A Reading of Reward Nsirim’s ‘Fresh Air’ by Oriyomi Adebare

Book Title: Fresh Air and other stories
Writer/Author: Reward Nsirim
Category: Short Stories
Nos of Pages: 180
Publisher: Origami, an imprint of Parresia Publishers

Fresh air is a collection of 16 short stories. The stories which cut across continents have a broad range of themes. The characters are portrayed in a way that the reader can identify with them and the situations they are in. Nsirim tells it as it is with no attempt to sugar-coat or to handle the issues raised in a saccharine-like manner.

In ‘funeral arrangements’, Nsirim explores the common ‘I-have-a-family-member-abroad syndrome’. In which the friends or relatives of someone based outside of the country relies on him totally for everything they need and even making outrageous demands of such a fellow. Bekwele ‘the fellow abroad in this story comes to find out much to his dismay that his family members for whom he was doing all kind of odd jobs in the UK just so they could live well were a bunch of ingrates. Another story ‘Black sheep’ is about the struggle between doing what one loves and following the trend of what the family has always done.

The sorry state of the Nigerian economy is portrayed in ‘The testimony’ where a Mercedes Benz which was no longer fit for a twenty-one year old boy eventually found its way to Professor Amangala. Professor Amangala only deemed it fit to buy a new car when his twenty-eight year old car gave up the ghost. And this was only after he scraped together his salary of six months.

Ever heard of carrying out a forensic investigation in a country that had no forensic lab? Well that happened to be the case when Officers Boyd and Fletcher, forensic investigators from the Metropolitan police in Scotland Yard were invited to Nigeria to help investigate the murder of a senator. Despite been briefed by their boss about the unusual way of policing in Nigeria, the two officers were nevertheless surprised when they saw things for themselves. And there’s so much more to catch over here that you would smile, then laugh real hard!

‘Diary of a troubled traveller’ got me cracking as it brought to mind a similar occurrence I once had. Thanks to the Good Samaritan in the person of the traveller’s neighbour his story may have ended with a different outcome. ‘The target’ also is one sorry story. Though we may want to turn a blind eye to it, this is what actually happens. I particularly like the fact that the author did not give it an idealistic ending but a realistic one. ‘The Expatriate’ tells about the fawning sycophancy establishments in Nigeria pay to any foreigner employed by them no matter their economic or academic status.

Various other themes are touched in this fresh air-like collection of stories. Corruption, injustice, the deadness of Nigeria’s ministries, departments and agencies, racism, academic decadence, unemployment and its resultant effects, regret and lots more.

Oriyomi Adebare is a graduate of Microbiology whose penchant for reading books have made her become one of Nigeria’s consistent book reviewer. Some of her reveiws can be found on international litblog, africabooks.com, amongst others. 

First Published at http://sankofa.com.ng/a-review-of-reward-nsirims-fresh-air/

Related articles

• THRILLY HUMOURING YOU WITH FRESH AIR by Su’eddie Vershima Agema (sueddie.wordpress.com)
• FORENSIC INVESTIGATION (SHORT STORY) by Reward Nsirim (sueddie.wordpress.com)
• Diary of a Troubled Traveler (a Short Story) by Reward Nsirim (sevhagereviews.wordpress.com)
• THRILLY HUMOURING YOU WITH FRESH AIR by Su’eddie Vershima Agema (sevhagereviews.wordpress.com)
• Nnedi Okorafor – Kabu-Kabu (sffbookreview.wordpress.com)