First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

The first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature gives us a tour de force, his first novel in nearly half a century: a savagely satiric, gleefully irreverent, rollicking fictional meditation on how power and greed can corrupt the soul of a nation.

In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka’s hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne. The life of every party, Duyole is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York, but it now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. And neither Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, or how powerful.

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a literary hoot, a crafty whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corruption. It is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of our fiercest political activists, who also happens to be a global literary giant.

Happy Friday everyone! Well, technically it is already Saturday. Again, I was out yesterday night with some of my friends. It was totally unplanned. Last Thursday, I started craving ramen because of a video I watched. After work, I invited some friends to join me but they all declined so I ended up going alone; I am used to dining alone but it was my first time going alone to my favorite ramen house. When I was done eating and when the diners sitting immediately to my right left, I heard someone calling me. Lo and behold, it was my high school friends. It was the last place I expected to meet them considering that one works almost a day away from Manila. It was a pleasant surprise. Serendipitous if you may. We ended up catching up the rest of the evening, hence, this belated First Impression Friday update.

Before I proceed further, I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. Lucky for us in the Philippines as we have two long weekends in line. Two more extra days of catching up on things that we want to do, at least those that are not related to our jobs. I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. As has been customary, I am closing the work week with a fresh First Impression Friday update. My foray into African literature is in full swing but why do I feel like time is going too fast. We are just a couple of days away from greeting September but I still have a lot of books written by African writers lined up for August. The final stretch of the year is going to be bloody as I will, once again, be cramming books that are part of my reading challenges.

Regardless, I will march on. Currently, I am reading my second book by Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth. After his memoir Aké: The Years of Childhood, this is my second book by the Nobel Laureate in Literature and his first novel I read; he is more renowned for his plays. This also makes Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth the seventh consecutive novel written by a Nobel Laureate in Literature I read. It was shortly after reading his memoir that I learned about the release of his latest novel. I was looking forward to it because Aké made me appreciate his writing. I was able to obtain a copy of Chronicles but 2022 was a really jam-packed reading year so I put my plan to read the book on hold. Come 2023, I included the novel in my 2023 Top 23 Reading List.

Interestingly, this is just his third novel and his first since 1973, a gap of nearly half a century. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is set in a fictional Nigeria where we meet four main characters meant to represent polar opposites that comprise contemporary Nigerian society. On one side are the idealistic characters Duyole Pitan-Payne and Kighare Menka who both studied in England before returning home. The former is an engineer and bon vivant who was recently chosen as a representative to the United Nations. The latter, on the other hand, was a surgeon who dreamt of building a hospital in his small, underprivileged hometown. Along with two other equally idealistic Nigerian students, they formed the Gong of Four, a secret society driven by their similar desire to give back to their country.

But evil forces lurk in the corners. Corruption and greed abounded in their home country. These evil forces include the terrorist group Boko Haram; this group has become synonymous with Nigeria and they are known for their brutality. We also meet Papa Davina and Godfrey Danfere, the polar opposites of the Gong of Four. Papa Divina is a religious leader representing one critical feature of modern Nigerian society: the fascination with cults, pastors, and faith healers. On the other hand, Godfrey Danfere represented the bureaucracy that has been undermined by corruption and greed. This landscape painted by Soyinka reminded me of Abi Daré’s The Girl With the Louding Voice which contained subtle allusions to these maladies that persist in Nigeria. In the case of Soyinka’s novel, it was conveyed through the form of satire.

Oh yes, did I mention that there is one more, well, bizarre aspect to the story? It involves another secret society, aptly named Human Resources, that sells human body parts online. These parts, stolen from a hospital run by Dr. Menka, are sold to be used for private rituals and superstitions. This underlines a reality that long hounded Nigeria. Despite technological and medical advances, there remain individuals who believe that some human organs possess magical powers. This leads to ritual murders and the illicit body parts trade. In Soyinka’s imagined country – which is not fictional in any way it was portrayed by the writer – this organization is run by the country’s high-ranking political and religious officers. It is implied that Papa Davina and Godfrey Danfere are among the members of this society.

While the book projects itself as a satire, the fictional elements are too close to reality that the satirical elements are rendered ephemeral. However, this does not mean that the story is not potent. The story still captured the ugly realities that hound Nigeria. I am in the last one hundred pages of the book and I am hoping that there will at least be a hopeful retort in the end, that after the proverbial dark tunnel, the sun is still shining. But why do I feel like that is not going to be the case, as can be noted with how Soyinka built the story? Will the Duyoles and the Menkas overcome the Davinas and Danferes of the world? It is not lost on most of us that even the strongest ideals fold under the weight of unfair power dynamics. Inconvenient truths.

I can’t wait to see how the story will pan out in the end. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!