Dear Fellow,
I read The Kite Runner by Khaleed Hosseini. I now have a healthy perception of an Afghan. I am now aware that before the breakdown in law and order and life-threatening circumstances which now characterises Afghanistan in the mass media, there was a nation which blossomed in calmness and serenity. I also gleaned from Hosseini’s book that the internal divisions among the tribes of the Afghans were as damaging as the external forces. And a whole lot of lessons I cannot outline here, given the scope of the review for today.
According to the calendar for this publication, today is for a book review. This despatch is more of a promotional review for the book Sometime in September by Muyiwa Joseph. This is a deviation from this publication's normal order and pattern for book reviews. Allow me to tell you a bit more about this book which comes on the scene officially on Sunday, which is the launch day.
Sometime in September is a piece of historical fiction, among other texts such as Silence by Shusaku Endo, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and others. Historical fiction is a category of books which contain imagined stories but leverage factual events in history. In Endo’s Silence, you learn about the work of missionaries in 17th century Japan; in Rivers’s Redeeming Love, you see a retelling of the Bible book of Hosea, of his marriage with Gomer, a prostitute. Muyiwa Joseph has fused the crises in Jos since 2001 in a single story.
Until Muyiwa’s book, I barely knew something tangible about the 2001 crises. I was grown during the subsequent crises. Right now, I have one very interesting correlation with the 2001 crisis. And this is it: the 2001 crisis in Jos broke out a few days after 9/11 in America. Both events happened in September 2001. I didn’t see this correlation until I read the manuscript for Muyiwa’s book. What goodness a writer evokes!
Yesterday, I was sharing with my colleagues about Muyiwa’s book. One of them indicated that he is interested in the story Muyiwa has created utilising the data from the misfortunes in the history of Jos and Plateau State. I took him away from the others and asked why he is so interested in the text. That opened a long conversation. He recounted his own experiences in the 2001 crisis in Jos; how he ran the streets seeing dead bodies and wished he had taken his toy gun with him (to do whatever) as they ran out of their house which was destroyed amid the unrest. This is just one out of several untold and unheard-of stories awaiting to be dusted and treated for a better experience of the future. My colleague said he has always wanted someone to tell these stories. Just that one article he came across on the internet was not enough for him. He wanted more.
In Sometime in September, Muyiwa has given us a desirable alternative to revisit our past. Sometimes, the raw facts can be difficult to deal with. But when rendered in stories, it sticks easier—the lessons, that is. I hope those who claimed history should be off the school curriculum in Nigeria, on the basis that is a boring subject for most students, will see an alternative approach in historical fiction literature. Sometime in September is a recent example to consider. Watch out for what follows after the launch of the book on Sunday, 23rd of April.
Your LetterMan,
Tongjal, W. N.
Some important information:
Here is a Facebook live session where the author discusses the background work of the book:
Here are the details for the launch on Sunday:
Date: Sunday, 23rd April 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. Africa/Lagos
Venue: Zoom; Meeting ID: 88104387374; Passcode: September
Meeting Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88104387374?pwd=Wm9tNm5xLy9KYzd0UjVycXR6WnVqUT09