Mohammed S. Shehu
29 June 2008
book review
The fact that the human soul lives again in a new body after physical death has been a subject of controversy between two opposing fates in Africa; while believers in the traditional belief system uphold the essence of reincarnation, the followers of the new religion preach against such an idea on the premise that the new fate favours a single death for a man after which he faces judgment.
Love So Pure: The Unending Day, by Gesiere Brisibe-Dorgu, attempts at highlighting, among other issues, man's essence in life and the fact that physical death is but a process of vacating one body into another. It also attempts at exploring the possibility of reunion between lovers after being separated by death.
Exploring the efficacy of African traditional religion to the reader, the author's view could be adjudged through the dialogue between Layefa and Ziboere on one part and Ziboere's message to her community on the other hand.
The first chapter of the book reveals the meeting of the two major characters - Layefa and Ziboere - soul mates who, incidentally, meet again at an event after their union in their previous existence centuries ago.
The duo, in an attempt to fathom the basis of their previous relationship, which seems to elude them, sacrificially decides on a near-suicidal voyage to a strange land where they hope to encounter their creator for the purpose of transformation and broadening their knowledge for the challenges ahead of them.
In the process of unravelling their intimacy, the reminiscence of the good old time rushes back to them as they begin to compare the aquatic life of the people before the advent of civilization.
The Niger Delta setting of the novel also portrays the author's geographical background and the fact that she loves the earth. Having grown in the Creek, her love for aquatic life is enough to decry the sudden catastrophe that has befallen her people in the guise of development.
That Mr Bilflow, Ziboere's husband, who is a white man, upholds his wife's belief system and supports her quest for further knowledge, is an indication that the challenge of making African traditional belief system acceptable to the west is the sole responsibility of Africans. For the sake of emphasis and, perhaps, to further enhance the reader's interest, the book is divided into four parts - 'Soul Mate', 'Destiny', 'Re-Entry' and 'Mob's Message'. While the first part highlights the meeting of the supernatural beings as expressed by the author's mouth-piece, Ziboere, the second part is an adventure into the world of Ere-ere-ama propelled by the quest to discern their existence.
Their host, believed to be the creator has the record of all beings and confronts both with the stories of both their past and present lives. The abode is like Soyinka's much talked about Chthonic Realm - the union between the living, the dead and the unborn.
The third segment, titled 'The Re-Entry', reveals the jubilation that heralds their return to their families as well as the excitement that accompanied the emergence of supposedly dead people in physical forms.
The final segment, 'Mob's Message', gives details of the community's un-acceptance of their return, which could be translated to mean people's resistance to change. In spite of Ziboera's explanation, the mob insists on ritual cleansing of the new arrivals. According to them, the calamities that befall the land consequent upon their return were as a result of their pollution. Once again, the communal essence of the African belief order that one man's misconduct is capable of plunging the entire community into chaos as reiterated in Soyinka's Death and the King's Horseman and Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God comes to play in the book.
In trying to explain their findings, the author, though a Christian, bared her sentiments on pages 129 to 133; Ziboere educates the community on the need to look inward for solutions to their calamities and misfortunes, which will continue unabated until they live up to the realities around them.
She does not only accuse them of total ignorance and inability to think, she also blames them for resisting the urge to learn. "Yet you expect all the bounties of creation to be available to you. You envy others who are ready to work hard for a share of what life has to give.
Title of book: Love So Pure: The Unending Day
Author: Gesiere Brisibe-Dorgu,
Publisher: Literary Vista Limited, Abuja, 2008
Reviewer: Mohammed S. Shehu
Price: Not stated
"Yours lay waste, crying to be claimed but you spit on them in ignorance..."
Ziboere's mission to the strange land was not in vain for she was able, through her oratory, to compel her people to think positively and to look inward.
Though the book appears philosophical in theme, it indirectly addresses the crises in the Niger Delta region and the author, like any other writer, has passed her message; that the solution to man's problems rest not with the supernatural but with the man and unless he decides to look inward, his calamities may never abate.
Love So Pure is not only appealing to the eyes; it has the ability to hold the reader spellbound. Full of suspense, the story is told in a simple first person narrative technique. With a simple and easy-to understand diction, complemented by quality printing, the book is sure to win the approval of many. Above all, it portrays the author as one who is adept in the tradition and custom of her people
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