REVIEW : VIOLENCE BY FESTUS IYAYI

  Hello peeps, how has the month been? I’ve been playing coward for a while now, let me tell you why. I read a book some weeks back—which I stumbled upon by the way—and I was like it’s something I’d like to make a blog post about but I have been “shifting post” ever since. I have decided to take the bull by the horns and do it anyways. 
   Hmm!! Where do I start? Okay, this book I’m talking about is titled VIOLENCE written by FESTUS IYAYI and I’d say it was a good—real good—read. The time in which the story was set wasn’t really stated but I figure it was set sometime in the 70s going but the copyright and an account somewhere in the book. The storyline spans roughly 2-3 weeks, my guess being right. 

   The plot revolves basically around two couples, one affluent and the other poverty stricken. The story tells of the things that being poor can make one do and things that the affluent can use to lure the poor as well. It also shows how manipulative some rich folks can be, going by Obofun and his wife’s—Queen—acts and character. The major characters were Idemudia, a labourer who went to school but dropped out at class four due to his father being uninterested in his education. Adisa, his wife that was sent to him from the village. She also had some form of education but didn’t have the means to start a business that she had longed to. Then there was Obofun and Queen, they both ran freedom motel and had separate businesses as well. Queen had a government contract to build low cost houses somewhere in Benin where the story was set, she also had some apartments up for rent and a hotel of hers too. Obofun ran a supermarket, a hotel of his and sold products that were scarcely found like whisky. 
   The book portrays the disparity between the two couples aforementioned and also individual values. There were other supporting characters that added more essence and depth to the story; from the Greek site engineer to Lilian, Iriso, Osaro and Bernard to mention but a few. The author was very apt with his description, it was easy to imagine scenes and sceneries in the book as well as characters. This is one thing I appreciate about the book aside the fact that it was gripping –leaving you turning the pages endlessly. I also found the conversation between a person and his conscience very interesting. All in all, it was a good read and I am pretty sure you would find it interesting too if you happen to read it. 

PS : I said it was an interesting read but I was left quite unhappy seeing how bad the Nigerian economy has become more when compared to the time in which the book was set. Can you imagine 20 cartons of milk and about 3000 eggs costing about 500 Naira, just imagine. Also, how 100 Naira felt like a big deal then. I should be talking about this and more in a future post. 
Mina