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By: THAM 003
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2023-11-16 11:15:53 |
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Members found this to be quite a hard read, but during the extensive discussion, many changed their minds about the book, and comments changed from from negative, to realising that the book requires 'big picture' thinking, and understanding about the effects/remnants of colonialism. |
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By: CHCH 423
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2023-07-17 13:42:42 |
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All found the book well-written and easy to read, although Laura's escapades in Nigeria a little unlikely. We felt Nnamdi and Amina's stories meandered a bit, and the emails by Winston too clumsy to have been effective. However this book gave a great overview of the tough life in the Delta, and the damage done by Western multi-nationals. |
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By: WELL 060
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2022-06-20 10:13:33 |
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Fascinating insight into Nigeria, and how scams occur. |
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By: CHCH 449
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2022-06-04 09:28:33 |
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We had a good discussion but few of us read the entire book and no one rated it it very highly. Although the subject was topical and the "Nigerian thing" was "fascinating" other comments were that it was "fluffy" and that it "lacked a common thread" and became "quite confusing". |
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By: WELL 134
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2022-05-05 15:20:57 |
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Our discussion very much echoed the comments made in the notes i.e. too many scenarios which could have been made into three different books! Individually, the different aspects led to a good discussion. |
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By: PAIHIA 001
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2019-06-12 17:04:40 |
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Really interesting to learn about Nigeria, a little bit of its history, and what oil has meant and done to that country. There are a lot of stories in the story which is a little bit disjointed but also great stories and characters. We all enjoyed it and talked more about this book than many others and, yes, we had personal stories about scammers too. |
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By: AUCK 039
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2018-09-10 12:32:08 |
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Will Ferguson has written a fascinating multi-thread story, with a complicated group of well drawn characters, in both Canada and Nigeria. From scams to oil production, and the effect on people. Enjoyed by all. |
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By: LOWER 018
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2018-07-16 14:11:27 |
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Not one of our favourites. We all found it of interest, but many didn't enjoy the style - a fairly confusing narrative and unconvincing ending. |
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By: MORRI 002
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2018-07-16 14:09:34 |
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'419' provided plenty of discussion. Amazing how many of us had personal stories of scammers. This one's rating was a 4. |
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By: OHOPE 006
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2018-07-16 14:05:48 |
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Interesting discussion about the motivation of Nigerian scammers, as we don't think about peoples' motives when we receive all those emails. |
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By: DIAM 001
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2018-07-16 14:03:49 |
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Easy read. Not considered a typical 'thriller'. A story of many plots and difficult to connect them all. Interesting that Nigeria's oil industry has grown on the profits of scamming. We enjoyed a good discussion. |
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By: AUCK 224
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2018-05-25 11:49:36 |
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A good read overall - some comments made about the disjointed stories. No one is going to Nigeria! |
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By: TAUR 023
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2018-05-25 11:47:24 |
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Some of our group couldn't finish the book, as they found it jumped around too much and became confusing. Those who persevered found the subject, namely scamming, very topical. |
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By: MATAM 001
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2018-05-25 11:43:44 |
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We couldn't say we really enjoyed this book, BUT found it informative with clever interweaving of the different characters' stories. One member commented that politics was another character in the book. Very well researched. It was described as distressing, disturbing, sad and a warning for us with the themes of greed and exploitation, and political and oil company corruption. |
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By: CHCH 312
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2018-05-25 11:40:30 |
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Interesting stories that linked together by the end of the book. Intriguing to see the other side of Nigerian email scammers, and the effects of the oil companies on the Nigerian delta. Most of the group read this book and an interesting discussion followed. We recommend this to other groups. |
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By: 419
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2018-05-25 11:38:21 |
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Despite the accolades showered on '419', the consensus from the group was that the story didn't come across as a gripping page turner. It was the travel writing that gripped the reader's attention, as most were unfamiliar with Nigeria and its variable terrains, ranging from deserts to mangrove swamps. |
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