I think there are authors who think that happy endings are boring, predictable, and less meaningful to the reader. They may be right. I also think that Uwem Akpan, author of Say You're One of Them, is one of these authors.
This collection of fictional stories by a smiley Jesuit priest from Nigeria doesn't have a single happy ending. There are bittersweet endings, endings that are twisted with relief and regret, and endings that leave you cold. But, as I recently learned how to say in Spanish, Todas las cuentas acaban mal. They have sad endings.
If you feel like you now don't have to read these stories, don't get me wrong; the endings are often unpredictable, some ending with what we hoped for all along, but not quite as happy, and some ending with what the characters dreaded, but we were too naive to believe possible.
These stories of Africa, exploring ordeals that happen to people there, and not rarely, are all unnerving. I had to ask myself, over and over, what seperates me from them? There are answers - physical distance, money, language - but they pale in comparison to the similarities, the unnerving proximities. Like Jubril, am I not at the mercy of the crowd whenever I take a bus or a train, or a plane? Could the others not kill me, if all incensed and united against me? Could I not lose my parents in an instant, like Kotchikpa, and find myself at the mercy of the world? These stories take place in an alternate universe, one that exists, only a plane ride away.
Some people don't read "depressing" stories, because they say that there isn't anything they can do about it. But maybe, if we read about the struggles of others, we won't be tempted to prey upon the one Muslim in a group of Christians, even in times of desperation and fear. Maybe we won't turn against our neighbors and families when there is a crisis, because we see how horrific it was when it happened in Rwanda. Maybe we won't ignore those charities that help child slaves just because they seem so far away, and we'll be careful where and how we get our oil and diamonds. So read Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Akpan. Maybe you'll learn something about life, or yourself.
