Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
sad
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:
Complicated
(My first on the 2019 Booker lists)
I was taken in early. Chinonso, a young Nigerian chicken farmer, sees a young woman looking over the edge of a bridge. He stops his truck, grabs a couple chickens, runs over to the woman and tells her not to jump, and, to illustrate why not, tosses his two chickens over. Then he drives off. We're left wondering about this young man who seems so gallant and cruel at the same time, and the odd and innocent way he created some kind of intimacy out of nothing of the sort. We we're left wondering what happened to the women. We're slowly told through Chinonso's Chi, a kind of Igbo guardian spirit. The Chi can read some of Chinonso's thoughts, and can mildly influence them, but the Chi itself has been around a long time, dealt with a number of Nigeria lives, and learned many things, and it can see the world around Chinonso in ways he can't. The Chi can even leave Chinonso and explore the world on its own. But it's not all-knowing and cannot see the future and cannot control Chinonso. Instead it becomes an observer and, as a our narrator, a nimble tool for a writer.
Over the long trend of the novel, this becomes a variation of the Odyssey-Aeneid-Divine Comedy theme of travel and other-worldly travels. Maybe there's some Milton too. But on the immediate page, we are in the midst of one the of the several worlds Obioma has created with his pen, each with its own overall atmosphere, tensions, feeling and so on, and we experience them slowly, our draw dependent on the storyteller's skill. It's not a book anyone could write. But Obioma has some mastery in telling these stories, and then in completely changing things, building another world without losing his reader. I do wonder at the role the reader, Chukwudi Iwuji, played in this experience. He reads the book with a strong Nigerian accent, and gives the Nigerian Pidgin English an accent and stress I never could have imagined just reading the text, changing fundamental emphases within the dialogue.
I guess what I'm saying is I loved the paradise Obioma creates and I loved the way he sets up the ending to this paradise, and all the ways he goes about it. We can sense a lot of problems over the edge, but we never know what it's going to be like when we get there and or how it will turn out, and I never lost interest. Fun book, especially on audio.
-----------------------------------------------
43. An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma
reader: Chukwudi Iwuji
published: 2019
format: 18:08 audible audiobook (464 pages in hardcover)
acquired: Aug 13
listened: Aug 14 – Sep 15
rating: 4
I was taken in early. Chinonso, a young Nigerian chicken farmer, sees a young woman looking over the edge of a bridge. He stops his truck, grabs a couple chickens, runs over to the woman and tells her not to jump, and, to illustrate why not, tosses his two chickens over. Then he drives off. We're left wondering about this young man who seems so gallant and cruel at the same time, and the odd and innocent way he created some kind of intimacy out of nothing of the sort. We we're left wondering what happened to the women. We're slowly told through Chinonso's Chi, a kind of Igbo guardian spirit. The Chi can read some of Chinonso's thoughts, and can mildly influence them, but the Chi itself has been around a long time, dealt with a number of Nigeria lives, and learned many things, and it can see the world around Chinonso in ways he can't. The Chi can even leave Chinonso and explore the world on its own. But it's not all-knowing and cannot see the future and cannot control Chinonso. Instead it becomes an observer and, as a our narrator, a nimble tool for a writer.
Over the long trend of the novel, this becomes a variation of the Odyssey-Aeneid-Divine Comedy theme of travel and other-worldly travels. Maybe there's some Milton too. But on the immediate page, we are in the midst of one the of the several worlds Obioma has created with his pen, each with its own overall atmosphere, tensions, feeling and so on, and we experience them slowly, our draw dependent on the storyteller's skill. It's not a book anyone could write. But Obioma has some mastery in telling these stories, and then in completely changing things, building another world without losing his reader. I do wonder at the role the reader, Chukwudi Iwuji, played in this experience. He reads the book with a strong Nigerian accent, and gives the Nigerian Pidgin English an accent and stress I never could have imagined just reading the text, changing fundamental emphases within the dialogue.
I guess what I'm saying is I loved the paradise Obioma creates and I loved the way he sets up the ending to this paradise, and all the ways he goes about it. We can sense a lot of problems over the edge, but we never know what it's going to be like when we get there and or how it will turn out, and I never lost interest. Fun book, especially on audio.
-----------------------------------------------
43. An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma
reader: Chukwudi Iwuji
published: 2019
format: 18:08 audible audiobook (464 pages in hardcover)
acquired: Aug 13
listened: Aug 14 – Sep 15
rating: 4
this had a very interesting narration and despite the book going over 400 pages, i thought the composition was incredibly neat. some aspects fell short for me - like i am aware to relay a story of this kind the characters are sort of guaranteed to have a dubious integrity and it doesn't have to reflect on the author. but the description and fate of the women in this book were so sickening to read about, several times i found myself saying "women are PEOPLE" out loud. the ending was also very unfulfilling - it did not have the best execution and nearly ruined the entirety of the book for me. i liked most of the topics discussed in the book and even though wholly it did not have a great impression on me, i still think it's a well-written book.
I have such mixed feelings about this book. Some of the writing is beautiful, but the toxic masculinity of the main character is too much for me to overcome.
The protagonist of this book is a chicken farmer and the "orchestra of minorities" is what his father calls the plaintive crying of the hens when one of their number is removed from the coop.
What is this they are doing? she said
They know, Mommy, they know what is happening
O God, Nonso, they do?
Look, they have seen many go inside the same basket. So, they Know
My God, ....this must be their crying....it is heartbreaking
He nodded and bit his lip
We imprison them and kill them when we want because they are not powerful"
...
How do they defend themselves? They have no sharp fingers, no poisonous tongue
...
Why? because they are minorities. |See what the powerful have done to us in this country. See what they have done to you. And weak things.
...
all he could do now, all there was to do, was cry and wail...He had now joined many others... who have been defrauded of their belongings...all who have been chained and beaten, whose lands have been plundered, whose civilisation has been destroyed.
This book is hard to read because it is slow winded, repetitive, wordy. It has the pace of an old culture. I ended up skipping a large part of the middle section because I thought otherwise I would never get to the end. I wondered afterwards if I had skipped that bit also because the story is so unremittingly heartbreaking. It plays with the reader: things are bad, they get worse, then there is hope, remission, even brightness, so you keep going a little, but then that hope is dashed away. and the cycle begins again.
What is this they are doing? she said
They know, Mommy, they know what is happening
O God, Nonso, they do?
Look, they have seen many go inside the same basket. So, they Know
My God, ....this must be their crying....it is heartbreaking
He nodded and bit his lip
We imprison them and kill them when we want because they are not powerful"
...
How do they defend themselves? They have no sharp fingers, no poisonous tongue
...
Why? because they are minorities. |See what the powerful have done to us in this country. See what they have done to you. And weak things.
...
all he could do now, all there was to do, was cry and wail...He had now joined many others... who have been defrauded of their belongings...all who have been chained and beaten, whose lands have been plundered, whose civilisation has been destroyed.
This book is hard to read because it is slow winded, repetitive, wordy. It has the pace of an old culture. I ended up skipping a large part of the middle section because I thought otherwise I would never get to the end. I wondered afterwards if I had skipped that bit also because the story is so unremittingly heartbreaking. It plays with the reader: things are bad, they get worse, then there is hope, remission, even brightness, so you keep going a little, but then that hope is dashed away. and the cycle begins again.
Full disclosure, I tried reading this when it was first published and quickly decided I wasn’t in the right mindset. I’m ecstatic that I put it down, and that I picked it back up.
In a modern retelling of The Odyssey we follow Chinonso or Nonso, a young poultry farmer in Nigeria who falls madly in love with Ndali, a woman he stops from attempting suicide very early in the book. Not to give too much away but Nonso goes to great lengths for Ndali and through this and his (at times) angelic naïveté we are brought through the plot of this book.
Shortlisted for the Booker Shortlist I think this is what I’m rooting for.
In a modern retelling of The Odyssey we follow Chinonso or Nonso, a young poultry farmer in Nigeria who falls madly in love with Ndali, a woman he stops from attempting suicide very early in the book. Not to give too much away but Nonso goes to great lengths for Ndali and through this and his (at times) angelic naïveté we are brought through the plot of this book.
Shortlisted for the Booker Shortlist I think this is what I’m rooting for.
This was a very frustrating read for me. I think I could have really liked it, and at times I did, it’s just that I felt like my shoes kept getting stuck in the mud. It is slow, but not the kind that is quietly building tension or atmosphere, it’s the kind where you feel stuck in details and are just dying for the story to get moving again.
‘An Orchestra of Minorities’ is one of the most original books that I’ve read. Written from the perspective of the main character’s Chi, or guardian spirit, the book is about Chinonso, a young poultry farmer, who sees a young woman named Ndali jumping off of a bridge. He intervenes and convinces Ndali not to commit suicide. Eventually, they meet again after a few months and fall in love, and the story goes from there.
This book was a lot complex then it originally seemed. Reading the book from the perspective of the Chi was a refreshing change. The way the Chi wants good for Chinonso and tries to look out for him was good to read. Almost all the chapters start with the Chi’s perspective about life in general, which was really insightful into Nigerian culture. Even a small thing like meeting a friend was described beautifully, using Nigerian traditions and culture. The book gets pretty dark pretty fast, so that was a turn that I wasn’t expecting. All in all, a refreshing read.
This book was a lot complex then it originally seemed. Reading the book from the perspective of the Chi was a refreshing change. The way the Chi wants good for Chinonso and tries to look out for him was good to read. Almost all the chapters start with the Chi’s perspective about life in general, which was really insightful into Nigerian culture. Even a small thing like meeting a friend was described beautifully, using Nigerian traditions and culture. The book gets pretty dark pretty fast, so that was a turn that I wasn’t expecting. All in all, a refreshing read.
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Told from the view point of a chi, a human spirit guide we follow Chimonso a poultry farmer as he wants to better himself.
A nice idea which is over written and I was bored with the number of sentences especially towards the end which contained, then.
Having said that some of the passages in the book had a poetical quality to them.
At just over 500 pages, quite a number could have been cut as the author kept revisiting the same themes and repeating the same things to the reader.
Should have been better than it was.
A nice idea which is over written and I was bored with the number of sentences especially towards the end which contained, then.
Having said that some of the passages in the book had a poetical quality to them.
At just over 500 pages, quite a number could have been cut as the author kept revisiting the same themes and repeating the same things to the reader.
Should have been better than it was.