167. Madmen and Specialists by Wole Soyinka
Title: Madmen and Specialists Author: Wole Soyinka Genre: Play/Political Publisher: University Press PLC Pages: 77 Year of First Publication: 1971 Country: Nigeria Read for the Africa Reading Challenge Wole Soyinka's play Madmen and Specialists have made me think twice about this genre. This is the first book I can boldly say 'it went over my head. I never got it.' Perhaps it was the mentality I carried into the book: I went into the book knowing that Soyinka's plays have deeper meanings other than its superficial mirth he creates with verve, which burdened me so that after three days of labouring through a 77-page book, finally turning over the last page, I still could not put the various issues together to create one coherent idea. This play, which was written when the author was in prison during Nigeria's Civil War, is sad and gloom, unlike The Lion and the Jewel . The story opens with a quartet of mendicants: Aafa, an arrogant, sarcast...