An Orchestra of Minorities

by Chigozie Obioma

[clementine]

I liked a lot about this book in theory - the use of Igbo cosmology to tell a contemporary (and socially relevant) story is fresh and interesting; it's dense and ambitious and clearly the work of an accomplished, talented writer. But I had a difficult time with it. One of my biggest issues is that Ndali's character was quite underdeveloped, which felt off, since the central conflict of the book revolves around her relationship with Chinonso. The metaphor of the gosling that runs through the text is very heavy-handed and conspicuous, and it makes it quite easy to extrapolate later events in the novel. I found the pacing quite off, as well. I'm sad about this one - there is so much potential brimming within it, but I just failed to enjoy it thoroughly.