I was a voracious reader as a child .....
It was my way of escaping......
Escaping the drudgery of chores.......
Escaping the pain of school politics......
Escaping the weight of parental expectations......
Escaping the helplessness of being a child.....
Escaping the frustrations that came with being a daughter.....
Escaping the hopelessness of wanting the unobtainable....
Just escaping!
I read good books... I read bad books.....
I read books every child should read...
I read books no child should read...
I just read.... until the day I picked up 'Things Fall Apart'
Here was an author, who used words......
Like a hungry lover devours his woman - voraciously.
Here was an author, who created characters........
That took up residence in one's brain - indefinitely.
Here was an author, who used words....
I could taste and smell - completely.
Here was an author, who painted stories.......
That would rival any masterpiece - absolutely.
I have read good books, I have read bad books...
I have read books everyone should read
I have read books that frankly, should not have been written
But nothing has moved me as much as the words that came from him.
Today, I shed a tear
For the passing of an icon
I shed a tear because he is gone
I shed a tear because he died far from home
I shed a tear because his beloved country is still a 'potential great'
I shed a tear because we have lost a great man
I shed a tear because yet 'another great' has left us
Rest in peace, Chinua Achebe
You live forever......
Your Okonkwo lives...
Your Obi lives...
Your Ezeulu lives...
Your Beatrice lives...
Your Chike lives...
Your legacy lives..............
Thank you for coming into my life..
I know you live!
Picture Credit: Chinua Achebe in 1960 Photograph: Eliot Elisofon/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images Source:Guardian
Chinua Achebe: 'grandfather of African fiction'. Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP. Source: Guardian
Chinua Achebe: 'grandfather of African fiction'. Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP. Source: Guardian
