A review by aerith
An Orchestra of Minorities, by Chigozie Obioma
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.