₦airaland Forum

From the Wole Soyinka's Interview About Chinua Achebe Thread

Prof Corruption: Achebe's most read novel, Things Fall Apart, is not his best.

Arrow of God is better in richness, deployment of literary and artistic tools. Things Fall Apart is more successful as a political tool than a literary masterpiece. It's a counter narrative to repudiate the western imperial image of Africa.

An opinion I agree with.

Arrow of God is denser with detail than Things Fall Apart, with a good deal more technical discussion of the rituals and concepts underlying Igbo religious customs and with a larger and more fleshed-out cast of characters. It is also a far more interesting read IMO.

Jarus: This Elnathan John is one funny dude.

His blog cracks me up:

From his profile:

[quote author= Elnathan John]Elnathan is a writer who trained as a lawyer. Although he is routinely called a journalist, he rejects this title, preferring instead to be called a writer. His works have appeared in ZAM Magazine International, Otis Nebula, Per Contra, and Evergreen Review in addition to numerous Nigerian publications and newspapers. He writes a column for Sunday Trust. He has not won anything. The South African government recently truncated his plans to attend the prestigious Caine Prize Writing workshop to which he was invited. He holds no grudges. In 2008 he hastily self-published an embarrassing collection of short stories which has since gone out of print. He hopes to never repeat that mistake. He has just completed work on a new collection of short stories and is working on a novel. Nobody seems to want to publish his new collection of short stories. This puzzles him. He really loves those stories. Elnathan is touchy about his skin and man bosoms and isn't bold enough to grow hair. One of his new goals is getting to a weight below his current 100kg that will not warrant totally changing his wardrobe. He hopes to start a family comprising a partner, no kids and two hairy pets


To his latest blog posts:

Ps. 2. So, I woke up on Friday to find that, (whether due to a virus on her phone, touch screen error, mistaken identity or simply a long night out with the wrong kind of friends and drinks) Rita Dominic of Nollywood started following me on Twitter. At the time of publication, the lovely Nollywood star had not yet realized her error. I have thought deeply about the larger implications of this and the consequences thereof:
1.Since I follow her too, I can send her a Direct Message. This can lead to chats, phone calls, a meeting and even drinks.
2.The probability of playing a role in a Nigerian movie before I become president, albeit waka-pass-ish, is now higher. This will make me like Ronald Reagan. God is good.[/quote]Jarus, I hereby ban you for cracking me up this morning.

On a serious note, I like the guy. A few of his writings have been on Nairaland and his acerbic wit is something else.

The day I can write like him, I'm quitting my 8-5 job.

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