THE GREAT PONDS

by Elechi Amadi ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1973

Two East Nigerian villages, decimated by battles over the ownership of certain fishing areas, agree to judgment -- swearing by the fearful and mysterious god of night: if Olumba, the great Chiolu warrior, is alive at the end of six months, the ponds will belong to his people; if he dies, it becomes the possession of the Aliakoro. Despite oath-violating spell-casting by the Aliakoro dibia (medicine man) Olumba shakily survives various ailments with the help of his own magic men, but meanwhile sickness spreads throughout the two villages and the clan and even beyond to the villages of different languages two days' walking distance away: what the Africans called the wrath of Ogbunabuli, known to the more sophisticated western world as the Great Influenza epidemic of 1918. A truly fascinating glimpse of the way ""primitive"" man contended with natural phenomena with herbs and incomprehensible incantations and amulets and sheer bravura in the face of ignorance -- intentionally and startlingly similar to contemporary medicine with its prescriptions and instruments and Latin terminology and helplessness in the face of so many diseases. A fine book written by a Nigerian who writes impeccable English that is both colloquial and true to its African origins.

Pub Date: May 1, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: John Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1973

Categories: FICTION