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arodriguez283 's review for:
An Orchestra of Minorities
by Chigozie Obioma
This story is about Chinonso, a humble poultry farmer, and his downfall. He stops a woman who is about to jump off of a bridge named Ndali. Chinonso and Ndali fall in love, but her parents object to their relationship due Chinonso's social standing and lack of education. At the beginning of the story we know that Chinonso has committed a horrible crime. The narrator of the story is Chinonso's chi, or guardian spirit. The chi is attempting to explain to the gods why Chinonso committed such a heinous act and trying to reason whether it is the man who is at fault or the spirit that guides him.
I loved the prose! The use of Nigerian cosmology was very interesting and adds a unique touch the plot. Obioma's writing is stunning; however, the pacing of this book was a little off for me. It was very slow, which usually isn’t a problem for me, but there were a couple of scenes that didn’t add anything to the plot and seemed random and unnecessary. When you add unnecessary content to a book that is already slow-paced it just makes the plot drag on. By the time I got to the climax of the plot I was already disinterested in the conclusion. I thought that the setting was great and that the overall plot was interesting, but the execution was a bit lacking.
My main issue with this book is that the synopsis describes it as “contemporary twist on the Odyssey,” yet I did not find that this book had any similarities or comparable plot points to the Odyssey. This book may very well have been inspired by the Odyssey in some way and perhaps it went over my head. I do not tend to read much literary fiction, so this may not have been my ideal book to begin with. It is possible that if I had been a bit more educated about Nigerian history and a bit more well-read that this book would have been a five star read for me, but as it stands I did not think that this book was extraordinary.
Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book!
I loved the prose! The use of Nigerian cosmology was very interesting and adds a unique touch the plot. Obioma's writing is stunning; however, the pacing of this book was a little off for me. It was very slow, which usually isn’t a problem for me, but there were a couple of scenes that didn’t add anything to the plot and seemed random and unnecessary. When you add unnecessary content to a book that is already slow-paced it just makes the plot drag on. By the time I got to the climax of the plot I was already disinterested in the conclusion. I thought that the setting was great and that the overall plot was interesting, but the execution was a bit lacking.
My main issue with this book is that the synopsis describes it as “contemporary twist on the Odyssey,” yet I did not find that this book had any similarities or comparable plot points to the Odyssey. This book may very well have been inspired by the Odyssey in some way and perhaps it went over my head. I do not tend to read much literary fiction, so this may not have been my ideal book to begin with. It is possible that if I had been a bit more educated about Nigerian history and a bit more well-read that this book would have been a five star read for me, but as it stands I did not think that this book was extraordinary.
Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book!