Comments on naijablog: Maja-Pearce on Kongi - from the current edition of London Review of Books (2nd August edition)

I am not the greatest fan of Wole Soyinka the pers...

2007-08-07T19:19:00.000+01:00

I am not the greatest fan of Wole Soyinka the person, but I also do not agree that You Must Set Forth was a badly written book. I considered it one of the best books I read last year. I could not put it down, and it is a big book. It is an important book; important therapy for Nigerians and Nigerian writers. Here is a country where everyone pretends that everything is normal; and here is a Nigerian writer who has always been able to stand outside our reality and relate and critique it accurately. The personalities that have the capacity to do such things can also be a little deluded about their parts in it, but then how many people can see themselves accurately. I believe that it is somehow becoming fashionable to hit Wole Soyinka because everyone is saying Chinua Achebe should have won the Nobel. Most people don't even know the manner in which the Nobel Prize is judged, so how come everyone is now an authority on this matter.

It is also easy to critique something and get completely carried away..."deranged pseudo-intellectuals...polysyllabic words" Perhaps it is more appropriate to say that one just did not like the book.

Mr anonymous,I read that book and strongly disagre...

2007-08-01T18:23:00.000+01:00

Mr anonymous,
I read that book and strongly disagree with your description of it as an 'ego trip'. It shows, as much as the enigmatic personality of WS allows,his human side and narrates in light, humorous and self-ridiculing language his foibles, foolish adventures embarked upon on impulse (acknowleges he can't seem to help jumping into fights that are not directly his-refer to his intervention in a husband-wife fight in New York in the 70s).

He writes tenderly about Femi Johnson (even though FMJ still expresses some vague disatisfaction here.He makes fun of his Indiana Jones- like adventure to Brazil to 'steal back' some national artifact, his frustrations during the anti-abacha struggle etc. Memoirs generally tend to be self-focused, but this one has more to say about his embattled nation than it does about the writer or his many accomplishments.

Very well put Ama! These are wise words.

2007-08-01T14:58:00.000+01:00

Very well put Ama! These are wise words.

I think You must set forth at Dawn is not Kongi's ...

2007-08-01T08:25:00.000+01:00

I think You must set forth at Dawn is not Kongi's best and Maja-Pearce's critique (a bit of a ramble) is a welcome intervention.

However, I have to agree with all of Ola's statement including the reasons for awarding the Nobel prize. I often find his writing demanding, but very well worth it. My suggestion is for people who find him too difficult, they shouldn't read him. Find something that you find more readable and move on. Why should everybody always find a writer readable? I find Toni Morrison had going, but again, I love going on her journeys with her. I heard do a reading once and several people in the audience asked her why are writing is so difficult. With the charactistic Morrison poise and gracefullness she said 'Maybe because black life is difficult. Perhaps thats why my style appear to be difficult.' I like that response. She also said, 'if you find Beloved unreadable, start with the Bluest Eyes if you must read me'. That statement has stayed with me for years. So I started with Bluest Eyes and then moved on to Songs of solomon and then eventually returned to Beloved, which is on the list of my all time favourite books.

The same thing with Soyinka. I suggest people who find him difficult start with Ake and then follow Ola's recommendations. But I beg you stay away from his novels. They are awlful.

Jeremy thank you for always bring these write-ups, issues to our attention.

Ride on, Maja-Pearce for having he balls to say it...

2007-07-31T22:21:00.000+01:00

Ride on, Maja-Pearce for having he balls to say it loud and clear. It was an ego trip, mostly incoherent, simply self-centered - and did someone say 'bombastic'? Ake was excusable, even warm but this one was a waste of my $26.

I went to school with one of Femi Johnson's daughters and yes, he was a real bon vivant. What killed him anyway? And why was Kongi the only one to go fetch his corpse when the man had bucketloads of family members?

Quite a bit of irony here that FMP 'critical revie...

2007-07-31T21:03:00.000+01:00

Quite a bit of irony here that FMP 'critical review' is itself long-winding, unfocused and incoherent.

@kemi: Let's not be too eager to play the literary iconoclast or the dissenting voice that challenges literary gods. Calling a man who has consistently proven to be one of the most well-reasoned public actors 'deluded' is a little perplexing. The allegation of obscurity is not always unjustified but that in itself is a matter of style. I simply cannot reconcile this often broad-sweeping description with eminently readable and most humorous works such as Ake, The Jero Plays, The Lion and The Jewel, Opera Wonyosi, From Zia with love, Beatification of an Area Boy and yes, the hilarious Childe Internationale etc. I suggest you start with Ake.

@anonymous:I think his being awarded the Nobel Prize was more about the groundbreaking nature (along with others in his generation of African writers)of his works in exposing an authentic african worldview in the Queen's Language-case in point is how breathtakingly gracefully aspects of the yoruba culture and language are communicated in the english language in Death and the Kings Horseman. Perhaps it's difficult for this generation to appreciate,in retrospect, how much an achievement this was.
@ofadagal:I think the soyinka vs achebe debate is unecessary and maybe even pedestrian. Their prefered genres are different to start with! I'm not sure Achebe has ever claimed to be a poet or a playwright while soyinka only has two novels to his credit.

"besides other writers have written about the same...

2007-07-31T16:58:00.000+01:00

"besides other writers have written about the same or less than achebe and won i.e. toni morrison had writter about the same amount of novels when she won and i believe Kenzaburo Oe had written even less"

Good point about Morrison. I think she had written six. Simply untrue in Oe's case.

But I think--all politics aside, all talk of "the father of African writing" aside--Morrison is a stronger writer than Achebe. Papa Chinua simply isn't all that interesting, except for the neo-Tarzanists.

The Nobel has certainly gone to several writers weaker than Achebe. But what kind of standard is that to uphold? Give it to our best, or not at all.

whats the big deal about the nobel anyway. yes its...

2007-07-31T16:13:00.000+01:00

whats the big deal about the nobel anyway. yes its a prize with a lot of money, but so what? its just one of many prizes. a writer failing to win it hardly means the winner is superior.

besides other writers have written about the same or less than achebe and won i.e. toni morrison had writter about the same amount of novels when she won and i believe Kenzaburo Oe had written even less

or chose him over them...sorryon the soyinka tip, ...

2007-07-31T14:34:00.000+01:00

or chose him over them...sorry

on the soyinka tip, yes soyinka is frequently unreadable, lol he is bombastic grandiloquent and verbose...so much of his reading is inaccessible but anyway his sort win the nobel prize nowadays i guess. i mean i tried to read some play about different characters in lagos, i forget the name and it seemed to me like he was reaching, overarching to create something seamless adn masterful, except that it got lost in itself lol lol. the lion and the jewel was very very good however

i much prefer chinua achebe and what? chike and the river was good jare

"What's your honest to God take on Nigerian men?"W...

2007-07-31T14:31:00.001+01:00

"What's your honest to God take on Nigerian men?"

What the hell. Are you looking for stereotypes?

Look closely at the man you're with, pay attention to your relationship, instead of trawling the internet for silly generalities. There's nothing anyone here can tell you that wouldn't be trumped by the actual experience of the man himself.

lol permit me to answer 'myprivatepart' in jest. j...

2007-07-31T14:31:00.000+01:00

lol permit me to answer 'myprivatepart' in jest.

jeremy's honest take on naija men is that they can't compare to him, seeing as madam bibi chose them over him lol

I'm seeing a Nigerian and have become obsessed wit...

2007-07-31T14:17:00.000+01:00

I'm seeing a Nigerian and have become obsessed with Nigerian based blogs. What's your honest to God take on Nigerian men?

Please don't start that "Achebe should have won th...

2007-07-31T13:56:00.000+01:00

Please don't start that "Achebe should have won the Nobel" nonsense.

For what? For six slender novels (including the forgettable 64-page "Chike and the River")? For his empty pronouncements (made in his famously "simple" language)?

There must be twenty living writers who deserve it more than he. The late Sembene Ousmane deserved it more. Nuruddin Farah deserves it more.

Anyway, if there's another Nobel for Nigeria, it should be the Peace Prize. And it should go to Gani Fawehinmi and Femi Falana.

For years I've said that Soyinka is so verbose and...

2007-07-31T12:59:00.000+01:00

For years I've said that Soyinka is so verbose and so full of his own importance, that he is quite unreadable and I so agree with Mr Maja-Pearce. As far as Iam concerned Chinua Achebe should have won the Nobel prize.

Good post

2007-07-31T07:58:00.000+01:00

Good post

That's a libel on Osofisan. The statement was actu...

2007-07-31T04:22:00.000+01:00

That's a libel on Osofisan. The statement was actually made by Chinweizu, a critic who has been a constant thorn in Soyinka's side for years.

That said (and for the first time in living memory) I actually agree with Kemi.

Soyinka is a great writer. But not always. And Nigerians seldom have the critical mettle to see that.

Wholeheartedly concur with Maja-Pearce.Had it been...

2007-07-30T22:43:00.000+01:00

Wholeheartedly concur with Maja-Pearce.

Had it been the Guardian that wrote this review, it would have been the usual oily, sycophantic bullshit, of a paper that lowers the bar for high standards once it comes to Africans.

Soyinka is deluded and inaccessible. His appeal lies first and foremost with the deranged pseudo-intellectuals who think the key to good language and literature lies in how many polysyllabic words they can squeeze into their meaningless sentences.
As Osofisan said of Soyinka and his fans, THE UNDESIRABLE HONOURING THE UNREADABLE.