ABIKU

Rating:
Summary: Abiku - Excellent Book, Insightful, Rivetting
Review: Abiku is one of the best books I have read in ages - and I read a lot. I could not put it down. The insight into another culture, the rivetting plot, the tremendous character development keep you glued to the pages. Most amazing, is it is based on fact, true people currently in Nigeria. An amazing book by an amazing person.`

Rating:
Summary: Pulls you along, leads, but never leaves you
Review: I read this book as part of a book club. I love to read about other cultures, especially African. I thought I was going to be bored because African novels tend to take on the air of war and violence, corruption,and decadence which kind of tires me out. I have visited Western Africa,and I had many, many misconceptions about the motherland. As I explore and read more about individual countries in Africa, I have begun to understand that human nature in any culture equates to a thirst for power among the classes at any cost. However, the book was written in a manner that made me follow the story line like it was being recited to me by a story teller. Many twists and turns, but none was a dead end. There were no attempts by the author at cute diversion of red herrings. The tale was laid out with little snippits of the culture that I found interesting (Kolanut will cause the law to stop searching for fugitives!). Whenever I left one labrynth, I was led into another which connected the varied arms of the maze in a logical way. This is a good read using absolute power and the quest for it as the major theme.

The espionage was kind of dumb, funny and bumbling, but believable in a country governed by the military mentality -- not unlike what we are seeing all over the world where military governments bleed a nation dry.

The one downside for me -- I did not find it believable that all the men seemed to drool after a beguiling woman whose persona was wrapped up in the age-old notion that a woman of power has to sleep her way to it! Unlike, Anthills of the Savannah where fellow author Achebe demonstrates his knowledge and a willingness to admit that women are very complex creatures, who with equal opportunity can do whatever men in a society can do, Kotun's women are not as compelling. Ademola's father, after all, charmed his mother, in a mask!! After the second liaison, the masked man indicated that "power" was what the woman had just tasted. Kotun would have us believe that Eniola (any power hungry woman) would gladly allow herself to be passed along through the ranks of men of power, with the promise of power being the ultimate reward. Come on! A little too sexist and backward sounding! Good tale though!

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: This is one of the besyt books I have evr read and I hope that the author will continue to write more because he has a specail talent that should be used to its fullest.