Friday 13 July 2012

GraceLand, 2004, by Chris Abani ****

It's been a while, now that the weather is warmer there is a lot to do outdoor that makes reading a bit difficult, but I have been stuck with my book all this while and I have to say it's really worth it.
I just finished reading "GraceLand." I borrowed the book from a middle/high school library in my city. This is Chris Abani's first book I have read so far. It is not a very difficult book, it flows. There was a time in the middle of the book I thought it was a 5 stars book and some events drastically took place and I felt the author was some how forcing situations to take place, after reading it I thought 4 stars was OK.
GraceLand narrates the story of a boy who aspires to be a professional dancer. He lost his mother at a very tender age, had a bad family experience (incest, rape and murder) that kept him in a conflicting state of mind for a very long time. He moved into the slums in Lagos where he spent most of his teenage life, where he tried to free himself from his emotional problems and get to know who he really is, where he also tried to live his dreams as a dancer and in the process encountered a lot of ups and downs that defined him along the way.
This is not my favourite book, but I am glad I discovered Chris Abani's piece of art and discovered him too. His revolutionary personality is reflected in this book. He was absolutely informing in the way many lives are lived in Nigeria especially in the city of Lagos; Children begging and hawking on the street, forced into sexual intercourse, soldiers murdering civilians who believed their lives depended on their mercy, corruption and it goes on and on, no body cares. No recognised Human Rights. From my point of view there is a lot of sorrow in this book. Yes, I recommend you to read it. Moreover in the beginning of every chapter you will find an Igbo traditional food recipe.

This novel have been reviewed in Spanish in Literafrica by Sonia Fernandez, please click here to read.

6 comments:

  1. Interesting review.....why haven't our Nollywood producers taking the time to create stories from these great African writings instead they want to concentrate on western ideologies and end up bringing same recycled un-original stories to the screen all the time....

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  2. Kboy! Thanks for the comment, you really made a point, some time when I read some these African Literatures I just imagine how cool it would be to make a movie out of them. Africa has got a lot of interesting stories to tell and to act into a movie. Hopefully we will get there, because the idea is there already!

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  3. Hi Mary, I am here from Shelfari and glad I came. This is a fine review and I like the way you focused on the other themes in the book. Yes, the idea of making films out of such african writings is very laudable. The west have been known to shoot films based on fine bestsellers. Following you now.

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  4. Reading Pleasure, I am so glad you came and I want you to stay, please do follow, look forward to more of my reviews.
    Let's see how it goes, the movie based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a yellow sun has already been shot. Soon it will be out in the movies, I hope they will do that book justice because it is one of my favourites. Not just shooting a movie but shooting a good quality movie it is what that really matters.
    Reading Pleasure, I am following your blog too! Nice one you have out there.

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  5. Thank you for the absolutely wonderful job you did on this blog.Good Job Keep it up and thank you for all of your hard work
    News4andhra.com is a Telugu news portal and provides
    Telugu Movie News, Latest and Breaking News on Political News and Telugu Movie Reviews at one place

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    Replies
    1. Telugu, I really appreciate. Thanks to you for visiting, I look forward to reading more of your comments.
      Kind regards.

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