₦airaland Forum

Ndipe:
Good observation@SMC. Are you a writer in the making?

My brother, I will refer to myself as a writer in progress. May the good Lord help me along.

We have been here before. Please let us not go down this road again. The tribal lines and affiliations would once again come to the fore if we do.

The book I am talking about is definitely by Jilly Cooper also has Rupert Black in it. I know she has quite a number of books that kinda form a series/sequels or something. And the horse died in a race just before the finish line.

A lot of her books have horses. She is a horse lover and has a mighty estate in the country if I can remember.

I did a review of this book a while back and one of the things I raised was the triviality with which she treated certain issues like pre-marital co-habitation. I stated then that anyone who has even a slight knowledge of the Nigerian way of life would find it almost impossible to believe that Igbo parents would endorse such co-habitation (tacitly or otherwise) in this modern day and age talk much less of in the 1960s.

The book shows the writers foreign influence and like has been previously stated, was probably written predominantly with a foreign audience in mind. This does not make Adichie a sellout. she has chosen this style and it works for her. To be sincere, she will probably succeed in drawing and attracting (to African literature) a new crop of foreign readers with this style as it is a style that they understand and are quite comfortable/familiar with.

She is a good Brit writer. I remember reading Polo many many years ago. Isn't that the one with the horse that was called Arthur? I think I enjoyed it then but it's so long that I can't remember.

@ Seun,

Good move on removing that guy's post showing how the book ended. Hopefully, many Harry Potter Lovers did not see it.

Keep up the good work mate.

It is funny the way a capitalist market works. The Harry Potter books have a recommended retail price (RRP) of £17.99 in the UK, but in the price wars amongst the book retail giants, there have been clashes in the price of the book that most retailers are marketing it at less than half the RRP (less than their own cost prices even). Most of them had decided to sell it between £12.99 or £13.99 e.g. Waterstones, but then Tesco decided that it will be selling at £8.87. WH Smith are selling the book for £9.97 but for a limited time which started yesterday (I don't know for how long), the book was advertised at £6.99.

Who wins in all this? The consumers. Fan-Bloody-Tastic. Although I am not a Harry Potter fan (I have not read even one of the books though I have bought a few for my nieces), I think this is definitely good news for Harry Potter lovers as they do not need to break the bank when buying the book.

<<snip>>

Although I am not a Harry Potter fan, I think it is very inconsiderate of you to tell how the book ends, effectively ruining the suspense for others.

It is funny the way a capitalist market works. The Harry Potter books have a recommended retail price (RRP) of £17.99 in the UK, but in the price wars amongst the book retail giants, there have been clashes in the price of the book that most retailers are marketing it at less than half the RRP (less than their own cost prices even). Most of them had decided to sell it between £12.99 or £13.99 e.g. Waterstones, but then Tesco decided that it will be selling at £8.87. WH Smith are selling the book for £9.97 but for a limited time which started yesterday (I don't know for how long), the book was advertised at £6.99.

Who wins in all this? The consumers. Fan-Bloody-Tastic. Although I am not a Harry Potter fan (I have not read even one of the books though I have bought a few for my nieces), I think this is definitely good news for Harry Potter lovers as they do not need to break the bank when buying the book.

Vitastraka:
No body talks about the collected masterpieces of Vitastraka

For goodness sake, SHUT THE Bleep UP!!!

You have no works, so just button it Mister and stop ranting all over the place about your imaginary works/masterpieces.

Hiya Dupe,

Where in Lagos can one get your books i.e. The Aireginian Dream and Tailed? Can you let me know as soon as possible. Giving me the names of various bookshops in different parts of town would help greatly as I want a mate to get them for me when he is coming up from Lagos.

I also observed that your website has been down for a good number of days (I thought I could get some information off the site).

Cheers,

SMC

I have read the first three efforts. Awaiting the next batch.

Right now, I have No Comments

Vintage:
When I get some cash ill definatly buy her book. I'm very curious now. I have read a few BOOKS BUY Nigerian authors before, and found them very good.

There are loads of great books by Nigerian authors. I wish they were much more accessible here in the west.

Vitastraka:
How about Vitastraka

Have you read his books? They are wonderful stories that dig deep into the heart of Nigeria

You again?

Ndipe:
Certainly not@SMC, how can you know which book contains an atrocious word or not, without reading it? Moreso, with the public outcry against rap music/hiphop, I think the same outcry should be extended to books.

If books were to be given different classifications or ratings like films currently are (e.g. PG, 18 e.t.c.), anyone will be able to tell the books which would tend to be sexually graphic or use profanity. If a reader then decides to ignore the ratings, he/she would only have himself/herself to blame as the ratings will act as a suitable warning (the same way they do for films).

The truth of the matter is that times have changed. The world has become a global village and people in Africa emulate their counterparts in the Western world. Profanity is the order of the day. Now, while I am not saying this is a positive trend, it is the reality of this day and age. Some people are of the school of thought that sex in its entirety should be obliterated from literature, but it is a fact that sex goes hand in hand with our daily lives. The manner in which it is broached by an author is what makes a difference.

Writers can adequately write without recourse to profanity in dialogue. However, there are situations where colourful language cannot be avoided, but these where possible should be kept to the minimum.

All these regardless, I do not agree that sexually graphic material/language should be expunged from literature. Rather, I think it would be better if there is some kind of censorship or classification like movies have, where books would be awarded ratings in line with how sexually explicit or graphic they are (as well as the choice of language used). This will help in ensuring that they are restricted to the appropriate age group. Also, those people who find profanity or sexually explicit material offensive will know which books to stay clear of.