News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

You are welcome to Colombia: a home of green land, bright sun and blue seas. The creatures of the environment enjoy the cool air and tales told by the whispering trees. Things changed as time progressed. The birth of one man changed the beautiful face that was once Colombia. The man's name is Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria. He changed the scheme of things and introduced a monstrous existence with his mixed acts--drug sales, murder, kidnapping and internecine wars.

Give it to Gabriel Marquez narrating the ordeal faced by some citizens during these ugly times with an angry-beautiful pen. He was vested with the job of narrating things as they were in those bloody years in Medellin, Colombia. As usual, he didn't fail the reader. Every page flourishes like a flower with a thorny stem.

The kidnapped characters in the book begin to lose their mental stability as they were isolated and put away from the outside world's reality. After they were release, one could still feel their suffering as they struggled with memory and fitting into normal live. Columbia, one may conclude, will never forget those years with a book like this.

It is a story worth reading!

China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston

You don’t need to be a sinophile to enjoy this book. It is a tale that uncovers the remarkable experiences faced by a particular generation of a Chinese family; their journey to the Golden Mountain (the US) and the incidents they witness on the so-called Golden Mountain.

The author narrates, beautifully, the ‘good, bad and ugly’ nature of living as an immigrant. It is a beautiful-cocktail-story. However, one must sip it gradually to avoid an intoxication caused by the unapologetic movement between times.

‘All that you’ll and feel will be illusion’

                Through the eyes of the young narrator, the reader is forced to either sympathise or empathise with the families in the book.

Memories of My Melancholic Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

On the eve of his ninetieth birthday, the protagonist (Mr. Unknown), made a call to Rosa Carbacas, to request for a strange birthday gift. The request...

                Fortunately or unfortunately, the gift changes his perspective about life and love. It is a tale about the meaning of age(ing), love, sadness and happiness. A tale that covers the importance of memories and most importantly,society's definition of old age.

“What happens is that you don’t feel it on the inside, but from the outside everybody can see it.”

                Every sentence in this book is pregnant with numerous meanings. Read it.

No One Writes to the Colonel

I just finished reading Marquez's novella bearing the above title. It is a story about a retired colonel. The colonel, as we are made to know, fought relentlessly in Macondo ( the fictional setting of Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude ). Unfortunately, the colonel has not received his pension for over fifteen years. He continues to wait for the mail or pension cheque but it never arrives.

Many things add up to his sad life: his extreme state of squalor, his wife's bad health, the death of his son and the gory pictures he sees in his dreams.

The colonel's son, Agustan, left a rooster which becomes a treasure in the colonel's house. Accurate attention is given to the rooster. A symbol of hanging onto the son's memory can be seen from the way the colonel treats the rooster.

However, the end is rather shocking.

It is a good read!

The Purple Hibiscus

I had to read it again. Yes, Chimamanda's debut novel was worth re-reading.

For those that have not read The Purple Hibiscus, may i use this medium to plead with you to read it. And if you have read it, what do you think about it. The book is simply good. It is a story about a teenage girl, Kambili, caught between the web of love and hate.

When they found the flower things began to change.

America's Quest for a Million Srength

If you have heard or read about the United States of America then you need to read Noam Chomsky's book called: Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance.
In this non-fictional piece, the author releases the worms in America's historical and political can as well as describing the tricks leaders from the western world use to keep " weaker nations" perpetually crippled. It is an eye-opener. All that are stars might shine but their rays may blind you if you dont find the truth behind their bright lights.

The author also describes the difference between democracy and American democracy. The meaning of terrorism and freedom.  It is funny indeed to see how other countries are forced or sometimes,  lured to use a system of government they don't understand properly.

Chomsky, in this book, concludes that " the US [is] the biggest threat to world peace." Is it true?

The book, to put simply, is a book to be read by any individual interested in world politics, America, wars and peace structures of the world. What we see is not a world. It is a game.To play this game, therefore, we need knowlege.

Beware the Second Coming!

A friend of mine sent me an article an hour ago, I read it and here is my thought about it.

Imagine a beautiful young girl. With her corn-row hair, beautiful brown skin, bright white smile, she draws attention from many men around her community. They watch from a distance then begin to plot ways of getting her attention. They tried all their best but she would not respond to their lecherous call. Then, they resulted to force. They tore her clothes and raped her incessantly, all taking rounds on her. She loses her beauty. They laugh at her and they call her kind of names: ugly beast, disease-stricken e.t.c. Some years later, she regains her beauty and again, the same men are plotting and strategising on ways they could penetrate her. Now, close your eyes and imagine what she went through in the past and what she would go through now and in the future. Can you see her? If you see her, do you feel her pains? Do you know her? She is ....

People, beware the second coming of those peeps that raped her. The story is of a continent called Africa. How some corporations and individuals are planning to go in for the second rape? What does the future hold for our people? How do we break these manacles of post-colonial madness? Spread the message, preach it, and defend it! If not, be ready for another rape. The link here explains the treacherous acts. Please read and spread. Thanks. Here is the link: http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-millionaires-and-billionaires-buying-land-in-africa-2011-6?op=1