Graceland
by Chris Abani
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Read in September, 2007
This is my first time reading a young contemporary African writer and Abani presents a portrait of Africa which is very much in keeping with recent images/media about the current state of despair, poverty, war and corruption. One feels like the future of Africa is headed in a downward spiral into Dante's inferno. Take the recent documentary DARWIN'S NIGHTMARE for example - you hit the edge of despair learning how Lake Victoria's ecology has been screwed by Western scientists who introduced a no...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
Graceland is the tale of a Nigerian youth whose name happens to be Elvis. He grows up in a somewhat rural area, where the periphery of his childhood imagination is dappled with images of a father named Sunday running for political office in a corrupt system, former child soldiers with PTSD who have now become outcastes in the local village, a dying mother. Elvis' move to the megalopolis of Lagos in his teens tells us a story of a city on the precipice of modernity in the early 80s, which in his ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2005
I think you can judge this book by its cover. The ten year old smoking the cigarette says as much about Chris Abani's over-stated portrait of poverty in Lagos as any of the prose within. While I certainly think it's about time a mass-market paperback about the current conditions in industrialized West Africa, Abani presents his critique of American imperialism within a whole lot of artistry or subtlety. It's Things Fall Apart, Part Deux, without the poetry that Chinua Achebe brings to his cha...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
smart, open-minded people
This book is one of those books that, no matter how intense and devastating its content, is written so well that you just don't want it to end. Abani's prose is so effortless and fluid, you can't help but be drawn into the world he's created. In this case, Lagos, Nigeria in the early 1980s, with flashbacks a few years earlier. We follow Elvis (his real name), a Nigerian teenager who longs to dance and do his Elvis impersonation (what commentary on internal colonization in that one characteristic...more
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I think when U.S. Americans born and raised in this country read this book they should realize how much its country has fucked with the rest of the world for "its interest." This novel has tragic scenes of casual violence, yet Abani's tone is not over-sentimental, this novel is not like a commercial you see late at night where an old Santa-looking man is asking you to save a Nigerian for less than a dollar a day.
No. This novel reminds me of third-world cinema, in which the narrative ...more
No. This novel reminds me of third-world cinema, in which the narrative ...more
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A new writing mentor–someone I really admire. I picked up GraceLand because I was curious and hopeful about its novel structure. And I was rewarded.
Notes on it structure–the main story is set in 1983…but in Book 1, every other chapter is set in the past until the timeline intersects at the end of Book 1 (i.e., Chapter 1: 1983…Chapter 2: 1972…Chapter 3: 1983…Chapter 4: 1974, etc., etc.). The beginning of Book 2 moves forward from that point, staying in 1983. Bam.
In addition to st...more
Notes on it structure–the main story is set in 1983…but in Book 1, every other chapter is set in the past until the timeline intersects at the end of Book 1 (i.e., Chapter 1: 1983…Chapter 2: 1972…Chapter 3: 1983…Chapter 4: 1974, etc., etc.). The beginning of Book 2 moves forward from that point, staying in 1983. Bam.
In addition to st...more
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How come I've never heard of Chris Abani before?
I just watched a short talk he gave at the TED conference:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/t...
Abani is an incredibly moving storyteller. It is remarkable how much pain the human spirit can endure. He talks about the horror he experienced as a political prisoner of the Nigerian government as well as about the incredible acts of compassion ...more
I just watched a short talk he gave at the TED conference:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/t...
Abani is an incredibly moving storyteller. It is remarkable how much pain the human spirit can endure. He talks about the horror he experienced as a political prisoner of the Nigerian government as well as about the incredible acts of compassion ...more
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Read in December, 2007
What a moving, but ultimately deeply upsetting book about a young man's coming of age in contemporary Lagos, Nigeria. The main character, Elvis, is bright, warm, and totally relatable, which makes the abusive and violent episodes he experiences all the more heart-wrenching. I haven't read African fiction widely, but Graceland seems in keeping with the themes raised by Emmanuel Dongala and Chinua Achebe, two of my favorite authors (African or otherwise). All three authors have an understated s...more
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Read in January, 2008
usually, first novels are these explosive things and you can picture the author all spent and wasted by the end of it. which isn't to say the writing of this book wasn't a laborious effort for abani; however, i didn't get that "giving it your all" sense. the writing is decent, but i wasn't blown over. too many things happen in too short a space (i know, everyone who is writing/has written a novel will probably murder me for saying that). in the end, i appreciated it, but not as much as...more
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Read in January, 2005
Chris Abani came through Elliott Bay Book Company when I was working on the readings team there. He was great fun to work with and even conscripted me to read a passage from the novel with him as part of his presentation.
The novel is a great and appropriately complicated look at life in contemporary Nigeria, centering around the life of Elvis, a boy who is trying to find his way in the labyrinths of Lagos after the loss of his mother. Abani does great work.
The novel is a great and appropriately complicated look at life in contemporary Nigeria, centering around the life of Elvis, a boy who is trying to find his way in the labyrinths of Lagos after the loss of his mother. Abani does great work.
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
people who like African writers
I finished this book two weeks ago and still find myself thinking about the characters. That to me is a hallmark of a good book--I get invested in the characters and care what happens to them. The writing is so honest and clean. The story is heartbreaking. I found the sex scenes uncomfortable and gratuitous, which is the only criticism I can think of off the top of my head.
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Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone
I read Chris Abani's book Becoming Abigail, and was terribly disappointed, but when I saw this title, I gave him another chance. I loved it. Don't peek, but the last line of the book is so insightful! And I mean don't peek! This story made me laugh, cry and kiss my teeth. There were times where I had to close the book and take a moment. Just read it!!!
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A grim, touching, heartbreaking story of a teenager in a ghetto of Lagos, he has dreams of being an Elvis impersonator that are quickly dashed when the reality of living in a coup-torn country manifest to him. There are some parts that are very hard to read, very real and raw, but an important book to read for everyone to realize the true freedom we enjoy.
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If you want to see Nigeria through the eyes of a disenfranchised kid trying his best to survive in post independent Nigeria, set during the late 70's and early 80's. This is your book. Also has recipes on great traditional Nigerian meals
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meandering book that jumps between two threads, the main character in "now" and snapshots of the main character as he grew up, very disjointed. Also, some poor religious imagery/parallels which gets distracting. General impression was "Eh..". That said there were some good sentences/paragraphs. Overall it was just too raw...
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Read in February, 2006
A look at the lives of the ordinary folks of Lagos, Nigeria. Which means they're poor, harrassed and generally an inch from disaster at all times. Focuses on Elvis, a young man trying to work his way out of poverty by getting to the US. A great depiction of what corrupt governments means to those they rule over.
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i read this book almost two years ago so i am a little fuzzy. i do remember the main character working his elvis impersonation on the white tourists at the beach. his quest is for a passport that will take him out and away. his dreams ... from west africa to graceland.
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This is a wonderful look at Nigerian culture. Abani shows the powerful influences which western culture has on Nigeria, but uses recipes, journals, and food tradition to show the ways traditional Igbo culture still remains a powerful force even in the cities.
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Walter Mosley recommended this to me. Well me and a room full of people, but I pretended it was just to me. I read it and adored the story. Sometimes when I'm reading "important" fiction I dress up to remind myself to have the appropriate level of awe.
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one of my bad picks for bookclub. This is a story of a boy growing up in Africa (Nigeria maybe?) and the terror that surrounds him, the corruption of the government bringing to light the frightening reality of a terror stricken country.
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