Farad

by Emmanuel Iduma

Farad, named for the unit of an electrical charge, is a novella that cuts laser-like through a multilayered society. Touching biographies of ordinary citizens—young academics and ageing psychologists, Christian editors and call girls, strange women and music artistes—told in stylish, interrupted narratives, are woven into a detailed mosaic of modern Nigeria.

Reminiscent of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, Farad eases to a climax when key characters from individual stories become participants in a conflict at a University Chapel—a conflict in which the nature of power is tested.

Farad is an assemblage of fresh narratives woven around simple questions and open-ended complexities. It is, ultimately, a story of love and essence.

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2012

About the author

Emmanuel Iduma, born and raised in Nigeria, is a writer and art critic. He is the author of the novel The Sound of Things to Come and co-editor of Gambit: Newer African Writing. He has contributed essays on art and photography to a number of journals, magazines, and exhibition catalogues, including Guernica, ARTNews, ESOPUS, and The Trans-African, for which he works as managing editor. His interviews with photographers and writers have appeared in the Aperture blog, Wasafiri, and Africa is a Country. He co-founded and directs Saraba magazine.

Since 2011, he has worked with Invisible Borders, a trans-African organization based in Nigeria, and currently the director of publications. He played a major curatorial role in the group’s installation A Trans-African Worldspace at the 2015 Venice Biennale.

He was longlisted for the Kwani? Manuscript Prize in 2013. In 2015, he was writer-in-residence at the Danspace Project’s Platform in New York, L’appartement 22 in Rabat, and the Thread Residency in Sinthian, Senegal. In 2016, he was invited to contribute a travelogue for Carnegie International, 2018. A lawyer by training, he holds an MFA in Art Criticism and Writing from the School of Visual Arts, New York, where he is also a faculty member.

Reviews

[Ishaq Hud · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon Farad while I was going on vacation, I finished it within two days, it is unputdownable, it is new in its style, simple in it's language and very philosophical.
It's stories, which are not "short stories" are likely to mislead one, for example, if you read them as short stories, you will find them too detailed for short stories (at least some of them), so the first secret to enjoying the book is to read it as a novel, despite its disjointedness in stories.
The last chapter or story of the book is titled the same as the book "Farad', it leaves you with no doubt about the title of the book, it seeks to, in a way, provide a link to the stories, and more of a conclusion than an answer to the array of problems that the book raised. Farad is like no other nigerian book, i will say its "intellectual" which reminds me of Ayn Rand, among other maverick writers. Farad does not pay attention to the market or "sellability" of the book, rather on its longevity; the book will certainly outlive the writer.

[Zaynäb Book Minimalist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farad opens with a story about an intelligent university student who went into a trance and became touchy in the head after sleeping in general Sani Abacha's palace for weeks.

Frank, a young lecturer was called by his ex-girlfriend to help cure his sister, Ella, who is suffering from mental illness after witnessing horror in a dictator's den.

The story closes with Ella's escape, and another opens with an ethno religious crisis in Jos. This collection of 8 stories are related, intricately detailed, and very intriguing. 'The Helper' is perhaps my favorite story in this collection, a story about how a brother confronts reality and rediscovers home after the death of his sister.  I think this is central theme of all Iduma's stories in this book, the human spirit confronting and contorting their self to the demands of an unrelenting and unforgiving reality.

This is a debut collection(I think the author wrote this when he was 23 or 24) so in some sense, you can tell he hasn't mastered his prose and pacing.

I noticed some of the stories were not straightforward and they were needlessly complicated. However, his numerous nuggets, and beautiful sentences made it a bit bearable.

I am still a bit sad that as usual, the author deferred to using cliches while describing Muslims and Northerners. In page 77, a nice man who entertains and accommodates people is still described as a "Fanatic Yoruba Muslim". I wonder why Nigerian authors do this.

This collection is strong, so observant and so wise. I think everyone should read it. Iduma's writing style is so impressive, and if you really want to enjoy him, you should read his essays and travel stories, he always has some interesting and insightful observations.

[Dami Ajayi]

Emmanuel Iduma is a debut novelist. His prose is effortless and sparse. His style lies in a simplicity that holds a tinge of deception. His language is fluent and tangy, organic. Iduma deploys a meta-psychological technique where his characters are dissected for both experiences and motives; the innards of his characters are exhibited as though for contemplation or for seeking similarities. And in spite of this experimental foray, their humanity is left intact.

[Damola · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off as really good with the first story possessing an air of mysteriousness and I appreciated the use of English, how it sometimes sounded like a poem. Other stories were not so bad but I was eager to finish, as they could not compare in depth to the first story. The writer seemed knowledgeable in literature and It was an almost enjoyable read nevertheless.

[Sunflower · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so pissed i bought this book, was just too bland for me.