Book
Review
“Nothing
cripples a human being more than unrequited love,” says the narrator of An
Orchestra of Minorities, the new novel from Chigozie Obioma. Unrequited
love is the central theme of the novel. Chinonso, the protagonist, is “a small,
lonely man whose only sin [is] that he was hungry for companionship.”
Chinonso
is a young chicken-farmer in a village in Nigeria. One night, as he is
returning home with a few new chickens, he saves a young woman named Ndali from
suicide. Ndali was ditched by the man whom she loved very much and helped to
study. “Nothing, nothing should make someone fall inside the river and die.
Nothing.” That’s what Chinonso tells Ndali.
He
meets Ndali again some time later at a petrol pump. Eventually they fall in
love. But Ndali is the daughter of a chief who lives in a palatial house. Ndali
and her family belong to an entirely different social and economic class. Her
father and brother oppose her affair with Chinonso. They insult him after
inviting him to the father’s birthday party.
Chinonso
decides to improve his class by attending the university and acquiring a degree
which will help him secure a job that will elevate his social standing. He
sells his entire property and goes to Cyprus to attend the university. But he
is cheated by Jamike who promised to help him get admission to the university.
Jamike vanishes with almost all the money.
In
Cyprus, Chinonso is arrested for a crime he did not commit. He undergoes much
tribulation as a prisoner. A few years later, his innocence becomes clear and
he is released. Does Ndali wait for him still?
The
novel draws to a tragic end as Chinonso is unable to deal with his inner
emptiness. All the suffering has not taught him the necessary lessons of life.
Jamike, in the meanwhile, has reformed himself. He is a pastor now. He returns
most of the money he had stolen from Chinonso. It’s not money that will make
life meaningful, however. Chinonso needs love. The love of Jesus Christ that
Jamike offers is too abstract for Chinonso. He wants earthly love, palpable
love.
The
novel is written in the mythic style of the Igbo tradition to which the author
and the characters belong. That adds a unique charm to it. This is a novel that
will keep you engaged to the end.
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