EVERY DAY IS FOR THE THIEF
By Teju Cole
Every Day is for the Thief is the story of a youngman who decided to visit home – that is Nigeria - after several years residing in Europe and America. The homecoming brought him face to face with the stark reality of modern day Lagos society; you know the poor living condition of the ordinary people, their susceptibility to manipulation and the general disillusion and resignation to fate. It shows in raw details, life on the street, the political, cultural, religion manipulations and the contradiction in terms of what is claimed and the true situation.
The story followed the unnamed narrator’s exploratory journey home. Starting at the embassy in New York, where in the mix of a normal and orderly society, he found himself face to face with a brazenly exploitative and corrupt Nigerian official who happens to be solely person in charge and faced with the choice of either conforming to being manipulated to obtain normal service through bribery or stubbornly demand for his right and not encourage corruption which meant he had to be prepared to be punished being made to wait longer for the return of his passport. He was in a hurry to get home, so sadly, he compromises and conforms. And then, he got to Lagos and right from the airport to the streets of Ikeja and everywhere else he went, things got worse. He found dishonesty, distrust, mistrust, misgovernment and manipulation everywhere he went.
Now, I’ve lived in Lagos for over 25years and still do and really, I can’t tell the difference between the Lagos of the years captured in the book and what is happening today...Alright, I mean, granted Fashola plans to turn Lagos a mega city and is planting flowers to beautify the Landscape...Oh, and he is of-course installing cameras all over so big brother can keep an eye on everyone – that is the wolf-thieves, real thieves and the rest of us, good citizens...all very well if they are not turned to another object of exploitation, control and oppression. In any case, in the Lagos of today, there is still political, social or religious manipulation, and because Lagos is so strategic to all the political interest groups, if anything; the situation can only be expected to get worse...
But, just as in real life, despite the rot the narrator’s exploration was able to unmask, he still found signs of possible future mental, social and physical reconstructions.
While I was reading this book, I met someone who just came back from Britain, had read Teju’s book and had witnessed the long and sustained negative press against Nigeria. She asked if such books as ‘One day For The Thief’ does not do more damage than good to our image. My answer was...an emphatic No! In the contrary, I said, we have allowed misrule and all the other ills like corruption and other manipulations to fester because we have been too philistine, pacific, afraid and timid. What we need, really need are more exposé, more investigative journalism, anything done that really shows you care and feel truly passionate about the survival and progress of this country.
In reviewing book, my first concern was on whether the writer could communicate effectively for a book of that size and target audience...You know its a novelette, popular fiction, if you know what I mean. Something handy that can be started and finished on a short journey... And I think Teju did a good job of it by being able to avoid exoteric and complex expressions & plots;
For instance, the language is in the present tense, and generally simple and clear. However, it is uncompromising and hard-hitting, yet, often times pleasant, amusing and comforting...so its very appropriate and effective. The comfort is in the underlying ray of hope of a better society running through the book; starting with the book cover title; ‘Everyday Is For the Thief’...yeah, I’m sure everyone out there can feel in the blank – a very interactive and engaging title.
Then we come to the plot: very simple, couple with technique of flash back that goes backwards into time giving exposition about other aspects of the narrator’s life. Beyond the musing however, the story is arranged linearly and that helped the pace, clarity and effectiveness.
As a story teller, Teju was also able to blend, through careful suggestive statements and symbolism, the characterisation and subject matter such that the reader is able to follow the narrator through his journey, his situations, his experience and emotional state at every point; and above all, he was able to make the audience stay, experience with the narrator, his dilemma and ecstasy. He also was able to convey within the work, lessons to be learnt about life and its proneness to crisis and he also infers the need to appreciate and show respect for our arts and culture.
The settings are New York and Lagos. The use of familiar names reinforces realism and naturalism. But then again, the blend of the character to have different cultural background also to transform the social setting a novel beyond the physical locations.
The subject matter is dishonesty, that is, dishonesty and erosion of trust, order and decency that has become the pattern rather than the exception. The work is a realistic, true and a lively captured image of human nature seen through the mirror of Lagos life but at the same time, it is symbolic - Lagos clearly represents a larger society. The setting could have been anywhere else in Nigeria Ibadan, Benin, Kano, Kaduna, etc, or other African countries – Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tunis, etc, and the characters, largely would act, recreate and display the same trait as the Lagosians of the time and in their story.
The work is conspicuously, an indictment against the government of that time and a yearning for change.
The story is told in the first person through the mind, speech and actions of a participating omniscient narrator and from the tone, it is clear that the storyteller is a moralist. This is shown through his reactions and in his various interactions with other characters.
In conclusion, I would say that Tuju Cole’s novel is an honest, realistic, beautiful and poetic work. A good read and highly recommended.
Every Day is for the Thief is the story of a youngman who decided to visit home – that is Nigeria - after several years residing in Europe and America. The homecoming brought him face to face with the stark reality of modern day Lagos society; you know the poor living condition of the ordinary people, their susceptibility to manipulation and the general disillusion and resignation to fate. It shows in raw details, life on the street, the political, cultural, religion manipulations and the contradiction in terms of what is claimed and the true situation.
The story followed the unnamed narrator’s exploratory journey home. Starting at the embassy in New York, where in the mix of a normal and orderly society, he found himself face to face with a brazenly exploitative and corrupt Nigerian official who happens to be solely person in charge and faced with the choice of either conforming to being manipulated to obtain normal service through bribery or stubbornly demand for his right and not encourage corruption which meant he had to be prepared to be punished being made to wait longer for the return of his passport. He was in a hurry to get home, so sadly, he compromises and conforms. And then, he got to Lagos and right from the airport to the streets of Ikeja and everywhere else he went, things got worse. He found dishonesty, distrust, mistrust, misgovernment and manipulation everywhere he went.
Now, I’ve lived in Lagos for over 25years and still do and really, I can’t tell the difference between the Lagos of the years captured in the book and what is happening today...Alright, I mean, granted Fashola plans to turn Lagos a mega city and is planting flowers to beautify the Landscape...Oh, and he is of-course installing cameras all over so big brother can keep an eye on everyone – that is the wolf-thieves, real thieves and the rest of us, good citizens...all very well if they are not turned to another object of exploitation, control and oppression. In any case, in the Lagos of today, there is still political, social or religious manipulation, and because Lagos is so strategic to all the political interest groups, if anything; the situation can only be expected to get worse...
But, just as in real life, despite the rot the narrator’s exploration was able to unmask, he still found signs of possible future mental, social and physical reconstructions.
While I was reading this book, I met someone who just came back from Britain, had read Teju’s book and had witnessed the long and sustained negative press against Nigeria. She asked if such books as ‘One day For The Thief’ does not do more damage than good to our image. My answer was...an emphatic No! In the contrary, I said, we have allowed misrule and all the other ills like corruption and other manipulations to fester because we have been too philistine, pacific, afraid and timid. What we need, really need are more exposé, more investigative journalism, anything done that really shows you care and feel truly passionate about the survival and progress of this country.
In reviewing book, my first concern was on whether the writer could communicate effectively for a book of that size and target audience...You know its a novelette, popular fiction, if you know what I mean. Something handy that can be started and finished on a short journey... And I think Teju did a good job of it by being able to avoid exoteric and complex expressions & plots;
For instance, the language is in the present tense, and generally simple and clear. However, it is uncompromising and hard-hitting, yet, often times pleasant, amusing and comforting...so its very appropriate and effective. The comfort is in the underlying ray of hope of a better society running through the book; starting with the book cover title; ‘Everyday Is For the Thief’...yeah, I’m sure everyone out there can feel in the blank – a very interactive and engaging title.
Then we come to the plot: very simple, couple with technique of flash back that goes backwards into time giving exposition about other aspects of the narrator’s life. Beyond the musing however, the story is arranged linearly and that helped the pace, clarity and effectiveness.
As a story teller, Teju was also able to blend, through careful suggestive statements and symbolism, the characterisation and subject matter such that the reader is able to follow the narrator through his journey, his situations, his experience and emotional state at every point; and above all, he was able to make the audience stay, experience with the narrator, his dilemma and ecstasy. He also was able to convey within the work, lessons to be learnt about life and its proneness to crisis and he also infers the need to appreciate and show respect for our arts and culture.
The settings are New York and Lagos. The use of familiar names reinforces realism and naturalism. But then again, the blend of the character to have different cultural background also to transform the social setting a novel beyond the physical locations.
The subject matter is dishonesty, that is, dishonesty and erosion of trust, order and decency that has become the pattern rather than the exception. The work is a realistic, true and a lively captured image of human nature seen through the mirror of Lagos life but at the same time, it is symbolic - Lagos clearly represents a larger society. The setting could have been anywhere else in Nigeria Ibadan, Benin, Kano, Kaduna, etc, or other African countries – Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tunis, etc, and the characters, largely would act, recreate and display the same trait as the Lagosians of the time and in their story.
The work is conspicuously, an indictment against the government of that time and a yearning for change.
The story is told in the first person through the mind, speech and actions of a participating omniscient narrator and from the tone, it is clear that the storyteller is a moralist. This is shown through his reactions and in his various interactions with other characters.
In conclusion, I would say that Tuju Cole’s novel is an honest, realistic, beautiful and poetic work. A good read and highly recommended.
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