“That the nation known as the Giant of Africa was credited with harbouring the Happiest People of the World was no longer news. What remained coupling was how such recognition came to be earned and, by universal consent, desired. Aspiring nations needed to be rescued fro m theirstate of envious aspiration, a malaise that induced doomed efforts to snatch the crown from their head. the wisdom of elders counsels that it is more dignified to acknowledge a champion where indisputable, therather takes one’s place behind its leadership, than to carp and wriggle in frustration.”
This novel by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is undeniably a great work. Part family saga, part Crime mystery, mostly caustic satire set in a fictional Nigeria, it’s a wide-ranging, ambitious novel about the ills that befall (a) people : corruption, murder, intrigue, success, religion, politics. Still, I didn’t quitk connect with it. The pacing of the plot is odd, the prose is unique but at times too ornate.
What probably prevented me from enjoying it more is also what I most liked about it: I do not know enough about contemporary Nigeria to truly appreciate the levels of this (to me) highly-specific satirical novel about contemporary Nigeria.
Soyinka, Wole. Chronicles from the Happiest People on Earth. Bloomsbury (2021).
Thoughts?