Nigerian Author Chigozie Obioma's "The Fisherman" Man Booker Nominee

Chigozie Obioma's (b. Nigeria 1986) 1st novel, "The Fisherman" received a Man Booker nomination.  This amazing debut novel pays homage to Chinua Achebe (b. Nigeria 1930-2013) considered the patriarch of the contemporary African novel.  Obioma references Achule's world renown "Things Fall Apart." Both novels are eloquently written possessing an African cadence and an overwhelming melancholy for the demise of their indigenous culture & inherent way of life.  "The Fisherman" tells the story of a tight knit family of 4 boys with 2 more siblings soon to join the fold.  The youngest of the 4 brothers is Ben, the narrator of this memorable coming of age tale set in Nigeria in the 1990's under a violent, military dictatorship.  Obioma's prose unfolds unhurriedly.  The terror which mounts is woven into a tapestry of natural landscape and intrinsic tongues.  The novel is a melange of African history, cultural clashes, familial bonds, grief and mythical fables.  Ben & his brothers defy their parents by fishing in the local river.  There they encounter the town's homeless imbecile who prophesies tragic events for Ben's family.  These predictions rupture the bonds of brotherhood & become self-fulfilling.  Ben's older brother explains "the people of Umuofia were conquered because they were not united.  The white men were a common enemy that would have been easily conquered if the tribe had fought as one.  {The people were destroyed} - because there was a division between them."  Loyalty & trust are prevailing themes.  Grief is a common thread throughout.  The father tells his sons, "We cannot continue to grieve forever.  We cannot bring forward what is behind, nor can we bring what is forward back."  Obioma's brilliant & powerful literary skill may prove him to be the heir apparent to Achebe.