I was going through what you can describe as the worst pain known to man. Also known as tooth pain. The last couple of days have been quite unproductive for me as I battled with this and a host of other things. But currently, I’m as high as a kite from the amount of pain relievers I took and now that I don’t have the overwhelming urge to tear my skin piece by piece, I thought I should pen down a few words. A distraction, maybe.
I’m still very much in my book slump. Maybe even more than ever now. But I was fortunate enough to receive these beautiful short story recommendations from @terjix. According to her, she’s been in a book slump before and reading short stories or short story complications is what helped her get out of it because she’s not stuck on one plot that would make her attention deviate and perhaps extend her book block. It felt like a solid idea and since she graciously recommended a few of these short story compilations, I thought, “why not?” and dove into it.
Nights of the Creaking Bed by Toni Kan
Nights of the Creaking Bed is a compilation of 20 short stories written by Nigerian author, Toni Kan. It has no specific setting except for the fact that the prime setting is in Nigeria. And it is about 150 pages long.
The stories are filled with colourful and not too eccentric characters ranging from a girl who is rejected in love because of the burden of her family that she carries solely on her head, dutiful men in a strange land who meet their Waterloo because they are, well, strangers, a young man who can’t get the image of his naked mother out of his mind, a married woman who stumbles on her first love and contemplates all the happiness that he offers, and so on. While some fall into the trap of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, some just don’t know the right people. All in all, a mix that is relatable, true, soulful and pain-laced.
Review and Rating
When it comes to short stories, the first story is always the killer. Once the author cannot achieve that powerful first story that ropes the reader in, there is not much to be said about the rest of the book. So far with the Nigerian short stories I’ve read, the authors goes above and beyond to making that first story truly sensational. Toni Kan did it in this book and it more or less sealed the deal for me.
There is a tendency by authors of short stories to make each story as tragic as possible. It’s like your heart is hanging on a cliff and you’re on the edge of your seat because you can just feel the heartbreak coming few lines away. This book was heart breaking because even though I envisaged the pain, the final stroke still hit home. Not all were like that but they still had that suspense needed to push the story forward and I commend the author again for his ingenuity.
The themes in this book weren’t relatable to me on a personal level but again, they still hit home because they were themes that are relevant to my society. From corruption, to violence, infidelity to parental irresponsibility, the importance of joy and the trauma of pain, hopes dashed, renewed, then shattered again, there was a plethora of just about all the things I hear and see ongoing in this side of the world. Maybe a tad exaggerated, in my opinion, but again, still relatable. Including the exaggeration.
Did Nights of the Creaking Bed cure me of my book slump which was the sole reason it was downloaded? No, it didn’t, but it offered me a soulful kind of entertainment. The type that just makes you let out a sigh of relief, a sigh of pity, maybe little derision thrown in the mix....all that bitter sweet stuff. I enjoyed and would give it a good 8/10. I hope to read more short stories. I don’t think I have much of a choice on the issue anyway. Lol. But I will keep you updated on how that goes. In the meantime, let me go tackle the more glaring things like the actual physical pain I'm feeling. Have a lovely day.
Jhymi🖤
Thumbnail is screenshot from my e-library.
