I didn’t even know that there was a war in Biafra in the 1960ties. I was surprised that there is still somebody today writing fiction based on wars. I have thought that this sort of stories belonged to the age of Tolstoy and that there is nothing more to be said. Why would anybody want to dig into war? Isn’t there enough of it on the TV?
I took the book because I have seen the author speaking at the TED conference. I was really impressed by her when she spoke of the danger of a single story, of what happens with our perception when we know only a single story about a country, people or a continent (answer: prejudice). I have a feeling that her Nigerian background gives an edge to her intelligence. She sounds fresh and inspiring. Her critique is said with the heart.
My first boyfriend originates from Africa. By knowing him and wanting to know him even more, I have developed a senisiblity to people originating from that continent. His family comes from Rwanda and they had a bloody war. Mine originates from Yugoslavia and we had ours. I guess that I was naive in thinking that war on a different continent should be any different. This book kind of made me realize that they are all the same. It helped me heal some of my own wounds.
What was new however were stories of people in war. I especially liked the side character of Kainene, sister of Olana. I could easily identify with Olana, she was so natural to me, into books and rather naive. I could not identify so much with Kainene, which seemed cold-hearted and sarcastic, all into money. The fact that in the end I liked Kainene more, well, it was rather cathartic. (It helped that she has reminded me of my ex-boyfriend).
The story of war is told through the perspective of three protagnist. The first is a young boy Ugwu who is a servant of Odenigbo, a young professor in the university town of Nsuka. The second voice is of Olanna, a wife of Odenigbo, who moves in with him at the beginning of the book. The third voice is of Richard, the only foreigner in the story, who falls in love wtih Olanna’s sister Kainene at the hotel in Lagos. Olanna and Kainene are daughters of rich parents. With this cast, the author has managed to capture both the male and female perspective, that of people who faught in the war, because it was theirs without choice. With Richard, she gives us a glimpse of how the war can be seen through the eyes of an outsider.
Before the war, sympathies are rather clear, my judgement about characters rather solid. In the war, they start to shift and soon, one has to leave behind the peace mentality and just watch the tragedy unfolding. There is nothing romantic in the war. Pain and loss are the only things that remain. There is nothing interesting in the unpredictability of the war. When the author asked her parents, if they would talk about the war, all they said was that what is important is, that they have survived. That is the whole truth.
I have cried and I have laughed with characters while I have read the book. What more could I add?
No comments:
Post a Comment