LONGSHOT. By Dick Francis

 

I have not read too many Dick Francis’ novels, but this one made a big impression on me since it involved the world of writing, literature, literary agents…John Kendall is a struggling writer – I have identified with this for years! – and his attempts to survive in this sphere sparked empathy from me. His (early) interactions with his agent piqued me – even if he would learn that his agent even before talking to him, had accepted a position on his behalf before deigning to brief him! Indeed there is a lot of human warmth, great intelligence, fecund interactions amongst people in Francis’ novel.

But always terrifying is the sinister, cruel proclivities of certain individuals (‘villains’) in his works. People one would not necessarily associate sheer, palpable evil with, often turning out to be incredibly malevolent. And so it turns out here too. Late in this work, we flinch with horror as our hero has an arrow embedded in him, with the concomitant excruciating pain that goes with this. 

Yet the tormentor is still bent on tormenting him further, by trying to pull the goddamn arrow out! Excuse me. Even now I shudder trying to imagine the throes of pain. The mystery in this work, as usual, is exceedingly brilliant, complicated yet simple in the end... Yes, Kendall is a struggling writer who has nevertheless managed to publish some "books". His encounter with an established, formidable, revered female writer late on in this work, for me, was worth the price of this book alone !

-          - Henry Ozogula

NO LONGER AT EASE. By Chinua Achebe

I wanted to re-read this work for quite some time now, and I am left with a feeling of melancholy and despair after doing so. Yet this second novel of the great great Chinua Achebe shows how far ahead of his time he was, allied to his incredible vision and perception.

Mainly, nowadays we lament the horrific effects of corruption in our midst, but in this novel (published in 1960!) Achebe already delineates how corruption can insidiously creep upon even the finest of (young) idealists, become a way of life, and (start to) destroy both individual and society. 

Hence the tragedy of Obi Okonkwo here, who seemed to have everything on his side: youth, intelligence, education (British-trained), fine character, and an excellent “government job” to boot. He does not have a wife nor children, yet he descends into corruption as he can not cope with the pressures and demands of the society.

Achebe brilliantly shows how this is possible; how and why it happened – and we can only but lament in the end. The role, the push and pull of Obi’s village, extended family, his “sparkling car”, tax, loan repayment (pursuant to his studying overseas) etc. It is quite heart-rending.

A modern reader might ponder: if a fine, idealistic young man like Obi can succumb to corruption (even going as far as sleeping with females who want him to help them with scholarships et al) is there any hope for African society in general? As the decades have unfolded in virtually all our countries, we have been rocked with extraordinary revelations of corruption, and Nigeria of course has been amongst the worst. Yet the vast majority of the people are in abject poverty, with a very small fraction stupendously wealthy!

Hence we can discern from this brilliant early novel (I probably like it even more than the author’s classic, Things fall apart) many of the deep-seated elements that spark corruption in our society; and with so many individuals incredibly greedy and unconscionable once “in power”, it is perhaps no surprise that Africa has been devastated and stripped in gruesome fashion over the years. This is a novel that should be read by all.

- Malome Eric

THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD. By Agatha Christie

A timeless classic!

It has always left me stumped the way mystery/detective books are often undermined, especially by ‘critics’ As far as I can see, such books are more difficult to write than the conventional straightforward ones. 

Writers proficient in this genre (mystery) like Agatha Christie, Dick Francis, Dorothy Sayers etc have been heralded for decades by millions of readers around the world. This work, The murder of Roger Ackroyd, for me always remind one of a work by African writer Omoseye Bolaji – People of the Townships.
 

In both, a first person narrator who plausibly tells the pertinent story, turns out to be the murderer in the end, the villain of the piece ... (Bolaji is the creator and author of almost ten detective works weaved around sleuth Tebogo Mokoena). 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd of course is a more conventional detective novel, with plethora of characters, tantalizing plot etc. It has remained a classic for…a century now?
- Leke Giwa

GLIMPSES INTO AFRICAN LITERATURE

Edited by Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga

I have reviewed work of Mr Soqaga before: this one I'd have stated definitely to be his best...but since there is now a sequel (Further Glimpses into African literature) I'd sheathe my sword a bit. But this book is rather impressive.

  

There is a fine Introduction to this work by Soqaga himself, which is heart-felt and moving. Inter alia, he writes  "I have been a Pan-Africanist for years, hence my vision is not confined only to my own country, SA. I love reading about authors from all over our continent, and writing about them... " 

The reviews here, re African authors, books date back to work that came out many many decades ago. How many modern readers in our continent know about Amos Tutuola and Peter Abrahams for example? In this work we can see that Abrahams ' early books were published not far from a century ago! Eg Dark Testament  (1942) Song of the City (1945) and Path of Thunder (1948). As for Tutuola, his works include The Palm Wine Drinkerd (1952), My life in the Bush of ghosts (1954)

Here, we read essays not only on the likes of Tutuola and Abrahams; but also Okot p'bitek, Ola Rotimi, Flaxman Qoopane, Njabulo Ndebele, Asare Konadu, Pule Lebuso, and Grace Ogot.

Ogot is - was - a great East African female writer. In this work, we also get to read about another formidable African lady writer, this time from North Africa - Algeria's Assia Djebar.

I also found the short essay on Mbella Sonne Dipoko, the "erotic writer" (now late) to be very interesting.  Apparently, this legendary writer from Cameroon  was "a very good novelist and poet ".

All in all, this is an excellent small book that not only whets the literary appetite, but us unbelievably informative. It's wonderful that the book now has a sequel.  

- Review by Leke Giwa

REEF. By Romesh Gunesekera

A top notch writer; so many fine descriptions in this work eg ‘we drove…whistling over a ribbon of tarmac…framing the landscape into a kaleidoscope of bluish jewels’ ‘adventurers…each with their flotilla of disturbed hope and manic wanderlust’. ‘the shallow water seethed with creatures…whirling tails…sea snakes, sea slugs, tentacles sprouting and grasping…a jungle of writhing shapes’ ‘the debris of one mind floats to another. The same little polyp grows the idea in another head’. A distinguished wordsmith,

-          

Leke Giwa

COLD HARBOUR. By Jack Higgins

As an African literary aficionado and enthusiast one cannot but marvel at the proficiency and prolific nature of Eurocentric writers - not that it stops them from garnering heavy flak from readers and critics!

Like now I have just read one of Jack Higgins almost 100 novels, titled Cold Harbour. Can one conceive of an African author writing even 20 books or novels?? Yes a handful exist- a couple of Kenyan writers like Meja Mwangi, and David Maillu; Kalu Okpi, and Cyprian Ekwensi of Nigeria, Asare Konadu of Ghana...but such writers are thin on the ground.

The literary trajectory of J Higgins is very impressive having been writing international bestsellers and thrillers for over 30 years. He specialises in espionage, war novels and the like, and his books have sold in millions

Okay so it shows that the Eurocentric world has always valued literacy and literature since the days of Charles Dickens for one. But there are so many illustrious writers in Europe and America that one ends up stumped, in essence. But back to Higgins and this work.

Here he has created some memorable characters, male and female. Craig Osbourne a savvy American agent, for one, and of course the intriguing woman, Genevieve Trevaunce. Yes the story dates back decades ago to the times of the Nazis, which again reminds us of how the western world accretes countless creative writing weaved around their history.

The author does write well despite a rather jaded sceptical western readership. I loved passages like, "Death stared up at them, a skeleton with a scythe mowing not corn, but corpses..." Well Mr Higgins has been a legend for many decades anyway...

- Henry Ozogula