An Orchestra of Minorities Paperback – October 8, 2019

In a fascinating twist to normal storytelling, a spirit guide narrates this love story. We learn about the inner struggles of the protagonist, a Nigerian poultry farmer, from his chi. The chi not only chronicles Chinonso’s daily life, it informs and mesmerizes us with ancient wisdom. Sayings from the old country, in the form of Igbo cosmology, turn us inward so that we question our own belief system much like Chi questions Chinonso’s decisions and actions. But Chi asks bigger spirits bigger questions, beyond those swirling around Chinonso’s every day life. Each time Chi asks for guidance, it calls on a different spirit.“Okaaome, I have heard from fathers long dead at Alanciichie who wonder why their children have abandoned their ways. I have watched them lament over the current state of things. I have heard ndiichie-nne, the great mothers, bemoan the fact that their daughters no longer carry their bodies in the ways their mothers did…What they seem not to understand is that the White Man charmed their children with the products of his wizardry…Imagine, Egbunu, how the children of the fathers must have felt when they encountered this proverb of the wise fathers: No matter how much a man leaps, he cannot fly…But the children see something like the plane and they are shocked at how this wisdom has been upended by the White Man’s sorcery.”The simultaneous experiences of Chinonso’s chi are as captivating as Chinonso’s experiences. This book is an immersion experience. It’s best read in big blocks of time, to fully imagine the rich world of spirits and the ancient belief system Obiama portrays.Chinonso’s struggles are universal. He’s a lonely 24-year-old poultry farmer when a seemingly random act changes the course of his life. He spots Ndali Obialor on a bridge, ready to fling herself off of it. He talks her out of committing suicide by throwing two of his chickens into the water below the bridge.They go about their lives until Ndali seeks Chinonso out because as her chi describes it to Chinonso’s chi, “My host has erected a figurine in the shrine of her heart.” They become lovers. However, Ndali is from a higher socio-economic stratum than Chinonso and her parents do not approve of Chinonso. From there, Chinonso makes decisions and takes actions all to prove his love to Ndali and win the approval of her parents.Chinonso’s journey, while taking place in Nigeria and Cyprus, is not unusual for black men in this country. We are forced to confront the phenomenon of mass incarceration of black men in the US. We see the ways incarceration takes a good man with pure intentions and changes him at the level of his very soul. Sometimes his chi intervenes and sometimes his chi must remain still.In the end, we are left spellbound by the power of love to change a person for better and for worse.

I couldn't pronounce a lot of African words.i added several words to my vocabulary. I disliked having to look up definitions, but then liked learning a new words. The overall story was good and descriptions brought scenery to life.

An Orchestra of Minorities is a profoundly devastating novel and an immense literary achievement. This is the story of a man who loses everything, and the way in which he allows his loss to destroy him. With an unblinking gaze, and in rich, powerful prose, Chigozie Obioma weaves a tale of the systemic stripping away of human dignity and its terrible effects. Our protagonist, a young Nigerian poultry farmer named Chinonso, has fallen in love with Ndali, a woman far above his station. Her wealthy family makes their disapproval plain, and so to gain their acceptance Chinonso sells everything he owns, including his family land, in order to better himself by getting a European education. He is aided in this by his childhood friend Jamike. But when he arrives at his destination, full of hope for the future, he finds that nothing is as he imagined. The university is in The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a rogue state, and what’s worse, Jamike has conned him and stolen all of his money. Chinonso is left adrift, a stranger in a strange land. And things get much, much worse from there. When he eventually returns to Nigeria he does so a vastly changed man, burning with pain, humiliation, and hate, on a crash course with tragedy of his own making.Narrated by Chinonso’s chi (a kind of guardian spirit) to Chukwu (a supreme deity) in a plea for mercy for its host, An Orchestra of Minorities is unique story, and a dark examination of the fragility of the human spirit.

The reader feels awfully sorry for Nonso. He seems like a nice enough man who is continually being taken advantage of and...duped. At the same time, the protagonist's naivete, his compulsive behavior, and his poor decision-making render him a little buffoonish---and, ultimately, the author offers us no light at the end of the tunnel---not one ray of hope---in what becomes a somewhat purposeless tale, a big dark cloud behind which there is not a glimmer of redemption---for anyone. Is the book "epic?" Not by a long shot is Nonso an epic hero. Any critical comparison of Nonso to Odysseus is irrelevant. This is no wily adventurer weaving his way back to faithful wife, son and kingdom. This is not a man who lives by his wits, who commands respect and admiration. So, is he a tragic hero? Sort of. If we go with the idea of an internal flaw---or flaws---that bring the hero to his own demise. Nonso is a bad thinker. That's his fatal flaw. Additionally, who would crucify a hawk against a barn door? Something is fatally wrong with Nonso. In that old familiar area of dramatic catharsis, we do feel some pity and fear for the "hero", but we are glad, as we exit the theater, that we are not him. The problem is---we are not sure what lesson we are to take from Nonso's "fall." What WAS the author's intention?? This is a horrifying and frustrating novel---not so much for what is done to Nonso, but for what he does to himself. He seems a luckless and brainless character. Everything he touches turns to crap. He seems to be in a cage of his own making. Kind of a self-ruined man.

Nice one Chigozie. Such series of misfortune shouldn't fall on someone. I read this after "Fine Balance" and honestly wished the end was a bit different. A love story with so many thorns, twist and bad luck

Excellent work.

The narrative voice is very original as the voice of our protagonist's chi - his personal spirit. A chi to a European eye might be seen as a sort of guardian angel with some influence but not much power over his charge. Without wishing to be a plot spoiler this book, through the very lyrical and powerful language, took me into that spirit world and the desperate human condition of love / hate. The end surprised me and left me with a strong after feeling. In clinical parlance our protagonist suffers PTSD that is unresolved with powerful and unfortunate consequences. A very fulfilling literary experience.

Schneller geliefert

Love is what people claim to want. But are people really motivated by love? What role does love actually play in human affairs? Here is a young man who is ready to sacrifice much for love. But he has to face disasters. This novel tells the story of that young man in a very poignant way. Wonderful novel. Highly readable.

In many ways, this is a great novel. It is beautifully written, with fascinating background and an intriguing story.The trouble is that I simply couldn't read it. I made three valiant attempts. and I gave up each time. I just couldn't get into it.The problem is mine. I'm not quite sure why. I suspect because the author combined too many complex themes. I'm frustrated with myself, because I know the novel is seriously good.Too bad, because I adored his first novel, the Fisherman.