Jill's Reviews > A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing: A Memoir Across Three Continents
A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing: A Memoir Across Three Continents
by
by
3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4.
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
The stories are moving and engaging, combining scholarly analysis with personal experiences. Ms Daniel spends a good deal of time analyzing language, not only Hausa versus English, but in a linguistic sense how words, names, etc define different aspects of our lives. She explores the history of Nigeria, as well as its current state, and moves through her own experiences related to her origins and what she learns about her new homes in the UK and the US. Drifting through multiple identities in an attempt to discover herself and where she belongs.
As a few other reviewers mentioned, I did have trouble following Ms Daniel's transitions from one idea to the next, from chapter to chapter or even within a chapter. I also felt the ending was a bit abrupt. Having spent so much time on her childhood, I was surprised that her college experiences were limited to a single anecdote about her trying to hide in the dorms over a winter break, and her adult life spent more time on the history of California than her actual experiences. Why not just end the memoir at childhood, if she didn't intend to delve further into her adulthood? This would perhaps have been better as a series of short stories. However, I did in enjoy it overall and would recommend.
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
The stories are moving and engaging, combining scholarly analysis with personal experiences. Ms Daniel spends a good deal of time analyzing language, not only Hausa versus English, but in a linguistic sense how words, names, etc define different aspects of our lives. She explores the history of Nigeria, as well as its current state, and moves through her own experiences related to her origins and what she learns about her new homes in the UK and the US. Drifting through multiple identities in an attempt to discover herself and where she belongs.
As a few other reviewers mentioned, I did have trouble following Ms Daniel's transitions from one idea to the next, from chapter to chapter or even within a chapter. I also felt the ending was a bit abrupt. Having spent so much time on her childhood, I was surprised that her college experiences were limited to a single anecdote about her trying to hide in the dorms over a winter break, and her adult life spent more time on the history of California than her actual experiences. Why not just end the memoir at childhood, if she didn't intend to delve further into her adulthood? This would perhaps have been better as a series of short stories. However, I did in enjoy it overall and would recommend.
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