Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

by Wole Soyinka

From the first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and one of our fiercest political activists, a fictional meditation on power and greed—at once a literary hoot, a whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corruption.

In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka’s hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne. The life of every party, Duyole is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York, but it now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. And neither Dr. Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, or how powerful.

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of our fiercest political activists, who also happens to be a global literary giant.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Nigeria, Mystery, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, African Literature

444 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2020

About the author

Librarian 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".

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a biting political satire set in an imaginary Nigeria plagued by abuse and greed, much like the grim realities of the real Nigeria, from Nobel Prize winning writer and activist Wole Soyinka, a writer that rarely uses the format of the novel. I am not going to lie, I found this both an engaging and extremely challenging read, and there were times I thought I would never finish what felt like far too long a book, so it was a mixed bag overall. Framing the background of the narrative is its colonial history, slavery, and the oil industry, a source of misery and devastation that many readers will be aware of, all factors which have blighted and shaped the country into what it is. Those who oppose the corrupt and ruthless powers, like Dr Menka Kighare and Diyole Pitan-Payne, comprising the government with its practice of co-opting the opposition, the media and religion, can expect a dangerous and powerful pushback.

This is a complex, complicated, and often compulsive read, with a wide cast of characters, with a narrative that wanders, with themes that are close to Soyinka's heart, but it requires perseverance and patience from the reader. On the basis of my experience of this, I don't think that it is that much of a controversial opinion to say the ability to utilise the form of the novel is not the author's greatest strength. Nevertheless, I do want to recommend it for those interested in Africa, specifically the state of Nigeria and its people and for fans of Wole Soyinka. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It challenges the collective notion of soul. Something is broken. Beyond race. Outside colour or history. Something has cracked. Can’t be put back together.’’

A searing satirical tale (albeit one that is – like the best satire - painfully if not shockingly close to the truth) of modern Nigeria.

A book which makes no concessions to accessibility or approachability for UK (or even I think non-Nigerian) readers and so is one which demands, but in my view ultimately rewards, persistent and attentive reading both in and around the novel.

And the first novel for forty nine years (and only his third) by the firstsub-Saharan African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Also (and I should declare an interest here) an alumni my wife’s University (Leeds) and my college – Churchill at Cambridge (more later on this).

Soyinka is better known for his plays, poetry and Memoirs and admits that novels are not his natural medium – but he has also said “it’s like I have become rather bored with saying the same thing in a particular medium and since the themes do not appear to be exhausted, they force their way through a medium in which I don’t normally operate. That enables me to be creative and inventive. The medium gave me a totally new scope, a plenum of expression which triggers off even different approaches to the same themes. Sometimes the form controls, or at least it galvanises, the emergence of themes or the story itself”.

And my impression – reinforced by the above quote – is that the author has drawn on themes and ideas he has been exploring for many years, so as to present a portrait (or of course a Chronicle) of the woes of his nation. I was in that respect reminded of Arundhati Roy – another prolific non-novel writer and activist/campaigner – and her second novel “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” although, other than one misstep which I will return to later, I found this a much more successful book.

That comparison is reinforced in the second chapter (the chapter that basically explains the title of the book) where in the second paragraph we are told of a Ministry of Happiness set up by an impoverished state (like so much else in the book a true story - https://theculturetrip.com/africa/nig...).

Nigeria itself of course has been voted the happiest country on Earth – initially in a New Scientist survey (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/afri...) but that survey was based more on subjective questioning – more objective measures of happiness have it sinking lower and lower. Perhaps more pertinent is a 2011 poll that had the country as the most optimistic (https://www.theguardian.com/global/20...) – as this is a book which presents the many challenges Nigerian face.

The novel takes almost as a given background: the lingering malign societal pollution left behind by the slave trade and colonialism and the twin corrupting and greed-inducing influences both of black gold (oil) and (in something of a side story involving a Indian prospector with a literal taste for it) real gold.

And the book has three characters who each symbolise one element of the state – all of which can be benign if not essential – but all of which are easily subject to this pollution and corruption: politics, media and religion. As an aside note that Soyinka is not against any of these (the novel is dedicated to three people – one a journalist, the other a politician – both assassinated) just conscious of the ways in which they can be malignly exploited.

Politics is represented in the figure of the Prime Minister (the President portrayed as a figure-head albeit one who occasionally oversteps what the Prime Minister considers to be his ceremonial bounds) – Sir Goddie Danfere, leader of the People on the Move Party (POMP) a party which thrives non-democratically in a democratic society in the time honoured fashion of incorporating its rivals (by offering them governor or other positions – an amusing side story features one such governor whose desire to follow Sir Goddie’s lead turns into allegations of plagiarism and identity theft as he anticipates and launches ideas still in trial such as Sir Goddie’s idea to brand himself Steward of the Nation), bribes/fraud, violence and by largesse to the voters including a regular supply of festivals and Honours Lists.

Media in Chief Modu Udensi Oromotaya – proprietor of The National Inquest, originator of various populist votes (for example the Common Touch Award and Yeomen of the Year Award) as well as blackmailer and propaganda artist.

Religion in the figure of Papa Divina/Teribogo – a kind of charismatic guide/prophet/spiritual leader/guru/extortionist. Starting life as something of a serially unsuccessful fraudster he finds his opportunity in religion - starting by combining the country’s two main religions with Chislam he forges in the end a kind of fiercely and exclusive ecumenical movement whose sole real god is his own interests.

Each of the pairs of the three characters (and the areas they represent) are held in a form of distrustful, warm symbiosis which the novel explores in their interactions. Acting in concert though they are parasitical on the body of Nigeria.

And it is the body of the country and more specifically the bodies of the country that lie at the heart of the book – and at the union of the other three key characters in the novel all of whom end in conflict with the three state elements.

These three heroes of the book met at college in England some 40 years ago where they (together with a fourth member who subsequently disappeared from University without trace) formed a pact (sealed with a code) that effectively they would return to Nigeria to give back to their country – a pact centred in particular on the aim of one of their number – a physician Dr Menka Kighare – to one day build a world class clinic in his modest rural hometown (known more for its Kola Nuts).

The real leader of the group is an electrical engineer Duyole Pitan-Payne: he provides the code, the groups name (the Gong of Four – named after a four headed Benin gong – and which later he adopts as the symbol of his growing conglomerate – Brand of the Land). At the time of the book, he has been approached by the UN (originally via a UNESCO scientist fascinated in the provenance of the Gong) to take a position in New York. To his surprise the government – with whom he is at loggerheads over his persistence in exposing the corruption at the heart of the countries endemic power failures) agree to his posting – Goldie though explains this to his advisors (shocked that he would dispense with such valuable patronage to not just a non-party member but an active irritant) via a lengthy story of a communion-wine guzzling priest (Father. Is That You?) and his desire to remove a Sexton who is a permanent irritant.

The other still around member is the accountant of the gang – Prince Badetona. Rising high up in the Civil Service and National Industry seemingly due to his ability to turn a blind eye to, if not actively participate in, money laundering and fraud – the shadowy powers decide he is surplus to requirements and despite, or possibly because of, his wife’s attempts to get him to take counsel from Papa Davina he is arrested, subject to mental torture and at the time of the book, a broken man.

But the real heart of the novel and author of its pivotal scene (and the quote which opens my review) is Dr Menka Kighare. His first scene is set in a genteel ex-colonial British club (famous for its motto Manners Maketh Man). At a reception to mark his honouring with a national award for his surgical skills in dealing with victims of suicide bombs – he is suddenly tipped over the edge by an initially jocular reference to a horrific (and – to my shock when I Googled it - real life newstory of a grisly atrocity involving ritual murder and the sale of body parts : https://punchng.com/ritual-killer-mur...). The story (and another incident) pushed him over the edge with the various atrocities he has seen – not just Boko Haram and Suicide bombers and police killings, college fraternity and gang murders but deaths via pedophiles, massacres of beggar children and ritual killings often motivated by a superstition that young body parts have rhino horn like qualities. The incident is that he is approached via a shadowy but official group to be part of and official supplier to) what is in effect an online body-parts business (with a catalogue based around the Codex Seraphinianus) – they being convinced he will sign up due to an incident when he was a trainee where he performed a Sharia-law amputation of the arm of a goat thief.

Instead Kighare both alerts his fellow club members and contacts Duyole invoking the Gong’s long dormant mutual assistance code and they all agree to assist him in investigating and exposing the euphemistically named Human-Resource business.

From there though two explosions seemingly represent those behind HR striking back.

The first is of the hill top club – and also the author says represents his own impotent by still satisfying attempt to strike a rather blow against the worst of colonialism (something he was tempted to do when at Churchill by pushing over Winston’s bust – my own rebellion consisting of refusing to join the “Sir Winston” toasts once my Indian college friends had alerted me to his role on the sub-continent).

The second results in Duyole’s death – thereafter a very lengthy section of the novel both gets Duyole to Austria before he dies and then explores his paternal family’s rather baffling insistence on having him buried there (against the views of his wife, children, friends and colleagues) and then to obstruct his repatriation and then to downplay his burial. I must admit that is Dr Menka was baffled by this refusal, I was baffled, even at the end of the novel, for why this section was included at all let alone took up such a chunk of the novel. The answer I think is that it is biographical – relating to the aftermath of the death of Soyinka’s own friend Femi Johnson an insurance broker (and who is in fact the third person to who the novel is dedicated) as covered at length in the author’s last memoir “You Must Set Forth at Dawn” – and while I follow his desire to explore it again in fiction, I do not think the length of the fictional exploration is proportionate to its relevance to (but instead acts as a distraction from) the novel’s themes and plot.

But this for me is a rare misstep in what is otherwise a powerful and fascinating novel – one whose resonances and depth this lengthy review has I think only skimmed but in a way which I hope will help others persist through what can be, as I said at the start of my review, a daunting novel for a non-Nigerian reader but one which both reaches a resolution of some of the mysteries which run through the novel (for example the fate of the fourth college friend, the circumstances of the two explosions) while leaving the fate and future fortune of its key surviving protagonists (from both trios) open in the same way that I think the author leaves open the future fate of his country (albeit he has said – one reason why I picked my opening quote – that he cannot currently see a future for Nigeria in its current unitary form).

My thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC via NetGalley

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth is Nobel-Prize winner Woye Soyinka’s first novel since 1973, although it should be said this is only his third novel in total, and he is better known for his plays, essays and poetry (and I suspect this novel isn't going to change that!)

This is a novel driven by a complex plot and rather exaggerated characters, with language that is playful at times, eloquent at others. Its political messages are explored by the creation and exposition of a fictionalised, satirical, version of Nigeria.

As such, it reminded me of Woyinka’s fellow Nobel laureate Gunter Grass, and, perhaps most of all, of Booker-of-Booker winner Sir Salman Rushdie.

As a fan of those authors, I therefore question why this novel didn’t work so well for me.

In part I think it is that my taste has evolved away from lengthy (here 450 pages, which is at least twice my maximum preferred length) and plot-and-character-driven stories, towards more compact ones, novels of ideas, and to books that stretch the novel form.

But also Soyinka’s novel lacks the imaginative and fantastical element of either of Rushdie’s or Grass’s work, or, indeed that of the recently International Booker featured Frankenstein of Baghdad, with which it shares some overlap of concept, and it therefore failed to sustain my interest over its many - far too many - pages.

I also lacked the knowledge of Nigerian sociopolitics to appreciate the satirical elements of Soyinka’s creation. That is a failing of mine not the novel, but made it hard to keep the various plot strands and characters together - indeed a cast of characters would be a very useful addition - meaning that by the novel’s climax I neither understood nor cared what was being revealed. Indeed looking back to the novel's opening, the early chapters made less sense with hindsight than they did at the time.

Gumble Yard's review here explains what was apparently going on - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... - the subject matter is fascinating but his review is certainly much better written and more interesting than the novel itself.

This ultimately felt like a self-indulgent and poorly written novel in dire need of some editing, and when a star author produced a long-awaited book (The Ministry of Utmost Happiness) a recent example) I think editors can be reticent to do this, to the reader's detriment.

2 star (1.5 rounded up for the subject matter, although 1 for the experience)

[K.J. Charles]

Very long, written in an extremely dense and elaborate style, huge cast, mass of plotlines. I got lost and couldn't claw my way back. It may be that I lack the background in Nigerian sociopolitics and mental fortitude needed to take in and fully understand this work, it may be that it's desperately in need of editing, it may be somewhere in between. DNF at 30%.

[Paul Dembina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly enjoyable. I did sometimes fine some difficulty parsing some sentences but I did like the withholding of plot details after alluding to them. Delayed gratification and all that.

The denouement was all crammed into the final few pages and for me a major element of the story was never satisfactorily explained.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

One of the few Nobel winners I'm perfectly happy reading. If you've been seeing his new novel here floating around the spheres and are wondering... Well, I had a B&N gift card. B&N was a bit culture shock for me; weird place. Not many books in there. Well lucky me Soyinka's got a new novel. And it's been yeeears since the other one. So, yes that one from 1965, The Interpreters. I recall saying something about Pynchonian or something about it. Read that one. And this one too for you who dig a wild kind of political intrigue type novel. Good stuff.

[Kuszma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ha egy Nobel-díjas író több évtized hallgatás után előrukkol egy bő ötszáz oldalas nagyregénnyel, akkor a hollywoodi dramaturgia szabályai szerint ennek a nagyregénynek úgy kéne hókon nyomnia az olvasót, hogy az még hetekkel az élmény után is bódultan kóvályogjon a mágia utóhatásaitól. Titkon valami ilyet reméltem itt is - hogy a hosszas érlelődés valami igazi varázslatot eredményez. De úgy látszik, a valóság nem hollywoodi.

Soyinka könyve, ahogy érzem, Nagy Nigériai Regény akar lenni, ami a szatíra és a politikai krimi eszközeit felhasználva mond el valami hihetetlenül fontosat az afrikai kontinens igazi természetéről. A szándék dicséretes, csak hát az van, hogy a történet minden lendülete elveszik a bitang körülményes és fárasztó narráció lápvilágában. Az a tippem, hogy Soyinka nem annyira a regényt érlelte magában ennyi ideig, hanem indulatait a nigériai politika rákfenéivel szemben, aminek következtében az egész textuson eluralkodott a "na-most-aztán-jól-odamondok!" vágya. Amely vágy amúgy nagyon emberi, és mélyen egyet is értek vele - magyarként kifejezetten ismerősek a korrupció és az uram-bátyámozás mintázatai, amelyek úgy látszik, Nigériában is rendszerré által össze. Magam is úgy vélem, egy ilyen politikai rend tragikomikus, mert a gerincteleneket és az agresszív hülyéket emeli piedesztálra. Ugyanakkor irodalmi érték általában akkor születik, ha ezeket az elemeket az író nem indulatból teszi oda a papírra, hanem valamiképp egyetemes, időn és téren túlmutató általános problémaként interpretálja. Ha ez nem történik meg (és itt nem történik meg), akkor a szöveg aktualitása megöli az irodalmiságát. Kár érte - így olyan regény ez, aminek igaza ugyan van, de esztétikája annál kevesebb.

[Ms.pegasus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breathless publisher's blurb promises us a political thriller set amidst corruption in Nigeria. The declaration is true, but not exactly accurate. Even worse, reader expectations are certain to be disappointed by this enticing description. To begin with, Dr. Kighara Menka, the surgeon made privy to the stolen body parts scheme is not mentioned until p. 58. He does not become an actual character until p. 99. His close friend, engineer, polymath genius and bon vivant Doyole Pitan-Payne ( “Pitan-Payne-in-the-neck,” in the mind of the prime minister) does not appear until p. 64. So, a thriller? No! At least not for the first half of this 400+ page book.

Instead, author Wole Soyinka narrates the trajectory to power of the charismatic psychopath who founded and leads Ekumenika, a pan-religious mysticism-steeped cult. This opportunistic chameleon has many names, e.g. Dennis Tibidje, Teribago, Apostle Davina, Papa Davina. “The Seeker” in his thrall is Jaiyesola Badetona, devoted but credulous wife of Prince Badetona (a.k.a. “The Scoffer”), mathematical genius and rising star internal auditor.

Soyinka attempts to create suspense by introducing a series of characters and scenes while withholding context. However his application of this technique is injudicious and in a narrative that lacks a focal point over several chapters, confusion rather than curiosity was my reaction. Eventually, the relationships emerge. Menka, Pitan-Payne, and Badetona were close school mates bound by their unique areas of brilliance and the idealism of youth.

This novel is a powerful indictment of Nigerian political corruption, delivered relentlessly with a symphonic range of disapprobation. He alludes to Nigeria's inexplicably high “accident” rate with deadpan seriousness. The title of the book is of course ironic. Festivals, awards and commemorative occasions proliferate like rabbits. Attract tourism; distract the populace. The awards are handed out like swag to the legions of party faithful. It is a shocking turnabout when a consultant with actual qualifications is tapped to review the country's energy infrastructure. That consultant is Pitan-Payne and his report reveals how year after year money allocated for upgrading utilities is diverted into private hands.

The strangle-hold of bureaucratic gatekeeping is personified by a sinecure holder named Shekere Garuda. Pitan-Payne dubs him Uriah Heep for his oily veneer of excessive obsequity slathered over a core of contemptuous arrogance. The prime minister, Sir Goddie, has a sensitive ear for branding. Hours of top-level wrangling conclude with Sir Goddie's new brand. His title of Prime Minister is to be replaced with the “People's Steward.” The intern who makes the suggestion is immediately promoted to a ministry sinecure.

Soyinka has choice words for Nigeria's colonial past as well. An exclusive club, Hilltop Manor, is a refuge for colonial sentiments. “The superficies of colonial presence required only minor adjustments here and there, not a wholesale substitution by nationalist buntings. The temperate climate was a balm that seemed specially designed also for successors to the departing mandate. It was cool, most especially in the evenings. In the main, the sun's antics were lost on them.” (p.104) In other words, the maxim “The sun never sets on the British Empire” remained alive, contrary to the reality of post-colonial Britain.

Soyinka startles with unexpected observations succinctly phrased. In a waiting room Pitan-Payne encounters the Prime Minister's chief of staff. “The sole interest of the new entrant seemed to be to give him a leisurely once-over. He shimmered into the room clutching a pile of files, nodded what could be read as acknowledgment of his existence, leant against the wall, then stood watching, without a word.” (p.66)

Unfortunately, other passages turn into lengthy rants, unstoppable verbal volcanoes. One sentence achieves a word count of 115. The serpentine nest of clauses and sub-clauses transported me back to classes in high school grammar constructs.

The author's dedication names Dele Giwa (1947-1986) and Bola Ige (1930-2001). Both were victims of assassination. Giwa was a journalist killed by a parcel bomb. These men need to be kept in mind while reading the book. Soyinka is deadly serious. Disappointment, sadness, outrage and horror permeate this novel. This was not an easy book to read but certainly a worthwhile one.

NOTES:
A quick glance at a map of Nigeria would prove useful to the reader. Dr. Menka frequently refers to himself as the “Gumchi Kid.” Gumchi is a fictional town in the northern state of Plateau. The region is frequently targeted by the terrorist group, Boko Haram. Under British colonial rule, a northern and southern protectorate district was created. The northern district is heavily Islamic. The southern district is a mix of tribal and Christian practices. Its primary ethnic groups are the Yoruba and the Ibo. The original capital of Nigeria was Lagos on the southwest coast. In 1992 the capital was moved to Abuja in central Nigeria. Papa Davina's temple at Oke Konran-Imoran (the Hill of Knowledge and Enlightenment) is situated at the confluence of the two major rivers that bisect the country, the Niger and the Benue.

A penetrating review of the book (contains spoilers):
https://africasacountry.com/2021/10/a....

Recommended by: my husband; recommended to: anyone interested in contemporary west Africa

[Bolaji Olatunde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this behemoth of a novel. Bookcraft, you could have done better na. Filled with typos, misplaced punctuation marks, grammatical errors. For a writer of the calibre of Wole Soyinka, could have been better edited. I had to fight not to lose interest at several points.

If an upcoming writer dared to release a book with the level of blunders in Chronicles Of The Happiest People On Earth...! The timeline in the story is all over the place; there's a 30 year old dog is in there somewhere! A second edition is necessary!

As a fan of Soyinka's work, some parts just made me cringe. The last third though...wow! Prof Wole Soyinka in full flight; humour, intrigue and worldly knowledge that should make any writer envious and wish for that gift, faulty punctuation notwithstanding.

[Betsy Clark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, I was lost in page 1!!! I plowed my way through half if it and couldn’t read any more. Such a confusing writing style, I just didn’t get it.

[Claudia Sorsby · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting book that I’m glad I read, but I can’t say I completely enjoyed.

It started slowly…very slowly. There were a lot of detailed descriptions and long, winding sentences, but I kept thinking, “So when does the story get going?” A man waits for hours to see a famous spiritual leader, and we get pages and pages on how his wife made him get the appointment, how he got there, how he was greeted, how long he waited, who he talked to while he waited, what they talked about, and finally the meeting—which was short.

But overall it was well written enough that I kept going, and then slowly it began to pick up, and things began to happen, and then suddenly, not quite halfway—boom! It was moving along, and from then it was really quite good. Suddenly all the long sentences were clearly taking me somewhere, working toward a larger whole; the satire came into focus and sharpened, and the last couple of hundred pages whizzed by.

Annoyingly, though, there wasn’t much payoff for the earlier slog. All that description of the big meeting? Almost none of it mattered. Equally annoying, there was a question of motivation at the end of the book—why are family members insisting on something odd?—that isn’t really answered either!

Really, a lot of the beginning should have been trimmed, and some of the ending should have been beefed up, but who’s going to tell a Nobel Laureate that?

[Chiara Liberio · Rating 4 out of 5]

'You see, if you inhabit a dung heap, you can still ensure that you are sitting on top of it'. That is the other perspective. It is what separates those who are called from the common herd. It sits at the heart of human desire'.

A sprawling narrative, part satirical part detective story on Nigeria, its roots and colonial past, tribalism, power, corruption, greed and the evils that plague politics and society in modern Nigeria. Soyinka is chronicler like no other with his brilliant, irony-filled voice that reminded me of Maryse Conde. For an outsider it is definitely a demanding tour de force with its meandering strands, at times it felt confusing and frustrating, but definitely rewarding in the end. Recommended for the persevering, attentive reader.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC on exchange for an honest review.

[Anya · Rating 3 out of 5]

this one took me a hot sec AND deserves a second read sometime bc I feel like I didn’t do it justice — i got lost in the beginning and the middle and near the end ….. but on the last 3 pages it all kinda clicked maybe?

[Rado Baťo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nigérijský nositeľ nobelovej ceny napísal román po 49 rokoch. Jedna z kníh, kde buď výrazný autorský štýl prijmete a budete si ho užívať, alebo vás umorí. Ja som si väčšinu užíval, aj keď bolo cítiť, že Soyinkov corebiznis sú divadelné hry, nie romány.

Dej sa odohráva v alternatívnej Nigérii, ktorá je skorumpovaná, demoralizovaná a chaotická (takže nie až taká alternatívna). Drsná satira sa točí okolo osudov štyroch priateľov zo študentských čias, ktorí sa zamotajú do obchodu s ľudskými telami.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A religious cult trades in human body parts and acts in conjunction with the government in power.

[books4chess · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The judge had the temerity to sentence him for some arcane crime called 'mail fraud'. Yet the whole world knew that Divine's crime was simply that he mobilized his fellow slave descendants to demand that they be repatriated to their continent of origin and that the government of white slaveowners pay their passage home and even pay compensation for generations of enslavement. No one could obscure that truth."

Trigger warning: cannibalism, rape, violence.

The story weaves between four main characters in a non-linear timeline, outlining their histories and how they link together. The book covers cultural phenomenons, corruption, traditional Yoruba culture and explores the varying experiences fuelled by different laws in parts of the country. During the novel, he writes for one of his characters "all shit may smell different, but it still smells" and this sentiment runs true throughout the tale, with seemingly no bad deed going unnoticed or without consequence.

Wole Soyinka's scathing political satire of an imaginary Nigeria turned detective novel is absolutely breath-taking. Despite being the first novel he's released since 1973, his writing is rich and filled with description, successfully deploying multiple corresponding storylines. He gives a nice little shock twist at the end to keep the reader guessing until the very last minute, as well as little 'hooks' to engage the reader during the denser parts.It is not an easy read, but the 'chronicles' are worth persevering through to learn more about the Land of the Happiest People on Earth.

The Nobel prize winning author's plot is complex. There are a lot of characters who use multiple nicknames, there is in-depth analysis linked to specifically Nigerian history and profound moments of reflection and consideration not often seen in novels. Perhaps possible due to the size of the book, or from the years spent writing the book. Either way, it's powerful.

I can't do the book justice with a simple review, but I greatly enjoyed it and encourage others who wish to break out of their comfort zone and experience and something different to get their hands on the book.

5 ./5, I absolutely can't wait to dig into more of Soyinka's writing in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People On Earth is a sprawling tale of corruption, religion, and power in Nigeria, as longtime friends discover a strange plot selling body parts. Duyole Pitan-Payne is an engineer and rising star who has just had an audience with the Prime Minister, but when his old friend Dr Menka gets in touch using their old code, something seems to be wrong. Menka is exhausted from the horrors he has seen as a surgeon, but he's just found out a new one: body parts are being stolen from the hospital for sale. Soon a story of power and corruption unravels, but the truth might be close to home.

This is a book that takes time to get into, as the opening chapters jump about in character and focus, and I wasn't sure if the narrative would settle into a particularly clear narrative, despite the length of the book. However, after a while it does focus on Dr Menka mostly, making it easier to keep track of what was going on, though there were still a few plot points (including exactly what was going on with the body parts) that I found confusing. The third person narrative voice occasionally moves from focusing on the action or flashbacks to a broader explanatory tone that satirises various political and national happenings in the book, but mostly it follows the mystery of what is going on in Menka and Pitan-Payne's lives.

Once I got into it, the story was good, a witty look at corruption and influence, though it did get a bit meandering at times due to its length (particularly a section about whether or not someone is buried in Austria or Nigeria, which went on for a long time). Some of the satire probably passed me by, especially as I don't tend to read a huge amount of political satire, but the overall narrative came together well and it had a satisfying ending that I hadn't guessed.

[Faith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know anything about Nigerian society or politics, so a book satirizing them is way over my head. This was just confusing to me. If the book had been shorter I might have soldiered on, but I didn’t enjoy the writing style and I wasn’t willing to spend 22 hours on the audiobook. I had not reached the events described in the blurb, when I abandoned the book. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Anya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished this after abandoning it last year. Also finishes out the 20 book goal I apparently set for this year, which is fewer than years past but I will take it. I am glad I finally finished this and did quite enjoy it. I think it starts out really strong and then sort of loses it by the end (this might also be a partial reflection of my own impatience – although I think it's also just true), but the beginning is well done and often quite funny. The Anglophone West African auto-critique keeps showing up, and I know it more in a Ghanaian sense so it's interesting how Soyinka represents it here. This is quite fantastical. It is too long. But it is fun for a lot of its life. I love the cover.

[Rui Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

Estas crónicas remontam-nos para a Nigéria e para realidades muito distantes daquelas que conhecemos.

Aqui, emerge a história de um empreendedor que é bem sucedido a vender peças de corpos para rituais.

Todavia, é quando Menka se aperceber que, no hospital onde trabalha, existe alguém a fazer do mesmo uma fonte de fornecimento para esses fins, que ele decide impedir que isso aconteça.

Pitan-Payne, amigo de Menka, está prestes a aceitar um cargo nas Nações Unidas como engenheiro. Porém, isso não lhe impede de tentar contribuir e ajudar o seu amigo.

As investigações vão avançando como uma onda que invade a areia duma praia, e é nesse processo de investigação que ambos se deparam com a complexidade deste negócio macabro. O poderio e a improbabilidade daqueles que lucram com tudo isto promete ser surpreendente.

Um livro que expõe a nu a corrupção e os meandros desses mesmos interesses à margem da lei. Além disso, é evidenciado o abuso de poder por parte daqueles que o possuem.

Soyinka é conhecido por ser, não só um escritor de vulto a nível mundial, mas como um dos mais importantes ativistas africanos. É, a conciliação destes dois papéis por ele desempenhado, que faz com que esta seja uma obra profunda sobre temáticas muito sensíveis.

Uma escrita demorada e detalhada que não demonstra grande ansiedade na sua entrega. Uma leitura que se faz render pelos seus contornos e temáticas obscuras, culturais e impactantes.

Este livro, marca o regresso do autor às obras, quase 50 anos depois. Um livro consagrado e eleito como um dos melhores do ano para meios de comunicação como o New York Times.

[Md Akhlaq · Rating 5 out of 5]

'You see, if you inhabit a dung heap, you can still ensure that you are sitting on top of it'. That is the other perspective. It is what separates those who are called from the common herd. It sits at the heart of human desire'.

An intriguing political satire pointing out the abuse of power by the political activists set in an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr Menka's hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne--the life of every party-- who is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York. It now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. Neither Dr Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, how powerful.


Written by the Nobel Prize-winning writer and activist Wole Soyinka. As I've attempted to know the reality of Nigeria through some other resources, I would say, and this would not be an exaggeration to say that the writing of this book resonates with the dreadful truths of the real Nigeria.

It's not an easy book to go over, and it expects a substantial amount of patience and concentration from the readers considering its expanse, numerous characters and the profundity of the subject as well. This is a complex, complicated, and often obsessive read, with a large cast of characters.

To be very honest I was not aware of Soyonika and his Nobel writing, but this book blew me away. He's Africa's first Nobel Laureate in Literature.Also, I'm convinced, and I'll re-read this book to understand each of its trajectories. It includes three main characters:

Sir Goddie Danfere, political leader of such a party that prospers un-democratically in a democratic nation. Modu Udensi Oromotaya, media in Chief. Papa Divina, a religious figure/guru or extortionist. These all three are working collectively through a kind of pact made in the past. Their union and reunion is such a fascinating angle of this novel. Its beginning sequence may seem a little bit draggy, but after a time you'll just love it.

The style of writing is tremendous, concealing brutal violence in rejuvenating prose. It's certainly a masterpiece of modern literature.

[Bagus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is Wole Soyinka’s first novel for a long time since Season of Anatomy (1972). I’ll have to admit that I picked this book solely because the label says that Soyinka won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986 and the premise in the description sounds interesting to me. Soyinka’s latest novel made me struggle a lot from the first chapter alone, what with the complexities of the story. The setting is an imaginary Nigeria, but I could take the cue of the satirical message behind the characters and the plots which seem to be a critique towards the massive corruption and religious intolerance plaguing Nigeria, which is said as the largest economy in Africa for the time being.

The writing style makes me confused, and at times I could not make a head or tail on the characters. In the first chapter, I thought Davina would be the main problem in this story, only to be introduced to several characters again in the next few chapters with description that seems sporadic. Sadly, I don’t have the necessary knowledge about Nigerian politics or socio-cultural contexts to understand the message underlined by Soyinka. I think it probably has something to do with the medium that Soyinka often use to tell his story is through plays, which might be his best medium to date as the Nobel Prize Committee cited the reason of his award being: " who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence." It’s as absurd as to think that Brecht attempted to write a novel (well yeah, even Brecht tried to adapt his Threepenny Opera into a novel form), but again this is my first take of Soyinka, I have yet to read his first two novels which were published around 50 years ago.

[Matthew Snover · Rating 1 out of 5]

A literary satire about Nigerian politics, religion, and entrepreneurs. I had high hopes for this based on the description, the laurels accorded to the author, and the subject matter. I was sadly disappointed. The book is overwritten, poorly paced, and pretentious. The plot is completely incoherent and is not resolved with any skill.

The author would have been better off writing short fiction or non-fiction. Lots of enjoyable bits in the book that show promise, but not enough to warrant actually reading or buying this book. The story is not as radical or unbelievable unless you’ve been under a rock and don’t know what is happening in Nigeria.

It isn’t clear who this book is written for. It isn’t for an American audience or even to the general Nigerian audience. It isn’t written for politicians. It was written by the author for himself, and perhaps for his fervent devotees. This book is heavily indulgent. Do not recommend.

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long, complex book, capable of feinting with the reader, leading them first in one direction and then in the other, among politics, religion (or rather, superstition), tribalism, apparently paradoxical and humorous, with each page becoming more and more involving and profound, to the point of not being able to let go, until the final deception, which leaves one bewildered and completely breathless. An imaginary Nigeria that is the paradigm of the entire western civilisation is the background to this literary monument, in a text that chastises former oppressed and former oppressors alike, both categories driven only by greed.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desafío "Leyendo a través de África 2023": Nigeria (créditos a Lee (Books With Lee)).

[Ayush Ranka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronicles From the Land Of The Happiest People on Earth is an unusual, and at times, difficult read but ultimately striking for its window into Nigerian political and social life, gross satire, and incredible language. As other reviews and author interviews may tell you, this is not a well-structured novel. While the story and its characters are compelling the book’s form is disruptive and at times makes for a frustrating read. More specifically, Wole Soyinka’s character dialogues can be meandering and opaque. Furthermore, Soyinka takes a very unconventional and drawn-out road to his master whodunit-esque storyline. A patient reader will be rewarded with hilarious satire, rich characters, and thoughtful themes along the way but it requires considerable energy to stay engaged long enough to be caught up in this world. Despite all its flaws, I cannot help but feel that I have a read a landmark piece of Nigerian literature and possibly a milestone in the Canon.

[Kathleen Creedon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. This was a good book, but I shouldn't have listened to it. I think I would've been able to better engage with it if it was in my hands :/ But I still enjoyed it! It's the story of an alternate-universe Nigeria and explores themes of corruption and power. It's also a sorta whodunit, but the suspense didn't really draw me in this time.

Also, Wole Soyinka is so cool! This was his first book published in nearly 50 years.

[Julia Löfvenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Det här var en av de absolut svåraste böckerna jag någonsin läst. Det har tagit lång tid, jag har kämpat för att upprätthålla intresset (och förstå hur handlingen hänger ihop). Efter 200 sidor började jag hänga med och de sista 100 sidorna var till och med spännande. Det ÄR en bok som måste läsas till sista sidan, då det är där hela storyn unfolds. Nu utmattad, men både klokare och rikare. En läsupplevelse för den ihärdige som söker belöning på lång sikt.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly remarkable novel, very nearly a great novel. (The funeral section drags and some of the connections are a bit too clever. Still.)

That Soyinka gets the players, pace and patter down so well should be no surprise, given his expertise as a playwright. It's in the lengthier, denser prose passages that he emerges as an expert novelist as well. Calling on everything from Waiting for Godot, to Dickens, to Father Divine to send up modern Nigeria (and Modern Times more generally), Soyinka plumbs the true, awful depths to which man's inhumanity to fellow man has now descended.

The humor is spot on and necessary (as in Jason Mott's Hell of a Book), if only to keep from crying.