Welcome to Litsy!

From the reviews of others, my initial reaction (as a Westerner) to this book seems a common one: WTF am I reading?! However, without wishing to uproot it from its African soil, the folklore motif of a person lost in the otherworldly realm of spirits is universal: the Faerie of the Celts and Britons, and the land of Xibalba of the Quichi Maya springing to mind. Actually, the adventures of the twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué from the Popol Vuh... 👇🏼

I'm only on page 33 and this is already one of my favourite books! Tutuola will have to seriously drop the ball for me not to come out of the other side of "the bush of ghosts" anything other than in awe. I can compare it to bits of other works, but it feels like something unique to me. I'm not familiar with the Nigerian literary tradition, so perhaps it fits neatly in some genre in that country, in which case I've got a lot of catching up to do!

I've known of Tutuola's book for a long time, not so much for itself but via the oblique connection with Brian Eno's and David Byrne's album which borrowed the title. Although the album is recognised as the progenitor of the worldbeat musical genre, using largely African rhythms, the cover notes state that neither had read Tutuola's book at the time of composition. So, I don't feel compelled to use the album as a soundtrack, but I probably will!