book has survived through the centuries because it is authentic, emphatic and contains lots of strong characters as well as strong imagery. It is no wonder that Achilles and Hector still feature in modern day books and films. The question I ask is this: is the book based on the real way that happened or did Homer just come up with the whole thing in his imagination. Any how it came about, I doff my hat. I don't think however that people were once aware of death like they are of someone who lives in the neighbourhood, or that people could describe the way gods who lived above acted and ruled, so yes it is based on the writer's imagination.

What I wonder is how his characters have appeared in other writings from around that time? Are the characters, i.e. human characters like Ajax and Patroclus (not Aphrodite or Apollo) real people such as Greek heroes? Someone please enlighten me. I could just search on the internet though...

Unlike modern fiction, where people are killed in masses and they die without us really feeling sympathy for the other side - we only feel sympathy for one side, whichever side the author wants us too and then only for a few on that side, although we rejoice in their victory and bewail their loss. In the Iliad, you get to know something about every character. Hardly any one dies without a brief history being told. You learn how a young man about to be shot by an arrow is a bastard son of his father or get an insight into his life as a boy. When Homer decides to describe a killing, none of the sides die in obscurity.

The war had been going on before the Iliad really begins and I think the whole war takes 10 years and it is caused by a woman. (The power of Eves huhn). This woman is Helen is kidnapped from her lawful husband by another, this another happens to be so fine a man that even his name attests to it, Paris. But remember that Helen is reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the world then, I now hold the position. :D

The gods made me exasperated. I wanted to tie their hands together and let the war take its own course. Early in the book the war would have been settled as both sides tried to reach a reasonable settlement but trust the gods to interfere and cause rage. Achilles who is the only Greek hero I knew heretofore, is quite selfish. He actually places a curse on his own people saying they should die terribly in war because he has a personal vendetta against Agamemnon, the king of men. What caused this but strife over beautiful women. It does make women special to be causing such chaos. But really, y'all didn't have to take it that far. Women abound, don't they.

I really wanted the Trojans to win but shame on Achilles, he came and spoilt everything. He is so enraged that he tries to fill a river with dead bodies. You would think he would have more sense. But a saying goes “anger blinds.” The river gets angry and fights back....

Anger/ wrath, fate, honour, glory and of course war, are prominent themes in the book.

The book ended with my favourite and personal crush still being alive but not for long as I just learnt in Homer's other book, the Odyssey.

THE AUDACITY OF HOPE by Barack Obama

This is the first such book on politics I have ever read. I must confess that I felt bored when I started the first chapter. This boredom didn't stem from a flaw in the book but rather from my inexperience with reading this genre. I am used to reading mysteries and other such stories by the likes of Sydney Sheldon and Mary Higgins Clark. Reading a political book is a completely different affair.

After using all my willpower to force myself beyond the first paragraphs, I began to enjoy the book. Not in the way that one enjoys fiction but in a way that makes facts enjoyable.

Some people argue that all lawyers and politicians are liars. I have no proof to verify or refute this claim. Regardless of if the book is based on lies or not, Obama presents facts; a lot of which can be verified (all you cynics). His outlook and manner makes it niggardly to assume that he might be lying(like some politicians do, e.g. one that has the initials of OB).

He presents his story and politics in a way a lot of people can relate to. Underlying the politics is the story of an ordinary family man who struggles through being ordinary to being a recognized advocate and representative of his people. A champion of their rights. It is an enlightening political book. Nonetheless, I warn you about occasional over the top political language. All in all I admire his efforts and his audaciousness.

Technically, where I come from, Obama is Kenyan. You are from your father's side foremost and above all, even regardless of the area you were born. Therefore, for a Kenyan to run for office in a US state legislature, Senate and ultimately for President shows an unprecedented level of audaciousness This I truly really extremely admire.

While many say he has had a pretty lucky race and run, I say he has had his audacious hope and corresponding effort blessed. It takes a great man to display the qualities inherent in him. Politics involves a lot of compromises and I hope he does not compromise on his core values

The passion with which he describes the situation of America and Americans, the plight of African Americans, the struggle of Latinos, the world outside America's borders, America's role in the international political order and other things, make all these issues more comprehensible to the average person.

I can write some political things I learnt and which I have developed into some sort of facts (or if you will not, theories) of my own. But I'll leave them for my own political/ current affairs book. (Audaciousness can run off on someone, can't it?). The only other book I have read on political / current affairs is a mere compilation of facts and world stories. So, his personal perspective on issues is an appreciated mundane expansive approach.

As always, I admire anyone who has the courage and resilience to write and publish a book, magazine or any  piece of writing. Cheers to the audaciousness of the American President. (Pass me a glass, will you?)

INFIDEL by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This is probably the best book on a politician’s or public official’s life I have read. Biographies that involve political subjects usually bore me in the first few pages and I drop them. Unlike some biographies, which however they might try not to, still end up showing the writer singing his or her own praise, I didn’t feel that in this book. Ayaan Hirsi Ali comes across to me as unscrupulously honest in saying her faults and making no excuses. She is the quintessential public official.

Following her history, I saw a lot about Islam and understood things I had only known a side of. I currently live in Nigeria and the country is officially recognized or registered (one of them, not sure which) as a Muslim country. I however live in a mixed state – Lagos, where churches and mosques compete for converts; and traditional worshippers visit spiritual men called herbalists. Many people are multi-religious - practising several religions together, jumping from church to mosque to herbalist, to just being unattached and when problem arises back to church or a mosque or another herbalist. As Ayaan said, problems really do chase Africans to religion.

Lagos is a relatively peaceful state and there are no major religion clashes. However in other parts of the country and predominantly in the Northern Muslim parts, there have been bombings widely known to be staged by Muslims on infidels. Yet many Muslims rise up to proclaim that Islam is a peaceful religion. I do not know anything about this. The strange thing is I have never even seen a Quran up close.

My only observation is that here too, young ladies are married off early. My mom used to compare me to them jokingly when I was younger. Telling me to take responsibility as my mates were already mothers to several children.

The attacks on infidels are staged mostly against churches and one such attack was even at the UN Headquarters in Abuja, the nation’s capital. If you really want people to believe in you and not take your religion slightly, you have to hold yourself uprightly. This terrorism only gives people bad things to say about Islam.

Beautiful writing made me engross myself and carried me through Africa telling me things that happened a few years before me, things I probably read in history books back in school but was not really interested to hang on to for a long time.

I confess to thinking the writer might have overstepped her boundaries. Notwithstanding, she made me think of this saying: “If what you believe in is not worth dying for, then you have nothing to live for.” It goes something like that. Evidently, the writer believes she must say these things for the liberation of certain women (even at the expense of dying for voicing her beliefs). I admire her for this. It is not my position to make conclusions on the subject of Islam (or maybe I am just too scared). Muslims ought to read the book and draw their own conclusions. I have never read the Quran and have no clarion idea of what it contains, so it would be bigoted and ungainly for me to draw conclusions.

Contrariwise, to make conclusions on the book: it made me see a new side to politics. I have previously thought that it is all ugly business engaged in by decadent exploitative people. Pardon me. Now I know better. A lot of politicians are passionately concerned about advocating and advancing the cause of their people.

It is tragic what happened to Haweya  . She was a strong woman on her own, showing more resilience and asserting herself years before Ayaan dared. However, her circumstances seem to have finally overwhelmed her, casting her into an abyss it was impossible to get out from.

The whole political business also made me realise that in politics, one has to be flexible. Not flexible in the connotation of being corrupt, venal and slack or falling short in policy and other important matters. But flexible in the terms of well… you are dealing with humans, not robots. There are so many humans living under different circumstances that it is near improbable to apply the same rules to them all.

Enlightening and enlivening book. I haven’t felt so blessed to discover a book in a long time. Cheers to Ayaan Hirsi Ali!