The Fishermen in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Apr 10, 2019 Loretta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-for-craft, iceland-workshop

This isn't an easy book to read. Hard and awful things happen. But the portrayal of family bonds, brotherhood, parents, love and loss, was really compelling and powerful.

I took a workshop with Obioma at the Iceland Writers Retreat 2019 called "Character as Plot" - it was only a two hour class and we focused mostly on short stories. I hadn't finished reading this at the time of the workshop, but I really wish we had talked about it more. Because the interesting thing is that while many who don't ...more

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Apr 14, 2019 Sarah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, black-history-and-culture, africa-fiction, nigeria

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 15, 2015 Cathy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had mixed feelings about this book. I would have given it 3.5 stars if Goodreads allowed such things. I wasn't crazy about how the book was constructed. The beginning of each chapter started with a metaphor, which sometimes felt forced. I had difficulty getting into the story, but as the characters began unraveling, I couldn't put the book down. The destruction of sanity by superstition and paranoia was everpresent, as well as the decimation of an oblivious family and any hope for normalcy. Th ...more

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Mar 02, 2015 Melle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 1990s, contemporary, nigeria, brothers, adult, read-in-2015, copyright-2015

A timeless-feeling epic tale of brothers and fate. The relationships are complex and intense, and the writing and story are evocative of The Brothers Karamazov. Would be nice to have some more richly-developed female characters, but maybe this isn't the book and story for that. ...more

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