aerith's review against another edition
1.0
Chigozie Obioma's writing is beautiful, and writing the book from the perspective of the character's chi, or soul, is a really interesting framing device. It's a shame I didn't like anything else about the book.
It's a portrayal of a very flawed person, which I don't have a problem with in and of itself. I just don't want to read about a sad misogynist enacting violence on the women in his life because he feels justified on account of his own pain. The fact that a woman is then punished for his sins as a sort of karmic justice really isn't it for me.
Perhaps I would have found the book easier to stomach of any of the women had been portrayed as three-dimensional people with their own inner lives, but they aren't. Instead it's 500 pages of this guy becoming more and more downtrodden until he lashes out at the women around him.
It's a portrayal of a very flawed person, which I don't have a problem with in and of itself. I just don't want to read about a sad misogynist enacting violence on the women in his life because he feels justified on account of his own pain. The fact that a woman is then punished for his sins as a sort of karmic justice really isn't it for me.
Perhaps I would have found the book easier to stomach of any of the women had been portrayed as three-dimensional people with their own inner lives, but they aren't. Instead it's 500 pages of this guy becoming more and more downtrodden until he lashes out at the women around him.
05hamiltonk's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the imagery, that it’s from the point of view of the chi and it is beautifully written. I really loved the way Igbo religion leads the book.
The second half of the storyline was less believable to me, I felt it was working up to something and I was ultimately disappointed by where the story went. But at the same time I acknowledge the whole point of the book is it’s a great tragedy. It would be an amazing play. I was very invested in the main character, Chinonso *cries*. Overall I really liked the book and the lessons it teaches.
The second half of the storyline was less believable to me, I felt it was working up to something and I was ultimately disappointed by where the story went. But at the same time I acknowledge the whole point of the book is it’s a great tragedy. It would be an amazing play. I was very invested in the main character, Chinonso *cries*. Overall I really liked the book and the lessons it teaches.
christiek's review against another edition
reincarnation not my thing; and I didn't like the first few pages. Just not for me.
neenor's review against another edition
2.0
Really didn't enjoy this book, and I so wanted to! But it just felt like a slog. About halfway through I realised that I didn't really want to read it anymore or finish it, but it felt like I had put so much time and energy into it already that I couldn't give up. So I finished it and it was disappointing. But the idea behind it was interesting!
christian_delve's review against another edition
3.0
Difficult to review this one for me, the pace was off, yet all the Igbo details were fascinating. And you have to give it merit for making me absolutely hate the main character.
rwebster6's review against another edition
5.0
This book is beautifully written and the plot has given me a lot to think about. Based on the Odyssey, and told through the voice of his inner spirit, Chimonso finds himself in Cyprus away from the woman he loves. Like the classical Odysseus he is determined to get her back, however his extended absence means that her heart has moved on. This leads to an unspeakable act that our main character’s spirit has to justify. This is not a spoiler as it’s mentioned In the first couple of chapters which builds the tension until the climax of the book.
The message I feel from this book is not that it is a traditional love and romance story, but one of a conflict between spirit and body. The Igbo cosmology that’s used during this book explains the nature of the spirit and body relationship, and throughout the book the spirit acts as a guardian whilst the body and mind of the character acts impulsively and with free-will.
Obiama is bound to win a Booker Prize during his career.
The message I feel from this book is not that it is a traditional love and romance story, but one of a conflict between spirit and body. The Igbo cosmology that’s used during this book explains the nature of the spirit and body relationship, and throughout the book the spirit acts as a guardian whilst the body and mind of the character acts impulsively and with free-will.
Obiama is bound to win a Booker Prize during his career.
oceanlistener's review against another edition
2.0
When a romantic relationship starts with a man calling a woman "Mommy" when they've just met, you know it's going to be a very sick sort of thing. I thought that might be a cultural difference I wasn't familiar with, but no, it turned out to be exactly what I expected.
A toddler expects unconditional love from its mother. It does not expect consequences for its actions. It expects to be able to do whatever it wants, and for its mother to be on call to answer any and all whims. It wants to be thanked, if not worshiped, for everything it does. Which is exactly how our protagonist treats the love interest. I assume that's why he calls her Mommy instead of by her name.
The plot:
Man falls in love with woman, woman falls in love with man
Man comes up with plan to "win" the woman, she tells him in no uncertain terms his plan is terrible, unnecessary, and not to do it
He does it anyway
I'm going to hide the rest under "spoilers", but I'm pretty sure all the ladies already know where this is going:
Things go badly
He suffers
He blames her for his suffering
He kills her because he blames her for his bad decisions (although we're supposed to forgive him, because he wasn't trying to kill her, he just felt entitled to ruin her life)
All of this is wrapped up in some really great narrative technique and nice writing (the second star), but it's ultimately yet another story of why we should forgive fragile-man-babies. The many ways men feel entitled to women has already been explored in literature, and personally I'm so tired of those explorations making excuses and asking us to forgive them.
Also, Chinonso is unforgivably stupid. I'm 100x more likely to believe in the spirit world of this novel than the premise that Ndali falls in love with him.
A toddler expects unconditional love from its mother. It does not expect consequences for its actions. It expects to be able to do whatever it wants, and for its mother to be on call to answer any and all whims. It wants to be thanked, if not worshiped, for everything it does. Which is exactly how our protagonist treats the love interest. I assume that's why he calls her Mommy instead of by her name.
The plot:
Man falls in love with woman, woman falls in love with man
Man comes up with plan to "win" the woman, she tells him in no uncertain terms his plan is terrible, unnecessary, and not to do it
He does it anyway
I'm going to hide the rest under "spoilers", but I'm pretty sure all the ladies already know where this is going:
Spoiler
Things go badly
He suffers
He blames her for his suffering
He kills her because he blames her for his bad decisions (although we're supposed to forgive him, because he wasn't trying to kill her, he just felt entitled to ruin her life)
All of this is wrapped up in some really great narrative technique and nice writing (the second star), but it's ultimately yet another story of why we should forgive fragile-man-babies. The many ways men feel entitled to women has already been explored in literature, and personally I'm so tired of those explorations making excuses and asking us to forgive them.
Also, Chinonso is unforgivably stupid. I'm 100x more likely to believe in the spirit world of this novel than the premise that Ndali falls in love with him.
clmckinney's review against another edition
4.0
This book was hard to read. It is the story of a man's life basically going to hell. I liked the way the author adds a philosophical nature to the story. It reminded me of An American Marriage. At points, the plot was excruciating. The man goes through many ordeals that are just plain awful. I think the story could have been whittled down further though, it was a bit too long. For that I would give this book a 3.7/5.