On July 9th we met at my house to discuss The Fisherman which
was a debut novel by a young Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma.
We had our usual salad and Kathy picked up Puccini's
pizza as they no longer deliver. Kathy also contributed some
cheesecake (not her home made) but quite yummy.
I think this was a very sad book and I got the impression that
was why it was not that well received. It is a story about a
Nigerian family of 5 brothers and one baby sister. The story
really focuses on the four eldest boys who are left by their
father in the care of the mother because he has to relocate for
work. The boys become disobedient and decide to go fishing and
begin to skip school. They encounter a mad man who predicts that
the second son will kill the eldest. This almost becomes a self fulfilling prediction.
The 2nd son kills himself after he murders his oldest brother and the other two brothers avenge their deaths
by killing the mad man in a very savage manner.
The narrator goes to prison for 7 years and their dreams of migrating
to Canada are dashed. The mother goes crazy and is institutionalized.
A sad tale indeed still there is a glimmer of hope at he end.
Still people liked his writing and his unique way of mixing the Igbo
language with English. They also liked how the chapter began with
names like Eagle, Falcon, Python, Fungus and others to classify a person and
their characteristics.
Madeleine chose the popular "Where The Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens.
August 21 was targeted for the next meeting.
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