The Fishermen
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3.9 • 8 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In a small town in western Nigeria, four young brothers – the youngest is nine, the oldest fifteen – use their strict father’s absence from home to go fishing at a forbidden local river.
They encounter a dangerous local madman who predicts that the oldest brother will be killed by another. This prophesy breaks their strong bond, and unleashes a tragic chain of events of almost mythic proportions.
Passionate and bold, The Fishermen is a breathtakingly beautiful novel, firmly rooted in the best of African storytelling.
With this powerful debut, Chigozie Obioma emerges as one of the most original new voices in world literature.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The Fishermen is the kind of novel that sinks its claws into your imagination and unearths powerful emotions like sorrow, dread and wonder. Nigerian-born author Chigozie Obioma, a literature and creative writing professor in the U.S., is a magical storyteller. The sights, sounds and smells of Obioma's hometown, Azure, tumble off the pages, providing the backdrop for a family drama that packs the wallop of a Greek tragedy. We were completely absorbed by the story of nine-year-old Benjamin and his three older brothers—and the ominous prophecy that threatens to tear them apart.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seamlessly interweaving the everyday and the elemental, Obioma's strange, imaginative debut the translation rights to which have been sold in 12 countries probes the nature of belief and the power of family bonds. Set in 1990s Nigeria, it is narrated by Benjamin Agwu, who is nine when his father departs for a distant banking job, leaving his wife and six children behind in the village of Akure. Despite stern admonitions, the four oldest brothers soon test their mother's discipline. Their worst transgression is to fish in the Omi-Ala, a once-pure river that has become dirty and dangerous. There they encounter a mentally ill man named Abulu, who is locally believed to have powers of prophecy. Inexplicably, Abulu knows the eldest Agwu brother, Ikenna, by name. In a trance, he foretells the teenager's death in detail, adding that it will be at "the hands of a fisherman." Convinced that one of his brothers will kill him, Ikenna is enraged and destructive, isolating himself and throwing his home into chaos; ultimately, not just Ikenna but the whole family will be transformed by the power of Abulu's words. Obioma excels at juxtaposing sharp observation, rich images of the natural world, and motifs from biblical and tribal lore; his novel succeeds as a convincing modern narrative and as a majestic reimagining of timeless folklore.
