₦airaland Forum

maestroferddi:
You are clearly a literary novice else you wouldnt have written such verbiage...

Who are the gold standards of literary genius?

From Shakespeare to Charles Dickens, From Mark Twain to William Thackeray, from Milton to Cerventes, from Victor Hugo to name them: Tolkien, Tolstoy, one key feature of a good book is its readability...

No serious-minded literary appreciator wastes their time on 'sick' literary hodgepodge...

That person might be a literary novice but those past winners who nominated and awarded WS are more knowledgeable than u as they themselves are past winners


You guys think we'd bother ourselves over your opinion on a winner of an international prestigious award?

Dem no sabi u over there na

WS is in their Hall of Fame and your opinion doesn't matter to the world 🌎

Makavelli001:
I think the comparision of Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe is mischievous at best.

There is no comparison really.

I like to think that what makes someone a SPECTACULAR writer is their ability to tell stories that finds a home in your heart.

I left secondary school MANY YEARS AGO, and I can tell you, that there are literatures I read back then, that I can still remember today... I can remember the dialogues... Incidents...Names... And even the pictures I created in my mind of what I think the writer was trying to portray.

I only read Wole Soyinka because I needed to pass my literature exams.
I remember how we had to debate The Lion and the jewel in our literature class... Soyinka portrayed Africa like a helpless continent that needed western civilization to survive.
I have never opened any of his books since after secondary school.

But I have read Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe more than 10 times.
I have read The Concubine by Elechi Amadi more than 15 times.

I mean, from start to end.

I have replayed different scenarios and different endings in my head.

I have thought about A Things Fall Apart where Ikemefuna did not die...
A concubine where Ihuoma's children didn't hunt lizards on the very day Ekwume came visiting...

These are memories that will remain with me forever because a writer dared intrude my subconscious and made a home there.
.
.
.
I will chose to read Efuru by Flora Nwapa over any of Woke Soyinka "finest works".

There are at least 10 African writers who I'll read first before I pick any Wole Soyinkas books, like;
Ngugi wa Thiongo
Cyprian Ekwensi
Mongo Beti
Buchi Emecheta
Aye Kwei Armah
Etc.

And No, my submission is NOT because of the politics of "ANYWHERE BELLE FACE' Wole Soyinka has subjected himself to, which has made him a nuisance/laughing stock right now, it's just how I have always felt about his works.
I never connected to ANY of his books, I had to struggle to read, to relate, or even understand them and I have read over 200 books from African writers series alone.

Many Nigerians will easily remember Ikemefuna and Okonkwo more than they can remember any character in Wole Soyinka's books, this is because of RELATABILITY, a writer speaking to the reader in a familiar language.

Chinua Achebe is NIGERIA'S GREATEST LITERARY EXPORT to the world and there is a reason he is called THE GODFATHER OF AFRICAN LITERATURE...

I mean, THINGS FALL APART alone has been translated into 57 Languages!!!

It is not news that the reason why Achebe was snubbed for a Nobel Prize for literature was because he was too committed in his support of African culture and the oppressed, instead of using his platform to serve the interests of big powers in the west who were and are still our puppet masters.

Like the late Nelson Mandela once said; paraphrased, Achebe is the writer in whose company the prison walls fell down.

Achebe is THE GOAT.
There is NO COMPARISON.
Kapish?

That is your own opinion, millions of people will choose Soyinka's book over Achebe's book.

The hatred you have for him is because he won Nobel prize and he's not Igbo.

But who cares anyway, your teeth knashing does not stop him from being great.

seunowa:

Both are great in their field of endeavors. One channelled his works on story- telling which he did brilliantly while the other one embraces all genre of literature such as poem , prose , playwright, drama etc.
Soyinka's works are not all meant for secondary school students because they lack cognitive prerequisite to convey its meanings but for professors and advanced learners in higher institutions.
Soyinka is far apart from Achebe just as advanced chemistry text books is far apart from Ababio chemistry for secondary school students.
Saying the writer of Ababio chemistry for secondary school is more knowledgeable than the writer of advanced chemistry for higher institutions is just absolute absurdity.
Popularity and simplicity of one's works don't win Nobel prize award but inherent intelligence does.
This was exactly what the committee on Nobel prize saw in Soyinka's works.
I just think Achebe should have been given bestseller award.

Your argument is flawed, There are text books in literature for beginners and experts but a story is a story, you can choose to tell your story in a convoluted lingua, but it is still a story just made difficult by difficult grammer. Secondly, you are quite wrong in thinking that difficulty level influences winning the Nobel price. Some of the winners of this price are Ernest Hermingway, Rudyard Kipling and I enjoy their works as I do Achebe, they do not use fancy languages or egotistic diction, just plain old English. The Nobel prize is based on your work and the sentiments of people towards you. Achebe was confrontational, Soyinka was more predictable. When it comes to their work each are renown. Things fall apart by Achebe is the foremost work of African Literature. It was novel at its time because it contested the notion of Africans either portrayed in two ways, Innocent and childlike, the white man's burden, half devil but mostly child as put by Rudyard Kipling in his work, 'the white man's burden' or Babarians and cannibals dancing fervently, leaping and gyrating in front of large fires set against a moonless night as portrayed in "heart of darkness" by Joseph Conrad. These were the two traditional set pieces of African culture and people in western written African set prose. The continent itself was seen as wild and unforgiving, dark and damp, sullen and cruel, set to drive these Africans mad. Achebes work shattered this perception, it didn't side with either the white man nor the African, it presented the African and hid culture as people trying to make sense of the world around them and it's changes. It presented the African as a person with his own values, good and bad, flawed and whole, a culture with rules, a land that nourishes and curses, a cultures with its flaws and asks the reader to be the judge. It presents a neutral view of the African and his culture.

I love reading books, I have tried to read some of wole soyinka's books but I could not immerse.
Achebes things fall apart have been translated to more than 50 languages and is compulsory in schools in USA and India. These had bridged the chasm between cultures, people in these climes seeing the African as a person with culture with its own values, not a character moved to act by the non physical forces hiding in shrubs after the African sunset.

So you can write book to bridge gaps and tell a story of your people or you can write your book to impress people about your grasp and grip of their language and they might be nice enough to give you an award. Infact conquering the white man with how adept you can conjugate grammer in his language.

These guys actually think their opinion matters In things like this

The world doesn't care at all

That anyone could even try to rubbish the Nobel Prize award shows the quality of education in the East

You can have issues with Soyinka but to talk down the award shows a high level of daftness and unintelligent

EmperorCaesar:
So it's the quantity that got him the Nobel Prize

😱

sir,please, just stick to local forum like this,no go disgrace Nigeria for international fora like Quora or Reddit

Like we are talking about the Nobel Prize here

See this one...

Go to the Quora you are alluding to and type " controversies of the Nobel Prize" you will see countless topics and comments about the subjectiveness of the award.

The Nobel Prize for Literature became a joke when a Bob Dylan won it while a literary colossus like James Ngugi wa Thiong'o who like Achebe is being overlooked and ignored to being what the Western elements who determine the awardees consider "rebelious and independent-minded".

EmperorCaesar:
These guys actually think their opinion matters In things like this

The world doesn't care at all

That anyone could even try to rubbish the Nobel Prize award shows the quality of education in the East

You can have issues with Soyinka but to talk down the award shows a high level of daftness and unintelligent

Oga, dont remain simple-minded...

Do some reading...It will not kill you.

We shall continue to use facts to torpedo your sandcastles erected on a superstructure of propaganda and mendacity...

Ogonimilitant:
Soyinka, a men that can not even control his family should not be taken seriously.

Can your own father control his family?

kettykin:
How many of these sold upto 100,000 copies outside the shores of Nigeria. Most of these are short poems and drama and not novels . It is novels that rule the world of literature and not poems.nibhave friends and relatives that have written more poems than this. In this artificial intelligence age , I can surpass this poems and plays in 24 hours

Do it if you can, dont tell us story.

Soyinka is a Nobel prize winner, Achebe is not cos he does not deserve it.

KoshCAD:
Do it if you can, dont tell us story.

Soyinka is a Nobel prize winner, Achebe is not cos he does not deserve it.

It is not a story.

Soyinka is chinua achebes grandson when it comes to literature.

EmperorCaesar:
That person might be a literary novice but those past winners who nominated and awarded WS are more knowledgeable than u as they themselves are past winners


You guys think we'd bother ourselves over your opinion on a winner of an international prestigious award?

Dem no sabi u over there na

WS is in their Hall of Fame and your opinion doesn't matter to the world 🌎

You see the problem that I have with most you guys?

You spend almost all your time on this forum discussing emilokan and Yahaya Bello and investing little time to develop yourself in such a way to sustain an intellectual argument...

A simple investment of time would have saved you the embarrassment of talking about what you have zilch clue about...

Go and and read about the Nobel Prize and the process of choosing awardees and stop wasting my time...

kettykin:
Chat GPT can surpass all of Soyinka's work in 24 hours . It is not about quantity but quality, how many of your books are selling outside ibadan Lagos market

As if your papa can write a simple sentence.

KoshCAD:
As if your papa can write a simple sentence.

But that's the truth

Soyinkas work didn't exceed 10 pages at most.
He only gets inspired under the influence of cannabis or Igboh

maestroferddi:
Oga, dont remain simple-minded...

Do some reading...It will not kill you.

We shall continue to use facts to torpedo your sandcastles erected on a superstructure of propaganda and mendacity...

Bro, I'm smart enough to know that the only fact here is Soyinka won a well deserved Prize and Achebe didn't

That's a universal fact

Plus, you aren't smarter than all those who sat to deliberate, nominate and give him the award as they don't even know him personally but just his works

For a Nobel Prize award, my education is a waste if I think the opinion of a random fellow matters more than that of the organizers of the historical award, especially in thr academic field

Let's be logical please...

Hmmnn! Just thinking aloud:
Chinua Achebe never congratulated Wole Soyinka for winning the Nobel Nobel Laureatte prize till he, Achebe, died.....Achebe died a bitter man.......now, his kinsmen are displaying same bitterness and hatred towards Soyinka, who risked his life and was locked up for their cause......what a people!

Raf4:
Hmmnn! Just thinking aloud:
Chinua Achebe never congratulated Wole Soyinka for winning the Nobel Laurel prize till he, Achebe, died.....Achebe died a bitter man.......now, his kinsmen are displaying same bitterness and hatred towards Soyinka, who risked his life and was locked up for their cause......what a people!

It is Soyinka who was bitter.

He held more than 100 interviews trying to demarket Achebe after taking Cannabis.

mrvitalis:
By accidental discovery I meant and yes there are many

Since it is accidental discovery, let your father win a game of ludo in your street by accidental discovery if it is sure for him.

maestroferddi:
You see the problem that I have with most you guys?

You spend almost all your time on this forum discussing emilokan and Yahaya Bello and investing little time to develop yourself in such a way to sustain an intellectual argument...

A simple investment of time would have saved you the embarrassment of talking about what you have zilch clue about...

Go and and read about the Nobel Prize and the process of choosing awardees and stop wasting my time...

Bro, go through my profile and see the kinda person I am

I swear by my life, I'd engage u in psychology, biology,Art, sociology, sports, politics, Sciences and few others and would still school you effortlessly in all of those...im that versatile

I take IQ tests every three month to watch the state of my Intelligence Quotient and it's on three digit and even past 150 points


You can bring it on if u really wanna test me


You must be funny to think we all here are average joe with nothing special upstairs

Makavelli001:
I think the comparision of Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe is mischievous at best.

There is no comparison really.

I like to think that what makes someone a SPECTACULAR writer is their ability to tell stories that finds a home in your heart.

I left secondary school MANY YEARS AGO, and I can tell you, that there are literatures I read back then, that I can still remember today... I can remember the dialogues... Incidents...Names... And even the pictures I created in my mind of what I think the writer was trying to portray.

I only read Wole Soyinka because I needed to pass my literature exams.
I remember how we had to debate The Lion and the jewel in our literature class... Soyinka portrayed Africa like a helpless continent that needed western civilization to survive.
I have never opened any of his books since after secondary school.

But I have read Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe more than 10 times.
I have read The Concubine by Elechi Amadi more than 15 times.

I mean, from start to end.

I have replayed different scenarios and different endings in my head.

I have thought about A Things Fall Apart where Ikemefuna did not die...
A concubine where Ihuoma's children didn't hunt lizards on the very day Ekwume came visiting...

These are memories that will remain with me forever because a writer dared intrude my subconscious and made a home there.
.
.
.
I will chose to read Efuru by Flora Nwapa over any of Woke Soyinka "finest works".

There are at least 10 African writers who I'll read first before I pick any Wole Soyinkas books, like;
Ngugi wa Thiongo
Cyprian Ekwensi
Mongo Beti
Buchi Emecheta
Aye Kwei Armah
Etc.

And No, my submission is NOT because of the politics of "ANYWHERE BELLE FACE' Wole Soyinka has subjected himself to, which has made him a nuisance/laughing stock right now, it's just how I have always felt about his works.
I never connected to ANY of his books, I had to struggle to read, to relate, or even understand them and I have read over 200 books from African writers series alone.

Many Nigerians will easily remember Ikemefuna and Okonkwo more than they can remember any character in Wole Soyinka's books, this is because of RELATABILITY, a writer speaking to the reader in a familiar language.

Chinua Achebe is NIGERIA'S GREATEST LITERARY EXPORT to the world and there is a reason he is called THE GODFATHER OF AFRICAN LITERATURE...

I mean, THINGS FALL APART alone has been translated into 57 Languages!!!

It is not news that the reason why Achebe was snubbed for a Nobel Prize for literature was because he was too committed in his support of African culture and the oppressed, instead of using his platform to serve the interests of big powers in the west who were and are still our puppet masters.

Like the late Nelson Mandela once said; paraphrased, Achebe is the writer in whose company the prison walls fell down.

Achebe is THE GOAT.
There is NO COMPARISON.
Kapish?

Your bitterness and bigotry will not take you anywhere other than more bitterness and consistency in being a loser in life. Shame on you

Paystack:
Wole Soyinka has no popular work.

An average lover of literature doesn't know any of Soyinka's works .

He just kept spamming people with 2 pages of books every month when he was actively smoking cannabis and sniffing cocaine.

It was same period he founded cultism in Nigeria.

In a civilized country he just have been sentenced long ago

Achebe wished he could achieve like soyinka in life

EmperorCaesar:
Bro, I'm smart enough to know that the only fact here is Soyinka won a well deserved Prize and Achebe didn't

That's a universal fact

Plus, you aren't smarter than all those who sat to deliberate, nominate and give him the award as they don't even know him personally but just his works

For a Nobel Prize award, my education is a waste if I think the opinion of a random fellow matters more than that of the organizers of the award, especially in thr academic field

Let's be logical please...

You are still exhibiting the intellectual laziness common to people of your ilk.

You have made sundry crass assertions here like that the choice of awardees is done by a slew of past winners.

I have tried to correct your uninformed supposition and instead of investing a little time to confute or corroborate what I avered, you are still arguing blindly...

But why?!

Afamsi:
you should be ashamed, supporting someone that is a "Jack of all Trade Master of None"

Mumu, master of known but won the greatest award.

Wetin your so called master in story telling win?

EmperorCaesar:
Bro, I'm smart enough to know that the only fact here is Soyinka won a well deserved Prize and Achebe didn't

That's a universal fact

Plus, you aren't smarter than all those who sat to deliberate, nominate and give him the award as they don't even know him personally but just his works

For a Nobel Prize award, my education is a waste if I think the opinion of a random fellow matters more than that of the organizers of the historical award, especially in thr academic field

Let's be logical please...

So this is how you behave? running away from me for the whole day only to crawl out at midnight to continue your tribal attacks against igbos?

Put ONLY things fall apart on one side of a scale then put Wole's body of work on the other side.... the scale won't budge!

senatordave1:
I want to have this argument with you.my brother,if Achebe was the best,he would have won the laureate.but do you know that I rate Cyprian ekwensi higher than Achebe? Cc fergie001, immaculatejoe

Chinua Achebe was just a story teller who was even far below the intellectual level of D.O. Fagunwa.

maestroferddi:
You are still exhibiting the intellectual laziness common to people of your ilk.

You have made sundry crass assertions here like that the choice of awardees is done by a slew of past winners.

I have tried to correct your uninformed supposition and instead of investing a little time to confute or corroborate what I avered, you are still arguing blindly...

But why?!

Stop engaging that clown 🤡 see the thread I opened for him below where he has been hiding from since Friday I have been calling him to come.

https://www.nairaland.com/8117580/reason-bateria-gave-us-political

Later he will be saying he is not dumb or stupid abeg help me ask him why he is running away from me

EmperorCaesar:
Bro, go through my profile and see the kinda person I am

I swear by my life, I'd engage u in psychology, biology,Art, sociology, sports, politics, Sciences and few others and would still school you effortlessly in all of those...im that versatile

I take IQ tests every three month to watch the state of my Intelligence Quotient and it's on three digit and even past 150 points


You can bring it on if u really wanna test me


You must be funny to think we all here are average joe with nothing special upstairs

So you're still making all these mouth?

https://www.nairaland.com/8117580/reason-bateria-gave-us-political

Come and show us your educational skills in the thread above na

maestroferddi:
You can compile a book with your facetious list but tell me which of the works you listed can hold a candle to:

Things Fall Apart;

Arrow of God;

No Longer At Ease...?

We are talking about Things Fall Apart which has been listed among the 100 greatest novels of all time and you are showing mass production most of which never went beyond the University of Ibadan theatre gallery...

Ode, this place is a US university, you think he's your mumu story telling Achebe who only jealous of Soyinka till death

Raf4:
Chinua Achebe was just a story teller who was even far below the intellectual level of D.O. Fagunwa.

I agree

EmperorCaesar:
Bro, go through my profile and see the kinda person I am

I swear by my life, I'd engage u in psychology, biology,Art, sociology, sports, politics, Sciences and few others and would still school you effortlessly in all of those...im that versatile

I take IQ tests every three month to watch the state of my Intelligence Quotient and it's on three digit and even past 150 points


You can bring it on if u really wanna test me


You must be funny to think we all here are average joe with nothing special upstairs

lol...

When a lilliputian begins to try to figure out gianthood...

Oga there nothing here showing that you can hold your own end of the stick let alone wield it well enough for a fight...

Your attempt to put up some semblance of bravado is just what it is: childish...

maestroferddi:
lol...

When a lilliputian begins to try to figure out gianthood...

Oga there nothing here showing that you can hold your own end of the stick let alone wield it well enough for a fight...

Your attempt to put up some semblance of bravado is just what it is: childish...

Just imagine the imp

Talking about IQ tests . . .

Comedy central 🤣

Antivirus92:
so chimamanda is now a prolific writer? Just because she praised the unpopular cultist?
Make sure you hold onto this your stance tomorrow when the topic changes.

Lol, he's unpopular,

It is your father that is popular.

Why are we not talking about your father and his work today? Abi he's not man like Soyinka?