What do you think?
Rate this book
Season of Anomy
- Miksi te intellektuellit tai miten kutsuttekin itseänne sälytätte meille taakkoja, joita emme lainkaan vaadi omaksemme. Minut on koulutettu tappajaksi. Käytän hankkimaani taitoa yhteiskuntani hyväksi. Miksi sinut on koulutettu? Olen tarkkaillut kaakaokampanjoitasi, olen seuraillut kiertuettasi ja olen tullut siihen tulokseen, että sinun elämäntehtäväsi on todella kasvattaminen. Olenko oikeassa? Sinä lietsot vaarallista tietoisuutta kansaamme – massat ovat vaalipiiri, jonka itse olet itselle määrännyt. Olet itse ottanut elämäntehtävän itsellesi. Mutta olemme puhuneet tästä aikaisemminkin, tiedät mikä minun osani on taistelussa. En voi ampua asioita enkä vartioida niitä fyysisesti. Minun näkökantani on yksinkertainen, mutta se sattuu olemaan kokemusteni summa. Tiedät millaisia ne ovat… Mutta en halua vastata kysymyksiin, jotka eivät kuulu alaani. Älä kysy minulta mitä minä kuvittelen mielessäni. En kuvittele yhtään mitään paitsi niiden miesten eliminointia, joiden tiedän olevan turmiollisen pahoja. Mitä tapahtuu sen jälkeen riippuu sellaisista ihmisistä kuin sinä.Näin puhuu salaperäinen Hammaslääkäri Soyinkan romaanin päähenkilölle Ofeyille. Ofeyi on mainos- ja suhdetoimintamies joka muusikkotoverinsa Zaccheuksen ja naisensa, kuvankauniin Iriyisen kanssa oli hoitanut kaakaon markkinointia mutta sittemmin kääntynyt työnantajiaan, kolonialistista suurta rahaa vastaan. Hetken päästä Hammaslääkäri vielä - Mihin luulit niiden oppien johtavan, joita aloit kylvää Aiyérón miesten avulla. Ja Ofeyi - Sen takaisin saamiseen minkä vähäinen kourallinen oli riistänyt yhteiskunnalta, itse yhteiskunnan uudelleenmuotoutumiseen.Näissä keskustelukatkelmissa liikutaan Soyinkan romaanin keskeisten alueiden tuntumassa. Aiyéró edustaa romaanissa Ujamaa-tyyppistä kyläkokeilua, perinteitä, omaa kehitystä. Sitä vastassa on Kartelli, kansainvälinen pääoma, kolonialismi, kansallinen korruptoitunut valta, joka kylvää ympärilleen väkivaltaa. Romaanin tapahtuma-aikaa tai paikkaa ei ole määritelty (mutta voidaan päätellä kirjan kuvaavan Biafran sotaa edeltävää Nigeriaa). Kaikki on äärimmäisen konkreettista ja samalla oudon pakenevaa, määrittymätöntä, maailma on salaperäinen ja nimetön. Uusi ja ikivanha limittyvät, vanhat riitit ja moderni teknologia. Kaikki on täynnä kauneutta ja uhkaa, valoa ja pimeää mykkää kauhua.Soyinkan romaani on uljasta empimätöntä kerrontaa, täytenään kuvia ja väriä. Siinä kuuluu heräävän maanosan, heräävän kulttuurin uusi ääni. Se on kirja vastuusta, väkivallasta, arvojen muuttumisesta ja muuttamisesta, maailmasta joka on pantu peliin kaikkineen.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
Wole Soyinka
208 books1,260 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, known as Wole Soyinka, is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence", the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98), Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus. While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991 and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category, awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 24, 2020
Нисам успео да се пробијем кроз овај текст. Једва сам испратио ко је ту ко, шта је и где Прекоречје, ко су представници Комитета, а ко Зубар или Офеји. Оно што сиже каже – реч је о потрази Офејија за својом киднапованом девојком Иријисе током пакла грађанског рата у Нигерији, односно њеној покрајини/држави Бијафри (спомиње се паралела са Орфејем и Еуридиком). С обзиром да је Сојинка песник, може бити да је то допринело неразумевању језика или да се нешто „изгубило у преводу“.
О рату у Бијафри знам колико и, претпостављам, сви просечни људи овде – отприлике знам да је био негде шездесетих година ХХ века и знам за изреку да је неко дете „као из Бијафре“, што ће рећи тешко потхрањено, мршаво. У међувремену сам „изгуглао“ да је рат трајао од 1967. до 1970. године и да је у њему побијено преко милион људи. О узроцима, претходним колонијалиним поделама и етничко-религијским сукобима ми је било заиста превише замршено да судим (вероватно тако и странцима делују ови наши несрећни „балкански“ сукоби).
О рату у Бијафри знам колико и, претпостављам, сви просечни људи овде – отприлике знам да је био негде шездесетих година ХХ века и знам за изреку да је неко дете „као из Бијафре“, што ће рећи тешко потхрањено, мршаво. У међувремену сам „изгуглао“ да је рат трајао од 1967. до 1970. године и да је у њему побијено преко милион људи. О узроцима, претходним колонијалиним поделама и етничко-религијским сукобима ми је било заиста превише замршено да судим (вероватно тако и странцима делују ови наши несрећни „балкански“ сукоби).
August 1, 2017
In "The Season of Anomy" written by Wole Soyinka (winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature) uses the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to examine the horrifying Biafran or Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970 in which as many as 2 million people primarily Christian Igbos perished. The hero Ofeyi (Orpheus) travels through the hell of Nigeria in search of his wife Iriyise (Eurydice) visiting the cadaver filled sites of many places where civilian massacres have occurred. When Ofeyi (Orpheus) finally finds Iriyise (Eurydice) at the end of the book, she is deep in a coma. While some about her predict her imminent death Ofeyi (Orpheus) refuses to abandon hope.
Soyinka has clearly written this book for his fellow Nigerians as he makes no effort to elucidate the nature of the conflict or the historical context. Without disculpating the European colonial powers, he wants his countrymen to reflect on the evil that they participated in and to find a way to do things better in the future.
Soyinka is perhaps right to have taken the approach that he has, but the fact remains that "The Season of Anomy" is difficult to understand for a North American or European unfamiliar with Nigerian at the time of its terrible civil war. Compared to his great masterpiece "Death and the King's Horseman", the "Season of Anomy" is a wretched failure.
Soyinka has clearly written this book for his fellow Nigerians as he makes no effort to elucidate the nature of the conflict or the historical context. Without disculpating the European colonial powers, he wants his countrymen to reflect on the evil that they participated in and to find a way to do things better in the future.
Soyinka is perhaps right to have taken the approach that he has, but the fact remains that "The Season of Anomy" is difficult to understand for a North American or European unfamiliar with Nigerian at the time of its terrible civil war. Compared to his great masterpiece "Death and the King's Horseman", the "Season of Anomy" is a wretched failure.
April 13, 2020
Laittomuuden kausi oli kirja afrikkalaisen sisällissodan synnystä. Se oli kirja väkivallasta, arvojen muuttumisesta ja ihmisten synnyttämistä vitsauksista. Se oli tarina täynnä sydäntäsärkeviä epätoivon ja väkivallan näkyjä.
Mainosmies Ofeyi kääntää selkänsä kolonialistista valtaa edustavalle Kartellille, tutustuu anarkistiseen Hammaslääkäriin ja liittyy Aiyérón kapinalliskommuuniin.
Orfeuksen mukaan nimetty Ofeyi lähtee selvittämään kansanosansa massamurhaa, kulkee läpi afrikkalaisen helvetin ja etsii vangittua naistaan Iriyiseä (Eurydike).
Kun luin kirjaa, koin todellista kauhua ja jännitystä. Soyinkan kieli oli hyvin runollista ja järisyttävää siksikin, että se kertoi vallasta ja väkivallasta piinaavan intensiivisesti.
Aiemmin lukeani Wole Soyinkan kirjat, Tulkit ja Isara, lepattivat yli tajuntani kuin näkymättömät afrikkalaiset yöperhoset. Näin siksi, että ne olivat todella haastavaa luettavaa afrikkalaista kulttuuria tuntemattomalle. Myös Laittomuuden kausi oli vaikea, mutta ei mahdoton. Vaikeuden takia oli pakko antaa, upeasta kielestä ja vaikuttavasta tarinasta huolimatta, kirjalle vain kolme tähteä.
Kun kirja loppui, en ollut aivan varma loppuiko kaikki toivo vai vieläkö sitä jäi hitunen jäljelle.
Lisää ajatuksiani Laittomuuden kaudesta blogissani https://keltainenkirjasto.blogspot.co...
Mainosmies Ofeyi kääntää selkänsä kolonialistista valtaa edustavalle Kartellille, tutustuu anarkistiseen Hammaslääkäriin ja liittyy Aiyérón kapinalliskommuuniin.
Orfeuksen mukaan nimetty Ofeyi lähtee selvittämään kansanosansa massamurhaa, kulkee läpi afrikkalaisen helvetin ja etsii vangittua naistaan Iriyiseä (Eurydike).
Kun luin kirjaa, koin todellista kauhua ja jännitystä. Soyinkan kieli oli hyvin runollista ja järisyttävää siksikin, että se kertoi vallasta ja väkivallasta piinaavan intensiivisesti.
Aiemmin lukeani Wole Soyinkan kirjat, Tulkit ja Isara, lepattivat yli tajuntani kuin näkymättömät afrikkalaiset yöperhoset. Näin siksi, että ne olivat todella haastavaa luettavaa afrikkalaista kulttuuria tuntemattomalle. Myös Laittomuuden kausi oli vaikea, mutta ei mahdoton. Vaikeuden takia oli pakko antaa, upeasta kielestä ja vaikuttavasta tarinasta huolimatta, kirjalle vain kolme tähteä.
Kun kirja loppui, en ollut aivan varma loppuiko kaikki toivo vai vieläkö sitä jäi hitunen jäljelle.
Lisää ajatuksiani Laittomuuden kaudesta blogissani https://keltainenkirjasto.blogspot.co...
October 20, 2011
It's been so many years, I don't know why this book out of the many books I read in university, I remember. It was part of a course on 'Commonwealth Literature' and I remember a gripping story but most of all, incredible language (no surprise since Soyinka is a poet). It stayed with me. I'll have to find it again sometime.
August 25, 2015
The language of the book is very, very poetic. On the one hand, it is beautiful to read, on the other hand it was hard for me to follow. I was confused what happened when, why. Only after 1/3 of the books things started to crystallise in my head, but then it was too late for me to appreciate the book.
I can imagine readers to regard this book as an outstanding piece of literature. For me it was too poetic for a novel.
I can imagine readers to regard this book as an outstanding piece of literature. For me it was too poetic for a novel.
January 20, 2019
A story set during the period of the terrifying Nigerian civil war, it follows Ofeyi who writes jiggles for a corporation. He is an idealist who wants to reform a corrupt society with hopes of organizing workers. When his wife goes missing he sets out on a quest to find her and thats when idealism meets reality. It is a horrifying and, at times, confusing story that exposes the worst in humanity.
January 10, 2025
This is a tough one. I struggled through most of this book. Critics say it's a failure. It's not. But it's not an easy read either.
Introduction: Wole Soyinka was the first black man to win a Nobel prize in literature. He's primarily a poet. The book is filled with poetic images and powerful phrasing and sentencing. It was written in 1973 and is set against the horrific backdrop of the Nigerian Civil War of1967-1970. Soyinka uses the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to tell the story, which I didn't realize until reading more about this book. I started reading it about 3 weeks ago and I had a hard time getting into it. The characters were a little confusing, there was no context given, and there was a lot happening. It didn't help that I was trying to read it at night before going to bed and was tired. You can't read this book when you're tired. It demands your full attention. Once I realized that, I read it when I was awake, and it was a different book. It took me two thirds of the way through to realize that.
The plot: On the surface, the plot is a simple one. Ofeyi's wife Iriyise has been kidnapped. He travels through civil war torn Nigeria looking for her. Along the way, he witnesses first hand the horrors of war . .. the torture, mutilation, senseless violence, the depths of human depravity that show what the human race is capable of inflicting on each other. . . he doesn't give up, navigating the corrupt legal system in a desperate attempt to find Iriyise. Meeting people along the way and sharing their stories and experiences. The end: he finds her. She's in a deep coma due to what she's experienced. With the help of his traveling companions, they escape, and he begins the journey home. With her.
Thoughts: I read this book because I had read that this was a more accurate picture of Africa than Mating, which I have also reviewed. Except that the plot follows the relationship of a man and woman, I don't see any similarities at all. Mating was 2 Americans in Africa and their intellectual relationship. Season of Anomy is a desperate love story of a black African man searching for his kidnapped wife during civil war. I don't see the connection at all. I found more parallels to my last reviewed book Breathing Lessons, which is one day in the life of a married couple in Baltimore. But that's just me, and my bias. Which I freely admit to and think Mating was written for smart pretentious people who want to make sure everyone knows they're smart. Seasons of Anomy was written out of the depths of a tortured poetic soul.
Conclusion: What Wole Soyinka does with his writing, if you chose to lean into it, is bare your soul and rip you apart, leaving you to put yourself back together, hopefully having added something in the process. For me, it was sobering, heart wrenching, soul crushing. At my last position, I supervised a man from Nigeria. We often talked about his view of the world, the responsibility he felt to his fellow Nigerians, and his perspective on life as a African man. I wish I would have read this story while working with him. It made so many things clearer. This book gutted me, more so than Breathing Lessons, which also made me stop and think. I thought about the atrocities of war and the depths to which men sink to gain/yield power, how strong the power of love between two married people is/should be, and what I would or should do in my own life for the people I commit to and live in community with . . . my husband, family, community, co-workers, society. Who are we, and what are we capable of doing to each other? How should we act toward each other? Scary thoughts. I think my next few books are going to be nice easy reads. My soul needs times to recover.
Rating: 4 stars, although had you asked me half way through, the answer would have been 2 stars. Not an easy read and be prepared.
Introduction: Wole Soyinka was the first black man to win a Nobel prize in literature. He's primarily a poet. The book is filled with poetic images and powerful phrasing and sentencing. It was written in 1973 and is set against the horrific backdrop of the Nigerian Civil War of1967-1970. Soyinka uses the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to tell the story, which I didn't realize until reading more about this book. I started reading it about 3 weeks ago and I had a hard time getting into it. The characters were a little confusing, there was no context given, and there was a lot happening. It didn't help that I was trying to read it at night before going to bed and was tired. You can't read this book when you're tired. It demands your full attention. Once I realized that, I read it when I was awake, and it was a different book. It took me two thirds of the way through to realize that.
The plot: On the surface, the plot is a simple one. Ofeyi's wife Iriyise has been kidnapped. He travels through civil war torn Nigeria looking for her. Along the way, he witnesses first hand the horrors of war . .. the torture, mutilation, senseless violence, the depths of human depravity that show what the human race is capable of inflicting on each other. . . he doesn't give up, navigating the corrupt legal system in a desperate attempt to find Iriyise. Meeting people along the way and sharing their stories and experiences. The end: he finds her. She's in a deep coma due to what she's experienced. With the help of his traveling companions, they escape, and he begins the journey home. With her.
Thoughts: I read this book because I had read that this was a more accurate picture of Africa than Mating, which I have also reviewed. Except that the plot follows the relationship of a man and woman, I don't see any similarities at all. Mating was 2 Americans in Africa and their intellectual relationship. Season of Anomy is a desperate love story of a black African man searching for his kidnapped wife during civil war. I don't see the connection at all. I found more parallels to my last reviewed book Breathing Lessons, which is one day in the life of a married couple in Baltimore. But that's just me, and my bias. Which I freely admit to and think Mating was written for smart pretentious people who want to make sure everyone knows they're smart. Seasons of Anomy was written out of the depths of a tortured poetic soul.
Conclusion: What Wole Soyinka does with his writing, if you chose to lean into it, is bare your soul and rip you apart, leaving you to put yourself back together, hopefully having added something in the process. For me, it was sobering, heart wrenching, soul crushing. At my last position, I supervised a man from Nigeria. We often talked about his view of the world, the responsibility he felt to his fellow Nigerians, and his perspective on life as a African man. I wish I would have read this story while working with him. It made so many things clearer. This book gutted me, more so than Breathing Lessons, which also made me stop and think. I thought about the atrocities of war and the depths to which men sink to gain/yield power, how strong the power of love between two married people is/should be, and what I would or should do in my own life for the people I commit to and live in community with . . . my husband, family, community, co-workers, society. Who are we, and what are we capable of doing to each other? How should we act toward each other? Scary thoughts. I think my next few books are going to be nice easy reads. My soul needs times to recover.
Rating: 4 stars, although had you asked me half way through, the answer would have been 2 stars. Not an easy read and be prepared.
July 2, 2022
Dante’s woorden uit de Inferno “geef alle hoop maar op, gij die binnenkomt” P273 geeft de inhoud van het boek weer.
Het boek gaat over de strijd tussen idealisme en realisme. Wanneer Ofeyi, -schrijft advertenties voor Cocoa Corporation- is gestuurd voor een promotie tour; niet duidelijk waar. Hij arriveerde in een dorp, ver weg van de corrupte hoofdstad. Ofeyi ontdekte traditionele manier van leven. Hij is geïnspireerd en laat idealen leven. Maar kan een individu een vuist maken?
Het boek is een liefdes verhaal. Wanneer Ofeyi’s vrouw vermist is geraakt, goes missing, moest hij reizen naar a war-scarred landschap. Orpheus mythe.
Het boek gaat over Nigeria. Over de krachten (binnenuit/ buitenaf) die het land in haar greep houdt.
Binnenuit:
-corruptie de grootste nationaal vijand p49;
-ieders lot gevallen in onzichtbare mannen met geweren p52;
-afslachten van onschuldigen door paramilitaire troepen p112
Buitenaf
-We baseren ons leven op de leer van deze witte god, maar toch doden, verbranden, verminken en plunderen de dragers van het geloof onze mensen en maken hun tot slaven p16;
-hoe zullen we ons verdedigen als de slavendrijvers weer komen? p19
-blanken uit Zuid-Afrika rekruten voor de geheime dienst p142
In het boek de beschrijving van een kartel- conglomeraat van zakenlieden, politici en militairen die hun macht gebruiken om te parasiteren in het land.
Het boek is vol met scenes die het lezen waard zijn. Het helpt als je de politieke achtergrond en de bevolkingsgroepen van Nigeria kent.
Soyinka’s personages zijn intellectuelen. Soyinka vraagt veel van zijn lezers. Kennis van mythes, rituelen en tradities helpt om Soyinka beter te begrijpen en van het boek te genieten.
Prachtig citeer ik Soyinka “de oude heksen van ons die hun jongens moesten opeten om zichzelf te verhongeren”p143.
Dit geldt zowel voor Nigeria van vandaag als de meeste Afrikaanse landen. Must read book.
Het boek gaat over de strijd tussen idealisme en realisme. Wanneer Ofeyi, -schrijft advertenties voor Cocoa Corporation- is gestuurd voor een promotie tour; niet duidelijk waar. Hij arriveerde in een dorp, ver weg van de corrupte hoofdstad. Ofeyi ontdekte traditionele manier van leven. Hij is geïnspireerd en laat idealen leven. Maar kan een individu een vuist maken?
Het boek is een liefdes verhaal. Wanneer Ofeyi’s vrouw vermist is geraakt, goes missing, moest hij reizen naar a war-scarred landschap. Orpheus mythe.
Het boek gaat over Nigeria. Over de krachten (binnenuit/ buitenaf) die het land in haar greep houdt.
Binnenuit:
-corruptie de grootste nationaal vijand p49;
-ieders lot gevallen in onzichtbare mannen met geweren p52;
-afslachten van onschuldigen door paramilitaire troepen p112
Buitenaf
-We baseren ons leven op de leer van deze witte god, maar toch doden, verbranden, verminken en plunderen de dragers van het geloof onze mensen en maken hun tot slaven p16;
-hoe zullen we ons verdedigen als de slavendrijvers weer komen? p19
-blanken uit Zuid-Afrika rekruten voor de geheime dienst p142
In het boek de beschrijving van een kartel- conglomeraat van zakenlieden, politici en militairen die hun macht gebruiken om te parasiteren in het land.
Het boek is vol met scenes die het lezen waard zijn. Het helpt als je de politieke achtergrond en de bevolkingsgroepen van Nigeria kent.
Soyinka’s personages zijn intellectuelen. Soyinka vraagt veel van zijn lezers. Kennis van mythes, rituelen en tradities helpt om Soyinka beter te begrijpen en van het boek te genieten.
Prachtig citeer ik Soyinka “de oude heksen van ons die hun jongens moesten opeten om zichzelf te verhongeren”p143.
Dit geldt zowel voor Nigeria van vandaag als de meeste Afrikaanse landen. Must read book.
December 6, 2019
Soyinka's novel is one of my favorite ones in terms of African authors, and one can clearly see why he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Soyinka shines a new light on a whole literary universe we+re missing just because it's underneath the cultural radar, dominated by the Western discourse and authors. The book heavily relies on the political background regarding the situation in Biafra and the conflict between two communities where one has emancipated itself from its roots embracing the culture of their conquerors, and the other one still sticks to their traditions and values. The hierarchy of the plot is dominated by the almost Godfather-likely Zaki Amuri, who seems to be the ruler of life and death in the community. The book is filled with heart-breaking scenes of hurt, desperation and bravery. A must-read, definitely.
March 5, 2026
2 stars due to my enjoyment of it. I think a lot of it just went over my head, the story seemed to jump about a lot, there were a lot of completely irrelevant characters and sub plots and context. One second you were one place, the next in a dream sequence the next who knows where. It wasn’t until way after you caught up. There was at least 100 pages where I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I’ve got the feeling that it’s talking about a very important time in history but I just didn’t get it. There’s also a lot of violence in the book which if it really happened is truly awful, maybe one of the most violent books I’ve ever read. Probably a good book if your at uni and studying something relevant
August 29, 2018
Wole Soyinka is a poet, and that is precisely how this novel reads, very lyrical, with an absorbing yet horrifying story. The famous myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is used to tell the story: during the very real three year Civil War in Nigeria beginning in 1967, the protagonist's wife disappears, and it is about how he looks for her amid the horrors of war. Because the backdrop is a very real war, a war in which two million people died, this is not an easy book to read nor is it pleasant. It is, however, fascinating to be reminded yet again of the barbarity and cruelty that human beings are capable of inflicting upon one another. Deeply depressing but I still highly recommend.
September 15, 2020
This book, while quite interesting, as well as highly exciting and brutal, was very confusing. I felt that the way that the book was separated into sections actually worked to it's detriment, as it meant that I could understand the narrative structure far less. The ending was by far the most unsatisfying element of this book, as I feel as though it didn't give enough closure to what the book had been building towards. The characters were quite well developed, and the use of language was very good, which is what made this book such a positive read for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2025
'Season of Anomy' is both a love story and a socio-political fable. In particular it examines themes of social activism, the role of individual actors, and the imprint of colonialism and capitalism on Africa, as seen through a Nigerian prism. Perhaps, since its publication in 1973, much of its nuance and relevance has been diluted, but as a reading experience it is rich, with a mix of emotion and intellect that renders it more than merely didactic and lifts it out of the sentimentality of romantic exoticism.
January 26, 2021
No voldria ser injusta però és un dels pocs llibres que deixo a mig. Ho he intentat però no m'atrau, em distrec i haig de rellegir algunes pàgines...potser sóc jo que no tinc la disposició adequada però no em sedueix, els personatges no sé com són, les frases són molt llargues i barroques i tot ho trobo excessivament simbòlic. Em sap greu.
December 16, 2021
Another reviewer commented that it would be hard for a person unfamiliar with Nigerian politics to grasp this novel; that was definitely true for me. I could appreciate the main character’s quest for ethical action, but I felt like I was missing a lot of context.
August 2, 2024
Absolutely mesmerizing prose. Highly recommend
December 27, 2025
The kind of grammatical headache this book gave me ehn ... it's about the bad side of politics and the dirty deals involved
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews