An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obama

An Orchestra of Minorities 

By Chigozie Obioma 

Rating : 5/5 

Genres : Nigeria, Obsessive love, Igbo Cosmology, Murder, Vengeance, Victimization, Fiction 

My God! What a book! I have never read one where the soul of the main character is so exposed! His every action and thought process is explained with theoretical and psychological intent behind it by his Chi - a spirit that guards the human from birth to death by twining in his body as per Igbo Cosmology theory  - I am not sure how valid/accurate/real this is in application but makes sense on why sometimes there are conflicting thoughts within the mind of a person - one his conscience, other his Chi and third his own mind. Well, real or imaginary, I loved the concept of this Chi protecting or trying to protect its host from damaging himself/others. :) And how it calls on ancient fathers/gods each time it cannot fathom something or is shocked out of itself by something. :D

The book is called Orchestra of Minorities as it is referring to minor groups of vulnerable and helpless souls(be it birds like chickens or humans who are victimized by circumstances outside of their control) can do nothing but wail and cry in the face of adversities that they can't confront. All they can do it mop and try to forget or get over the event as best as they can. So the narrator of this story is  Chi,a guardian spirit of Chinonso Solomon, a poultry farmer who has known nothing else but to love, protect, guard his birds and poultry since childhood. One day he rescues a woman from committing suicide by jumping into a river. Later on, their paths cross again and they both become fast lovers. Truly, connected at soul and further than that. He says he wants to marry her and she asks him to meet her family who are very rich and underwhelmed with his lack of any significant qualifications. So he decides to enroll in a foreign university in Cypress, Turkey with the help of his friend Zamike. He sells all his property and confounding his girl friend Nadali makes the move to Cypress. There, he gets the shock of his life as he learn that he has been duped by Zamike. While he is searching for a job to pay his expenses, he meets a woman who tricks him and he ends up in jail accused of rape. :/ I mean, this is horrible horrible stuff. Nightmarish really because Chinonso is a simple guy with simple desires and an innocent soul that has stayed away from human world so far. He is exposed and what he has experienced simply leaves him broken, shaken and traumatized to the very core. While in prison for four years, he is also subjected to rape, seizures etc and as he returns to Nigeria, he is a different man. He seeks revenge on his friend who is now a transformed God man. Nadali has married another man and doesn't want to take him back. Obsessed and consumed with love for her, Chinonso feels helpless and bitter rage at all the things that happened and are happening to him..once he was naive, now he is absolutely mad and destructive. So what he does is...so stunning in its action and also the consequences! 

This is a beautifully written and narrated book. It was shortlisted for book prize 2019 and I am absolutely floored by this. It is a very good portrayal of how passion can turn into madness and madness into destruction. It is a very good portrayal of how innocence can be destroyed and how darkness once let into a heart can find its permanent nest there. I absolutely absolutely loved this book ! One hundred percent!