LITERATORS' CORNER

Helon Habila's Measuring Time : Africa's History as Narrative                --Ubaji Isiaka Abubakar Eazy A set of twin brothers; in a bid to avenge years of neglect by their father; choose to seek fame. The older but frail and sickly one (Mamo) chooses the pen while the younger agile and defiant one (Lamamo) chooses the gun. Through their experiences and that of those they come in contact with, we see the history of Africa unfold before our very eyes. This is how I wish to remember the beautiful and scintillating tragic story told by Helon Habila in Measuring Time . But there is more... Albeit Mamo's underlying health condition denies him the opportunity of seeking a career in the army, he becomes an history teacher and was later employed as the village's palace secretary and historian with a commission to craft the history of the village ruler (the Mai) and that of his ancestors. But he soon finds out he is but a puppet in the hands of scheming...

Finding Odysseus's Palace: Jane Cochrane's Odysseus' Island                 --Ubaji Isiaka Abubakar Eazy Once upon a time, a young student of literature sat in class listening to his formalist professor trying to blur the line between literature and human existence or reality. The professor said that whatever you have in a narrative has no connection with the outer world of that book. But this young student had trained himself to see art as 'a mirror of society' and the idea that it should be considered an entity on its own outside the society, author, or epoch that fashioned that art failed to sit well with him. That was probably his first contact with a pure formalist and he felt he just had to say something. This young student got up and told the professor that he could not be right. Understanding literature often demands understanding the circumstances surrounding such literature and that literature is as much life as life is literature. He re...

The Mind of the Child: Nilanjana Haldar's Quiet Screams to the Quiet Healer                                                                         --Ubaji Isiaka Abubakar Eazy Most parents often make the terrible mistake of thinking their children have no mind of their own and care less about their feelings, but this is far from the truth. Children do have a mind of their own and form opinions based on their experiences and the things they see. But should this amaze parents considering that they (parents) were also once children? You will be amazed at what you, as a parent, would discover if you pry into the mind of your child. This aspect that parents often fail to examine—the mind of the child—is the focal point of Nilanjana Haldar's Quiet Screams to the Quiet Hea...

Tonza D Ruffin: What happens Behind Closed Doors ? There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face.        --William Shakespeare A successful lawyer with an edgy temper and who knows not how to keep his hands off his wife, beating her even to a state of unconsciousness. The wife, also a successful lawyer, cannot understand why she has tarried in the marriage. Her doctor knows that the many cases of bleedings and injuries he has had to treat could not be from mere accidents; he suspects that whoever put a ring on her finger must be responsible. But even the doctor was not any different for he also subjects his wife to much the same treatment, if not even worse. The lawyers' daughter grows up into a successful lawyer herself. Her parents' life has bred an aversion for the opposite sex; she uses them and dumps them as soon as things begin to get too serious for her comfort. However, she soon meets one man who she hopelessly falls in love with; the o...

The Rights of Parents, Never Forget What they Did for us                           Marwan Abdirahman Awl First of all, all praise and thanks to Allah who granted us a little part of His knowledge; not the entire knowledge that belong only to Him. Also, Allah is He who planted us in our parents so that they can bring us up and give us their love, attention, guidance, help, understanding, and wisdom. Secondly, we must appreciate our parents because they sacrificed their life to get us where we are today; be it physically, mentally, and socially. They also spur us to succeed in life as they are our first teachers in the world. The rights of parents are infinite because of their ultimate priority in Islam as they come after monotheism(Tawhiid) in several verses in the Holy Qur'an as this verse proves: 'And your Lord has declared that you not worship except Him, and to parents; good treatment,' (Surah Isra, 23r...

How to Succeed                                   Faarah Mohamed Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming. Also we can say success is simply achieving and reaching your goals. The importance of success is that it provides confidence, security, a sense of well-being, the ability to contribute at greater level, hope, and leadership. Without success, the group, your company, your goals, dreams and even entire civilization may cease to survive. Now that we understand success and the importance of success, we need to answer this question of 'How does one succeed or how can I succeed?' Everyone in this world likes to become successful. The road to success is not easy to navigate but with strong efforts, patience, drive and passion it may become easy and also possible to attain what ...

Successful People                             Yaseer Gadid Robleh Here is why you need to become a successful person and how you can find yourself among the successful people to the world. First, everyone in this world has dreams. We must pursue our dreams. No one needs to be a poor person. A lot of people have dreams but they did nothing towards actualising that dream. Life is difficult and no one likes a poor person. If you are a loser, everyone will criticize you and you'd be unhappy that you are the loser. Then if you wanna be among successful people, take your time to make the right choices, don't waste any opportunity because life may never give you a second chance. A lot of people successful people are successful because they use their time well and made the right decisions. They also never stop learning. They are successful because they are lifetime learners. A lot of people have dreams ...