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A review by blearywitch
Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe
5.0
Birthday book #1/13 in 2019; "Boyhood" theme.
It's amusing how I read it with a Nigerian accent in my head, like from the Emmanuela videos.
I was impressed to learn that little Chike likes flowing phrases like Midwestern Nigeria, A Midsummers Night Dream, The Isle of Man. The boys like to repeat English phrases they learnt at school like "time and tide waits for no man", "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
It was interesting to know Chike's uncle is unmarried so his boy servant does all the "difficult" work in the house which listed splitting firewood, going to the market, washing and ironing clothes, washing plates, and sweeping rooms!
It reiterates that a wise mother would make sure her son knows how to do housework. Boys who don't will turn into lawless little imps!
Suddenly I learnt how those Nigerian scams began! It started with writing to penpals in England and asking them for precious items and promising leopard skin in return. Hilarious. Chike didn't participate, thankfully.
Headmaster told the boys "A person who begs has no self-respect, he has no shame and no dignity. He is an inferior person." All boys should remember this.
All in all this is a very light read, extremely enjoyable, amusing with every turn of the page. Chike is a good boy, who remembers his mother's advise but wants to achieve his dream of crossing the river. He successfully kept himself out of serious trouble but not completely out of regular mischief or honest mistakes. It is a heartwarming tale of the adventures of a village boy getting accustomed to the city and growing up around other boys in school. Loved it!
It's amusing how I read it with a Nigerian accent in my head, like from the Emmanuela videos.
I was impressed to learn that little Chike likes flowing phrases like Midwestern Nigeria, A Midsummers Night Dream, The Isle of Man. The boys like to repeat English phrases they learnt at school like "time and tide waits for no man", "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
It was interesting to know Chike's uncle is unmarried so his boy servant does all the "difficult" work in the house which listed splitting firewood, going to the market, washing and ironing clothes, washing plates, and sweeping rooms!
It reiterates that a wise mother would make sure her son knows how to do housework. Boys who don't will turn into lawless little imps!
Suddenly I learnt how those Nigerian scams began! It started with writing to penpals in England and asking them for precious items and promising leopard skin in return. Hilarious. Chike didn't participate, thankfully.
Headmaster told the boys "A person who begs has no self-respect, he has no shame and no dignity. He is an inferior person." All boys should remember this.
All in all this is a very light read, extremely enjoyable, amusing with every turn of the page. Chike is a good boy, who remembers his mother's advise but wants to achieve his dream of crossing the river. He successfully kept himself out of serious trouble but not completely out of regular mischief or honest mistakes. It is a heartwarming tale of the adventures of a village boy getting accustomed to the city and growing up around other boys in school. Loved it!