Luxurious Hearses is the fourth story of the short story collection in Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan.
This is the longest story in the book and one that I did have to push myself to get through as it is so drawn out. I have to say that the end was a shocker so you must push yourself through this one to read to the end. This is about a long wait for a bus ride where a Muslim boy is trying to hide that he is Muslim as the bus is filled with Christians. They are all fleeing northern Nigeria to the south. This story makes you look at how prejudice can cloud judgements of one another especially in war times. It made me think about conflicts within people and how they justify them as they have been taught certain ideologies and beliefs that consume them. The ending was unexpected and shocking. As in the other stories, it reflects the reality of the situation and time it is referencing. It's very hard for me to imagine living life like this and allows me a look into a world that I am unfamiliar with.
This is an Oprah Book Club Selection , there was an Oprah's Book Club Live Webcast with Oprah, Anderson Cooper from CNN and the author Uwem Akpan last night. I was able to finish the book and listened to the Webcast which had some technical difficulties but was a fantastic discussion with people from all over the world participating. You can watch the webcast, I'm not sure if it's up and running yet but you can get the details here at Oprah.com.
Here is a video with some thoughts Oprah shares about Luxurious Hearses:
*This book is my own personal copy. I am an Amazon Associate.
I know what you mean. We live so well it is difficult for us to comprehend horrors like this.
ReplyDeleteGreat review Bonnie .. I have a copy of this on the way. I can't wait to read it... Love the Oprah clip also.
ReplyDeleteHello Bonnie – I hope you don’t mind me popping in! I’m a British author and a fellow Bookblogs member and my next novel, Thaw, will be published online next year after its physical publication. I wanted to invite you (and your readers) to participate in my Blogsplash - there’s more information at http://www.fionarobyn.com/thawblogsplash.htm. Thanks for listening!
ReplyDeleteI had this on my tbr list then Oprah went and picked it so I kind of backed off. Clearly I need to overcome my Oprah bias!
ReplyDeleteTerrific Review, Bonnie! I bought this book a while back and haven't gotten around to reading it. But I just moved it up in status on my "pile" and will read it soon.
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie
ReplyDeleteI’d like to invite you to write about your favorite books at www.bookdrum.com, where you can add information, images, video, music and links to illustrate and explore the books.
Right now, we're running a $3,000 Tournament and we'll be offering contract work to the best entries.
Best wishes
Hector Macdonald
Editor, Book Drum