297. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife (2003) was one of the books I read last year or two. Again, I am not truly reviewing them. I am only talking about it.

The story is about a woman who fell in love with a man with a genetic disorder that allows him to unpredictably travel through time. This unpredictability of his travels led to several problems in that relationship. However, through some means involving the future self of Henry, the man, Clare - the woman - got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, Alba. Alba was also diagnosed with chrono-impairment, the genetic disorder that causes time travel; however, Alba was able to control her destinations and the times of her travels.

The story seems to be about waiting for love and the problems that arise from such waiting. It is weird. This novel defies classification: is it a love story? Is it a science fiction? Have you read this novel? What's your opinion?

Quotes from My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk*

Before my birth there was infinite time, and after my death, inexhaustible time. [Page 3]

Four years after I first left Istanbul, while traveling through the endless steppes, snow-covered mountains and melancholy cities of Persia, carrying letters and collecting taxes, I admitted to myself that I was slowly forgetting the face of the childhood love I'd left behind. With growing panic, I tried desperately to remember her, only to realize that despite love, a face long not seen finally fades. [7]

When you love a city and have explored it frequently on foot, your body, not to mention your soul, gets to know the streets so well after a number of years that in a fit of melancholy, perhaps stirred by a light snow falling ever so sorrowfully, you'll discover your legs carrying you of their own accord toward one of your favorite promontories. [11]

After I took care of that pathetic man, wandering the streets of Istanbul for four days was enough to confirm that everyone with a gleam of cleverness in his eye and the shadow of his soul cast across his face was a hidden assassin. Only imbeciles are innocent. [18]

I was a maiden of striking beauty then. Any man who caught sight of me once, from afar, or from between parted curtains or yawning doors, or even through the layers of my modest head coverings, immediately became enamored of me. I'm not being a braggart, I'm explaining this so you'll understand my story and be better able to share in my grief. [47]

You know how in such situations reasonable people immediately sense that love without hope is simply hopeless, and understanding the limits of illogical realm of the heart, make a quick end of it by politely declaring, "They didn't find us suitably matched. That's just the way it is." But I'll you know that my mother said several times, "At least don't break the boy's heart." [48]

[A] person never knows exactly what she herself is thinking. This is what I know: Sometimes I'll say something and realize upon uttering it that it is of my own thinking; but no sooner do I arrive at that realization than I'm convinced the very opposite is true. [49]

Drink down your coffee so your sleep abandons you and your eyes open wide. Stare at me as you would at jinns and let me explain to you why I'm so alone. [56]

Painting is the silence of thought and the music of sight. [72]

True ability and talent couldn't be corrupt even by the love of gold or fame. Furthermore, if truth be told, money and fame are the inalienable rights of the talented, as in my case, and only inspire us to greater feats. [75]

If love is part of the subject of the painting, the work ought to be rendered with love...if there's pain involved, pain should issue from the painting. Yet pain out to emerge from the at first glance invisible yet discernible inner harmony of the picture, not from the figures in the illustration or from their tears. [89]

Before the art of illumination there was blackness and afterward there will also be blackness. Through our colors, paints, art and love, we remember that Allah had commanded us to "See!" To know is to remember that you've seen. To see is to know without remembering. Thus, painting is remembering the blackness. The great master, who shared a love of painting and perceived that color and sight arose from darkness, longed to return to Allah's blackness by means of color. Artists without memory neither remember Allah nor his blackness. All great masters, their work, seek that profound void within color and outside time. [92]

Tell me then, does love make one a fool or do only fools fall in love? [99]

Haste delays the fruits of love. [100]

It wasn't aging, losing one's beauty or even being bereft of husband and money that was the worst of all calamities, what was truly horrible was not having anyone to be jealous of you. [106]

The larger and more colorful a city is, the more places there are to hide one's guilt and sin; the more crowded it is, the more people there are to hide behind. [123]

A city's intellect out to be measured not by its scholars, libraries, miniaturists, calligraphers and schools, but by the number of crimes insidiously committed on its dark streets over thousands of years. [123]

[L]ove is the ability to make the invisible visible and the desire always to feel the invisible in one's midst. [139]

If presented with the opportunity, we would choose to do in the name of a greater goal whatever awful thing we've already prepared to do for the sake of our own miserable gains, for the lust that burns within us or for the love that breaks our hearts... [144]

When faced with death, people lose control of their bodily functions - particularly the majority of those men who are known to be bravehearted. For this reason, the corpse-strewn battlefields that you've depicted thousands of times reek not of blood, gunpowder and heated armor as is assumed, but of shit and rotting flesh. [151]

Disappearing in a sulk might be a symptom of love, yet a sulking love is also tiresome and holds no promise of a future. [184]

Color is the touch of the eye, music to the deaf, a word out of the darkness. Because I've listened to souls whispering - like the susurrus of the wind - from book to book and object to object for tens of thousands of years, allow me to say that my touch resembles the touch of angels. Part of me, the serious half, calls out to your vision while the mirthful half soars through the air with your glances. [225]

The first step is marriage ... Let's see to that first. Love comes after marriage. Don't forget: Marriage douses love's flame, leaving nothing but a barren and melancholy blackness. Of course, after marriage, love itself will vanish anyway;  but happiness fills the void. Still, there are those hasty fools who fall in love before marrying and, burning with emotion, exhaust all their feeling, believing love to be the highest goal in life. [231]

Only when one escapes the dungeons of time and space does it become evident that life is a straitjacket. However blissful it is being a soul without a body in the realm of the dead, so too is being a body without a soul among the living; what a pity nobody realizes this before dying. [281]

[I]n order for a genuine wandering dervish to escape the devil within, he must roam his entire life without remaining anywhere too long. [339]

If all men went to Heaven, no one would ever be frightened, and the world and its governments could never function on virtue alone; for in our world evil is as necessary as virtue and sin as necessary as rectitude. [350]

You're seeking what you want with your heart, whereas you need to be making decisions with your mind. [420]

Despite knowing what it takes to be content, a man might still be unhappy. [445]

Time doesn't flow if you don't dream. [466]

Without harboring bad intentions, one never goes to Hell. [482]

________________________

*Version published by Faber and Faber 2001

296. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

This belongs to the books I read when my interest in read was waning. I did not get to review it. And I am not going to do so now. Again, I am going to state what I remember of this book so we can discuss it, if you have read it. 

One of the reasons I wanted to read Pamuk was that he is a Nobelist, having won it in 2006. Besides, he's Turkish and the Turkish have a rich history including the Ottoman Empire, making it a joy to read the level of sophistication of the time. This book covers a lot in just over 500 pages. I cannot seem to recollect and link the strands but this is what I remember:

1. Each character narrates his part of the story in the first person in chapters dedicated to him or her. Thus there are multiple narrators in the story who are aware of each other. The narrators know each other and they know they are characters. The story begins with a murder with the would-be murder narrating his part of the story followed by a dog and a tree;
2. The narrators are also aware of the reader and occasionally address the him or her. In fact, the reader is part of the narrative;
3. The narrators sometimes refer to themselves in the third-person  even when they are the ones narrating the story;
4. The story is about the culture of the Turkish people during the famous Ottoman Empire and the nascent stages of Islam. It explains why artists or miniaturists of the time did not draw their objects - trees, humans - in a way as to make them be identified, as the Franks (Europeans) did.

A great European master miniaturist and another great master artist are walking through a Frank meadow discussing virtuosity and art. As they stroll, a forest comes into view before them. The more expert of the two says to the other: "Painting in the new style demands such talent that if you depicted one of the trees in this forest, a man who looked upon the painting could come here, and if he so desired, correctly select that tree from among the others".

I thank Allah that I, the humble tree before you, have not been drawn with such intent. And not because I fear that if I'd been thus depicted all the dogs in Istanbul would assume I was a real tree and piss on me: I don't want to be a tree, I want to be its meaning. (Chapter 10, Page 61)

1.  The book also discusses the unrest and military invasions and murders among Provinces and rulers;
2. The making of books: printing, illustrations, and binding seemed to be one of the themes of this story. And love too.
3. Pamuk made every significant thing he wanted to talk about, such as the role dogs played or how they are perceived; Death, to narrate its story. It is as if he does not want to be directly involve - like making the culture show itself to the reader instead.

Actually, I enjoyed the book but I also remember struggling to keep up with some of its slow sections. It is different and for me this is what novels should be - novel.

295. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Usually, when I read a book I make an attempt at reviewing and sharing with my readers. Sometimes attempt fails. Sometimes it feels like smugness: why should anyone pay attention to you when there are a thousand splendid reviews on the same book. This feeling becomes worse when I am talking about a non-African book. Consequently, I am changing the tack today. Today, we are all going to review this beautiful, and yet unsettling, book together. Yes, you and I - we; that is, if you have read it.

this

Kafka on the Shore is a story of two strands: the story of the 15-year old Kafka Tamura around whose neck, or on whose head, lay a huge chunk of Oedipal curse; and an old Nakata who lost a large part of his mental faculties when he survived a long coma induced by strange lights somewhere in the forests during the World War II, when he was a child. Nakata, however, gained the ability to talk to cats and to make strange things happen, like making leeches fall from the sky.

Kafka on the Shore is not the usual story that seems to provide answers with nicely tied-up endings. In this, Murakami tested the boundaries of belief and of the novel itself. He stretched the horizons of reality and the paranormal. To western readers satisfied with realist novels, this book will not be interesting as they cannot imagine how people - like Johnnie Walker or Colonel Sanders - could just appear and act, the latter says he is just a 'concept'. These individuals will marvel how walking through a forest could lead you to a place that is between this world and the world beyond, perhaps Dante's Limbo. They will scratch their heads to understand how a self-confessed cat-killer could collect the souls of cats and make flutes with them or how a 'concept' Colonel could suddenly become a pimp. However, for readers used to Latin American literature and for African readers, this will not be difficult to fathom for these are the stories we tell every day.

Even though this book borders on the surreal, it purveys modernity. In it you will meet characters who discuss music - classical music, poetry, philosophy both Eastern and Western, among others; you will meet individuals with so much America in them that sometimes you will wonder if the book is set in one of these western countries instead of Nakano, Shikoku and those in between. There is even a transgender gay who dresses like a man and who was referred to with masculine pronouns throughout the book. Juxtaposing modernity and such 'absurdity' to get a novel so complex and yet so easy to read is not a task the novice novelist can attempt. It, truly, is the work of a master.

So I am inviting you to a discussion of the novel. What did you take from this novel? Did you like it? Anything you have to say is welcome. I will respond to comments.

A Lady’s Handbag

I am sharing with you my first poem in more than two years. 

You were like a lady’s handbag

Cavernous

Binging on all the lists they provided;

You were ravenous…

Having not learnt the hows and whens

of letting go

you swallowed all:

            the pens, the sandals

            the pains, the scandals

You imbibed them

and you swell, like a river in July,

and hanged on

On a branch

whose xylem has been beaten by the Harmattan

On a ledge

whose underbelly has been eaten by salt

On a hand

that gets weaker every step of the thousand miles

And the wind came and broke the branch

and shook your outstretched hand

and the bag fell from its ledge

onto their torrid faces

Exposing the dross –

The gross congeries of misshapen things;

An amorphousness

Of memories lost and forgotten

Of things seen and unidentified

Of events fluxed in the static-fluidity of time

You laid there

A consciousness of shattered things

under the feasting flashes of social-media addicts

who meme’d you and mined you

into juicy feeds and newsy reads, conjecturing

            The cause

            The source…

03.05.2016

Currently Reading...

This week something nudged me. I have not been reading for sometime. It has been about two years of leave, an unnecessarily hiatus, from reading. But then I had lost the joy of reading. The beauty and fun of being in multiple places at the same time; of being in people's world; of being both an active and passive observer of lives.

Of this, several things played a part. I discovered other things, both good and bad. I found myself reading more of 'social media stuff'; playing games; and others. Nothing pushed me to read. Within this period, I also participated less in literary activities. In fact, I have not written a poem in more than two years (excluding Haiku, which I indulged in once in a while). 

But on Sunday, out of nowhere, something nudged me. It suddenly occurred to me that I'm missing my books. So I went to pick up Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. It was the last book I abandoned. Now I am enjoying it. And I believe reading is going to be fun again. And so, I hope, will blogging.

Writers Project of Ghana's Book and Discussion Club - Books for the next three Readings

The Writers Project of Ghana has selected the following books for its next three readings:

1. May: The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is a collection of short stories;
2. June: The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad. This story was published together with A Personal Record by Penguin Classics in an eponymous book titled The Mirror of  the Sea & A Personal Record;
3. July: Daisy Miller by Henry James. 

Copies of these books are available at the EPP Bookshop Legon. For inquiries about joining the book club please email bookclub[at]writersprojectghana.com.

294. Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

Abracadabra! And I appeared. As suddenly as I 'disapparated'. Blogging became boring. I got other interests. I learnt (still learning) a computer language, took up some courses related to my 'profession', Kofi - my son, came along etc. But I also (re)read a few books, about which I did not blog. Hence, I will be attempting to go back in time to just talk about (not review) some of the books I read. 

Prague Cemetery falls into the kind of books that could hold your attention span for longer periods of time. Those books that are exactly as you perceived them to be. For those Dan Brown fans (of which I am not excluded), take any of Dan's books, add more intriguing plots, and crank up its literary value. To this, add the fact that almost every character in this novel has a historical counterpart, and you will get an amazing book that takes you through the historical development of conflicts, assassinations, and much more. The book sought to portray how individuals working for nations, organisations, churches, secret societies are able to conjure non-existent enemies just to justify their employ and in doing so cause mass delusion.

This is the first book I read in the year and though I have forgotten the details, I remember smiling and staying up to read it. A commercial assessment of Prague Cemetery and any of Dan Brown's novels shows how bad product can become popular through effective marketing and advertising, for there is no way the any of the latter can stand up to the latter in terms of its literary value, denseness of the plot among others.

I enjoyed this novel. Have you read it? What do you think?

Jonathan Tel Wins 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Jonathan Tel from the UK has won the 2015 Commonwealth 2015 Short Story Prize for his story The Human Phonograph. Within its short form, the story encompasses great sweeps of the world and its history – from the US moon landing to Chinese nuclear tests to reading 19th century Russian literature. The protagonist of the story is a lonely figure in this vast world.

“The Human Phonograph ranges from the personal to the universal. The resonances remained with the judges, long after the reading. As one said, we were drawn into the lonely world of the protagonist and we stayed there. It is a disconcerting, extraordinary story of an individual in search of independence and reassurance in a difficult world,” said Romesh Gunesekera, Chair of the international panel of judges.

The Human Phonograph is published by The Guardian online. Its writer, Jonathan Tel, is himself a polymath with interests as varied as those in his story. A theoretical physicist and opera librettist, he has previously published three works of fiction including Freud’s Alphabet, a novel, and a short story collection The Beijing of Possibilities.

Jonathan Tel believes that “the one thing that fiction is so wonderful about, certainly ever since the modern novel was invented, is getting inside people’s heads …. Everything I write is imagined, but I feel I’m giving it some kind of truth.”

***

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize seeks out original voices from the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. The prize is judged by a panel of five eminent writers or readers, representing each of the regions of the Commonwealth, so that stories may be considered for both their regional and international voice.

Five regional winners (receiving £2500) are selected and one of these writers is named the overall winner (receiving £5000). The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction.

The 2015 judges are Leila Aboulela (Africa), Fred D’Aguiar (Caribbean), Marina Endicott (Canada & Europe), Witi Ihimaera (Pacific), and Bina Shah (Asia). The overall Chair of the 2015 Prize is Romesh Gunesekera.

The regional winners for 2015 are Light by Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria), The Umbrella Man by Siddhartha Gigoo (India), The King of Settlement 4 by Kevin Jared Hosein (Trinidad), Famished Eels by Mary Rokonadravu (Fiji) and The Human Phonograph by Jonathan Tel (UK).

The winning stories were published by The Caribbean Review of Books, The Guardian, Granta and Scroll.in and each of the winners celebrated in a local context of their own choosing. These included a bookshop in Delhi, a literary festival in Port of Spain, a university auditorium in Suva, an arts centre in Minnesota and a Chinese restaurant in central London – testifying to the global nature of the prize.

“Each year, entries to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize explore new territories in the stories they tell. This year, we received many more entries from countries not previously represented, which makes this prize a platform for less heard voices, and stories which need to be told” says Lucy Hannah, Programme Manager, Commonwealth Writers.

The 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is part funded by the Sigrid Rausing Trust.

Commonwealth Writers also has an association with the London-based literary and media agency Blake Friedmann, which works with selected writers identified through the Prize.

_______________

Author biography: Jonathan Tel is writing a fiction book set in contemporary China. It is composed of ten chapters, each of which may be read as an independent story, but which link together to form a novel. The Human Phonograph is extracted from this work. The opening chapter, ‘The Shoe King of Shanghai’ was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Award 2014. He is also writing a book of poems about Berlin. 

 

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 and the Overall Winner receives £5,000. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. Translators receive additional prize money. The 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is now open for entry, closing date 1 November 2015.

 

Commonwealth Writers is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. Commonwealth Writer inspires, develops and connects writers in a range of disciplines. Our activities take place in Commonwealth countries, but our community is global (www.commonwealthwriters.org).

 

The Commonwealth Foundation is a development organisation with an international remit and reach, uniquely situated at the interface between government and civil society. It develops the capacity of civil society to act together and learn from each other to engage with the institutions that shape people’s lives. It strives for more effective, responsive and accountable governance with civil society participation, which contributes to improved development outcomes (www.commonwealthfoundation.com). 

Saraba Magazine Issue 17: SURVIVAL

Saraba is pleased to announce the publication of its seventeenth issue on the theme of “Survival.” A word from the 1590s, “survival” implies the “act of surviving,” of “continuation after some event.” To “survive” suggests to outlive, and to continue in existence after the death of another. From Latin supervivere, “live beyond, live longer than”; from super “over, beyond” + vivere “to live.”

In our recent issue, we put together poems, stories and portraits that articulate the nature and expediency of survival. The issue includes the poetry of Kelechi Nwaike, Tonye Willie-Pepple, Adeyinka Elujoba, Paul Wairia, Aisha Nelson, Jen Thorpe, Kate Hampton, Sarah Haughn, and Omukuvah Otido. It includes fiction by Damilola Yakubu, Glendaliz Camacho, and Alexander Ikawah, and non-fiction by Kabu Okai-Davies, Hal O’Leary, and Itoro Udofia. The portraits are by Nigerian photographer Logor’ Muyiwa Adeyemi. Our contributors are from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, the United Kingdom, and U.S.A.

As always, the magazine is available for free download on our website. Visit here to download a copy of the issue, and do not hesitate to spread the word.

Enquiries about our next issue, reproduction, and collaboration can be sent to the attention of our Managing Editor, editor@sarabamag.com.

First Set of Books in 2015

I love books. I can spend hours in a bookshop. Unfortunately, Ghanaian bookshops don't offer much in terms of titles and sometimes the attendants could be so arrogant. They come directly to you demanding what you want, as if you should want a title or two and just walk out like a student in search of a text book. To all you bookshop attendants, this is the 'wrongest' way to treat a bibliophile. It is more painful than a womaniser on the verge of losing his member. It denigrates us. It demeans us.

This class of Mammals, referred to as Bibliophiles, make life so simple. Their Christmas and birthday wishes are the same: books. If they begin to talk about books, their eyes twinkle and bulge out, their mouths move faster than Twista and drops of saliva could be seen leaking out from the corners, and their face is set in perpetual laughter.

However, getting new titles in bookshops in Ghana is more difficult than putting man on Mars. After all, NASA has started with Curiosity. And this is where friends come in. And this is where I have been very fortunate. I have had friends who know that books are to me what a voluptuous woman is to an African man. Not that I don't like them, I mean the voluptuous species; but to get to me entirely, don't get through my stomach, as they say, go through books. 

Over the years, I have received gifts of books from several friends and I have talked about each one of them here on this blog, except the last two other books I received in the latter part of of last year, which included Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery which I am currently reading. 

My 2015 began on a very bright note when a dear friend - any friend who do this should be dear - gifted me not one, not two, but three of my most sought-after books.

• Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Exactly two years ago (2013), I made a list of books I wish to read. In November of 2012, I had decided on some books already, which led to this 2013 wish list. On the list were three of Umberto Eco's books including The Prague Cemetery and Foucault Pendulum. This shows the length of time I have been wishing for this book. And what do you say when a friend quenches your two-year old thirst?
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This book was also on both lists. It is pathetic that no bookshop in this country stocks any of his book. Books by such laureates should be found everywhere. They should be mandatory reading in secondary schools. Not even his death and that of Nadine Gordimer, two Nobel Laureates in Literature, could spur these 'comatose' bookshops to stock their books. In a country, where a lot of noise can be made about almost everything, it's a pity books don't make news, unless they are authored by politicians; even then only to score political points. People become what they interact with. If booksellers decide to sell books, people will buy.
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. If I read this, it would be the most voluminous book I would have read. I don't know how it compares with Dostoevsky's War and Peace in terms of number of words, etc; but it definitely wins on the number of pages indicator and it seems daunting. I bought two of Hugos books - this and The Hunchback of Notre Dame - two years ago, only to discover that they were abridged versions. They were supposed to be my introduction to French Literature. I was so peeved! Who wants an abridged version? You either read the thing or you don't. Will you consider a book read when all you've done is read an abridged version? I cannot. So I am happy to have this book.

Which of these have you read and what are your impressions about them? 

Books Read in 2014

A lot of things might have happened in the previous year to make it an unforgettable year. There definitely were some positive events and an equally high dose of negative events. After all, who can forget the turbulence that hit the aviation industry. I have dreamt more than two occasions on avoiding to travel by air, and have actually implemented it once. Yet, this is not what defined my year. Several things did though. However, what is germane to this blog will have to do with books and reading.

Ever since I reactivated my reading passion and began blogging in 2009, 2014 was the year I read the least amount of books. At 20 books, the average of was less 2 per month, though I went several months without reading a book. This amount of books in 2012 or 2013 would have been swallowed up in about two and half months of reading. But then again, this was 2014 where a lot of things happened. Below is a list of books I read in 2014, where a review is available I have linked it.

Books Read and Reviewed

1. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: This was the first book I read in 2014. In fact, it was carried over from 2013. It was a selection of the Writers Project of Ghana's Book and Discussion Club. This could easily be considered the most arresting and suspenseful story I read in that year; though I read so few that every book could easily qualify as 'the most...'. 
2. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie: I had anticipated reading this book that I couldn't believe I finally got to read it. I have heard of its density of language and of symbols. These things nearly prevented me from opening it but the satisfaction I got when I did is more than a young man's expectations on his first night of whatever. Apart from the furore its publication generated, the book itself is a socio-religio-cultural trip through time. This and Midnight's Children define Rushdie.
3. The Case of Wagner, Nietzsche Contra Wagner and Selected Aphorisms by Friedrich Nietzsche: What can I say about this book. Okay, it is the book that Nietzsche damned Wagner for producing bad music and talked about what his likes are. It is a book for people interested in that subject matter. I read it basically because I wanted to read Nietzsche; or, more specifically, I wanted an introduction to Nietzsche.
4. Lord of the Rings (I. Fellowship of the Ring, II. The Two Towers, & III. The Return of the King) by J.R.R. Tolkien: This was a reread of the Book I and a reading of the Book II & III. There is nothing to be said about Tolkien that has not been said already. These books are more than just stories. They are examples of creativity of language and truly define what the novel was meant for: to be novel. The only thing is that the story is short.
5. Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie: This is Chimamanda's third published novel and fourth book. I have decided to read all of her books and I am on course. However, this book did not engage me as much as the others, with about two-thirds of the book written as a flashback. 
6. How to Spell Naija in Hundred Short Stories by Chuma Nwokolo: Chuma's voice is one that is unique and interesting to hear. His stories are filled with laughter and realities. He has a keen insight in life and presents it in a way that makes the reader goes 'aha!'. He turns small 'insignificant' events into great stories. If you have not read him do.
7. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle: I had always thought this was a complete novel only to discover it was a collection of short stories. I wonder the place of the movie adaptations in Doyle's short stories collections.
8. Testament of the Season by Mawuli Adzei: Mawuli Adzei is the author of Taboo, a novel I read and truly enjoyed that addressed a lot of things in one sweep of the pen. This however is a collection of poems and in this the author sort to stay relevant. The subjects he addresses cover the entire world. The Writers Project of Ghana got him to read this at our monthly book discussion. 
9. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks: This book had been on my shelf for several years. I had reacted negatively to Faulks James Bond novel and was afraid to open this. However, when I did, Faulks showed me the beauty of his writing, his ability to control the reader's emotions, and, more importantly, the uselessness of war; something I strongly believe in. The images Faulks conjures in this book about war is so realistic that the reader will forever be averse to wars.

Books Read but not Reviewed

1. Eugenics and Other Evils by G.K. Chesterson: In this book Chesterson discussed certain scientific or pseudo-scientific propositions that tended to discriminate against the poor and sought to give power to a few scientist who actually do not understand what they were about and yet had placed themselves above society. They had given themselves the privilege to determine who is fit to marry and what constitute that fitness. This is an eye-opening book. Shows you that the world has not changed that much and that there are people who will not succumb to 'science says...' but will analyse and criticise to put society on its toes.
2. The Psychology of Nations by G.E. Partridge: This book analyses war, its causes and effects, from different perspectives. It is an interesting essay.
3. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: What an imagination. How could one come up with such a story of a time travelling man in a relationship with a 'normal' girl. The pains, the fears, the aspirations... what will happen if his daughter adopts the gene but a breakthrough in technology could help her to control her talent? This is such a nice story.
4. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell: Well this is one of the book I reread in the year, courtesy the Book and Discussion Club. I first reviewed this book on ImageNations on July 21, 2011. A reread was important as the book revealed more of its secrets. Nineteen Eighty-Four is a book that everyone should read. What are you waiting for, if you have not read it?
5. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk: I bought this book because it is one of my desires, or reading goals, to read at least a book by a Nobel Laureate in Literature. And Orhan Pamuk is one of them. This book is a motley of things I can properly articulate until I read again. However, it tracks the history of the Ottoman empire, or I think it did, and the transformations or growth in its literature and arts. Or more specifically, the latter was used as a symbol of that history.
6. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White: Why did I read this children story? I did because I have seen this on several lists and it has also been adapted into a movie (I think it has). Secondly, I never got to read a lot of these popular books. Like all children's book, it preaches virtues, in this case the importance of friendship and loyalty and the need to respect all regardless of features.
7. Lord of the Flies by William Golding: This was also a reread (I first reviewed it on November 24, 2010).  and I did not complete it. Again, courtesy of my book club.
8. Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky: A selection of the book club, this is a small but dense book about a man and his love and his psyche. 
9. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: Once again, a selection of the book club, which I could not finish reading, and which I regret. And which I will read again! The language in this book is marvelous, which compensates for the unsettling subject matter. I now understand why this is one of the most banned books.

This is my appalling 2014 reading. Share your reading with me; perhaps you will give ideas for reading in 2015. I am yet to make any reading resolution except to improve on my 2014 performance. Happy New Year to you all.

There and Back Again

First, let me say I plagiarised the words in this title. But this is not the reason why I am here. After all, I read that trilogy in 2014. I am here to apologise for my long absence from blogging. And definitely from reading. What makes book blogging different from all other blogging is that, to blog one must undertake another long activity: reading. Unless one wants to be a blogger of bookish events. But creating contents for book blogs require a lot. And I have been at it consistently, or so I would like to think (don't count my other absences), since 2009. And it has immensely benefitted my reading; and possibly my writing.

My last post on this blog was on September 11, 2014. The ones before that were on July 18 and 19, 2014; and the last one before these was on June 25, 2015. There is a reason why I am going back to June. In the beginning of June 2014 I got a new job. And like most of my jobs have been this position is different from the previous one. It therefore required a lot of learning on the job. Thus, though I was reading, the materials weren't those that I could review. They were quasi-academic. By the way, I only consider peer-reviewed journals as academic readings. Forgive my bias. Yet, this was not the reason why I couldn't continue creating content for this blog.

The most important reason is that this job was farther from where I stay; though I don't have to brace the traffic some others do. The environment too is different. Instead of the seclusion I enjoyed in my previous job, where I shared office with one or two, here I have a desk in a space shared with a lot of people. Thus, in addition to not been able to come to work very early, even when I manage to do so I meet others at their desks making reading difficult. Work starts the moment you arrive, not the specified time work is supposed to start. Hence, my entire reading pattern has been affected. I read less and less and have almost lost out. This has affected me, as any true reader knows. However, I managed to read a score or so books in the previous year. I will blog about these in the coming days.

This blog post is to inform my readers that I have not stopped blogging; I am still defining ways to come back to this interest of mine, whilst still working to feed myself and the family. To start the year, I am reading Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery. What are you reading in the new year? Expect a full report of books read and my expectations for 2015 in upcoming posts.

Golden Baobab Prizes Announces Longlist

The Golden Baobab Prizes for African children’s literature have revealed the 14 stories that made it onto their longlist for 2014.

Selected from a total of 210 stories received from 13 countries across the continent, this longlist showcases some of the finest African writers and African children’s stories today. With four writers each, Ghana and South Africa are the four most represented nationalities on the longlist. Other countries that had writers on the list were Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The longlist represents stories submitted to the Golden Baobab Prize for Picture Books and the Golden Baobab Prize for Early Chapter Books. No story from the Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Writers made it onto the 2014 longlist.

Speaking on the prizes’ evaluation and selection processes, the Prize Coordinator, Delali Kumapley commented, “Stories submitted to the Golden Baobab Prizes go through an incredibly exhaustive evaluation process. We have a team of about thirty people from all over Africa and around the world that read and score each story. A winning story for the Golden Baobab Prizes gets evaluated at most six times by different readers. This year’s longlist represents a very strong crop of African writers.” 

Now in its sixth year, the Golden Baobab Prizes inspire the creation of enthralling African children’s stories by African writers. To date, the prizes have received nearly 2000 stories from all over Africa. In 2013, to increase its support of the African children’s literature industry, the organization, Golden Baobab, introduced the brand new the Golden Baobab Prizes for African Illustrators. This prize will complement Golden Baobab's efforts in literature by discovering and celebrating Africa’s most exciting artists and illustrators who are creating images to tell stories to children.

According to the Executive Director for Golden Baobab, Deborah Ahenkorah, 

Golden Baobab is dedicated to the mission of championing the finest African stories for children and celebrating the people who create these stories. In 2014, we dedicated $20,000 to our prizes alone. We hope to do even more. We are wildly encouraged by the promise we see in the 2014 longlist.

The shortlist for the Golden Baobab Prizes for African literature will be announced on 30th October, 2014. The winners for the Golden Baobab Prizes for Literature as well as the winners of Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrators will be announced on 13th November, 2014.  Below are the titles and writers on the 2014 longlist:

Early Chapter Book Prize

Ricky Dankwa Ansong (Ghana) – Kweku Ananse: The Tale of the Wolf and the Moon

Jayne Bauling (South Africa) – The Saturday Dress

Mamle Wolo (Ghana) – Flying through Water

Mary Okon Ononokpono (Nigeria) – Talulah the Time Traveller

Bontle Senne (South Africa) – The Monster at Midnight

Hillary Molenje Namunyu (Kenya) – Teddy Mapesa and the Missing Cash

Dina Mousa (Egypt) – The Sunbird and Fatuma

Picture Book Prize

Katherine Graham (South Africa) – The Lemon Tree

Aleya Kassam (Kenya) – The Jacaranda Tree

Kwame Aidoo (Ghana) – The Tale of Busy Body Bee

Mandy Collins (South Africa) – There is a Hyena in my Kitchen

Mike Mware (Zimbabwe) – The Big Ball

Shaleen Keshavjee-Gulam (Kenya) – Malaika’s Magical Kiosk

Portia Dery (Ghana) – Grandma’s List

About the Golden Baobab Prizes

The Golden Baobab Prizes for literature were established in July 2008 to inspire the creation of enthralling African children’s stories by African writers. The Prizes invite entries of unpublished stories written by African citizens irrespective of age, race, or country of origin. The prizes have expanded to include The Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrations to discover, nurture and celebrate African illustrators of children’s stories. The Prizes are organized by Golden Baobab, a Ghana-based pan African social enterprise dedicated to supporting African writers and illustrators to create winning African children’s books. The organization’s Advisory Board includes renowned authors Ama Ata Aidoo and Maya Ajmera. Golden Baobab is proudly supported by The African Library Project.

For further information, please contact Delali Kumapley on info@goldenbaobab.org; Telephone number: +233 505-298-941

The Man Booker Prize 2014 Longlist

Last year, it was announced that books by Americans would be allowed entry into the Man Booker Prize. Whereas some readers and fans saw this as an unwanted deviation and a loss of focus for the renowned Prize, others saw it as the correction of a long-drawn anomaly by accepting all English-speaking countries. Prior to this announcement the Man Booker only allowed entries from British, Irish and Commonwealth authors.

British authors lead this year's longlist of 13 books with five nominations. This is followed by American authors who enter the Prize for the first time with four nominations. The rest of the nominations is held by two Irish writers and one Australian writer. Below is the list:

1. Joshua Ferris (US) – To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
2. Richard Flanagan (Australia) – The Narrow Road to the Deep North
3. Karen Joy Fowler (US) – We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
4. Siri Hustvedt (US) – The Blazing World
5. Howard Jacobson (Britain) – J
6. Paul Kingsnorth (Britain) – The Wake
7. David Mitchell (Britain) – The Bone Clocks
8. Neel Mukherjee (Britain) – The Lives of Others
9. David Nicholls (Britain) – Us
10. Joseph O'Neill (Ireland) – The Dog
11. Richard Powers (US) – Orfeo
12. Ali Smith (Britain) – How to Be Both
13. Niall Williams (Ireland) – History of the Rain

What is clear from this list is that though the Commonwealth is made up of more than fifty countries - including Zimbabwe which is politically out of the organisation, this list contains only three of such countries. The question is will the inclusion of America distort the diversity of the Man Booker Prize which has been won by such various authors as Salman Rushdie, Ben Okri, J.M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Aravind Adiga, Kiran Desai? Will it lead to the exclusion of new authors? How will African writers fare in the face of this expansion? Last year's Man Booker Prize (2013) was won by the New Zealander Eleanor Cantor with The Luminaries. 

However, according to the Chair of Judges - AC Grayling, the books are

very ambitious books and some of them tackle big issues of the day ... There's a lot of perceptiveness and wisdom in these books, some of them are quite moving and all of them are very difficult to put down once you get into them – a feature of just how richly textured they are and what great stories they tell.