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News From Home: Short Stories (Interlink World Fiction) (2010)

by Sefi Atta(Favorite Author)

3.8 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

156656803X (ISBN13: 9781566568036)

languge

English

genre

Picture Books

publisher

Interlink Books

review 1: "I read only non-fiction because I want to know about the real world," say some people. But, in fact, it is precisely about the real world that you learn when you read fine fiction. From Atta you learn about the nature of life as a Nigerian. Insights that appear nowhere but in fiction; where time is taken to appreciate the way people express themselves, to explore how they perceive the world - in comparison with how we, in the fortunate west, perceive the world. If you want to know things about the real world read this book.
review 2: Too many short stories are hard for me to remember as I read one after another in a short time. That does not mean the stories are not good. In fact, they give deep reflection to the lives of many poor youths and adults from Lag... moreos, told in the first person. It is often not clear whether the story teller in a few stories are male or female, and I often mistook one for the other, discovering 3/4's of the way through the story that I had the wrong visual image of the main character! It is clear in many of Sefi Atta's stories how poverty affects Nigerians' lives. Many children and adults turn to crime because of the discontent of their lives. "It occurred to me that there was nothing more precious in the world than satisfaction. That it was possible to end up committing a crime just because you were contaminated by a little discontent. You could convince yourself that you were satisfied, then someone could come along and say, "But I can offer you more," and then you could begin to think, My life is not worth much after all. In fact, you could tell yourself, My life was completely worthless from the start." Some characters have the strength to resist crime; others turn to crime in order to survive. One story, "Last Trip," is about a mother with a challenged child who swallows balloons filled with heroine and smuggles the drugs to London from Lagos out of desperation to feed and school her child. In many stories, it is clear that Nigerians detest the corruption and poverty of their country, yet espouse that white and black people who live overseas, although they live a luxurious life, in comparison to theirs, are spoiled and ungrateful. Nigerians, however, will turn to crime in order buy a plane ticket, longing to break out of the corruption and poverty they currently live in. Sefi Atta tells compelling tales from the past and present that depict the lives of the main characters with depth and clarity. less

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