Recently, I have been in my Era of reading African books. It’s been worth every bit of my time I must commend. I was going through my Instagram feed when I stumbled on a post by one of the bookstores I follow on Instagram. The name was what caught my attention. I tried to check on my online website if I could download the E-book then I realized it was for sale and could not be downloaded for free since it just came out recently. So I had to make a quick stop at the bookstore the next day and buy this book alongside a few others.
The book “Face Me I Face You” is a poetry by Oyindamola Shoola who is the winner of the Kermit Moyet Prize for Craft in Lyrical Writing. Like I said I was drawn to the title of the book because it is funny and a Nigerian slang used when you stay in a close-range apartment, In this kind of apartment, the tenants get to share the same Toilet and also Kitchen. The rooms tend to face each other, that’s why it’s always called the “Face Me I Face You” Apartment.
SUMMARY OF THE BOOK
The book covers the Nigerian setting of a Face Me I Face You apartment. These kinds of houses always consist of people with different personalities. The Poetry talks about the different personalities in a face me I face you apartment. The Poetry had to cut across Family Trouble which is a family of two generations. It shows the different kind of people that always makes up a typical Nigerian family.
We always have that aunt who never minds her business and always wants to be involved in people’s business. We have another aunt who is calm but doesn’t take nonsense. There’s always that very religious person in the family whose prayers are always very loud and disturb the next person. Always the one that needs a rich man to marry.
Then it went ahead to talk about the different personalities in the Face Me I Face You compound, there’s always a person who is religious but then has skeletons in their cupboard. Always that bachelor in the compound who always has a new girl in his apartment. Also, there’s a neighbor who is always in love with another neighbor. Then there is always a tenant who feels like she is above everyone in the compound. Then there’s a tenant who has a reckless lifestyle and doesn’t care about what her neighbors think about her.
It is a collection of poems that shows the interface of identity, class, and culture.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:
The theme of the book includes Family, tradition, and the everyday drama that most of us can recognize as we flip through the pages of the book.
I love how the book relates to the Nigerian community. It’s Poetry and I know I am not a fan of poetry but then this is different, the humor in it, makes the book stand out.
The book isn’t voluminous it just has a few pages, but I was able to enjoy it. I haven’t lived in a face me I face you apartment before. But with the few stories I have heard, I know there’s always drama happening in the compound every day.
Oyindamola the poet, makes sure to use her poems that contain wit and humor to tell the stories of each character.
I would recommend this book to everyone and I would rate it 4.5/5. As it gives a glimpse of a certain apartment lifestyle in Nigeria.
Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle.
By Gilbert K. Chesterton
All images used are mine except otherwise stated
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