{"id":131,"date":"2019-02-28T16:19:45","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookcraftafrica.com\/blog\/?p=131"},"modified":"2019-02-28T16:19:45","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T16:19:45","slug":"review-of-foreign-gods-inc-by-micheal-lipkin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bookcraftafrica.com\/blog\/review-of-foreign-gods-inc-by-micheal-lipkin\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of Foreign Gods, Inc. by Micheal Lipkin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201c<\/strong><\/em>Ndibe is a writer\u2019s writer, and this book is a lesson in the art of the novel.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Foreign Gods, Inc.<\/strong><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0the second novel by Nigerian author Okey Ndibe<\/strong>, is a gem of a book.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the tale of an ordinary man with a far-fetched plan to strike it rich. He\u2019s a New York cab driver, originally from Nigeria, named Ike (pronounced EE-kay). As the story opens, Ike has already made many bad decisions leading him deeply into debt; and the reader might think that his current scheme will similarly be a monumental, and perhaps slightly humorous, failure.<\/p>\n

Why a failure? Ndibe sets the tone with irony that seems to foreshadow a messed-up outcome. The first irony lies with the title. What does it mean? It sounds like a graduate-school tome about colonialism\u2014maybe about the godlike power of corporations in the third world. But no; Foreign Gods, Inc., is just a store\u2014 a Manhattan gallery that buys and sells statues of gods from exotic places\u2014any gods currently in vogue among trendy multimillionaires. In this all-too-believable yet darkly humorous scenario, the most valuable gods are on the private second floor, called \u201cHeaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life in America had started out great for Ike. He graduated from Amherst College cum laude in Economics and expected to get a high-powered finance job and make enough money to live well and support his relatives in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

But now he can\u2019t find a job in finance, partly, he\u2019s told, because of his heavy accent. Thus begins Ike\u2019s succession of bad decisions\u2014the result of his na\u00efve, indecisive, passive nature. He\u2019s manipulated into marriage by a woman nicknamed Queen B who squanders all his money, sending him into debt.<\/p>\n

How does he try to get out of debt? Gambling. Each time he loses, he\u2019s sure next time will be the big win. And to bolster his optimism, Ike takes to excessive drinking\u2014whiskey, Guinness, Red Stripe, and more.<\/p>\n

The novel begins after Queen B has divorced Ike and left him hopelessly in debt. \u201cThe way she came after me, you would think I was a Manhattan millionaire.\u201d An emotionally and financially battered Ike timidly enters Foreign Gods, Inc., and we learn the details of his scheme. He\u2019ll return to his native village, steal the statue of the god\u00a0Ngene,<\/em>\u00a0and sell it to Foreign Gods, Inc. for a million dollars or more. It\u2019s a surprising plan, since Ike doesn\u2019t seem dishonest enough\u2014or skilled enough–to carry it out.<\/p>\n

Even the way Ike thought up this caper is funny and ironic. It starts when his Sierra Leonean friend Jonathon Falla reads about Foreign Gods, Inc., in a magazine at the dentist\u2019s office. Falla walks out with the magazine and mails it to Ike, explaining later why Ike must go through with his plan. Since\u00a0Ngene<\/em>\u00a0is a war god, once Ike brings it to America:<\/p>\n

\u201c. . . it\u2019ll enter the oppressive system and fight the power. Lead the revolution from the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still unsure of himself despite Falla\u2019s bogus rationalizing, Ike feigns confidence with gallery owner Mark Gruels.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust me,\u201d he said, \u201cIt\u2019s a very, very ancient deity. A very powerful god.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you say. Great. Nobody ever sold me a shitty god . . . Every god I ever bought had the greatest mojo of all time. So what\u2019s new?\u201d<\/p>\n

After that visit to the gallery, we follow Ike through his scheme: his preparation for the trip, the long and intense story of his return to his village of Utonki, and, finally, his return to New York and to Foreign Gods, Inc.<\/p>\n

As Ndibe takes us through these developments, he gets an ever-firmer grip on us, pulling us more and more deeply into Ike\u2019s world, into his dilemma. The author does this with a seemingly effortless use of literary skills, including flashback, vivid description, characterization, suspense, symbolism, side stories folded into the main story . . . take your pick. Ndibe is a writer\u2019s writer, and this book is a lesson in the art of the novel.<\/p>\n

Foreign Gods, Inc.<\/em>\u00a0becomes most powerful and Ndibe\u2019s literary skills most evident as Ike returns to Nigeria to steal\u00a0Ngene.<\/em>\u00a0From the time of Ike\u2019s arrival, Ndibe introduces memorable characters, some humorous and some dramatically touching, such as corrupt customs officers; old friends of Ike\u2019s; his impoverished mother and sister; his grandmother who is thought to be a witch; and his uncle Osuakwu, the head priest of\u00a0Ngene<\/em>. Ndibe also provides vivid descriptions of places (such as Lagos and Utonki) and states of mind (such as Ike\u2019s anxiety).<\/p>\n

One of the most dramatic parts of the novel is an inner story told as a flashback\u2014the story of Christian missionary Walter Stanton who arrived in Utonki in 1898. A lengthy side tale, this story might at first make the reader impatient as it interrupts the main story. Yet the reader will soon be pulled into Stanton\u2019s gripping tale\u2014a story Ike had heard many times as a boy and had become obsessed with. Ndibe tells Stanton\u2019s story in the style of a traditional African tale:<\/p>\n

\u201cReverend Walter Stanton appeared in Utonki on a day the sun had cast its evil eye on the world, leaving every living thing in a state of stupor, groaning. He came with a retinue of soldiers whose guns spoke from two mouths at once . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

With their superior firepower, Stanton and his soldiers began to convert villagers to Christianity. Yet not all the villagers were persuaded. Stanton\u2019s religion didn\u2019t make sense to all of them:<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes your god owe money to another god?\u201d<\/p>\n

Perplexed, Stanton asked, \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI still don\u2019t understand why your god likes to be invisible. Around here, those who take to hiding are men who don\u2019t wish to pay their debts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn edge of exasperation nudged away Stanton\u2019s eager mien. Fixing the interpreter with a glare, he spoke in a slow, halting manner . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTell them to get it into their thick heads, once and for all, that there aren\u2019t other gods besides the one we worship. Tell them our god can\u2019t owe anybody because he owns everything in heaven and on earth . . . . Tell them that we\u2019re all tainted sinners, corrupted by the original sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve . . . . Tell them, finally, that there will be no more questions for today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet perhaps Ndibe\u2019s greatest talent lies in his descriptions of the depths of the tortured human psyche\u2014such as Stanton\u2019s descent into madness amid the dark African night. And\u2014reader beware\u2014Ndibe\u2019s lengthy description of this psychological unraveling is powerful enough to churn your own inner demons. For example:<\/p>\n

\u201cStanton felt himself tainted by the African night, smudged with Africa\u2019s darkness. His mind, alert and rational in the day, strayed at night into superstition. He had wide-eyed dreams that teemed with chimeras, goblins, ghosts, and orgiastic spectacles. Africa inflicted him with insomnia. . . . It was as if some malevolent presences shared his hut. Other times, he felt that they owned the hut, with him a mere intruder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe quivered over his health, which he felt failing, slipping. Gripped by foreboding, he was racked by a sense of death lurking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanton\u2019s story is central to\u00a0Foreign Gods, Inc.<\/em>\u00a0It stimulates thought and comparisons. Is Stanton any worse than Utonki\u2019s present-day Christian minister, Reverend Uta? Uta is a sham, a swindler, out to get money from his followers, including Ike\u2019s mother and sister. Stanton, as bad as he may have been, at least truly believed in what he was doing and sought no profit, even leaving his beloved wife and children.<\/p>\n

And is Stanton\u2019s god truly superior to\u00a0Ngene,<\/em>\u00a0at least for the people of Utonki? Stanton rails about sin; but later in the story, followers of Ngene simply thank the morning spirit for protecting them and ask the same from the spirits of the afternoon and evening; they don\u2019t worry about being inherently evil.<\/p>\n

Then, later in the story, Ike himself begins to experience madness comparable to Stanton\u2019s. Is that the fate of all who defy\u00a0Ngene?<\/em>\u00a0The reader may even wonder: \u201cDoes\u00a0Ngene<\/em>\u00a0really have spiritual powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

This complex story continues, with unpredictable twists, perplexing questions: Will Ike really steal the statue? Will he become wealthy as a result? Or will he become the new priest of\u00a0Ngene,<\/em>\u00a0as is suggested in the story? Or even: Will all these things happen together?<\/p>\n

Foreign Gods, Inc.,<\/em>\u00a0tells a compelling story\u2014rich, funny, ironic, tragic, complex, and extremely thought provoking. It\u2019s a great book to read and discuss with a friend or with a book group because of all the questions it sparks.<\/p>\n

For example: Which god was truly the foreign god? Did\u00a0____<\/em>\u00a0symbolize Ike\u2019s feelings of guilt? But, more simply,\u00a0Foreign Gods, Inc.\u00a0<\/em>is just a wonderful read. On rare occasions, I say, \u201cPhew,\u201d as I read the final words of a novel, in awe of the amazing story the author has skillfully led me through. I definitely had that reaction at the end of\u00a0Foreign Gods, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n

But returning to the book\u2019s humor and irony, there was another reason to say \u201cPhew\u201d as the book ended\u2014a reason you\u2019ll learn when you read\u00a0Foreign Gods, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michael Lipkin<\/strong> has been a writer and editor in educational publishing for more than 35 years, specializing in history, government, economics, geography, and other subjects. He has worked on staff for two top-five publishers and has been a freelancer for just about every major educational publisher and numerous smaller independent companies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Foreign Gods, Inc. by\u00a0Okey Ndibe<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Category: Fiction \/ Novels<\/p>\n

Publisher: Bookcraft Africa<\/p>\n

Year of Publication: 2017<\/p>\n

335 pages<\/p>\n

Originally published by\u00a0\u00a0New York Journal of Books<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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