By Nonso Anyanwu
‘‘The only true thing about mankind can be found in the stories it tells, and some of these stories cannot be told by the living. Only the dead can tell them.’’
Chigozie Obioma’s third novel, like his previous novels, displays his flamboyant writing style, his blend of realism and mysticism. The Road to the Country is an eight-hour vision a seer encounters 20 years before the Nigerian-Civil War of 1967-1970. It follows Kunle who, due to self-guilt, embarks on a journey to find his younger brother in Biafra, a breakaway country the Nigerian government has just declared war upon.
Although so much literature has been produced about the Nigerian-Civil War, including the highly acclaimed Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, what Obioma did with his third novel is entirely different. The Road to the Country is a combat story, a chronicle of soldiers on the battlefield.
Obioma quickly introduces his main character with unforgettable marks: the shy Kunle who hardly speaks up, Kunle who is riddled with guilt and shame, Kunle whose only make-up is for his inabilities in his brother’s crippling.
Obioma tells this story of war with such audacity, lyrical language that makes one smell the fresh decomposing corpses littered on most of the pages, the ashes of burnt helicopters, cars and buildings. Most of the pages are loud with explosions and rattles of gunshots, moaning of dying men and the shouts of the short-lived victories of the Biafran troops. At the end, we hear a silence, the kind that occurs only after a terrible storm.
Obioma’s knack for details, for maximizing situations, justifies the novel title when Kunle transits to the land of the dead. Still burdened with the urge to reunite with his comrades and brother again, he starts asking for the road to the country. ‘‘Once you start, don’t turn. Once you turn, the road will disappear.”
It is quite admirable how philosophical the last paragraph sounds, similar to his previous novel, An Orchestra of Minorities. A remarkably sinister event of today must have crept in long ago, unnoticed, bidding its time. And the world will continue unhindered, so that when such an event finally happens, it will seem sudden. Given to this style of subtle forewarning, Chigozie Obioma can be said to be a philosopher.
Nonso Anyanwu was shortlisted for the 2019 Gerald Kraak Awards. He’s a member of the reading team of Oxbelly Writers Retreat. He’s working on a novel.
