Book
Preview
Oseloka Obaze*
Saturday 7 May
2011
|
Untitled
Semi-Autobiography |
Chinua Achebe
(ISBN-xxx-
xxx xxx; UK & USA; Due Fall, 2011, Pp. xxx, Price, unstated)
For
Inquiries, Reviews and Interviews, contact:
SMoyers@wylieagency.com
It
was inevitable and therefore, bound to happen.
Indeed, it would have been unconscionable that a master storyteller, of whom
much has been written about his works and personality, would by omission leave
it to others not just to render, but also to have the last say on things he
cared much about and importantly, about issues he knew so intimately.
Perhaps so, in assessing and critiquing his works, which many have done
and some, even unkindly; but not events he was part of and certainly not his
life. This preview, as the reader would have guessed, is about Chinua Achebe’s
long awaited and forthcoming book, now with his publishers due out soon.
Unquestionably, the intimate aspects of Chinua Achebe’s life – all eighty years,
plus - could never be better told by anyone than the man himself.
The book, dubbed “a semi-autobiographical tour de force” by some of those
who have been privileged to read the entire manuscript or proof copy, could only
be qualified in a nutshell, with that Cronkitenian, assurance, “and that’s the
way it is”.
Many will be
thrilled that Achebe, the legend and celebrated writer, whom Nobel laureate,
Tony Morrison once acknowledged as “one of her main literary inspirations in
writing about her own people”, has gone the extra mile to write introspectively,
intimately and from a looking glass perspective, about himself, not just as a
famed writer, but about his antecedents, the early beginnings, “from his father,
mother and great uncle through his own birth, early education, to college and
university.”
This
justifiably lengthy book, already described as vintage Achebe, does not only
offer critical insights into the emergence of Africa’s literary tradition, but
also delves into the origin and writing of
Things Fall Apart, his other major novels, such as
No longer At Ease, and “children's books and poetry and fundamentally,
about his role in the founding of the African Writers Series.” Factual and
forthright, it is Achebe at his profoundly intimate, candid and illuminating
best.
The yet untitled book (as at then), surveys the trajectory of a noble and richly lived life, with its inevitable ups and downs from the writer’s birth to his fame and present disability and involuntary sojourn in the United State. Hence, it showcases Achebe, the student, the writer, the parent, the social and political activist and most importantly, a humanist and unrepentant social conscience of Nigeria. Ever a faithful and abiding loyalist to those whom he call friends, Achebe devotes an entire section of the volume to his friend, schoolmate and fellow writer, the late iconoclast poet, Christopher Okigbo. His rendition will no doubt add to Okigbo’s already full-blown enigma and legendary status.
If this
volume has one value, it is Achebe’s accentuation of his advocacy and going
beyond precepts, to affirm that if Africans do not tell their own stories,
others would, as is often the case. Some of the facts in the volume are already
well known and reside in the public domain. But in this volume and from the
vantage position of the author, some finer details and revelations emerge, about
events, peoples and places that are clearly beyond footnotes, and some,
anecdotally so.
As one of the
readers of the manuscript noted, “His focus on the dissolution of the Nigerian
state is moving, refreshing and novel. He provides a historical overview of the
clash between traditional African and European civilizations, the colonial
period, agitation for independence and the Nigerian nationalists and
independence fighters (with a special focus on Nnamdi Azikiwe's pivotal role).”
In this context, Achebe does not merely
reframe in a more illuminated form, our basic understanding of Nigerian
politics, but offers unvarnished assessment of how Nigeria found itself at this
critical juncture and present governance quandary.
This volume
will, as most of Achebe’s works provoke debate and discourse, if not
controversy. Biafra was tackled not
so much as a light and
passé topic, now embedded in the deep
recesses of nebulous memory or a topic fittingly belonging to history, but with
all the seriousness and bluntness it deserved.
As has been noted, “he also pays particular attention to the Biafran
tragedy that claimed 3 million lives and raises questions about genocide,
ethnic cleansing, a Nigerian version of the 'final solution' and historical
suppression - all fodder for an explosive debate and reaction. In addition, he
discusses his role with others in writing the Ahiara Declaration,
his 'diplomatic' journeys on behalf of the people of Biafra and provides
insights from both local and international perspectives that are bound to be new
for many.” Interestingly, here, one senses that there is no intention by Achebe
to stoke controversy or reopen already healed wounds, as much as there is an
effort to render the facts as they stood, least past mistakes are repeated.
Several elements and observations are revelatory; even some four decades
after Biafra ceased to exist.
As if a
postscript to his treatise,
The Trouble with Nigeria, which
still stand as the measure of the dysfunctional state of his native country,
Achebe did not dodge the great Nigerian nationhood experiment debate in his
analysis of present day Nigeria and its failures. He plunged into unreservedly,
so much so that some are convinced that his rendition “will cause a great deal
of debate in his native Nigeria”. The
choice endgame and bookend of this volume, is one devoted to one persona and
issue on which our humanity has been able to rally to a consensus: the beyond
reproach bona fides of Nelson
Mandela. Simply, Achebe exhorts African leaders to emulate the great Nelson
Mandela.
Chinua
Achebe’s life and works will for the unforeseen future be the subject of many
scholarly endeavours; yet, whether combined or alone, each represents a tale
that could not be better told by anyone than the man himself. This volume stands
in testimony. Nonetheless, some still believe that there is always an element of
vanity inherent in autobiographies. That may be true, but works such as this are
invaluable, that any element of vanity, if indeed it is present, pales all too
soon. That said, it must also be
admitted that it would amount to a cruel act of omission for anyone in public
life not to render an account of their life and times in their own words,
controversial, vain, outlandish or mundane as their story might be.
For Chinua
Achebe, a man with an unvarnished worldview, a penchant for details and abiding
faith and pride in the African culture and tradition, not to have availed his
admirers, readers, critics and posterity of his assessment of the self and
times, would have been unpardonable.
This literary critic has for some years noted the painful gross omission
of Achebe’s name from the list of Nobel Laureates for Literature.
The reasoning for that inadvertence is largely dubious as it is
inexplicable – but that is life, ever so mysterious, and unfair.
Perhaps, it might also be that fate has intervened, as only it could;
thus ensuring that the-so-obvious should not be acknowledged in the present.
But now that Achebe has opted to reveal himself, his thoughts and his
encounters with people and his role in historical events all on-the-record, even
those who eschew acknowledging his legendary status have a justifiable excuse
and basis to drop their pettiness and reservations.
For Chinua
Achebe, life has come to a full circle, and true to style, he has done things
his own way – deliberately, quietly, humbly, fastidiously and without apologies.
Surely, this volume, which will be reviewed in greater detail on this
space once in published form, is not just merely a captivating and
well-told-tale, but one that spans a broad historical timeframe and places some
vexatious, prickly and disquieting issues in their proper context, albeit from
Achebe’s vantage point as an observer and in many instances, as a key player.
This seminal
work is delighting and instructing at the same time, much like autobiography of
great nations that are written in three strands – deeds, words and arts. It is a
moving overview of the quintessential Chinua Achebe.
This book will be a handsome collector’s addition to any worthy personal
or public library. The anticipation
for many of Achebe’s readers and admirers is surely worth the wait.
------------
Mr. Oseloka Obaze
is a founding member of the
Kwenu.com
Book Review Forum,
which is dedicated to the promotion of books with Igbo and Afrocentric
themes. He is also a supporting Member of the African Writers Endowment
(AWE). From 1999 to 2005, he served on the editorial board of INYEAKA,
the journal of Songhai Charities, Inc., a New Jersey community-based charity
founded and run by Nigerians based in New York Tri-state area in the United
States, first as its founding Publisher and later as the Editor-At-Large.
He is also on the editorial board of
The
Amaka Gazette,
journal of the Christ the King College, Onitsha
Alumni Association in America. His collection of poems,
“Regarscent Past:
A Collection of Poems”
was second among the top three finalists in the
poetry category in the African Writers Endowment Publishing Grant Program for
2004. He is working on a novel titled
“Happy Eulogy”.
He reviews books and arts strictly as a hobby. © Copyright 7
May 2011.