Customer Reviews

Becoming Abigail

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Becoming Abigail is devastating in its deep understanding of the complexity human nature (both the beauty and the monstrosity). I am a woman and I am amazed at Abani's ability to understand and portray a female voice. This novel is sad, terrifying, moving and every page of it rings true.
The prose style is sparse, for example (from chapter 31): "The comfort of simple things. Coffee percolating. Cinnamon buns warming oven and home. An ice cold Coca-Cola on a hot day, Licking out the mixing bowl. Chocolate. Childhood... And what would be the line for her?... A line is a lie. Who can tell what it will open unto." And in this unpredictable strong novella, who can tell indeed? Abani's style here is fearless (you can read how he has distilled his prose from Graceland to Becoming Abigail) and its rhythm ranges from a paused, minimalist riff, to a painful staccato, to the intensity of a fluid jazz solo.
This is a fast read that will singe your brain. Abani gives the reader no easy answers, as indeed no good artist should. He raises questions.
Through this beautifully told story, in the vein of films like Moodysson's Lilya4ever, calls our attention to one of the world's most overwhelming exploitative practices: the sexual slavery of women and children, not only in Nigeria/Britain but everywhere.

I honestly haven't ever read a book quite like this. It is in one word 'wow!'
Short, painful (almost masochistic to read, nearly like self flagellating), raw and honest.

You will be glad to get to the end of the book but you won't dare skip a page in the process.

Abigail's story couldn't have been told in any other or possibly better form or manner. Chris Abani is such a mature, heavily talented writer and he manipulates and owns his language.

This is my second read of his works and I will keep on reading him. He speaks for the underdogs who have no voice, no easy feat.

Chris Abani makes me proud to be Nigerian and Ibo and reminds me of the possibilities.

This novel reminds me of Marguerite Duras' equally unflinching look at a young girl's sexuality, "The Lover." The writing is poetic and spare, with a real attention to visual detail and repetition of image. It has the fugue-like feel of a novella with regard to the thematic repetition of loss and violation -- although it *is* sad material, there is still some hope, and the beauty of the language carries the reader through.

Yesterday I finished this book during my commute to work, and back home. Simply put, and unfortunately to use an inadequate and trite phrase, this book left an indelible impression on me, and I can't quite find the right words to describe this feeling. Except to say this book is exquisitely haunting. I can understand the previous reviewer's reaction to this material, in that nothing seems to be held back in this book. You are truly taken into the heart of darkness in this book, in a manner that is very raw. Abigail's horrors are quite disquieting to say the least, and can lead one to be easily repulsed- this book is not for the faint of heart.

However, in my opinion, the prose is taught and shows a great deal of restraint. It would be too easy to sensationalize and glorify the horrors depicted, as is what we are used to in current films, graphic novels, fiction, etc. If anything, the prose is executed in a poetic way, which distills and softens the gravity of the events being described. This book is not light fare.

This tiny book attempts to do in a very small space, what many books five times its size so often cannot achieve. It tells a harrowing story of a life lived, that was not truly alive, almost an account of a ghostlike way of being. Abigail, this Abigail never had a chance.

I also am grateful to the author for the size of this material, I am not sure I could have handled much more suffering.

It is not perfect, but damn it is noteworthy and good.

Thanks for reading.

This is a very quick read, but not because it was not engaging. As a matter of fact, I kept reading because I wanted to know more...and you will be the same way. Although it's short, it's probably all I could handle - very deep!

This book captures so much in so few, beautifully chosen words that, after each event, I stopped to consider all that wasn't said -- all the historical, sociological, emotional, psychological, and other aspects of Abigail's complicated and harsh existence juxtaposed with her indomitable spirit.

I had never read anything by Christopher Abani. When I first saw this book, I noticed many people were purchasing it in the bookstore. Since then it sparked my interest and I decided to read it. I am always willing to read something new. From the moment I read the first page, I was hooked. It's a beautifully written piece of work. Every word is chosen with such care. The book is placed together so perfectly, leading to a surpising ending and an explanation on what really happened with this young girl.

Abigail is such a comnplex character and so human. When you read it, you feel as if you know this girl.

I have no complaints about this piece of writing, it's wonderful. Abani has definitely made me a fan and I will definitely read some of his other works.

Becoming Abigail is classified as a novella. Chris Abani writes in a lyrical style that easily flows in and out of the past (Then) and present (Now).

The story is about Abigail: a young woman who is fighting for her own identity. She lost her mother, Abigail, during child birth. Everyone who knew her mother (including her father) compares young Abigail to her dearly departed mother. Young Abigail also had to contend with the death of her father and being uprooted from her rural village and transplanted in urban London. The author utilizes flash-backs to give the reader a bird's eye view into young Abigail's mind. Her self talk and narratives show just how much she is struggling to come out of the vacant shadow of her mother and navigate the landscape of her new surroundings.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I was emotionally drawn into the story, and found myself laughing, angered and saddened by the situations Abigail encountered in her life. Chris Abani successfully portrayed the struggle we each have with our inner person, as well as the struggle that young ladies have as they go through puberty and grow into womanhood. This unusual coming of age story is not for the very young due to adult themes and situations.

Thin, lightweight, deceptively unsubstantial, Becoming Abigail is a minimalist novella one might accomplish reading in one sitting, but I would not recommend doing so. Abigail's story is one that necessitates slow, methodical digestion.

Though you may be puzzled at first, be thankful for the brief chapters enveloped by ample white space. The further you wade in, you will need the time between the lines -- to catch your breath.

Nigerian poet and author Chris Abani chronicles the life of Abigail, the now-adolescent main character, who is neither stock ingenue nor predictable heroine. You will flinch as this tortured soul describes the way she "defines" herself, and at the way the author deftly reconstructs the events that have simultaneously contibuted to Abigail's becoming and her undoing.

About midway through, you will realize how wasteful words can be. Abani masterfully evokes more with one image than most writers can in a guilded paragraph. Poetically haunting, hauntingly poetic, Becoming Abigail is a searing triumph that will leave you gasping and eager for the next Abani masterpiece.

--Reviewed by Marguerite Benjamin Parker, Author of A Debt Too Deep

I read this book thinking to get a window into the way that a girl may relate with a widowed father as stated on the blurb. It does do that but at the same time, I think it failed to make it believeable or sometime I could relate to. I do think the author has a unique style of writing which made it a lot more interesting.

Myne Whitman
A Heart to Mend