KHALABARI

The book, ‘Khalabari: A Night in the Graveyard’ portrays vividly one night’s hideous experiences of a young man who is desirous of an adventure; it was an adventure indeed, very weird in all its ramifications. With excellent use of irony and metaphor, the author tried hard to paint the correct picture in the minds of his readers who, right from the title, would expect such terrifying and strange features of a graveyard. These features he drove home through his right choice of words (diction), and his mastery in the use of images, similes, metaphors, personifications even, rhymes. His excellent use of these literary terms will go along way to hold readers’ attention spell-bound throughout those uncommon experiences. The protagonist is a young man from a fairly-rich family but whose heart was burning for adventure into a world he had heard a lot about – Monrovia. He would also like to wade through this difficult and unpredictable world independently like a full-fledged man, have his own problems, solve them and come out as a man of character. This desire informed his not confiding in his parents before embarking on this journey. Finally, I doff my hat to the author for his intelligent use of the epilogue which not only unraveled the mystery of this book, and confirmed the adage which says that “where a man’s wealth is, there also is his heart.” Tola, the young adventurer’s mind is focused on Monrovia due to all he heard about the war-torn town. Incidentally, an accident he was involved in, sent him into coma and in that state, his spirit went off to no-where than to the place where his mind was set to initially, Moa town in Monrovia. I therefore, congratulate the author for this creative work and highly recommend it to the reading public. Ayika K. I. (Mrs.)