I guess some of you may recall this book from a review a few months ago (Larry's, I think). I got my sister to buy this for me as a birthday present. In retrospect, I'm glad it took me this long to get it because the book isn't that good at all. About halfway through I seriously hated it. The beginning and the end are interesting, though.
The setting is a non-specific location in Africa in some alternate reality. There are computers and cell phones yet people still travel with camels and not all have electricity. Well, that doesn't sound very alternate, but it is.
The main problem for me in this book was the characters. They aren't very nice at all. The defining characteristic of the heroine is her impulsiveness which leads to, for example, her making all the residents of a town blind for generations to come. There's also this one scene where she basically berates her friend by telling her that she's stronger and more powerful and can tear her to pieces. And she's the good guy? Her sidekick is an arrogant misogynistic young man. They love each other. Not that the supporting characters are all that amiable either. I don't recall any of them even thanking the heroine for regrowing them their clitorises. Catty bitches, all of them.
The sex scenes between the heroine and the hero were annoying. That's so because there were so many of them and they offered so little. Why write sex scenes when they don't contribute to anything? There was no romance and there certainly was no smut. There was this, though: "I felt them [sperm] in me, swimming, wriggling". A delightful image.
I also felt that the basic conflict could have been better envisioned because it was pretty thin. Basically there are two "races", the Okeke and the Nuru. The Okeke are black, have wide noses and live in the east, the Nuru are a shade whiter, have straight noses and live in the west. The two groups fight each other. Sure, there's more to it than that, but it still seemed simplistic.
My first book by an African author (well, she's American, too, but this is an African book) and it was not a good choice. **/*****
The setting is a non-specific location in Africa in some alternate reality. There are computers and cell phones yet people still travel with camels and not all have electricity. Well, that doesn't sound very alternate, but it is.
The main problem for me in this book was the characters. They aren't very nice at all. The defining characteristic of the heroine is her impulsiveness which leads to, for example, her making all the residents of a town blind for generations to come. There's also this one scene where she basically berates her friend by telling her that she's stronger and more powerful and can tear her to pieces. And she's the good guy? Her sidekick is an arrogant misogynistic young man. They love each other. Not that the supporting characters are all that amiable either. I don't recall any of them even thanking the heroine for regrowing them their clitorises. Catty bitches, all of them.
The sex scenes between the heroine and the hero were annoying. That's so because there were so many of them and they offered so little. Why write sex scenes when they don't contribute to anything? There was no romance and there certainly was no smut. There was this, though: "I felt them [sperm] in me, swimming, wriggling". A delightful image.
I also felt that the basic conflict could have been better envisioned because it was pretty thin. Basically there are two "races", the Okeke and the Nuru. The Okeke are black, have wide noses and live in the east, the Nuru are a shade whiter, have straight noses and live in the west. The two groups fight each other. Sure, there's more to it than that, but it still seemed simplistic.
My first book by an African author (well, she's American, too, but this is an African book) and it was not a good choice. **/*****
Not because you had a different opinion than I did, but because you sound like a pre-teen forced to do a book report. Perhaps it's due to English not being your native language, but the lack of analysis and going beyond the puerile "I didn't like/understand the characters" stance really displays a lack of sophistication in critiquing a book. I normally don't reply when I read a poorly-written review here, but this was one of the poorest I've read here in quite some time.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (here be spoilers)
- 26/10/2010 08:00:49 PM
832 Views
What a terrible review
- 26/10/2010 11:52:25 PM
665 Views
He voiced his opinions. Everyone does reviews differently.
- 27/10/2010 05:32:27 PM
554 Views
Yes, really
- 27/10/2010 05:45:01 PM
647 Views
You're acting in a totally uncalled for manner. His reviews don't need to meet your specifications.
- 28/10/2010 03:54:31 AM
568 Views
His reviews don't need to meet Larry's specifications, but Larry is also entitled to his opinion.
- 28/10/2010 04:21:57 AM
529 Views
Yes, but then we get into the endless "well you can have an opinion, but I get one too."
- 28/10/2010 04:34:36 AM
624 Views
So how exactly does one raise a valid concern that a review reads like a bad 5th grade book report?
- 28/10/2010 04:56:42 AM
482 Views
Jesus. Relax, would you
- 27/10/2010 06:16:15 PM
635 Views
I haven't read the book so can't judge all that well, but I've seen far worse reviews here. 
- 27/10/2010 06:59:25 PM
523 Views
- 27/10/2010 06:59:25 PM
523 Views
I'd be scared to think there are those that are much worse. Is functional illiteracy that bad? 
- 27/10/2010 10:51:32 PM
589 Views
- 27/10/2010 10:51:32 PM
589 Views
Has it ever occurred to you that it is a metaphor, rather than an alternate reality?
- 28/10/2010 04:20:26 AM
573 Views