New Reading Strategy & Purple Hibiscus

In the interest of finding some random book chitchat, I’ve interrupted my regular reading list to take on something from one of the infinite number of online book clubs. Selected primarily because it was reading something fairly modern and seemed well populated I popped into booksamonth on yahoo groups. They happen to be reading ‘Purple Hibiscus’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and therefore, in accordance with the purpose of the group, so did I. The actual speaking members of the group seem to be comprised entirely of women. I’ve been lurking for at least a week and I’ve yet to see an obvious male post. While the book was one that leaned toward the more feminine gender I’d expect at least one man to be present in the club. Perhaps someone will suggest some Tolstoy next; that’ll awaken the male perspective.

As to the book, it’s a pretty straightforward one. The narrator, 15-year-old Kambili, lives in Nigeria with her extraordinarily rich Catholic father and mother and her older brother Jaja. Because of his own strict religious upbringing Kambili’s father is strict with the children and his wife to the point of outright abuse in the name of keeping them on the straight and narrow. Like all children, Kambili and Jaja accept that their lives are normal ones until they visit their aunt in a neighboring town. There they see normal family interactions (though colored by the ravages of poverty) and when they return home they find they can no longer behave in accordance with father’s idea of perfection. Quickly matters come to a head and Kambili is beaten nearly to death by her father and spends several weeks in hospital. The near loss of her daughter is finally enough to spur Kambili’s mother from her terrified stupor and she poisons the father to release them all from his iron will. When the police discover the cause of the father’s death they come to the house to ask question but Jaja takes the rap for the murder and goes to jail in his mother’s place. The ‘Purple Hibiscus’ of the title refers to a hybrid of the plants given to Jaja by his aunt on their first visit. These plants represent the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ if you will that the children brought back from their aunt’s home.

Overall, I’d say the book was satisfactory but not great. The storyline was relatively unsurprising but the setting and details of the whole thing were rather amusing. The portrait of everyday Nigerian life was enlightening. The book was on the Long List for the Booker prize in 2003 so I’ve added a sprinkling of the 2006 Booker Prize nominees [Okay, I’ll be honest, I’ve added every Booker nominee ever] to my ‘to be read’ pile. I think this will add a bit of something more modern to the queue and lighten things up a significantly. If one thing can be said it’s that this was much lighter fare than the Conrad I’m working on at the moment.