Jul 31

Jul 31 An Orchestra of Minorities

Author: Chigozie Obioma
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
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Note: Trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

A contemporary twist on the Odyssey, An Orchestra of Minorities is narrated by the chi, or spirit of a young poultry farmer named Chinonso. His life is set off course when he sees a woman who is about to jump off a bridge. Horrified by her recklessness, he hurls two of his prized chickens off the bridge. The woman, Ndali, is stopped in her tracks.

Chinonso and Ndali fall in love but she is from an educated and wealthy family. When her family objects to the union on the grounds that he is not her social equal, he sells most of his possessions to attend college in Cyprus. But when he arrives in Cyprus, he discovers that he has been utterly duped by the young Nigerian who has made the arrangements for him. Penniless, homeless, we watch as he gets further and further away from his dream and from home.

TL;DR Review

An Orchestra of Minorities is a stunningly beautiful, terribly sad novel written from the most unique narration I’ve ever read.

For you if: You love a sad, literary novel, and/or you’re interested in reading stories rooted in African culture and history.

Full Review

“He had joined many others ….all who have been chained and beaten, whose lands have been plundered, whose civilizations have been destroyed, who have been silenced, raped, shamed, killed. With all these people, he’d come to share a common fate, they were the minorities of this world whose only recourse was to join the universal orchestra in which all there was to do was cry and wail.”

Wow.

An Orchestra of Minorities was my final read of the 13 novels longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize. It’s really, really beautiful. It’s an incredible work of fiction with exquisite storytelling. It’s also really sad — but not necessarily in the way that I tend to enjoy.

This novel is narrated by the chi — guardian spirit — of the main character, whose name is Chinonso. His chi is pleading his case before the higher powers, telling the story of Chinonso’s life and misfortunes, explaining how he came to commit a wrong that could possibly damn him. So right off the bat, I was really drawn in. What an incredible choice of narration. What a creative way to celebrate and honor the beliefs and traditions of Obioma’s culture and heritage, and to bring those unfamiliar with that culture along for the ride.

One night, Chinonso is driving home from a trade market in a nearby town when he encounters a woman about to jump off a bridge. He throws two chickens — despite his attachment to them, him being a poultry farmer who cares for his flock with tenderness and love — off the bridge and into the raging river below to dissuade her. Later, they reconnect and fall in love. She’s from a wealthy family, and her parents won’t accept him. So he decides to get a university degree to persuade them that he’s worthy of her. And that’s where everything goes so terribly, terribly wrong, dismantling his life and his sense of self piece by piece.

I’m ultimately torn on this book. On the one hand, I loved the writing fiercely. On the other hand, it was a long book about one terrible thing happening after another. I usually love sad books, but sometimes I just didn’t want to keep reading this one because I knew it was just going to keep being sad and being sad and being sad. There was a lot of spiraling and the plot moved slowly.

But. That’s also kind of the whole point of this book — the woes of those who are powerless to fight back against the tide of misfortune afflicted on them by those who are more powerful. In that light, I understand why the book is shaped this way. And the decision to have it narrated by his chi, in the world of fate and reincarnation and the heavens, 10,000 feet above the level of the story itself, drove this home even more. But wow, was that sad.