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Born on a Tuesday

Elnathan John

4.03 · Rating details · 1,077 ratings · 187 reviews

From two-time Caine Prize finalist Elnathan John, a dynamic young voice from Nigeria, Born on a Tuesday is a stirring, starkly rendered first novel about a young boy struggling to find his place in a society that is fracturing along religious and political lines.

In far northwestern Nigeria, Dantala lives among a gang of street boys who sleep under a kuka tree. During the e ...more

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Paperback, 256 pages

Published May 3rd 2016 by Grove Press, Black Cat (first published 2015)

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Dec 23, 2015 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Shelves: netgalley

After reading "Born on Tuesday", debut novel, by Elnathan John, I was so impressed
with this story, that I wanted to know more about Elnathan John himself.

I found a page 'About' ELNATHAN JOHN, on the Internet. ( handsome guy with intelligent looking eyes as though he is looking straight through people's soul)
IN HIS WORDS:
"My first instinct is to wonder why you are browsing boring pages like mine when there is work to be done saving the world, rescuing a lion from being shot in Zimbabwe,
saving ...more

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Nov 16, 2015 Esil rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

I can’t say that I enjoyed reading Born on a Tuesday, but I’m certainly glad I read it. Set in contemporary Nigeria, this book is told from Dantala’s perspective – Dantala literally means “born on a Tuesday” in his parent’s language. He comes from a small village of extreme poverty. His parents sent him away to a town school to learn Arabic. He gets caught up in some violence, and ends up being taken in by a leader at a mosque. The politics within and outside the mosque are very fractured and co ...more

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Aug 10, 2017 Brown Girl Reading rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Brown Girl Reading by: African Literature - Nigerian

Born on a Tuesday opens following a gang of street boys, who are hanging in the streets and getting up to no good. They spend time smoking wee wee, pillaging, committing random acts of violence and even murder. We are introduced to the main character, Dantala, “born on a Tuesday”, alias Ahmad. His poignant first person voice recounts his coming of age story in northern Nigeria. For more.... https://browngirlreading.com/2017/08/... ...more

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Aug 04, 2016 Book Riot Community added it

I think that in a couple of years this novel is going to be on a lot of African Lit 101 syllabuses. The novel takes place in Sokoto State in northwestern Nigeria and is an exploration of the rise of fundamentalist groups (both violent and non-violent) in that region. Told as the coming of age story of Dantala (meaning “born on a tuesday”) or Ahmed, as he is later named, it reminded me a lot of Ahmadou Kourouma’s Allah is Not Obliged in its tone and themes. Troubling but beautiful.

–Bronwyn Averet ...more

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Jan 22, 2017 Paul Fulcher rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: republic-of-consciousness-2017, 2017

"Then Malam Abdul-Nur speaks, holding up his right palm like a slate, turning between me and Sheikh. 'But Dantala ... Dantala is not a name. To say someone was born on a Tueaday, is that a name? A name should have meaning. Like Ahmad, the name of the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam. You should stop using that Dantala."

Elnathan John's Born on a Tuesday was published by the Nigerian based Cassava Republic Press, publisher also of the Goldsmiths Prize shortlisted Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream ...more

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Jul 06, 2017 Darkowaa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I'm shook. I don't even know where to begin...
Elnathan managed to capture life in northern Nigeria so vividly that it hurts.
I don't know how to review this yet. I've never read a novel like this before and I'm immensely impressed and distressed at the same time. I wish I had read this when Elnathan did his reading here in Accra, so I could have asked him the MANY questions worrying me right now.
Excellent novel. Should be required reading for courses on Islam in northern Nigeria. ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Maddie added it

Shelves: university

10/10 Last Year's Novels/ Contemporary Lit Module ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 Somi rated it it was amazing

With sweeping themes like poverty, mob violence, army brutality, religious indoctrination and intolerance, corruption and love, Elnathan John’s debut novel is an ambitious story told in enchantingly simple language through the voice of our lovable protagonist, Dantala, who is equal parts, innocence, religious fervor, intelligence and youthful curiosity.

Born on a Tuesday opens under a Kuka tree in Bayan Layi, a small town in Kaduna, in northern Nigeria. The boys under the tree smoke wee-wee (a hilarious slang for marijuana.) and boast about the number of people they’ve killed. They are almajiris – the street children of northern Nigeria, sent away from their homes for formal Quranic education, but more commonly known for begging and sometimes violence. Even in the first paragraph, in the unadorned language of the author, we first come in contact with a heartbreaking disregard for human life.

For many of us who only know the north through the romanticized stories of authors like Cyprian Ekwensi, and more recently through news reports of carnage and gore, it is the latter that is soon confirmed, when the boys under the kuka tree are paid paltry amounts to unleash violence after an election. Dantala, who possesses an ability for self-knowledge and evaluation that seems to be absent from the other boys, takes part. He’s not as eager as the others, sometimes expressing regret at the horrors he commits, but he takes part all the same, a loyal assistant to his mentor from under the tree, a local tough called Banda.

The riots end with soldiers shooting into the crowds of rioters. Banda is killed, and Dantala escapes, buying a ride on a lorry to take him back to his village in Sokoto. On the way, he first encounters the kindly Sheikh Jamal and his assistant, a convert from another part of the country, Malam Abdul-Nur Mohammed. They offer hope, and even when Dantala reaches his villages and finds his mother a silent testament to the devastation of extreme poverty coupled with a recent natural disaster, he holds on to that hope, finally returning to the sheikh to begin a new chapter of his life.

“Insha Allah, when I come back she will see me. One day, insha Allah, I will take her out of this place to the city, where there are hospitals and bright fluorescent lights. ~ Dantala.”

Under Sheikh Jamal’s tutelage, Dantala starts to learn more than he ever did in Quranic school. The tout from under the kuka tree is gone, and now we have an inquisitive boy, eager to improve himself, even as he reaches the peak of adolescence. Dantala’s experiences here give us hope for him, and form him in a way his adventures as a street boy in Kaduna don't. He reflects tentatively on the deeper questions of his faith, has his first uncomfortable experience with homosexuality, makes a friend, and ponders the hypocrisy of the people around him, even the ones he/and we admire. The three people who influence his life the most at this point are perhaps the true triumph of this book, Sheikh Jamal, who is gentle and kind, perhaps naïve, and not in any way perfect; Malam Abdul-Nur, whose fervor in his adopted religion echoes the greatest villains in history, he is violent in his personal life, and it translates into his religion, with his desire to punish all ‘unbelievers’ with violence. There is also Jubril, Abdul-Nur brother, who becomes the greatest influence on Dantala. They help and teach each other and develop a close and admirable friendship.

This stage of Dantala’s life is one many of us can identify with, learning, maturing, sexual curiosity, falling in love, and hope for the future, but trouble comes in the shape of increasing religious intolerance and bigotry, which threatens the life Dantala has found and the people he has come to love.

This book shocks from the very beginning, with the violence and the poverty, and yet the reader cannot help being moved to pity for these boys, the instruments of violence who don’t know any other life. In another region, in another world, Dantala would have a chance to make something of himself, but in the lowest rung of society in northern Nigeria, everything conspires against him.

Though the major arc of the story is somewhat tragic, Born on a Tuesday is actually a very hilarious read. I’m not new to reading Elnathan John, and I already know he has the gift of exploring details and highlighting the comic (and the poignant) in his writings. In reading Born on a Tuesday, I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. I feel like I have a better understanding of some issues in Northern Nigeria from reading this book and I look forward to more books from the author. ...more

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Jun 03, 2017 AC rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contempory-fiction, novels-africa-middle-east, africa-and-african-american

Wow. This is a very powerful book. A vicious, bitter look, and a Bildungsroman, in northern (Hausa) Nigeria in the age of Jihad. HIghly recommended.

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Nov 01, 2015 Anmiryam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: indiesintroduce, malewriters-2015, print-arc, favorites-2015, indiepress-2015, literary-2015, pub-2016, moc-2015

Stark and compelling -- I won't forget Dantala's harrowing journey to manhood anytime soon. ...more

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Nov 23, 2016 Rori Raquib rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was hard to read but probably for all the right reasons. We see the world through the eyes of Dantala, a young man growing up in Nigeria's volatile political environment while navigating the various Islamic sects.

I'm not squeamish but some of the passages in this stunned me with their violence. But this was balanced with a really raw, honest perspective of emotions, relationships, faith and the body. That said, I found it hard to get past the very plain style at first. It took a while to r ...more

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Feb 20, 2017 Neil rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-rofc, 2017

In northwestern Nigeria, an intelligent young man grows up in the midst of political and religious mayhem and violence. At times violent, at times funny, at times poetic, this is a powerful tale. For westerners like me, often all we hear of Nigeria is news reports of Boko Haram and this gives us another view "behind the scenes" of life (and death) in this country. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

The writing is not complicated. In fact, it is deceptively simple. And the story is one that gradually ...more

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Jan 17, 2017 Gumble's Yard rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017, 2017-republic-of-consciousness

The book opens with Dantala (born on a Tuesday) a Quaranic student having fallen in with a gang of street boys and getting caught up in political riots in 2003 when he attacks an opposition political party’s headquarters, sees his close friend shot and himself participates in a killing.

Fleeing to another North Nigerian town (Sokoto) he meets a religious leader and organiser Sheikh Jamal and joins his movement, where he befriends Jibril, the brother of Jamal’s more radical advisor Malam Abdul-Nu The book opens with Dantala (born on a Tuesday) a Quaranic student having fallen in with a gang of street boys and getting caught up in political riots in 2003 when he attacks an opposition political party’s headquarters, sees his close friend shot and himself participates in a killing.

Fleeing to another North Nigerian town (Sokoto) he meets a religious leader and organiser Sheikh Jamal and joins his movement, where he befriends Jibril, the brother of Jamal’s more radical advisor Malam Abdul-Nur. As Dantala slowly grows in influence (the Sheikh impressed by his language abilities), he is exposed to the complexities of political compromise (the Sheikh is closely associated with an up and coming politician) and increasing religious tension: firstly between the Sheik’s followers and the Shi-ite’s – the Sheik going out of his way to try and defuse tensions; later within the Sheik’s followers as Malam Abdul-Nur leads a more radical break-away group of Mujahedeen (Jibril forced to go with him). When the violence gets out of control (including the murder of the Sheik) the (Christian) army intervene and Dantala is arrested, then adbucted and tortured when his apparent links to the Mujahedeen (via Jibril) are discovered.

At one point he writes

When I read old magazines from outside Nigeria, I see how foreigners are always concerned with explaining things that have already happened. Everyone wants to tell you what someone was thinking, why someone did a thing, why someone said something. There is no way a person can know such things about another person.”

Dantala is a first person narrator – and the author seems to have made a deliberate choice to keep his voice true (rather than adding some form of omniscient narrator) – so that no attempt is made to provide extraneous explanation of geography or tribal and religious groupings and this combined with the use of Hausa terms can make the full details of the narrative difficult to follow.

Further Dantala is a relatively naïve character, himself largely honest, straightforward and with a trusting religious faith, struggling to understand the motives, dishonesty and malevolence of others. He is more of an observer of rather than commentator on what goes on around him (as the quote above suggests).

The writing itself (again perhaps true to Dantala’s voice) is relatively undescriptive. A review from the Guardian quotes the following example of “humour and wisdom” and “beauty” in the text, which to me at least illustrate the opposite - that is the almost childlike simplicity of the descriptive writing.

[the chemist] is short and his eyeballs look like they are about to fall out … I can’t stop looking at his huge nose, which seems to be divided into three parts. He must be breathing in a lot of air

the rice farms of Fadama farmers stretch out like a shiny green cloth

[the girl’s eyes] are bright and look like a deep gully, the type that pulls you and makes you dizzy when you look down into it

Dantala is learning English and the weakest part of the books are intermittent sections where he copies out definitions of words in English and then, in broken English, comments on how they relate to his experience.

What really makes the book is the finishing section when Dantala is detained – this is visceral, difficult to read but very impactful. Overall a fascinating book and an insight into a different world. ...more

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Feb 17, 2016 Juwi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Muslim character, books about religious fundamentalism, coming of age stories,

THIS BOOK. OMG THIS BOOK.

wow. just wow.

Honestly, this book is one of those unsuspecting books that you just read not thinking much but then it gets to a point and everything just HITS YOU AND YOU'RE LIKE WTF THIS IS AMAZING OMG I LOVE THIS SHOW MUCH WOW and then the end is just a huge slap in the face and you're like WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!

so it is about a boy called Dantala which (view spoiler)

Anyways so he ends up chan ...more

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Jul 03, 2016 Jerome Kuseh rated it really liked it

Shelves: african

Elnathan's novel is mostly set in Sokoto in Northern Nigeria and tells the story of Ahmad, a young man taken under the tutelage of a sheikh and who finds himself in the midst of the political and religious violence that grips parts of his homeland.

BOAT is well-researched. It contains an extensive insight into Islamic theology and factionalism, political corruption, terrorist activities and human right abuses by security services. Elnathan also gives us a glimpse of everyday life in Northern Nig ...more

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Feb 12, 2017 Joanne Harris added it

A tough, topical, directly-written book, devoid of sentimentality, and yet engaging, troubling, sad. The sense of place is wholly immersive, conjuring the villages and roads of troubled Nigeria with a deft and effortless touch. The narrator's voice is youthful, naive, but with that touch of experience that makes the whole thing so plausible, with no easy answers or preaching, simply a deep compassion for the things people do to each other, and why. The phrase "Allah knows what is in my heart"ret ...more

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Sep 15, 2017 Bee added it

Shelves: university

9/10 for 'Last Year's Novels' module. ...more

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Aug 11, 2018 Wathingira Gituro rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The simplicity of the writing of novel lulls you into a false sense of security... tricking you to lower your guard and fall in with the gentle ebb and flow of the story. Your gut tells you things aren't as simple as they seem - it can't end well, but the almost nonchalant way the narrator pulls you along makes you push those doubts away. Until you get to the end and you wake up and are like wait... what!?

Yes, this book is THAT good!

I was so thoroughly transported into Dantala's (the narrator's) ...more

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Nov 08, 2019 Amyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I love this book so much. If you want an insight into Northern Nigeria and contemporary Muslim issues, this is the book for you.

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Apr 10, 2017 Salem Lorot rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

A few months ago, Elnathan John came to Nairobi and that evening, at Goethe Institut, I just sat and listened to him. To his right was my friend and 'banker-who-writes', Kinyanjui Kombani. The moderator was James Murua. The odd thing was that I had not read 'Born on a Tuesday'. So I just sat, absorbing the discussion, getting to hear about Dantala and question about fire in the book. And Elnathan read a passage on food and sugarcane and how the last piece of sugarcane is the most important. Just ...more

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Mar 04, 2017 Jo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-about-africa

Such a good book. Dantala ("born on a Tuesday"), from Northern Nigeria, goes from being a Quranic student to being part of a street gang, until a Malam from the local mosque takes him in. Growing up in the Mosque, Dantala / Ahmad witnesses the conflicts between Sunnis and Shia, between those who want peace and those promoting Jihad, between the people and the police, having to grow up making choices about who to be and who to follow. Not a hopeful story, but a necessary one.

"But then Umma used t ...more

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Jul 19, 2016 Rachel rated it really liked it

I'm happy I read this book. It's a coming of age story of Dantala's life growing up in Nigeria, told in his voice. I enjoyed the narrator's as a matter-of-fact way of telling his story. There is hope, love, violence, regret, shame....there is humanity. ...more

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Oct 08, 2018 Patrice Hoffman rated it liked it

A full review to follow but I read this for my Non-western Literature class and I enjoyed it enough. It really is an inspiring coming of age story that is quite gritty and jarring.

Full review to follow.

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Dec 08, 2015 Chinenye Ikwueme rated it really liked it

One thing is certain, after reading this debut novel chimamanda would never call him 'my boy'. Another beautiful woven story by a Nigerian writer. ...more

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May 31, 2016 Sami Tunji rated it really liked it

Quite awesome. The story started with the horror of violence and through a rich and refreshing voice ends with the horror of violence, a kind of cyclic gloom that is inevitable.

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Aug 30, 2016 Timothy rated it it was amazing

Very gripping and entertaining.
Sober look at the conflict in Northern Nigeria, Islam, poverty, radicalism through the eyes of a growing child.

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May 24, 2016 Elite Group rated it really liked it

A story of moral conflict and bravery in a corrupt and unstable society

A fascinating and sometimes upsetting coming of age tale set in war-torn Nigeria, Born on a Tuesday tells the story of young Ahmad - or Dantala, as he is nicknamed, which literally means 'born on a Tuesday' - and the first few years of his adult life amongst a background of religious fanaticism, violence and political betrayal. The tale is written in Dantala's own words and starts with him living outside under a tree with a g A story of moral conflict and bravery in a corrupt and unstable society

A fascinating and sometimes upsetting coming of age tale set in war-torn Nigeria, Born on a Tuesday tells the story of young Ahmad - or Dantala, as he is nicknamed, which literally means 'born on a Tuesday' - and the first few years of his adult life amongst a background of religious fanaticism, violence and political betrayal. The tale is written in Dantala's own words and starts with him living outside under a tree with a group of boys on the outskirts of a village. After an attempt to burn down the opponent's local headquarters in the run-up to an election goes awry (a crime Dantala and his friends are paid to carry out by the other party; an example of the apparent corruption in the country that this story aptly portrays), Dantala is forced to flee to the city where he takes shelter in a mosque and rediscovers his connection with Islam. Eventually, he becomes an apprentice to the mosque's sheikh and, as a result, unwillingly becomes entangled in the religious politics that rule the city. Throughout the tale, Dantala makes new friends, encounters both emotional and moral conflicts and attempts to discover his place in an increasingly fractured and extremist world, all the while trying to remain loyal to Allah and follow the teachings of Islam.

Whilst some parts of the story were quite difficult for me to fully follow (particularly the occasional phrase spoken by the characters that wasn't in English) I enjoyed following Dantala's tale and was always reluctant to put the book down. As it is written in first person, the reader really gets to know the main character and understand his struggles, both around areas such as what is right and wrong and also around more simple matters, like how to cope with being attracted to a girl! Parts of the book were satirically amusing and extremely clever, whilst other parts were devastating in their brutality. I know very little about Nigeria or Islam, and both are topics that are regularly portrayed by the media in a less than positive light. This book not only entertained me but it educated me and left me wanting to know more about the country it was set in.

If I had to make a criticism, I would say that at times the "point of view" way of writing was sometimes fragmented and difficult to read, and occasionally the story seemed to jump about a bit from the protagonist’s actions to his inner thoughts in a slightly distorted manner. I also found that the ending seemed to come very suddenly and left me unsatisfied without all the loose ends tied up. Despite this, I enjoyed reading this book and would be keen to learn more about the author and his life in order to better understand the man behind the characters.

In conclusion, this was a very unique book unlike anything I have read before, and I would be interested in reading more from this author. I would recommend Born on a Tuesday to anyone who is curious about Islam, Nigeria or morality in general - it will certainly not disappoint.

Daenerys

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
...more

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Apr 18, 2016 Kathleen Gray rated it really liked it

John has brought Dantala and his communities to life in this beautifully and sensitively written novel. I especially appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the situation in northern Nigeria, an area about which we read very little except when there is an incident such as the kidnapping of girls by Boko Haram. Recommend this if you are interested in coming of age stories in cultures which are less familiar to us in the US. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I think John has a bright futur ...more

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Jun 11, 2016 Cheryl rated it it was amazing

Elnathan John provides a fascinating insight into the culture of contemporary Nigeria and its religious and political upheaval through the coming of age story of a young man named Dentala. The main characters are well developed and the story is both thought provoking and enlightening. While some of the passages are really disturbing, it was well worth the read. This book will stick with you long after you have finished it.

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Jul 18, 2016 Nana Fredua-Agyeman added it · review of another edition

This book is very interesting. Its about the development of religious struggle and the underlying politics and their effects on the lives of the ordinary people. It could easy have become a 'pity party' but John handled and controlled the story so well that you will feel a part of the story, see exactly what is going on. The story is realistic and not 'overdone'.

I will love to read more from this author. ...more

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About Elnathan John

Elnathan John

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Elnathan is a writer and lawyer living in spaces between in Nigeria and Germany. Mostly.

His works have appeared in Hazlitt, Per Contra, Le Monde Diplomatique, FT and the Caine Prize for African Writing anthology 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He writes weekly political satire for the Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust on Sunday (and any other publication that PAYS him). Except you are The New Yorker, he Elnathan is a writer and lawyer living in spaces between in Nigeria and Germany. Mostly.

His works have appeared in Hazlitt, Per Contra, Le Monde Diplomatique, FT and the Caine Prize for African Writing anthology 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He writes weekly political satire for the Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust on Sunday (and any other publication that PAYS him). Except you are The New Yorker, he considers it violence of unimaginable proportions to ask him to write for free. He has never won anything. This record was almost disrupted by the Caine Prize when they accidentally allowed his story on the shortlist in 2013 and again in 2015. Of course, both times, he did not win. He has been shortlisted and longlisted for a few other prizes, but he is content with his position as a serial finalist. It is kind of like being a best man at a wedding - you get to attend the ceremony but you can get drunk, sneak off and hook up without anyone noticing because after all, you are not the groom. In 2008, after being lied to by friends and admirers about the quality of his work, he hastily self-published an embarrassing collection of short stories which has thankfully gone out of print. He hopes to never repeat that foolish mistake.

His novel Born On a Tuesday was published in Nigeria (in 2015), the UK and the US (in 2016) and will be available in German in 2017. Now that he is in between books, nobody seems to want to publish his collection of short stories. This puzzles him. He really loves those stories. His agent also swears that if he publishes his Nigeria satire collection, it will interfer with his chances of being established globally as a serious novelist. He really doesn't care.

Elnathan is touchy about his skin and man boobs and isn't bold enough to grow hair (mostly because he is balding). One day he wants to be able to afford to buy a new, white Golf with shiny rims and a plate number that reads: WRITER. One of his new goals is getting to a weight below his current 100+kg and losing his fast growing beer belly. ...more

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“Something that has no roots and springs up with leaves and branches everywhere is bound to crash from the weight” — 1 likes

“Women can be very annoying. Sometimes they are very nice and they make you stay up all night thinking about them, unable to breathe because you feel your heart wanting to jump out of your chest. Other times they act as if the world is theirs to take, as if men were made to fulfil their every need.” — 1 likes

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