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Born on a Tuesday
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 election, the boys are paid by the Small Party to cause trouble. When their attempt to burn down the opposition’s local headquarters ends in disaster, Dantala must run for his life, leaving his best friend behind. He makes his way to a mosque that provides him with food, shelter, and guidance. With his quick aptitude and modest nature, Dantala becomes a favored apprentice to the mosque’s sheikh. Before long, he is faced with a terrible conflict of loyalties, as one of the sheikh’s closest advisors begins to raise his own radical movement. When bloodshed erupts in the city around him, Dantala must decide what kind of Muslim—and what kind of man—he wants to be. Told in Dantala’s naïve, searching voice, this astonishing debut explores the ways in which young men are seduced by religious fundamentalism and violence.
In far northwestern Nigeria, Dantala lives among a gang of street boys who sleep under a kuka tree. During the election, the boys are paid by the Small Party to cause trouble. When their attempt to burn down the opposition’s local headquarters ends in disaster, Dantala must run for his life, leaving his best friend behind. He makes his way to a mosque that provides him with food, shelter, and guidance. With his quick aptitude and modest nature, Dantala becomes a favored apprentice to the mosque’s sheikh. Before long, he is faced with a terrible conflict of loyalties, as one of the sheikh’s closest advisors begins to raise his own radical movement. When bloodshed erupts in the city around him, Dantala must decide what kind of Muslim—and what kind of man—he wants to be. Told in Dantala’s naïve, searching voice, this astonishing debut explores the ways in which young men are seduced by religious fundamentalism and violence.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
94 people are currently reading
4191 people want to read
About the author
Elnathan John
13 books96 followersElnathan 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 279 reviews
December 23, 2015
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 children from malnutrition in Ethiopia, or delivering Nigeria from Boko Haram.
But then, you are already here and I will take every minute of yours that I can.
I write fiction and satire, which means that when I am not making up stuff, I am making
fun of stuff. Basically, you are here at your own risk and I take no responsibility for any harm that may come to you from reading my work."
In "Born on Tuesday", Dantala is a young boy who ran away from home.
We get a glimpse of what it's like in contemporary Northern Nigeria from this story.
We watch a young boy grow up in the middle of chaos who needs to figure out his own inner truth - where his heart lives - where his loyalties lie - and what type of man he wants to be when he grows up. ( first we are hoping he survives).
From sleeping under the Kuka tree with other street boys, to living in a mosque, ...
Quranic School, falling in love, ... This novel is filled with tragedy - violence- friendships, Political, cultural, and religious conflicts, love & loss...friendships, ( well developed characters), everyday life...and a little hope for humanity!
Touching Story... with Dantala as the lovable main character. Terrific inspiring first novel by Nigerian author.
Thank You Grove Atlantic, Netgalley, and Elnathan John.
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 children from malnutrition in Ethiopia, or delivering Nigeria from Boko Haram.
But then, you are already here and I will take every minute of yours that I can.
I write fiction and satire, which means that when I am not making up stuff, I am making
fun of stuff. Basically, you are here at your own risk and I take no responsibility for any harm that may come to you from reading my work."
In "Born on Tuesday", Dantala is a young boy who ran away from home.
We get a glimpse of what it's like in contemporary Northern Nigeria from this story.
We watch a young boy grow up in the middle of chaos who needs to figure out his own inner truth - where his heart lives - where his loyalties lie - and what type of man he wants to be when he grows up. ( first we are hoping he survives).
From sleeping under the Kuka tree with other street boys, to living in a mosque, ...
Quranic School, falling in love, ... This novel is filled with tragedy - violence- friendships, Political, cultural, and religious conflicts, love & loss...friendships, ( well developed characters), everyday life...and a little hope for humanity!
Touching Story... with Dantala as the lovable main character. Terrific inspiring first novel by Nigerian author.
Thank You Grove Atlantic, Netgalley, and Elnathan John.
May 11, 2016
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 complicated. Different religious and political leaders are fighting for power – and young men with few choices are drawn to different factions – including violent fundamentalism. For me, one of the true strengths of this book is Dantala’s narrative voice. Dantala recounts his experiences in very simple and matter of fact language – his voice comes across as very young and quite naïve. The effect is clever – it gives insight into the challenges of finding one’s place in a complicated political and religious situation when deprivation and hunger are necessarily motivators in the choices one makes. This is Dantala’s life and world. He does not have the luxury of having a bird’s eye view and making choices outside the context he lives in. Dantala’s reality is harsh – with little room for redemption – and his choices are inevitably harsh and limited. Again, this did not make for a pleasurable reading experience, but it was a worthwhile one. It also made me want to know more about contemporary Nigeria. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an opportunity to read an ARC.
December 2, 2019
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/...
March 2, 2024
A brilliant coming of age story
I finally got around to reading Born On A Tuesday and I am so happy I did. It is a well crafted story about a young boy in North Nigeria trying to make his way with so many set backs. What I loved about the story is that it was so layered, there are moments of comedy, of reflection and where you genuienly want to see the main character win.
A brillant read.
I finally got around to reading Born On A Tuesday and I am so happy I did. It is a well crafted story about a young boy in North Nigeria trying to make his way with so many set backs. What I loved about the story is that it was so layered, there are moments of comedy, of reflection and where you genuienly want to see the main character win.
A brillant read.
Read
August 4, 2016I 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 Averett
from The Best Books We Read In July 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/01/riot-r...
–Bronwyn Averett
from The Best Books We Read In July 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/01/riot-r...
July 6, 2017
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.
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.
February 10, 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 to the Sun and this novel has been shortlisted for a wonderful new literary prize, the The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses aimed at "hardcore literary fiction and gorgeous prose" from small independents.
The official citation for Born on a Tuesday would easily serve as my review:
He observes that "under the kuka tree, nothing is complete without some fire and broken glass" and he is forced to flee when their entanglement in local politics that turns predictably violent, ending with the death of the gang leader, his mentor.
He returns home but his father is dead and his mother ailing mentally and he instead finds a new mentor in Sheikh Jamal, the charismatic but peaceful leader of a Salafi mosque, and reverts to his birth-name of Ahmad.
I did not say when Sheikh Jamal asked how my mother was, that when I held her hand and told her I was leaving she didn’t even look at me; that she preferred to look up at the sky or to the ground than give me her blessings or advise me to be good in Sokoto. I didn’t tell him that every time I have returned to Dogon Icce for the Sallah celebrations I have found Umma looking more sickly and pale, that her fingers are bruised and bloody from her chewing on them, that her hair has turned grey and her skin is wrinkled, that Khadija feeds her like a little baby because she never eats and that they have now had to chain her to the bed in the room because many times she has gone missing, found wandering aimlessly without a scarf or hijab in the village.
But the Sheikh's right-hand man, Malam Abdul-Nur, whose son Jibril is Ahmad's , has a rather different and more violent vision for the movement:
Malam Abdul-Nur did not raise his head from his exercise book when he asked: If Allah asks you to do something, will you refuse?
When I did not answer, he stopped writing, dropped his pen slowly and massaged his eyeballs. Then he looked at me.
‘No,’ I said, confused.
‘Are you just saying it, or do you understand it, what it means to do what Allah wants without any question?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Are you ready to do what Allah wants when He wants it, without asking why?’
‘Yes.’
‘Yes. I know you will.’
In my heart I should have been happy but I was not. I have a funny feeling about Malam Abdul-Nur, Allah forgive me. It is hard to describe. It is a little bit of fear, a little bit of anger that he doesn’t want Jibril to talk to me, and a little bit of confusion because I don’t know what is going on in his mind. I cannot say that he is kind because he slaps people when he is angry. I cannot say that he is wicked because he also gives people gifts; and Allah only judges what is inside a person’s heart.
Malam Abdul-Nur eventually splits away to form his own opposing movement, taking his son, Jibril, Ahmad's friend with him, and ultimately dragging Ahmad into the very local politics, intra-faith strife and conflict with the authorities that he had fled at the start of the story.
Dantala's tale is told as a present-tense, first-person narrative approach and we get little insight into the motivations of the other characters (he doesn't even try to guess) or to the wider political explanations for what he experiences. This is a deliberate rejection of the Western past-tense omnipotent third-person narrator, as he explains halfway through the book:
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 such a thing, why someone said something. There is no way a person can know such things about another person. Allah alone knows the heart of a person. In the beginning, when I started reading, I too wanted to know why things happened. But time has taught me it is useless. Sometimes you let Allah do His things. What apart from more unhappiness, is the use of trying to look into what only Allah knows and destines?"
Language is key to Ahmad's story. He rises in the Sheikh's ranks because of his unusual knowledge of Hausa and Arabic and, through Jibril, also learns English.
Tuning the radio to find stations, I find BBC Hausa and BBC English. I like BBC Hausa. Especially the news. It is surprising that I learn new Hausa words from a foreign radio station. Comparing the news on BBC English to that on BBC Hausa is interesting. Sometimes I do not know a word in English and I hear it in Hausa and I understand. Other times there is a Hausa phrase I have never heard before, like Majalisar Dinkin Duniya, which BBC English calls United Nations. If I had not heard the English, I would have translated it to mean ‘Association of Joining the World’. But then if I had heard United Nations I would have called it Dinkakun Kasashe in Hausa. Words turn into something else when they change from Hausa to English and back.
As he starts to learn English:
I love learning new words. I love reading the definitions and examples in Sheikh's dictionary, then finding those words in books and magazines and using the words with the only person who can get them, Jibril. [...] I have bought a bigger hardcover notebook and started using the words I like in sentences, explaining them using examples like Jibril does. When this book is full, I think I will have learned enough to teach English.
The English narration of the story, although using rather (perhaps too) simple prose, is peppered with untranslated terms from the other two languages, a technique used e.g. in the Booker shortlisted Year of the Runaways. Here it is effective and adds to the appreciation of the text. The narration is also interspersed with occasional excerpts in a handwritten-style typeface from his notebook, written in less fluent English, but these felt a little gimmicky.
Overall, a worthwhile book. It is always a pleasure to see characters for whom religious belief is a genuine and positive part of their character and the insight into Nigerian culture and politics is fascinating. The last part of the novel marks an abrupt and distressing change of pace which also works effectively.
Recommended.
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 to the Sun and this novel has been shortlisted for a wonderful new literary prize, the The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses aimed at "hardcore literary fiction and gorgeous prose" from small independents.
The official citation for Born on a Tuesday would easily serve as my review:
Employing the oral cadences of much of African literature, this deceptively simple novel unfolds slowly and to devastating effect. From the opening scenes of chaos and murder to the quiet menace of the internecine manoeuvres of mosque politics to an act 3 that I won’t spoil, this is the most involving and moving work of fiction about west African political and religious life I’ve read in a long time.As the story opens, our first-person narrator Bantala has left the Islamic school where he was sent to study as an 'almajirai' (see the author's interview in the Guardian) and has fallen in with a street-gang of "boys who sleep under a kuka tree".
He observes that "under the kuka tree, nothing is complete without some fire and broken glass" and he is forced to flee when their entanglement in local politics that turns predictably violent, ending with the death of the gang leader, his mentor.
He returns home but his father is dead and his mother ailing mentally and he instead finds a new mentor in Sheikh Jamal, the charismatic but peaceful leader of a Salafi mosque, and reverts to his birth-name of Ahmad.
I did not say when Sheikh Jamal asked how my mother was, that when I held her hand and told her I was leaving she didn’t even look at me; that she preferred to look up at the sky or to the ground than give me her blessings or advise me to be good in Sokoto. I didn’t tell him that every time I have returned to Dogon Icce for the Sallah celebrations I have found Umma looking more sickly and pale, that her fingers are bruised and bloody from her chewing on them, that her hair has turned grey and her skin is wrinkled, that Khadija feeds her like a little baby because she never eats and that they have now had to chain her to the bed in the room because many times she has gone missing, found wandering aimlessly without a scarf or hijab in the village.
But the Sheikh's right-hand man, Malam Abdul-Nur, whose son Jibril is Ahmad's , has a rather different and more violent vision for the movement:
Malam Abdul-Nur did not raise his head from his exercise book when he asked: If Allah asks you to do something, will you refuse?
When I did not answer, he stopped writing, dropped his pen slowly and massaged his eyeballs. Then he looked at me.
‘No,’ I said, confused.
‘Are you just saying it, or do you understand it, what it means to do what Allah wants without any question?’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Are you ready to do what Allah wants when He wants it, without asking why?’
‘Yes.’
‘Yes. I know you will.’
In my heart I should have been happy but I was not. I have a funny feeling about Malam Abdul-Nur, Allah forgive me. It is hard to describe. It is a little bit of fear, a little bit of anger that he doesn’t want Jibril to talk to me, and a little bit of confusion because I don’t know what is going on in his mind. I cannot say that he is kind because he slaps people when he is angry. I cannot say that he is wicked because he also gives people gifts; and Allah only judges what is inside a person’s heart.
Malam Abdul-Nur eventually splits away to form his own opposing movement, taking his son, Jibril, Ahmad's friend with him, and ultimately dragging Ahmad into the very local politics, intra-faith strife and conflict with the authorities that he had fled at the start of the story.
Dantala's tale is told as a present-tense, first-person narrative approach and we get little insight into the motivations of the other characters (he doesn't even try to guess) or to the wider political explanations for what he experiences. This is a deliberate rejection of the Western past-tense omnipotent third-person narrator, as he explains halfway through the book:
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 such a thing, why someone said something. There is no way a person can know such things about another person. Allah alone knows the heart of a person. In the beginning, when I started reading, I too wanted to know why things happened. But time has taught me it is useless. Sometimes you let Allah do His things. What apart from more unhappiness, is the use of trying to look into what only Allah knows and destines?"
Language is key to Ahmad's story. He rises in the Sheikh's ranks because of his unusual knowledge of Hausa and Arabic and, through Jibril, also learns English.
Tuning the radio to find stations, I find BBC Hausa and BBC English. I like BBC Hausa. Especially the news. It is surprising that I learn new Hausa words from a foreign radio station. Comparing the news on BBC English to that on BBC Hausa is interesting. Sometimes I do not know a word in English and I hear it in Hausa and I understand. Other times there is a Hausa phrase I have never heard before, like Majalisar Dinkin Duniya, which BBC English calls United Nations. If I had not heard the English, I would have translated it to mean ‘Association of Joining the World’. But then if I had heard United Nations I would have called it Dinkakun Kasashe in Hausa. Words turn into something else when they change from Hausa to English and back.
As he starts to learn English:
I love learning new words. I love reading the definitions and examples in Sheikh's dictionary, then finding those words in books and magazines and using the words with the only person who can get them, Jibril. [...] I have bought a bigger hardcover notebook and started using the words I like in sentences, explaining them using examples like Jibril does. When this book is full, I think I will have learned enough to teach English.
The English narration of the story, although using rather (perhaps too) simple prose, is peppered with untranslated terms from the other two languages, a technique used e.g. in the Booker shortlisted Year of the Runaways. Here it is effective and adds to the appreciation of the text. The narration is also interspersed with occasional excerpts in a handwritten-style typeface from his notebook, written in less fluent English, but these felt a little gimmicky.
Overall, a worthwhile book. It is always a pleasure to see characters for whom religious belief is a genuine and positive part of their character and the insight into Nigerian culture and politics is fascinating. The last part of the novel marks an abrupt and distressing change of pace which also works effectively.
Recommended.
Read
September 18, 201710/10 Last Year's Novels/ Contemporary Lit Module
June 14, 2016
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.
January 1, 2016
Stark and compelling -- I won't forget Dantala's harrowing journey to manhood anytime soon.
July 4, 2017
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.
August 11, 2018
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) world so much so I could vividly picture the surroundings, voices and action in the book. @elnathan_john's writing just sucks you in. I feel like I have woken from a 'reality distortion field'.
This bildungsroman punches above its weight tackling many heavy topics from violence, love, family relationships, religion, tribalism and corruption. The numbing effects of these issues.
Its set in Northern Nigeria and so inevitably, it does talk about religious extremism. But if you focus only on this, you lose out on the heart of the tale. Take any major rival tribal or other groupings in place of religion and this book still makes sense. Extremism is only one if the backdrops to this richly layered tale.
I've had to edit this mini-review because I can't say what I need to say without spoiling the book/plot. But trust me, you want to get yourself a copy.
Dantala will haunt your dreams and leave you with heavy questions. I'm still unravelling them but the one that stayed with me overnight is why do people do the horrible things they do in the guise of whatever social grouping they belong to? Would you do those things?
After reading this book, you might not be so sure of your answer!!
Yes, this book is THAT good!
I was so thoroughly transported into Dantala's (the narrator's) world so much so I could vividly picture the surroundings, voices and action in the book. @elnathan_john's writing just sucks you in. I feel like I have woken from a 'reality distortion field'.
This bildungsroman punches above its weight tackling many heavy topics from violence, love, family relationships, religion, tribalism and corruption. The numbing effects of these issues.
Its set in Northern Nigeria and so inevitably, it does talk about religious extremism. But if you focus only on this, you lose out on the heart of the tale. Take any major rival tribal or other groupings in place of religion and this book still makes sense. Extremism is only one if the backdrops to this richly layered tale.
I've had to edit this mini-review because I can't say what I need to say without spoiling the book/plot. But trust me, you want to get yourself a copy.
Dantala will haunt your dreams and leave you with heavy questions. I'm still unravelling them but the one that stayed with me overnight is why do people do the horrible things they do in the guise of whatever social grouping they belong to? Would you do those things?
After reading this book, you might not be so sure of your answer!!
October 6, 2017
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 really appreciate the virtue of it, which enables you to make the connections between the themes.
Without giving too much away, I took away a star because the pacing felt really strange. There were some key moments that felt very rushed, and some passages that seemed to expect an emotional response from the reader, with no real material provided to elicit it.
All in all, I felt I needed to read this book- to start to understand some of the reasons for group violence in what felt like an honest account, and to understand fully the relationships and politics of the different sects of Islam and their reach in Nigeria.
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 really appreciate the virtue of it, which enables you to make the connections between the themes.
Without giving too much away, I took away a star because the pacing felt really strange. There were some key moments that felt very rushed, and some passages that seemed to expect an emotional response from the reader, with no real material provided to elicit it.
All in all, I felt I needed to read this book- to start to understand some of the reasons for group violence in what felt like an honest account, and to understand fully the relationships and politics of the different sects of Islam and their reach in Nigeria.
February 20, 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 builds to a distressing and emotional climax. It is one of those books that I found drawing me further and further in with each page. In the end it is a novel about survival: survival in the most extreme of circumstances of both individuals and of friendship
(Read as part of a "project" to read all the nominees for the Republic of Consciousness prize).
The writing is not complicated. In fact, it is deceptively simple. And the story is one that gradually builds to a distressing and emotional climax. It is one of those books that I found drawing me further and further in with each page. In the end it is a novel about survival: survival in the most extreme of circumstances of both individuals and of friendship
(Read as part of a "project" to read all the nominees for the Republic of Consciousness prize).
March 13, 2017
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
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.
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.
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.
March 27, 2016
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
Anyways so he ends up changing his name to Ahmed and it's just about him growing up and how he has to flee this place and he ends up working in a Mosque and learning from this Sheikh who is actually a really nice character and what happens to him is horrendous.
So yeah Ahmed is growing up and discovering things and learning English and how to write and read which is so wonderful. I love his curiosity and inquisitiveness and how he is always questioning.
It is so nice to read a book about a Muslim character and how important their faith is like when he says my fave line is 'prayer is better than sleep' and that's just beautiful and how he struggles with his faith and certain aspects of Islam which is totally normal and fine because we're always learning and I just love that and how he can see what is wrong and what is right.
so this book deals with major themes such as extremism and fundamentalism but also it is a coming of age story. a very depressing, heartbreaking and haunting coming of age story about a boy who had to grow up too quickly and how people use religion for all sorts of agendas and how it can destroy lives.
it's horrible because this is a reality for many people.
but it also explains clearly that terrorism has no place in Islam etc etc so to all the Islamophobes it's good because the reality is...Muslims suffer from terrorism too. like IS has killed more Muslims than non-Muslims tbh so?????? and their whole agenda is to turn the West against Muslims so if you are Islamophobic then you are actually doing what IS wants. ew.
anyways, this book is just really good and I love the voice of Dantala and the end is just so heartbreaking. I also love his friendship with Jibril and it is so cute his awkward relationship with Aisha.
I think everyone should read this because it is an important book. but also be prepared for the pain.
Happy Reading (not really)
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
Anyways so he ends up changing his name to Ahmed and it's just about him growing up and how he has to flee this place and he ends up working in a Mosque and learning from this Sheikh who is actually a really nice character and what happens to him is horrendous.
So yeah Ahmed is growing up and discovering things and learning English and how to write and read which is so wonderful. I love his curiosity and inquisitiveness and how he is always questioning.
It is so nice to read a book about a Muslim character and how important their faith is like when he says my fave line is 'prayer is better than sleep' and that's just beautiful and how he struggles with his faith and certain aspects of Islam which is totally normal and fine because we're always learning and I just love that and how he can see what is wrong and what is right.
so this book deals with major themes such as extremism and fundamentalism but also it is a coming of age story. a very depressing, heartbreaking and haunting coming of age story about a boy who had to grow up too quickly and how people use religion for all sorts of agendas and how it can destroy lives.
it's horrible because this is a reality for many people.
but it also explains clearly that terrorism has no place in Islam etc etc so to all the Islamophobes it's good because the reality is...Muslims suffer from terrorism too. like IS has killed more Muslims than non-Muslims tbh so?????? and their whole agenda is to turn the West against Muslims so if you are Islamophobic then you are actually doing what IS wants. ew.
anyways, this book is just really good and I love the voice of Dantala and the end is just so heartbreaking. I also love his friendship with Jibril and it is so cute his awkward relationship with Aisha.
I think everyone should read this because it is an important book. but also be prepared for the pain.
Happy Reading (not really)
July 18, 2016
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 Nigeria - the quirks, the pleasures and the pain. The reader sees how Ahmad is a boy like any other trying to make sense of the world he's in even as he experiences things that are far from ordinary.
This novel is a great debut by Elnathan. He leaves the reader with the task of finding the meaning of some arabic and hausa words (which is good) and does not italicize them. The first person narrative starts off annoying but you almost forget about it as the story gets more riveting. I would have loved to read more about the people outside the political and religious context but I guess there's only so much space in a book (in these short attention span era). Four stars from me.
PS: I met Elnathan when he came to Accra and so my copy is autographed :)
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 Nigeria - the quirks, the pleasures and the pain. The reader sees how Ahmad is a boy like any other trying to make sense of the world he's in even as he experiences things that are far from ordinary.
This novel is a great debut by Elnathan. He leaves the reader with the task of finding the meaning of some arabic and hausa words (which is good) and does not italicize them. The first person narrative starts off annoying but you almost forget about it as the story gets more riveting. I would have loved to read more about the people outside the political and religious context but I guess there's only so much space in a book (in these short attention span era). Four stars from me.
PS: I met Elnathan when he came to Accra and so my copy is autographed :)
Read
February 12, 2017A 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"returns like a prayer, to mark the many moments at which our young protagonist questions himself and his actions - in fact the whole thing reminds me of a Nigerian version of Cormac McCarthy's BLOOD MERIDIAN -it's stark, brutal, poetic in its simplicity, and dangerously close to the bone. Read it at your peril - it may change your perspective on Islam and Islamism, and in any case, the details may stay with you for a long time.
Read
September 15, 20179/10 for 'Last Year's Novels' module.
April 11, 2017
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 like life, we want the last piece of everything.
He fielded questions about the fire. And I remember the symbolism of fire was elaborated. And of course, there is usually that phrase 'space and time'. And I learnt that though the book has a Muslim setting: of Sheikh's, malams, astaghfirullah, alhamdulilahi and so on, the writer is not a Muslim. And I learnt that as a writer, you have to humanise your characters, you have to emphathise with them.
So, on that day, I bought the book and I am glad that I have finished it. This story tastes like the last piece of sugarcane. There are a few phrases that will stick around with me. 'Allah knows the intentions of the heart', 'Allah forgive me', and so on. Dantala's journal makes for an interesting read, especially his struggle with English. I see passion, I see industry.
Elnathan's Born on a Tuesday is a book you must read, wallahi. Allah forgive me, but if you read this story ko and you don't laugh, you will need to go to Chuks because your problems are bigger than Elnathan's talent ko.
He fielded questions about the fire. And I remember the symbolism of fire was elaborated. And of course, there is usually that phrase 'space and time'. And I learnt that though the book has a Muslim setting: of Sheikh's, malams, astaghfirullah, alhamdulilahi and so on, the writer is not a Muslim. And I learnt that as a writer, you have to humanise your characters, you have to emphathise with them.
So, on that day, I bought the book and I am glad that I have finished it. This story tastes like the last piece of sugarcane. There are a few phrases that will stick around with me. 'Allah knows the intentions of the heart', 'Allah forgive me', and so on. Dantala's journal makes for an interesting read, especially his struggle with English. I see passion, I see industry.
Elnathan's Born on a Tuesday is a book you must read, wallahi. Allah forgive me, but if you read this story ko and you don't laugh, you will need to go to Chuks because your problems are bigger than Elnathan's talent ko.
March 4, 2017
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 to say that sometimes the people we call wicked are just foolish and that, while it is easy to repent being wicked, it is hard to stop being foolish."
"Is family really family if relatives are strangers to you? Are they not blood, those for whom you would risk your life and die; those who know how your heart beats, and what makes you laugh and what makes you cry; those whose secrets are your secrets? "
"But then Umma used to say that sometimes the people we call wicked are just foolish and that, while it is easy to repent being wicked, it is hard to stop being foolish."
"Is family really family if relatives are strangers to you? Are they not blood, those for whom you would risk your life and die; those who know how your heart beats, and what makes you laugh and what makes you cry; those whose secrets are your secrets? "
July 25, 2016
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.
October 8, 2018
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.
Full review to follow.
April 9, 2016
One thing is certain, after reading this debut novel chimamanda would never call him 'my boy'. Another beautiful woven story by a Nigerian writer.
June 8, 2016
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.
August 30, 2016
Very gripping and entertaining.
Sober look at the conflict in Northern Nigeria, Islam, poverty, radicalism through the eyes of a growing child.
Sober look at the conflict in Northern Nigeria, Islam, poverty, radicalism through the eyes of a growing child.
May 24, 2016
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.
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.
December 13, 2019
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this novel. I entered the Goodread.com giveaway for this book because I’m making a conscious effort to expose myself to works from authors from different cultures and worldviews than my own. The author here is a Nigerian lawyer, which certainly meets that criteria, so I was hoping that this book might give me some idea of what life might be like for someone from his world.
And I wasn’t disappointed. This is a well written story that takes the reader into northern Nigeria and immerses us in the Muslim culture of that region. The narrator is a young man named Dantala, who comes of age against the backdrop of the rhythms of Muslim life, and the political and religious conflicts that are brewing in his nation. As the book opens, Dantala is living on the streets with a gang that has been recruited to cause trouble during an election. But when things get horribly out of control, Dantala flees, eventually finding sanctuary under the supervision of a friendly sheikh at a mosque in another city.
As the conflicts between different interpretations of Islam grow, Dantala must decide what he believes and where he will stand. He begins to contemplate his future…what will he do, and who will he do it with. Will he marry? Or will events take those decisions out of his hands?
Written from a first person perspective, this story feels like an eyewitness account of the unraveling of a society as is descends into anarchy and violence. We get little understanding of the larger forces at play, for the simple reason that the narrator doesn’t have any such understanding. Instead, we share his experiences from his limited viewpoint, with his visceral fear and confusion. This book is well paced and transports the reader to its distant setting, dropping them into an experience that is likely foreign the many, if not most, of its readers. This is not a feel-good story, but it is a powerful account of what life is like for these people in this place.
And I wasn’t disappointed. This is a well written story that takes the reader into northern Nigeria and immerses us in the Muslim culture of that region. The narrator is a young man named Dantala, who comes of age against the backdrop of the rhythms of Muslim life, and the political and religious conflicts that are brewing in his nation. As the book opens, Dantala is living on the streets with a gang that has been recruited to cause trouble during an election. But when things get horribly out of control, Dantala flees, eventually finding sanctuary under the supervision of a friendly sheikh at a mosque in another city.
As the conflicts between different interpretations of Islam grow, Dantala must decide what he believes and where he will stand. He begins to contemplate his future…what will he do, and who will he do it with. Will he marry? Or will events take those decisions out of his hands?
Written from a first person perspective, this story feels like an eyewitness account of the unraveling of a society as is descends into anarchy and violence. We get little understanding of the larger forces at play, for the simple reason that the narrator doesn’t have any such understanding. Instead, we share his experiences from his limited viewpoint, with his visceral fear and confusion. This book is well paced and transports the reader to its distant setting, dropping them into an experience that is likely foreign the many, if not most, of its readers. This is not a feel-good story, but it is a powerful account of what life is like for these people in this place.
April 18, 2016
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 future as a writer.
June 15, 2016
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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