BOOK REVIEW: Korondo-Panic!

BOOK TITLE: Korondo-Panic! (A Satarized Diary of a Kenyan’s Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic)

AUTHOR: Joshua Nyang’au Araka

Korindo-Panic delivers an entertaining, satirical and interesting reflection of life in Kenya at a critical time when the novel Corona-virus disease has proved to be a heavy load on Kenyans.

The author has placed himself in various situations to tell the stories using simple English and at times direct translations. This deliberate approach sounds interesting and quite easy to relate to for a majority of his intended readers whose first language is not English.

Taken as aspects of style, the simple sentence structure, manipulation of names of public figures and places to suit the stories serve well in portraying the life of a Kenyan who follows day to day news and deeply consults his thoughts on what the future has in store for him.

Indeed, the stories in the book are a reaction of day to day happenings during the pandemic as reported in the formal and informal media platforms, as well as face to face interactions with his kinsmen and members of the larger community.

Korondo-Panic is journalist Joshua Araka’s fifth book. It is the second dose of satire after Chronicles of The Idler, published last year. The other titles are; Peppered Path (a novel), Beaten Odds (a biography) and Undeterred: A Rural Boy’s Journey to the Pinnacle of Academia (a biography). Korondo-Panic is arguably the first or among the first books that have been published in Kenya and Africa about Coronavirus.

To achieve his desire to chronicle this critical time of our lives, the author looks at day to day happenings from the eyes of an ‘ordinary’ citizen, politician, family head, dusk to dawn curfew breaker, among others. At times, he is in trouble, confused, happy, anxious and even beaten but he never gives up.

The human spirit of resilience even in the midst of calamity comes out strongly. The greatest message therein is that there is silver lining in every cloud. That COVID-19 should not break us but make us more innovative, creative, hopeful and optimistic, that we shall overcome the disruption and be a better and successful people.

Using Nyagenke as his setting, he manages to prick our conscience by highlighting the impact of news surrounding the spread of the disease in Kenya and the rest of the world.

In the first story, the author narrates how the Nyagenkeans manage to travel from the city to the village for a burial despite restrictions not to do so. The story brings forth the cunning aspect of Kenyans in beating the law, oblivious of the danger they expose themselves and their loved ones to.

“Like actors, as soon as we passed the police ‘thorns’, we smiled like rats at the Hilton Hotel, Nyagenke branch and went on with our animated conversations. But each time we saw a police check, we quickly rehearsed our sorrow and by the time we got to it, we were all drowning in tears and they waved us to proceed,” the author writes on Page 5.

At family level, the author, who is the main character through the book, indicates that he is having difficulty adjusting to the ‘new normal’ and he is unable to meet obligations like paying house rent. This compels the intimidating landlord to destroy the roof ostensibly to force the protagonist to exit the compound.

The author, just as his wife, is helpless of the situation. “Here I am, gnashing my teeth and unable to look at my deputy eye to eye. I really don’t know if she is wondering if she has a husband or a drawing of a husband if I cannot afford house rent,” he writes.

In the second story titled Charity Begins at Nyagenke, the author shows how seasoned and emerging politicians take advantage of situations to endear or introduce themselves to voters. They go the entire mile to seek publicity while their ‘self proclaimed’ political strategists assure them that their career is promising even when it is clear that they are not quite popular.

“When Nyameino speaks about the next election, I see myself in a fat car being driven into Parliament. I cannot wait for such a time when I will get sitting, standing, sleeping and benchmarking allowances on top of my monthly salary,” he writes on Page 7.

Most Kenyans will relate with the stories. Each chapter has its lessons. One learns the importance of being honest and obedient in the fight against the pandemic and any other challenge that can confront humanity.

The humour and satire, the simple and straight language, blend of long and short sentences, dialogue and monologue among others make the book a good read and an excellent resource for all.

One may view use of direct translations as a weakness and lack of mastery of the English language on the side of the author, but it could be a strength for the genre of satire that the books falls into.

Very few authors have dedicated their time to venture into satire as a genre. This book will definitely trigger a conversation in the literary circles and challenge more authors to try their hand in this path that is largely associated to former Nation columnist, the late Wahome Mutahi. Equally, not much has been published about the pandemic.

I found the humour and satire too much for me each time I tried to move from one story to the other, yet this urge was equally irresistible.