marykgalli's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
misspalah's review
4.0
“The angel of death is in the neighborhood, and soon it will be my turn. But not in such an ignoble fashion. I want to go in a way that a hundred years from now, people will look back at with awe and say ‘His death had meaning’.
- Helon Habila, Waiting for an angel.
.
.
This novel is ultimately a work of social commentary. From military rule, coup after coup in order to install transparent government, false promises made by politicians , abuse of power, civil wars and torture/murder of people who dare raised their voice against kleptocracy - all of these is described in the book. Helon Habila did explain that this book transpired of what has been happening across Nigeria Post 1990. The book followed the narration of Lomba, a political dissident that has been in a prison for 2 years. He was not given a right to get a lawyer and he did not know when the court hearing will be held. Most will just told him to wait for his punishment patiently. Being a talented writer and journalist, he was then approached by a warden to write a poems/ love letters so that the warden can passed it to his lover. Lomba decided to leave few clues in his work, hoping that the prison warden picked up on it and came for his rescue. The following chapters, it jumped to this nameless person narration. He is a friend of Lomba and Bola - that all 3 of them went to the fortune tellers to ask something that they are curious of. This nameless person decided to ask about his death - the details of it. The next chapter proceeded with Bola losing his parents in a tragic accident and undoubtedly , it brought trauma to him so much that he lose his sanity. In this particular chapter, we saw how Lomba described the friendship that he has with Bola and how he met him during first day of colleged and eventually, Bola’s family welcomed lomba into their family. Then, we shift to Alice - another chapter in Lomba’s wife. He saw she got married and the picture was being printed in the newspaper. She left him not because she doest love him but she choose stability and practicality over passion and love. The chapters might be disjointed - here and there but you know that at the end of the day that these chapters has the same link which is Lomba. Overall, this is a great book if you already familiar with Nigeria history. If not, you might not be able to capture the nuances of the situation that most of the characters in the book went through. A short and concise reading yet impactful as some of the issues highlighted are still relevant until now.
- Helon Habila, Waiting for an angel.
.
.
This novel is ultimately a work of social commentary. From military rule, coup after coup in order to install transparent government, false promises made by politicians , abuse of power, civil wars and torture/murder of people who dare raised their voice against kleptocracy - all of these is described in the book. Helon Habila did explain that this book transpired of what has been happening across Nigeria Post 1990. The book followed the narration of Lomba, a political dissident that has been in a prison for 2 years. He was not given a right to get a lawyer and he did not know when the court hearing will be held. Most will just told him to wait for his punishment patiently. Being a talented writer and journalist, he was then approached by a warden to write a poems/ love letters so that the warden can passed it to his lover. Lomba decided to leave few clues in his work, hoping that the prison warden picked up on it and came for his rescue. The following chapters, it jumped to this nameless person narration. He is a friend of Lomba and Bola - that all 3 of them went to the fortune tellers to ask something that they are curious of. This nameless person decided to ask about his death - the details of it. The next chapter proceeded with Bola losing his parents in a tragic accident and undoubtedly , it brought trauma to him so much that he lose his sanity. In this particular chapter, we saw how Lomba described the friendship that he has with Bola and how he met him during first day of colleged and eventually, Bola’s family welcomed lomba into their family. Then, we shift to Alice - another chapter in Lomba’s wife. He saw she got married and the picture was being printed in the newspaper. She left him not because she doest love him but she choose stability and practicality over passion and love. The chapters might be disjointed - here and there but you know that at the end of the day that these chapters has the same link which is Lomba. Overall, this is a great book if you already familiar with Nigeria history. If not, you might not be able to capture the nuances of the situation that most of the characters in the book went through. A short and concise reading yet impactful as some of the issues highlighted are still relevant until now.
oajose's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
thedarkfox's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
kaali's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
5.0
jain's review against another edition
3.0
Interconnected short stories revolving around a journalist living in Lagos under military rule. The first story, set during the journalist's prison sentence, is phenomenal. I was less impressed by the subsequent stories, but a couple of them were quite good, and I only really disliked one (the bland "The Angel").
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