The Wrestling Match [Paperback]

Buchi Emecheta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1998

Born of Ibo parents in Nigeria, Buchi Emecheta is widely known for her multi-layered stories of black women struggling to maintain their identity and construct viable lives for themselves and their families. She writes, according to The New York Times, with "subtlety, power, and abundant compassion". George Braziller is proud to have published nine of Emecheta's novels over the course of twenty-four years.

Children in a Nigerian village grow up during the Nigerian Civil War.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born of Ibo parents in Nigeria, Buchi Emecheta is widely known for her multilayered stories of black women struggling to maintain their identity and construct viable lives for themselves and their families. She writes, according to The New York Times, with "subtlety, power, and abundant compassion." George Braziller is proud to have published nine of Emecheta's novels over the course of twentyfour years.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 74 pages
• Publisher: George Braziller (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807610615
• ISBN-13: 978-0807610619
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #988,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent coming of age story, November 28, 2000

By 

M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wrestling Match (Paperback)

For the first few pages of this book, I expected to dislike it - its language was awkward, much like a poor translation. However, once the story developed its own momentum, the language became natural, pleasant to read.

The book is an excellent story of coming of age in a changing culture - the elders seemingly fail to understand the youth that has some education. These youth are caught in the middle; they don't want to farm in the traditional way yet they lack sufficient education for it to provide employment. They are in the middle in another sense - they are the children of the civil war. This leads to their coming of age event to be a wrestling match rather than a dance. Quietly and wisely in the background, several village elders orchestrate the events to teach the youth a lesson - in war everyone loses.

While this novel is unlikely to become a world classic, it is well worth reading.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-written coming-of-age story., December 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wrestling Match (Paperback)

This book is excellent reading for high schoolers. It exposes the reader to a culture that they probably no little about. More importantly, it is a story about teenagers and their struggles as they try to find their place in the world.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!, March 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wrestling Match (Paperback)

I am a highschool honors english student, and I just read this book, and man, let me tell you, it [***]! It is dull and pointless, about a group of worthless, underdeveloped characters who all talk the same and are very annoying. The language is unrealistic, and the style is very dull and uniteresting. It is clear that this particular author is not famous for her writing skill, but only for her subject matter (black women's independence). The so - called "moral" of the story is hastily tacked on at the end, definately not an integral part of the book, and worst of all, it is given away on the back cover! One does not even need to read the book, just the summary. Please, if you are a teacher considering to include this in your lesson plan, don't; my whole class hated it and wants no part of it, it is simply decreasing our morale and quality or education. Put plain and simple: do not read this book. I would gve it no stars if possible.