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jessicaesquire 's review for:
An Orchestra of Minorities
by Chigozie Obioma
I kept half-joking as I read this book that I was bracing myself for the surely terrible things that were to come. I read THE FISHERMEN, a beautiful gut-punch of a book, and while I didn't approach Obioma's second novel with trepidation I did approach with caution. Sure enough, this is another book where some pretty terrible things happen. (FYI avoid the marketing copy on this one, yes including the Goodreads summary, which on its own takes you through like 60% of the plot.)
In style, at least, this book is very different from his last. Our narrator is a chi, which in Igbo beliefs is a kind of soul or guardian angel. The chi begins the book letting us know that his host has done something horrible and that he is appearing before the great God to speak for him. Each chapter begins with a sort of incantation, often a supplication complete with a parable. As a reader it took me a little while to get into this rhythm, I think I would have had an easier time on audio (which was how I read THE FISHERMEN). The chi sees everything our protagonist, Chinonso, sees but can also leave his body to see the happenings of the spirit world. It's a smart spin on the semi-omniscient narrator, the chi is separate enough from Chinonso that it cannot control him but enough of a part of him that it knows all his feelings.
It's an ambitious novel and a powerful one, but ultimately it left me unsure of how to feel about the story. Over the course of its long tale we understand how Chinonso ends up where he does, and there are portions of it where the comparisons to THE ODYSSEY feel purposeful. But ultimately this seems to be the story of how a person becomes broken beyond repair, of how a certain kind of love and obsession can turn good intentions into horrible outcomes. And when it's over I just felt kind of empty.
Obioma impressed me just as much here as he did with his first book. And I am definitely going to continue reading anything he writes. I'll just be sure to brace myself.
In style, at least, this book is very different from his last. Our narrator is a chi, which in Igbo beliefs is a kind of soul or guardian angel. The chi begins the book letting us know that his host has done something horrible and that he is appearing before the great God to speak for him. Each chapter begins with a sort of incantation, often a supplication complete with a parable. As a reader it took me a little while to get into this rhythm, I think I would have had an easier time on audio (which was how I read THE FISHERMEN). The chi sees everything our protagonist, Chinonso, sees but can also leave his body to see the happenings of the spirit world. It's a smart spin on the semi-omniscient narrator, the chi is separate enough from Chinonso that it cannot control him but enough of a part of him that it knows all his feelings.
It's an ambitious novel and a powerful one, but ultimately it left me unsure of how to feel about the story. Over the course of its long tale we understand how Chinonso ends up where he does, and there are portions of it where the comparisons to THE ODYSSEY feel purposeful. But ultimately this seems to be the story of how a person becomes broken beyond repair, of how a certain kind of love and obsession can turn good intentions into horrible outcomes. And when it's over I just felt kind of empty.
Obioma impressed me just as much here as he did with his first book. And I am definitely going to continue reading anything he writes. I'll just be sure to brace myself.