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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous book The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes  (FP: 1892; 302) is one of those books that manage to surprise you regardless of how familiar you have become with their titles. The surprise with this book was not in the character or the story-line(s) but the genre. I had always perceived this book as a complete novel. This perception might have been strengthened by the various movie adaptations I have watched. Even when I purchased it, this did not change. So you can imagine my surprise when I finally picked it up to read and suddenly discovered that it is a collection of short stories. The story features the eponymous character Sherlock Holmes as he solved one mystery after the other, sometimes aided by his friend Dr Watson, and it was he who narrated the stories. The eccentric Sherlock Holmes did not care much about the mysteries he solved but to any observing eyes what he did is nothing different from the art of Houdini. Sherlock has more than five ...

Chuma Nwokolo may not be a household name. But those who have listened to him read or have read his books have come to appreciate his stories. To such fortunate folks Chuma remains an excellent author with a keen sense of observation and of humour. Recently the author of Diaries of a Dead African  and The Ghost of Sani Abacha  released another collection of short stories titled How to Spell Naija in 100 Short Stories  to mark the centenary anniversary of the amalgamation of the pre-Nigerian states and the formation of the country Nigeria. Those who have read Chuma have come to appreciate his unique writing styles and his prodigiousness. First, according to the author his attention span is too short for a novel, so that even the novel-like DOADA is really three interlinked novellas. Consequently, the author has resorted to the short story genre to tell his stories and over time has mastered the rudiments of this genre.  The Ghost of Sani Abacha contained twenty...

No Sweetness Here  (1970; 2013 reprinting by IBSS; 157) by Ama Ata Aidoo is a collection of eleven short stories. Though the title is familiar I have always thought of it as a novel. The short story genre had been used by some writers mostly to fill the interregnum between novels. However, I am pretty sure this was not its purpose in Aidoo's case. The stories in here are quintessential Aidoo, though I have read just a few of her works; they are realistic and examine our daily lives in such a way as to prove, irrefutably, that nothing much has changed; that modernity only adds gadgets and equipment without changing the basic behaviour of humans. If anything at all, we move in circles and in cycles, repeating events and attitudes. For instance, if you thought that power and promiscuity, or power and domination - specifically, the unconscious repression and discrimination that makes the power-bearer superior to all others, are today's problems then you definitely have to think ag...

Chinua Achebe and C. L. Innes edited two collections of short stories - African Short Stories (AWS, 1985; 159) and Contemporary African Short Stories . What makes these collections unique and much different from other anthologies - limiting it to those I have read - is the extent of its coverage. These anthologies cover Africa geographically and politically. Most often, writers from North African countries are hardly included in such anthologies and so too are Francophone or Lusophone Africa. Translations are hardly considered. Even in this collection, whereas West Africa has five entries; East Africa, five; and Southern Africa, seven; Northern Africa has only three entries. Regardless, this is an attempt at covering every part of the continent.  This review will be in four parts; each part dedicated to one region. The collection addresses several subjects: from politics to religion; poverty to civil war; WEST AFRICA The False Prophet by Sembene Ousmane: This story w...

The main reason why I did not succumb to E. L. James's hyped trilogy was just because of that: the hype. I also did not believe that beyond the raunchy sex unleashed upon readers there could be anything worth to glean. My mind was made up right from the beginning: sex has become the god of capitalism. Everything would sell if you add a dose of it. Car shows are full of models, as if the people who buy those cars also buy the models in addition. Formula 1 is filled with models and boxing too. Music videos are the worst. Today, talent does not count; sex does. The more skin you show, the more shows you get to play. Susan Boyle was looked down upon because she did not meet the industry's standards. At least until she opened her voice. Yet, had she been svelte and shown more skin, much respect would have been shown her. So these are my bit about sex in the Twenty-first Century. However, when a reader is running out of books, even the most despised book gets the nod. I did not k...

The recent passing away of the first black president and for that matter the first president of post-apartheid South Africa, Nelson Mandela, put the spotlight on that country. In all the stories that floated on the sea of noises, praises, and total absurdities, one thing was clear: there has been darker days in South Africa's past. A time when some people believed that the black man was inferior to the white man and the two could not, in no way, mix. That it was imperative that the former is subjugated to serve the latter. This policy of 'apartness' was supported by developed and democratised countries of the West, most of whose leaders were at this funeral to share the pain of South Africans - a pain they had justified and supported. And again, those who thought they were wiser than every other person took the opportunity to advise African leaders, the very same leaders they had terrorised and destroyed, the very same countries they plunder and plunge into war and confl...