African Trilogy

 

Big Book Challenge: The African Trilogy by Chinua Achebe 562 pp.

Things Fall Apart: This book takes place in the late 1800s in the southeastern region of what is now Nigeria. The main character, Okonkwo, is a powerful leader of his Igbo clan. He worked hard to create a new life after having a weak and lazy father who left him no inheritance. After the death of a young man by Okonkwo's hand, things begin to go wrong. The arrival of Christian missionaries to the area creates further conflict as the missionaries lure the people away from their traditional beliefs. As problems among the people escalate Okonkwo realizes that the society he once knew was lost. He commits suicide which is against the indigenous beliefs, leaving the white Christians to deal with his body. The parting shot by the colonizers was the comment that this story will make a nice paragraph in the book he is writing about area.

Arrow of God: This novel takes place in colonial Nigeria in the 1920s. It concerns Ezeulu, the chief priest of the god Ulu who is worshipped by several Igbo villages. Ezeulu comes in conflict with the white, Christian colonizers who want him to abandon his beliefs and lead the villagers toward believing in Christianity. After being imprisoned by the colonizers for failure to cooperate, Ezeulu returns home to wait for guidance from Ulu. Following the death of his son, the people begin to turn away from Ezeulu because he will not allow the yam harvest because he has received the message from Ulu. The missionary steps in and urges the people to have their harvest and dedicate it to the Christian god. It's a further progression in the move to control by the white missionaries. This book struck a nerve in me because of the attitude that non-Christian beliefs should be wiped out. But I think this was the best one of the three.

No Longer at Ease: This installment centers on Obi Okonkwo, grandson of the protagonist in the first book and takes place in the late 1950s prior to Nigerian independence. It begins with Obi standing trial for bribery and then flashes back to the events leading up to the trial. Obi was sent to England to attend college with a grant from the local Union of villagers who have settled in the city of Lagos. When Obi returns he has a job with the agency that gives scholarships for study in England to the local young people. He soon learns that his salary isn't quite enough to live in the style expected of him while paying back his college loan, paying rent, and car expenses. However, he refuses bribes he is offered by those wanting scholarships. Obi begins a romance with a young woman named Clara who is considered an outcast by the Igbo and wants to marry her. However, the objections of his parents conflicts with his plans. Things get worse when Clara gets pregnant and Obi must find the money for an abortion. Clara leaves him afterward. When Obi's mother dies he choses to use the money he would need for travel to the funeral to help fund the funeral expenses and doesn't attend. At this point he decides that the only way for him to make it in the city is to become one of the officials who accepts bribes. He gets caught which results in him being tried.

Arrow of God

Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe, 230 pages

In the 1920s, the Igbo village of Umuaro was dealing with the continued presence of British military and Christian missionaries in their area. Chief priest Ezeulu has been dealing with these challenges the best ways he knows how, while still upholding the traditions of his culture and faith. But when he is imprisoned by the British for refusing to take on the mantle of his village's primary leader (a position that does not exist in Igbo culture), Umuaro's people and crops are threatened.

This was the second book we read in this summer's Adult Summer Reading program, and it once again shows the way in which hubris and ignorance conspired to tear down traditional Nigerian culture during the colonial era. I particularly liked the depictions of Igbo customs, daily interactions, and annual festivals, and I look forward to reading and discussing No Longer at Ease next month.

Son of the Storm

Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa, 487 pages

I first read this book a few years back, and my blog post from then sums it up pretty well. I still think it's an excellent start to a fantasy trilogy, though after discussing it with the Orcs & Aliens, I realize that one of the main characters, Danso, is more an annoying doofus with his naivety than I had initially thought. Still, a good book, and I'm definitely going to check out the sequel one of these days.

Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, 209 pages

In this classic of Nigerian literature, fearless Igbo warrior and village leader Okonkwo must deal with the repercussions of his own follies, as well as the breakdown of traditional culture in the face of colonizers. It's a powerful book that confronts colonization, toxic masculinity, and stubbornness head on. I first read this in high school and absolutely hated it, but on this second read, I very much appreciated the story and its nuances. I look forward to discussing the second book in the African Trilogy (Arrow of God) later this month.

Lagoon

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor, 304 pages

When extraterrestrials arrive on Earth, they do so in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria. The wave formed from their splash landing pulls three people on Bar Beach into the ocean — a marine biologist, a soldier, and a rapper — changing their lives and tying them inextricably to the first contact chaos. And the being they meet is beyond anything they could have imagined. Adoyele, as the creature has named themself, has come with a message of peace, hoping to share ideas and a planet. But not everyone is as accepting of Adoyele as those first three people, and it seems their mission might be a bit harder to accomplish.

There are many, many first-contact stories, and this isn't even the first one I've read in which extraterrestrials land in Africa. However, it is the first I've found that manages to bring to life Lagos and imbue the story with traditional Nigerian storytelling styles. It's electric, thought-provoking, and just the sort of wonderfulness I've come to expect from Okorafor. Can't wait to see what the Orcs & Aliens say about it on Monday!

Lost Ark Dreaming

Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa, 178 pages

As the rising ocean temperature caused the Atlantic to swallow up more and more coastline in Lagos, thousands of Nigerians moved into The Fingers, five skyscrapers poking up out of the ocean itself. A few hundred years later, and the tallest, Pinnacle, is the only one left, and its residents are strictly separated by the Uppers, the Midders, and the Lowers, the latter of whom live on the levels that are literally underwater. When a Lower level experiences a wall breach, two Midders are sent down to investigate and make sure that nothing (either water or dangerous sea creatures) come through. However, they soon find themselves making decisions and learning things they never would have thought possible.

This is Okungbowa's first dive into science fiction, and oh, it's so good. His story is sculpted in equal parts by Nigerian politics, climate change, and creation mythology, which combine to make a short but thought-provoking tale reminiscent of Rivers Solomon's The Deep and An Unkindness of Ghosts (which are very very different, but somehow both apply here). It's well worth a read.

My Sister, the Serial Killer

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite, 226 pages

Korede is the ultimate put-upon sibling. Korede has always taken care of Ayoola, her beautiful and spoiled little sister, even when Ayoola kills her boyfriend and calls her big sister to help clean up. After this happens for the third time, Korede's misgivings about her sister begin to weigh on her, especially when Ayoola sets her sights on Korede's handsome coworker. This darkly funny and haunting debut novel explores the inexplicable bond between sisters, creating a book that almost everyone with a younger sibling can identify with (even if our little sisters aren't murderers). This was an excellent book, and I look forward to reading more of Braithwaite's books in the future.

My Sister the Serial Killer

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite  226 pp.

This book has been making the rounds of the library and has been blogged here and here. This story of a pair of Nigerian sisters is unusual and intriguing. Just how far should a sister go to protect her irresponsible younger sibling? Is cleaning up and disposing of the body after she kills someone enough? What if it happens more than once? What if the man you want for yourself may be the next victim? And should a book about this be so enjoyable? I will be on the lookout for more from this new, young author.

My Sister the Serial Killer

My Sister the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite, 226 pages.

Korede has always been charged by her mother with looking out for her younger sister, Ayoola. Ayoola's propensity for, what, seeing threats where they aren't, especially from the men she is dating, acting a little rashly when she is upset, tends to put a bit of strain on Korede. Especially since Korede's not a big fan of activities like body disposal. This book was something new for me, or at least it felt new, in the situations it presents and the relatively calm acceptance of the relatively extraordinary by the characters. So, a fresh new voice with something very interesting to say, a quirky look at sibling rivalry, and overall a very good book.

My sister the serial killer

My sister the serial killer / Oyinkan Braithwaite, 226 pgs.

Ayoola is beautiful, fun and popular.  Men are drawn to her.  They dream of her company.  Her sister Korede is nothing like her.  She is a hard worker and doesn't attract attention. Ayoola depends a LOT on her sister, however.  Whenever a man gets too serious with her, she has a habit of killing them.  She tells her sister that he threatened her or hit her when her sister comes to clean up the mess.  Korede always comes and Ayoola doesn't seem open to changing her habits.  Now Ayoola has weaved her spell on a doctor at Korede's job.  A man she herself is attracted to.  What should she do?  Is blood thicker than water?  Will Korede continue being an enabler?  I think you better read for yourself.  Love this debut and looking forward to more from the author.

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions and We Should All be Feminists

Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chmamanda Ngozi Adichie, 80 pages.
We Should All be Feminists by Chmamanda Ngozi Adichie, 64 pages.

Two brief, but powerful essays / collections of essays from Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah. We Should All be Feminists is based on the author's TED talk, and Dear Ijeawele is a series of essays that attempt to answer a friend's questions about raising her daughter as a feminist.