Customer Reviews

Sozaboy

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ken Saro Wiwa was one of the rising stars of Nigerian Literature coming after the legendary triumvirate of Achebe,Soyinka and John Pepper Clarke-Bekederemo till his voice was cut down inhis prime.The setting of the novel is an African Country which he does not mention though it is obviously Nigeria.It tells a harrowing tale of a soldier who joins the war not understanding what he is fighting for.The narrator is a naive apprentice driver who ends up in prisoner of war camps,refugee camps and witnesses the wanton destruction finally becoming disillusioned he walks away from it all only to discover the loss of all he holds dear.The language in which it is written is actually a form of speaking common in NIGERIA it is a beautiful mix of corrupted English words transposed with direct translations from African languages.There is a glossary that will be usefull to those unfamiliar with this.

Ken Saro-Wiwa's `Sozaboy' is one of the most poignant anti-war novels ever written.

It is the story of a young apprentice driver for whom all uniformed human beings are heroes ... until he becomes one himself. Fighting on both sides of the front line and not knowing exactly for whom, it becomes clear to him that `little soldiers' are only `dead bodies' in the hands of corrupt powermongerers (generals, politicians, businessmen).
His whole world breaks down: why are people continuing to make children in this hellish world?

This brutal and shocking masterpiece is a must read for all those interested in world literature. Its phrasing in `rotten English' gives it a particularly tragic accent.

Ken Saro-Wiwa's death is also an utmost tragical one. He was condemned for `high treason' and hanged, because he defended his ogoni people against the ravages of their territory by an international oil company. A crime against humanity.

Ken Saro-Wiwa's book brings us face to face with people we otherwise only see at a distance on TV as masses being hurled about by chaos and war. We see the world through the eyes of the "soldier boy" himself, a world that is perhaps alien to us at first but that increases in familiarity with every increase in compassion and identification with the main character, whom we get to know increasingly as a real human being who lives life differently but fundamentally on our terms also. The novel is a "must read" for anyone who tries to come to terms with the realities of the Third World.

I read Sozaboy about once a year. I love it. I don't know how many copies I've given away, a dozen at least. I never tire of it.

A key feature of this book is the language. The author calls it "rotten English". Rotten English is a mix of Pidgeon English, corrupted English and good English. The voice is musical and magical. I can hear my West African friends in my ear as I read.

The language is evocative. You are there. You see this man-child move from place to place, from side to side, never really understanding the world around him. What soldier really grasps the meaning and purpose of war? What soldier can really find his or her own place in the chaos? Right and wrong get lost in the meat grinder.

The last paragraph never fails to make me weep.

"And I was thinking how I was prouding before to go to soza and call myself Sozaboy. But now if anybody say anything about war or even fight, I will just run and run and run and run and run. Believe me yours sincerely."

It stands up with the very best anti war fiction.

The skill with which Ken paints his characters, using very few words, and fewer adjectives is unsurpassed