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'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying - Literature (5) - Nairaland

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Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by bukatyne(f): 8:16pm On May 23, 2020
TripleOh7:


You are very correct. Was trying to remember the song attached to that story.
smiley

1 Like

Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 8:29pm On May 23, 2020
BluntTheApostle:


Many, if not all of his novels have been translated into English.

One of my uncles translated Igbo Olodumare as his PhD thesis.
Into which language?


I hope to make my own translation one day. grin
What is your field of specialty?
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by zyzxx(m): 8:51pm On May 23, 2020
Very interesting
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by bcbones: 9:03pm On May 23, 2020
I have never read a novel completely but this particular book I love one and only book I ever read, from the start you're hooked already with the twist and adventure. it so cool the book still has it's impression on people. What a lovely book. @op ya head dey dere.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Frenzy01(m): 10:08pm On May 23, 2020
Bros abeg chey nah pdf you dey use read am?
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by tityboi: 12:17am On May 24, 2020
hmmm
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Dyoungstar: 1:28am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:
Do we now talk about the problem of Problem Children? Our protagonist finally has a child (who came out through his mother's thumb, by the way. No vaginal birth here. LOL cheesy) and guess what the baby does? He starts guzzling palm wine like a hardened drinker. A classic case of parental bad habits passing from one generation to the other, and this case it is amplified because not only does the newly born Junior drink palmwine, he also eats like a whale and is as strong as 100 men to boot. He controls the house and orders when and how things are done, even dictating to his parents how long they must sleep. At least Papa Junior was only addicted to palmwine which he got through legit means, but Junior here, he beats up everyone who stands in his way and even his parents are afraid of him because he is ransacking the whole town, eating people's food, drinking their wine and pummeling any modafugga that complains.

Oh gosh I cackled like a hen throughout this chapter. The Drinkards have a serious family problem. cheesy

At a level it is totally relatable because every family has a problem or difficult child who manifest their fuckery in various shades. How we handle them is what makes the difference between Family A and Family B. I also realised while reading that not all bad children are bad as a result of faulty parenting. Some kids are just born bad. No matter how well you train them, they will always end up in the wrong way because there is something fundamentally wrong with them. Junior here was bad right from his mother's 'womb'.



End of this matter; don't live the life you don't have.

Live within your means and never try to be like someone else.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by iPopAlomo(m): 2:29am On May 24, 2020
J2381:
bros how you? Been a while. Happy new year. grin


Hehe... I'm okay... How's your end...?
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by cochtrane(m): 3:47am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:
I was going to post this in my diary but I changed my mind and decided to rave about it here instead. I am not going give any fancy review, neither will I read the criticism until I am done with the book.

Never mind that the prose is pedestrian and chaotic at first glance, this book is one of the finest piece of African storytelling I have I ever come across in all my years of reading.

So rave, I MUST. If your attention span is a tweet long, then this thread is NOT for you. grin

I haven't gotten to the middle though. Hehehehehe..... cheesy

Does it occur to you quite that everyone makes out of a story what they have been mulling about? Personally, after I read this book, I never saw a parallel between the author's narrative and fake life on social media. Rather, I saw the author attempting to stir the reader's imagination like old tales from ancient Yoruba folklore would do. Amos Tutuola belonged to the times of struggle for political independence and cultural identity in Nigeria, and there's good reason to suspect he fashioned his tales more as a response to this than to anything else. Besides, he wasn't particularly noted as an excellent writer, but his zeal to push forth those stories burning inside him was apparently enough to produce many more fiction after The Palmwine Drinkard. Now, am not saying you can't relate this story to social media. You probably can relate any fiction to anything if your imagination is rich enough. However, I feel you took this course of action more because this particular issue appears of serious concern to you; perhaps you have overly preoccupied yourself with it and were looking for prosal justification for staying away from it, a justification which I hope you have found in Tutuola's work. If this turned out to just be momentary stirring, you run the risk of seeking additional justification you may not find. Maybe your first good step should be weaning yourself completely off the vestiges of social media, and then staying forever away from it? undecided

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Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by cochtrane(m): 3:58am On May 24, 2020
BluntTheApostle:


It isn't actually a unique quality of the book.

In Literature, there is a technique called oral-written hybridity.

The writer writes as if they are telling the story orally. So, they don't pay attention to plot styles. They are not interested in grandness or exquisiteness or syntax. They just want to tell a story.

So, before Amos Tutuola, there was Patricia Grace with her "chaotic" narratives.


However, Amos Tutuola invested in Yoruba folklores and produced a powerful magical realism.

As for Fagunwa, he wrote in Yoruba. If you don't understand or can't read Yoruba, you can read Wole Soyinka's translation of one of Fagunwa's novels, "A Forest of a Thousand Daemons".
Tutuola was not an excellent writer by all standards. He was however a powerful storyteller. The chaotic narrative was a side-effect of this two competing situations. Had Yoruba been a written language prior to the 19th century, there is no doubt many of what Tutuola and Fagunwa wrote would have existed for ages, and perhaps would only need translation into English for modern consumption. Unfortunately, it appears some of the magical realism in Yoruba history had to wait first for the creation of written language before they could be adequately expressed in books. The first flurry of literature works in Nigeria took the forms of folktales, stories which before then had only been told orally from generation to generation. Amos Tutuola, DO Fagunwa, Wole Soyinka were some of the first authors to put pen to paper on these stories. And for many of them, besides a notable few such as Soyinka, the English language wasn't exactly their forte.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 5:56am On May 24, 2020
cochtrane:


Does it occur to you quite that everyone makes out of a story what they have been mulling about? Personally, after I read this book, I never saw a parallel between the author's narrative and fake life on social media. Rather, I saw the author attempting to stir the reader's imagination like old tales from ancient Yoruba folklore would do. Amos Tutuola belonged to the times of struggle for political independence and cultural identity in Nigeria, and there's good reason to suspect he fashioned his tales more as a response to this than to anything else. Besides, he wasn't particularly noted as an excellent writer, but his zeal to push forth those stories burning inside him was apparently enough to produce many more fiction after The Palmwine Drinkard. Now, am not saying you can't relate this story to social media. You probably can relate any fiction to anything if your imagination is rich enough. However, I feel you took this course of action more because this particular issue appears of serious concern to you; perhaps you have overly preoccupied yourself with it and were looking for prosal justification for staying away from it, a justification which I hope you have found in Tutuola's work. If this turned out to just be momentary stirring, you run the risk of seeking additional justification you may not find. Maybe your first good step should be weaning yourself completely off the vestiges of social media, and then staying forever away from it? undecided
You are entitled to your opinions. I did not set out looking for anything in the story except entertainment but discovered a parallel to contemporary society along the way.

And no, I will not stay away from social media because it is now a part and parcel of our 21st century social construct. Stop psychoanalysing me and making very faulty assumptions. It's irritating.

1 Like

Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Donice01: 7:03am On May 24, 2020
The untold truth about Destiny Etiko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjmUxf5AtmM
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by brownemmanuel43(m): 7:09am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:

Oh, I immerse myself, brother grin

You need to read it with an open mind. It's not structurally remarkable in the normal sense, but it is a fine piece of work.
Ishilove Nwanyi OMA, biko where can I get the book
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Virginnn(f): 7:25am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:
The story is about a man who is addicted to palm wine and has his own special wine tapper who taps the wine to his exact specifications. However, when the tapper dies, the drinkard can not find any suitable replacement, so he embarks on a journey to the land of the dead to bring back his brewer. Along his way he encounters many spirits and strange and wonderful adventures.

So far so good, the parts that have resonated with me in this crazy man's quest for palmi is the saga of 'The Complete Gentleman' because of its metaphorical significance.

A head strong, beautiful woman (Nairaland males will call her a 'feminist' because she has refused to marry and cares only about making money and remaining independent) sees a remarkably handsome man in the market and is smitten. She decides to go like the biblical Ruth on him and follows him around like a puppy, even after the man has warned her to stop.


Since time immemorial, many human beings have been moved by beauty to the detriment of character. A supposedly well grounded business woman abandons her common sense in the pursuit of a mirage, and by the time she realises that all that glitters is not gold, it is too late.


Ever wonder why it seems marriages are failing everyday? People are looking for love in all the wrong places. We create all kinds of ideals about what our partners should be like and even when we see red flags, we resolutely ignore them because we are arrested by certain physical attributes that we feel will make up for whatever shortcomings our significant others may have. And when the storm comes, poof, everything collapses like a pack of cards. Or perhaps that special attribute is not encased in the body you like, so when a Complete Gentleman or Gentlewoman comes along, against your better judgement you follow them. It will end in tears.

All that glitters is NOT gold. Many have been damaged, or even lost their lives chasing shadows. The lady is later tortured with a caterwauling cowrie tied around her neck, starved, struck dumb and made to sit on a stool made of a giant, living frog.
Beautiful analysis. Keep it up.
What Tutuola did in this story is string several separate folktales on the supernatural, creating a central character through whom the story is expressed.
Besides the didactic interpretations given so far, I believe the story is highly metaphorical and symbolic.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by cochtrane(m): 7:52am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:

You are entitled to your opinions. I did not set out looking for anything in the story except entertainment but discovered a parallel to contemporary society along the way.

And no, I will not stay away from social media because it is now a part and parcel of our 21st century social construct. Stop psychoanalysing me and making very faulty assumptions. It's irritating.
Anyways, those were the feelings I got from reading your first few pages on this thread. Sorry, I wasn't trying to "psychoanalyse" you; I was only expressing what I thought. My best guess is you aren't that convince of the parallels you've drawn.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by J2381: 8:11am On May 24, 2020
iPopAlomo:


Hehe... I'm okay... How's your end...?
bros we dey.

Enjoy.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by BluntTheApostle(m): 8:20am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:

Into which language?

In English grin


What is your field of specialty?

I am a mathematician. But my mom (of blessed memory) was a judge. It was from her that I got my love for literature, while my love for figures comes from my statistician father.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 8:48am On May 24, 2020
cochtrane:

Anyways, those were the feelings I got from reading your first few pages on this thread. Sorry, I wasn't trying to "psychoanalyse" you; I was only expressing what I thought. My best guess is you aren't that convince of the parallels you've drawn.
Again, you guess wrong.

Have a nice day.
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 8:50am On May 24, 2020
BluntTheApostle:


In English grin




I am a mathematician. But my mom (of blessed memory) was a judge. It was from her that I got my love for literature, while my love for figures comes from my statistician father.
I and mathematics are lines that never meet. I am always in awe of people who can handle that subject effortlessly grin

1 Like

Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 8:54am On May 24, 2020
brownemmanuel43:

Ishilove Nwanyi OMA, biko where can I get the book
Follow the instructions in this link

https://www.nairaland.com/1016929/diaries-section-chat-room/935#89535069
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by BluntTheApostle(m): 9:06am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:

I and mathematics are lines that never meet. I am always in awe of people who can handle that subject effortlessly grin

grin

My mom and mathematics were also like that. She said she wanted to be the president one day just to ban mathematics grin

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Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 9:14am On May 24, 2020
BluntTheApostle:


grin

My mom and mathematics were also like that. She said she wanted to be the president one day just to ban mathematics grin
Buhahahahahahahaha! I share her sentiments, although I want to be the Minister of Education for just one month so I can ban it from the Curriculum. cheesy
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by BluntTheApostle(m): 9:20am On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:

Buhahahahahahahaha! I share her sentiments, although I want to be the Minister of Education for just one month so I can ban it from the Curriculum. cheesy

grin grin
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Niyipo(m): 12:17pm On May 24, 2020
wow, what an insightful read. when I read the book, I did not put a meaning to it like that. I will have to go over it again now. Thanks
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by alBHAGDADI: 9:35pm On May 24, 2020
Ishilove:

Follow the instructions in this link

https://www.nairaland.com/1016929/diaries-section-chat-room/935#89535069

The topic has been removed.

Any other link?
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 11:23pm On May 24, 2020
alBHAGDADI:


The topic has been removed.

Any other link?

Ishilove:

I hope I don't get banned by the bot.

https://idealhealthng.com/african-books-for-free/#.XoXEm6_1v-Y.whatsapp

Click on the 'click here' tab in the screenshot.

You may also download Epub Reader from Playstore so you can be able to read the books because 95% of the books are in epub format.

Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by ImaIma1(f): 10:06am On May 25, 2020
Ishilove:
The story is about a man who is addicted to palm wine and has his own special wine tapper who taps the wine to his exact specifications. However, when the tapper dies, the drinkard can not find any suitable replacement, so he embarks on a journey to the land of the dead to bring back his brewer. Along his way he encounters many spirits and strange and wonderful adventures.

So far so good, the parts that have resonated with me in this crazy man's quest for palmi is the saga of 'The Complete Gentleman' because of its metaphorical significance.

A head strong, beautiful woman (Nairaland males will call her a 'feminist' because she has refused to marry and cares only about making money and remaining independent) sees a remarkably handsome man in the market and is smitten. She decides to go like the biblical Ruth on him and follows him around like a puppy, even after the man has warned her to stop.


Since time immemorial, many human beings have been moved by beauty to the detriment of character. A supposedly well grounded business woman abandons her common sense in the pursuit of a mirage, and by the time she realises that all that glitters is not gold, it is too late.


Ever wonder why it seems marriages are failing everyday? People are looking for love in all the wrong places. We create all kinds of ideals about what our partners should be like and even when we see red flags, we resolutely ignore them because we are arrested by certain physical attributes that we feel will make up for whatever shortcomings our significant others may have. And when the storm comes, poof, everything collapses like a pack of cards. Or perhaps that special attribute is not encased in the body you like, so when a Complete Gentleman or Gentlewoman comes along, against your better judgement you follow them. It will end in tears.

All that glitters is NOT gold. Many have been damaged, or even lost their lives chasing shadows. The lady is later tortured with a caterwauling cowrie tied around her neck, starved, struck dumb and made to sit on a stool made of a giant, living frog.


This point really hit home because that what we usually do...men and women. And whenever I prayed for a husband, I had my specifications that I gave to God.

One day, as my pastor preached on the marriage matter, he said some of us give God specifications of the kind of man we want. He said how do we know that is what we need. He said don't we think that the One who created us knows the kind of partner that would compliment us?

From that day, my prayer changed. I asked God to give me the person I need. And men! God really knows me. Cos there's no way I would have been able to describe to God the kind of man I got.

As per the social media facade, the fact that I know some people who have troubled homes but still come on IG with happy faces and swag makes me realize that pictures are just pictures.

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Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 10:25am On May 25, 2020
ImaIma1:


This point really hit home because that what we usually do...men and women. And whenever I prayed for a husband, I had my specifications that I gave to God.

One day, as my pastor preached on the marriage matter, he said some of us give God specifications of the kind of man we want. He said how do we know that is what we need. He said don't we think that the One who created us knows the kind of partner that would compliment us?

From that day, my prayer changed. I asked God to give me the person I need. And men! God really knows me. Cos there's no way I would have been able to describe to God the kind of man I got.

As per the social media facade, the fact that I know some people who have troubled homes but still come on IG with happy faces and swag makes me realize that pictures are just pictures.

This is deep and full of wisdom. Thank you
Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Femiolunloyo(m): 10:43am On May 25, 2020
Ishilove:
The story is about a man who is addicted to palm wine and has his own special wine tapper who taps the wine to his exact specifications. However, when the tapper dies, the drinkard can not find any suitable replacement, so he embarks on a journey to the land of the dead to bring back his brewer. Along his way he encounters many spirits and strange and wonderful adventures.

So far so good, the parts that have resonated with me in this crazy man's quest for palmi is the saga of 'The Complete Gentleman' because of its metaphorical significance.

A head strong, beautiful woman (Nairaland males will call her a 'feminist' because she has refused to marry and cares only about making money and remaining independent) sees a remarkably handsome man in the market and is smitten. She decides to go like the biblical Ruth on him and follows him around like a puppy, even after the man has warned her to stop.


Since time immemorial, many human beings have been moved by beauty to the detriment of character. A supposedly well grounded business woman abandons her common sense in the pursuit of a mirage, and by the time she realises that all that glitters is not gold, it is too late.


Ever wonder why it seems marriages are failing everyday? People are looking for love in all the wrong places. We create all kinds of ideals about what our partners should be like and even when we see red flags, we resolutely ignore them because we are arrested by certain physical attributes that we feel will make up for whatever shortcomings our significant others may have. And when the storm comes, poof, everything collapses like a pack of cards. Or perhaps that special attribute is not encased in the body you like, so when a Complete Gentleman or Gentlewoman comes along, against your better judgement you follow them. It will end in tears.

All that glitters is NOT gold. Many have been damaged, or even lost their lives chasing shadows. The lady is later tortured with a caterwauling cowrie tied around her neck, starved, struck dumb and made to sit on a stool made of a giant, living frog.

Interesting and inspiring review. Thank you!

1 Like

Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 3:19am On May 28, 2020
Femiolunloyo:


Interesting and inspiring review. Thank you!
You're welcome.

1 Like

Re: 'The Palmwine Drinkard' By Amos Tutuola & How It Relates To Social Media Slaying by Ishilove: 5:58pm On May 29, 2020
This had me tittering. Very funny

When it was night, I told the rest of the labourers to keep watch on him and see how he would barb heads for my children, but to my surprise, it was not yet 8 o’clock in the night before everybody slept in that town, even no domestic animal was awake.

After that the ‘Invisible-Pawn’ came and barbed for all of the people in that town, adults or females with domestic animals, he took everybody to the outside before he shaved their heads, then he painted the heads with white paint, then he went back to his bush and nobody woke up till he had completed that evil work.

When it was early in the morning, everybody met himself or herself outside, and when we touched our heads, they were shaven and painted with white paint. But at the same time that this new town’s people woke up and saw that all the hair on the heads of their domestic animals had been cleared as well, then they rose up in alarm that they had fallen into another terrible creature’s hand again.
LMAO. The Invisible Pawn guy is an ASSHOLE cheesy

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