Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo

Title: Welcome to Lagos
Author: Chibundu Onuzo
Publisher: Faber and Faber
ISBN: 978-0571268955
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 368
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars

“Welcome to Lagos” is a delightful read. It is about strangers who meet on a bus – from different walks of life and end up sharing their burdens, their hopes and above all their fears as they enter Lagos. They are runaways from Bayelsa and all in search of a better life. It wouldn’t have mattered where the story of this book would have been set. The beauty of the book lies in its plot and structure. It could have been any city. Onuzo chose a city that is close to her heart – where she grew up – Lagos and it comes through stunningly in this book.

There are moments of joy and then there are those tragic moments in this book that make you want to jump in and hug those characters. To tell them that it will all be okay and things aren’t so bad. The book is political to a very large extent as well, but what sets it apart from the other books on Lagos (fiction and non-fiction) is that there is a lot of soul and heart in this one. Onuzo portrays her hometown’s history and situation lucidly through her characters’ eyes.

Chike, a soldier who has deserted an army unit after being disillusioned by his commanding officer. There is Fineboy, a militant who is more interested in radio and deals than violence. Isoken – a woman who has lost her family and come too close to losing her autonomy. Oma, a wife who is fleeing her husband and Yemi, Chike’s right-hand man who is an illiterate and yet is deeply rooted to his country’s welfare and history. These are the five characters that Onuzo introduces us to and makes the fabric of their lives intricately connected to ours. These renegades prefer to go about their lives quietly and yet as their paths converge with that of an unwilling benefactor, the story turns itself on its head.

There is endurance of spirit in the book. A lot of compassion between characters for each other which I loved the most. Lagos’s vibrancy, cultural exuberance and the tribal traditions are succinctly brought out in Onuzo’s writing. The book is graceful, almost soft in its approach. There is violence for sure, but Onuzo shows us the Nigeria that she belongs to, the Nigeria her characters belong to and how they go about life and love in all the conflict that is within.

The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature by Viv Groskop

Title: The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature
Author: Viv Groskop
Publisher: Fig Tree, Penguin UK
ISBN: 978-0241308639
Genre: Literary Non-Fiction, Memoirs
Pages: 224
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars

I am a sucker for Russian Literature. I have read Anna Karenina twice and the Brothers Karamazov about two and a half times (I dropped it half-way the third time, because it was getting too much for once to handle) and not to forget Master and Margarita about twice as well. There are many more Russian works of great significance and most of it is classical or semi-modern. What I also love is books about books and “The Anna Karenina Fix” merges these elements beautifully. It is a book about books but Russian Literature and how it can save your life (well in more ways than one) and also how one can actually learn from it.

“The Anna Karenina Fix” by Viv Groskop is a handy guide to life as learned from the works of Russian Literature. Be it Chekov or Turgenev or Akhmatova, every book or author chosen by Groskop in this book has had a role to play in her life – in making her live it day after day, month after month and year after year. It is a warm and fuzzy (well, not so fuzzy) book about humans, their frailties, passions, desires and weaknesses when it comes to that.

The book charts the author’s relationship with everything Russian – language, art, culture and how she weaves her memories with the classics is something any reader who loves books will enjoy. At the same time, Groskop introduces the Russian classics to you if you hadn’t heard of them and does a very good job of that. Also, even though there are spoilers, but that will not take away from the experience of reading these Russian books if you want to at some point.

“The Anna Karenina Fix” is a solid book about living life and how to actually go about it through some Russian books. It is sublime, lucid and provides a great reading list as well. She also could have gotten preachy about the life lessons, however that doesn’t happen at all. If anything, it is all about what you can take away personally from these books and apply to your life (if you want to, that is).

Academic research material is not heavy-handedly used in the book. If anything, the language is extremely simple, just as it should be. “The Anna Karenina Fix” is the kind of book that creeps up on you unexpectedly and stays long after. It is also the kind of book that will make you read other books, which is a double-win if you ask me. So, go, read this book!

Baking with Kafka: Comics by Tom Gauld

Title: Baking with Kafka
Author: Tom Gauld
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd.
ISBN: 978-1786891501
Genre: Comics, Graphic, Humour
Pages: 160
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars

Till now, I have just read one book by Tom Gauld and that is “Mooncop”, which I absolutely loved and couldn’t stop raving about for a long time. And now, the same is the case with “Baking with Kafka”. This one is a series of comics, some of which have been previously published in various publications and most of which focus on books and reading. There are some here and about on pop culture references, but essentially, this one is a treat for all booklovers.

Gauld has this minimal sense of drawing which works wonders for me (it isn’t for all, let me also tell you that). The words may not have that kind of impact (mostly, they do) but the drawings most certainly do and sometimes I thought to myself that maybe the words weren’t even needed. I found myself smiling a lot at the literary cartoons. It reminded me of the times when I was growing up and would wait eagerly for the newspaper, only to read the comics page.

For instance, there is this cartoon on Jonathan Franzen and how he is averse to any kind of marketing to how a romance novel should be written to when the book is adapted to a movie and the book’s reaction to my most favourite one of how books are classified on bookshelves. As a reader, I could connect to most of what is there in this book. I had never read any of these strips before, so the experience was new and refreshing and did not seem jaded at all.

“Baking with Kafka” is a funny, wry book that will leave you with a lot of laughs. If you are having a bad day or in general a grim time, this is the book to go to. Will cheer you like no other.