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Romance / Re: Have You Ever Cheated On Your Partner? If So Why? by snowdrops(m): 2:43am On Nov 27, 2012 |
OP should set up poll. Let's get a snap shot of the gender variance amongst cheaters. How come most of them are guys? Is that a true reflection or are babes so guarded and secretive as some ppl have asserted? |
Crime / Re: Mass Robbery In Auchi, Edo State? by snowdrops(m): 2:27am On Nov 27, 2012 |
Very soon the banks would close shop and leave the area. |
Sports / Re: Kolo Toure Tricked Student Into Affair Lying He Was A Car Salesman by snowdrops(m): 2:24am On Nov 27, 2012 |
With his bench warming at city he may soon end up a used car sales man 1 Like |
Literature / Will Ferguson' 419 by snowdrops(m): 1:10pm On Nov 23, 2012 |
Over the last decade, Will Ferguson has made the seemingly effortless transition from successful humorist and travel writer to successful comic novelist. Generica, his 2001 satire of the self-help industry, was a surprise hit at home and in the U.K. (the U.K. title, Happiness™, has since been applied to domestic reprints). Spanish Fly (2007), his picaresque novel of Dust Bowl–era con men, impressed many readers and critics with its rich characterizations and plot twists. Even Ferguson’s most recent travelogue, 2011’s Beyond Belfast, largely avoided the zingers and easy cultural dislocations that defined much of his earlier work. Perhaps feeling constrained by even the comic novel’s limitations, Ferguson has entered the ranks of literary novelists with 419, a story that follows a Canadian editor from her comfortable life in Calgary to neo-liberalism’s lawless frontiers in the oil- and blood-drenched streets and backwaters of Nigeria. The novel begins with a series of fragmented, almost impressionistic scenes that unfortunately display all the hallmarks of the Serious Canadian Novel: unnamed characters, landscape descriptions, italicized passages, and a high tone notable (somewhat ironically, in this instance) for its utter humourlessness. There are also ponderous rhetorical questions, including the one that begins the novel: “Would you die for your child? This is the only question a parent needs to answer: everything else flows from this. It is the only question that needs answering.” Four storylines emerge from the opening section, each connected – though not always directly – to the car-crash death of Henry Curtis, a retired Calgary school teacher. Given the nature of Henry’s uneventful, button-down life, the police do not initially suspect foul play, in spite of seeming incongruities at the accident scene, including a mysterious second set of tire tracks. More troubling clues come to light. Henry’s shared bank accounts have all been recently emptied, the family house remortgaged, and their credit cards maxed out – all without the knowledge of Henry’s surviving wife. Henry’s death is soon ruled a suicide, and when the police confiscate his hard drive they find a trail of emails charting Henry’s hellish descent into the depths of a Nigerian Internet scam that left him penniless. Henry’s wife and two grown children are devastated, but only his daughter, Laura, a reclusive copy editor, vows to take action and track down the men who destroyed her father. Woven into the investigation and revenge narrative are the stories of three young Nigerians: Winston Balogun, the educated but futureless email scammer responsible for the ruin of Laura’s father; Nnamdi, a fisherman’s son co-opted into the petroleum black market after his village ecosystem is destroyed by wanton oil drilling; and Amina, a pregnant waif fleeing her extended family of cattle herders in the north for the promise of a new life in the southern cities. The novel comes to life when Ferguson dispenses with jarring short scenes and fully immerses readers in the intersecting stories that propel the narrative toward a series of dramatic collisions and reconciliations. Ferguson’s eye for local detail and power dynamics animates an early scene in which Laura, disembarking in Lagos for the last stages of her journey to confront Winston, is questioned by a suspicious security official in the airport. The scene achieves a charged, claustrophobic feeling of imminent disaster, which is all the more effective for Ferguson’s skilful evasion of any overt confrontation. Even better are the scenes that take readers into the surreal criminal underworld of Nigeria’s 419 Internet scams (named for the section of the Nigerian criminal code dealing with obtaining funds illegally). Readers follow Winston’s passage from successful free agent to reluctant cog in the vast, interconnected schemes of Ironsi-Egobia, a sociopathic criminal mastermind and one of the most compelling villains in recent fiction. The novel is further enlivened by sharp dialogue and imagery. Looking out from her apartment window at Calgary’s crane-crowned winter skyline, Laura sees “a city that was constantly erasing and rewriting itself. A cold city, exhaling steam.” Later, Nnamdi remembers the day the men from the oil company suddenly emerged from the dense mangrove thickets to stake the villagers’ ancestral land: “More and more men boiled out of the [jungle] gap like ants.” But too often, especially in the novel’s first half, the prose reveals a talented author working against the instincts and storytelling gifts that served him so well in his other works. Hopefully Ferguson finds equally compelling material to work with in his next novel, be it comic or otherwise, and this time trusts his gut a little more. http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=7599 |
Education / Re: Has UNILAG Succeeded In Crushing The MAULAG Name Finally? by snowdrops(m): 12:00pm On Nov 19, 2012 |
boron10: Ingriish police, Weldone o. AKA NL oversabis. 1 Like |
Fashion / Re: Pictures: Miss Big World Nigeria Winners by snowdrops(m): 9:46pm On Nov 17, 2012 |
Good for them,they are fat and proud. |
Celebrities / Re: Venus Williams Arrives In Lagos (Pictures) by snowdrops(m): 2:45am On Oct 31, 2012 |
okpara ugo: Like me and you |
Music/Radio / Re: Dammy Krane – Condom Sir (Gangnam Style Cover) by snowdrops(m): 6:56pm On Oct 30, 2012 |
ochallo:I toast one babe lately 1 Like |
Celebrities / Re: Venus Williams Arrives In Lagos (Pictures) by snowdrops(m): 6:53pm On Oct 30, 2012 |
Safe stay babes. Beware of kidnappers. 5 Likes |
Music/Radio / Re: Dammy Krane – Condom Sir (Gangnam Style Cover) by snowdrops(m): 2:47pm On Oct 30, 2012 |
Joblessness |
Politics / Re: New Face Of The Remodelled Benin Airport. Who Says The FG Is Not Working. by snowdrops(m): 6:40pm On Oct 29, 2012 |
Ejiné: Later on, people go open their dirty garri-filled mouths to talk say Stella Oduah no dey do anything, begin dey accuse her of tribalism simply because she fired some people who've been chopping with nothing to show for it. Them dey worry you? Abi you no see say na NDDC project be dis? 1 Like |
Politics / Re: Nigerian Embassy In Berlin Attacked by snowdrops(m): 1:03am On Oct 20, 2012 |
misreal: nigeria is goin to be a great contry mark my words just gve us ten more years Comments noted, but irrelevant with respect to topic |
Politics / Re: Picture Of Obasanjo Monitoring Venezuela's Elections by snowdrops(m): 10:44pm On Oct 09, 2012 |
gbengalite: OBJ's pix monitoring the recently concluded Venezuela's election Abi na that babe chest he dey monitor? |
Politics / Re: Worshippers Mock Jonathan at Church Service by snowdrops(m): 12:01am On Oct 01, 2012 |
ooseven: I thought worshippers only focused on God in church. Since when did political analysis become part of church service?? Comments like this make me wonder why Seun did not create a "dislike" button in addition to the standard like one. 34 Likes |
Politics / Re: Oshiomole In A Canoe Helping Flood Victims: Photos by snowdrops(m): 10:02pm On Sep 24, 2012 |
Had_one: Good that you demonstrating some degree of empathy with th victims but I believe you, me and every like minded persons should do more for those affected. Let's be our brothers keepers. What stops us sending raising a fund for persons affected by this natural disaster. We cannot leave this responsibility to govt alone. Common NL, we can do better. If a creditable person(s) can organise this I am ready to make the first contribution. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: Oshiomole In A Canoe Helping Flood Victims: Photos by snowdrops(m): 9:45pm On Sep 24, 2012 |
My views: 1. The manifestation of climate change 2. Kudos to the governor. Hope the N100m gets spent judiciously on the victims as intended. 3. Where is the Federal Emergency Unit in all this. After all this is a bonafide national disaster. 1 Like |
Crime / Re: Male Kidnapper Caught In Anambara State Beaten To Pulp And Stripped Nekkid. . . by snowdrops(m): 9:39pm On Sep 24, 2012 |
What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? |
Crime / Re: Man Caught Having Sex With A Sheep In Ebonyi. by snowdrops(m): 9:37pm On Sep 24, 2012 |
Maybe he was trying to learn the rhyme " baa baa black sheep" |
Foreign Affairs / Re: France To Close Embassies Over Cartoon Publication by snowdrops(m): 6:54pm On Sep 19, 2012 |
Series22: my friend, hw dare u say muhammed (pbuh) is d last prophet of God? Have u not heard of Prophet TB JOSHUA? MR man, do ur research b4 u post |
Politics / Re: Jonathan Agrees To Reverse N5000 Note Plan by snowdrops(m): 6:20pm On Sep 19, 2012 |
Hail hail to the flip flopping president. Definition of confusion. |
Events / Re: Happy Birthday To Linda Ikeji At 32 by snowdrops(m): 6:16pm On Sep 19, 2012 |
@ Sam Milla See what desperation has reduced my brother to? Kpele. |
Events / Re: Happy Birthday To Linda Ikeji At 32 by snowdrops(m): 5:53pm On Sep 19, 2012 |
She was 32yrs old 32 yrs ago. Seriously, HBD. |
Foreign Affairs / Re: France To Close Embassies Over Cartoon Publication by snowdrops(m): 5:51pm On Sep 19, 2012 |
Non-Muslims must not be made to live a life of fear of offending Muslims. There are hundreds of other religions in the world but they don't resort to violence at the flimsiest provocation. As a Muslim if you feel your faith has been violated by there mark or behaviour of others why don't you leave your god to handled revenge. Would the killing and maiming of innocent persons thousands of miles from the alleged provocator (as happened with the us ambassador to Libya) bring about justice? Real Muslims should denounce fanatism, bigotry and political Islam. 3 Likes |
Politics / Re: NAIRALAND MODERATORS: Please List The Mods You Dont Like And Why.. by snowdrops(m): 3:05pm On Sep 19, 2012 |
9th page and thread still waxing strong. Thus far it has been informative, educative, entertaining and insightful. Wonder why this is yet to hit home page. Should topic had been picture of . , , . . . . ., Igbo man arrested for drugs, Adebola nabbed for rituals, Why you love your boyfriend, It would have been on HP from very first post. |
Crime / Re: Nigerian Drug Smuggling Gang Busted In Pakistan by snowdrops(m): 2:54pm On Sep 19, 2012 |
From the article I cannot find any names to conclude the suspects are Nigerians. Either the persons arrested are falsely claiming to be naija or the authors are lowlifes fabricators. |
Politics / Re: NAIRALAND MODERATORS: Please List The Mods You Dont Like And Why.. by snowdrops(m): 7:07pm On Sep 18, 2012 |
Ejiné: lol. Could not agree more. I remember the guy not only banned me but blocked my ip address following a petty argument in 2005. Ironically, i was new on NL, I never knew who he was, told him off for what I believed was unsavoury behaviour and alas a universal ban. But I guess time changes people. |
Politics / Re: NAIRALAND MODERATORS: Please List The Mods You Dont Like And Why.. by snowdrops(m): 6:58pm On Sep 18, 2012 |
onatisi: i must confess it is on nairaland that mods join in discussions,all the forums i have joined mods are like refrees they are suppose to make sure they game is played fair but on nl the mods are the player,refree and also match commisioner that is the problem,i think seun should lay an embargo on mods from joining discussion.it is absolutely unprofessional and unbecoming for mods to join in discussion and debates and when they realise they have been dusted and their arguements rubbished,they start insulting members and sadly they are bad losers unlike nl members who know how to retreat ,the mods results to banning members .but as i have observed seun has no control over these mods,they seem to hold him to ransom that makes him incapable of checking their excess which has likely resulted in nl getting banned by google adsence Very well put. By definition, a moderator is an Arbitrator, an intermediary, a mediator, a presiding officer who chairs a debate. These artributes cannot be said of a good number of the mods. Seun should employ more stringent measures in appointing mods, ensure periodic revalidation to make certain they are still worth the positions and provide guarantee that aggrieved members' complaints can be promptly and robustly dealt with. |
Sports / Re: Serena And Venus Williams To Visit Nigeria In October by snowdrops(m): 2:45pm On Sep 18, 2012 |
ismhab: Are they not affraid of boko haram? even arsenal had cancelled their trip to Nigeria. I won't be surprised if the visit is cancelled at the eleventh hour, when the reality of the trip dawns. They might opt for a non-risk video or tele conference. The fear of BH, Kidnappers, et al is beginning of wisdom. 1 Like |
Celebrities / Re: Pictures Of Iyanya Before And Now by snowdrops(m): 9:36am On Aug 24, 2012 |
caseless: I hop u'r not al sayin it is moni dat hav metamorphosed dz guy 2 his present look or shape? How dos poverty inhibit growth or how dos being big indicate richness? If d tym com 4 bodi 2 grow nothin go stop am na. My guy poverty dey stunt growth wella. You never see kwashiorkor pickins dem for Somalia before? Beta chronic hunger fit make person be like AIDS victim FYI. 9 Likes |
Travel / Re: What Are The Most RACIST Countries? by snowdrops(m): 2:50pm On Aug 22, 2012 |
zeal500: Germany & Russia I thought Germany has become more tolerant post2nd ww. On the definition of race, the debate has been very interesting. Donxavier has made hard hitting points. I guess we should move on and not miss out on the reason for this thread. On that note I vote Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Libya and Australia. 1 Like |
Politics / Re: Nigeria's Consular-General, New York, I Am Not A Religious Bigot by snowdrops(m): 4:06pm On Aug 15, 2012 |
Built2last: The only person to blame for all this sh.it happening is Lord Lugard and His girl friend for joining Light and darkness If not, this guy may have been Boko Haram ambassador to Afganistan. Has he Gone to see the families involved till now? Rubbish Bravo!!! Just like they tried but failed to join mainly Muslim Parkistan and secular India. What has darkness got to do with light? This man would be better suited to represent the Islamic republic of Northern Nigeria. |
Health / Re: Using Tissue Or Water After Toilet, Which Is More Hygienic? by snowdrops(m): 9:05pm On Aug 13, 2012 |
Good lord. Can people honestly answer if other nationals use water and bare hands to wipe ass as Naija does. We need to stop this revolting habit . |
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