Search This Blog

Translate

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Silver Lining - The Review Pt. 3

Dearest,

This is much I can publish on the review for the book – Silver Lining written by the hand of Elizabeth Uzoma Egwu, the mass communication undergraduate student of University of Lagos who personally took it upon herself to review the book. Please, endeavor to get a copy for yourself, a friend, colleague, neighbor, schoolmate and … via: http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/Products/SKU-000602511/Silver-Lining.aspx

Thank you.


Critical Evaluation

The novel or novella can be said to be a romance story, but unlike others, it does not have a fairytale happy ever after ending. The story is built with sharp narration, told from the perspective of the victim himself thereby, making it more realistic. There is nothing new about a love story, with make-ups and break-ups. As a matter of fact, many romance novels take up those forms as a method of prolonging the conflict. But Godwin 3ple-i has no time for that, although the novel is stretchy, deferring the eventual break up to later, the author Godwin 3ple-i goes straight on to passing his message.

The novel is thought provoking and suspense thrilled. You cannot help but put yourself in Goddy’s shoes. The whole scenario painted, seems so natural so relatable to the readers. People of course fall in love, the whole buying gifts, sleeping over for the weekends, going out together, over protectiveness of fathers are all circumstances and situations people in love find themselves in. This makes the readers sympathise with Goddy but are also faced with the horror of the question – what happened or happens to me? Goddy’s narration creates a sort of hunger and curiosity to find out what happens at the very end.

He kills the readers’ predictability by going back to Tina even when she hurts him. He creates an utmost shocker at the end of the book. Godwin 3ple-i sends a warning to all those who are ‘madly’ in love to be careful about how they put their whole trust on their partner. We are humans and not spirits; we never can tell if the love felt for another is reciprocated the same way.

The book however, has a perfect movie setting. It is those types of books that creates the best of imagery in our minds that we can see play out in a movie. Godwin 3ple-i leaves the readers to imagine and create their own judgment thereby making the book much more thrilling. For example we really don’t know what Goddy found out about Tina the first time she did something wrong that hurt him. He only said he sent a spy and then accuses Tina but leaves out the details of the discovery of the spy. When Goddy catches Tina red-handed with his friend, the readers knows for a fact Tina is to the plain guilty but cannot tell what drove her towards that.

The conflict in the book is complex in the sense that the character Goddy is human and not perfect. His greatest fault is loving Tina so blindly that it brings about his downfall. But, Goddy is not wholly the meek man his character expects him to be. We see when he promises to get back at the hoodlums who threaten him because of Tina. The readers also see his agitations and over anxieties. He talks rudely and insults Tina’s sister – Cynthia whom he was supposed to be friends with. Most times in a simple fiction the protagonist is the all good person waiting for the attack of the antagonist but Silver Lining by Godwin 3ple-i is different.

There is absolutely no doubt that if this book was written in a female perspective, probably, Tina would be totally different. A female reply to this book might change the course of the book. There might be some certain revelations that will come and some of it might sound justifiable. No doubt, Tina is wrong in her own way but a novel told by her will be a sort of picaresque novel.

No comments: