TURNIPSEED TRAVEL
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Partner With Us
  • New Visitors
  • Social Media

"419" by Will Ferguson

3/1/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Countries: Nigeria as primary, Canada as secondary
 
Will Ferguson, primarily a humourous travel writer, seemed a fitting choice for my first book review of 2013. Throughout the year, I'm going to write a review for every novel I read that is set in another country - I like the idea of how a book can inspire a trip and vice versa, and a great read can help bridge the quiet days between great escapes.
 
419 can be described in one word: rich. The words are lush and juicy, the narrative smooth and flowing. The descriptions of Nigeria are incredible - Ferguson does an amazing job covering the country as he covers the lives of his characters. Tribes, ethnicities, alliances, boundaries - he steers the reader from the oil rich Delta into the pale, stinging dust of the dessert, and back around to the putrid chaos of Lagos with ease. This is a proper book: great characters, vivid settings, the stories staying in your head long after you are done. A work most deserving of the Giller Prize - Canada's highest literary honor.

 419, of course, refers to the section of the Nigerian criminal code that addresses the infamous internet fraudsters. Long-exiled Nigerian princes, needing your bank account and gullibility  to seal the deal. A mysterious death in Calgary - an even more mysterious woman walking across the dessert. A small time fraudster with big time dreams, top shelf gangster with gutter morals, and an unassuming copy editor with nerves of steel. My only complaint about this book is that a few minor story lines were not concluded to my satisfaction. Minor really. Maybe designed to keep a reader guessing. Yet lingering enough for me to rate the book an A- instead of A+
 
Does this book make me want to travel to Nigeria? Unfortunately, absolutely not. Ferguson paints a stark picture of a seedy underworld that had me nervous when I was reading - I definitely feel like this is not a place for me!
 
A final tip: The book may be 30% off at your local bookstore. Being a major award winner, it could be on the best seller discount list. If not, buy it on an e-reader. You can also buy the book through my Amazon Store here. Award winners will stay in hardcover longer than the average book and, when it does come out in paperback, it is likely to be large format. No cheap, light pocket novel is forthcoming here!
1 Comment
Christie link
12/4/2013 05:17:47 am

Excited to discover this book review, as I'm reviewing Ferguson's event at Ottawa Writers Fest later this month!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Moonboots.ca

    Archives

    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    419 - Will Ferguson
    Baking Cakes In Kigali
    Every Man Dies Alone
    Girls Of Riyadh - Rajaa Alsanea
    Guernsey Literary & PP Society
    Nonfiction Spotlight 1
    The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
    The Light Between Oceans
    The Silence Of Bonaventure Arrow - Rita Leganski
    Underground To Canada

    RSS Feed

Disclaimers, Privacy, and Cookie Policy

Top 100 Travel Influencer
As named by the Obama White House in 2014.​
White House Study Abroad Logo 2014
Turnipseed Travel Logo 2019
DMCA.com Protection Status
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Partner With Us
  • New Visitors
  • Social Media