#30: What's On Your Playlist?
A Review of Chimeka Garricks' A Broken People's Playlist: Stories (From Songs)
A Broken People’s Playlist, the author’s second book, published in 2020, is an intriguing collection of a dozen touching short stories about “love, the human condition, life’s micromoments, and an every-people’s search for meaning, and sometimes, redemption” inspired by songs.
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Set mostly in Port-Harcourt, the stories have an overarching theme of love, loss, and the not-so-pretty side of life in general. The first story, Lost Stars, is a heavy one about love lost and the fleeting nature of life. Sira refused to accept the love that was right in front of her until it was too late.
“Today, they even asked me why I love you. And I sighed and said because even though we weren’t meant to be, you were always home to me.”
Song for Someone, my favourite, beams light on a woman navigating relationships with the men in her life. In In the City, a police officer grapples with the demons that keep him awake at night, and in a last-ditch effort to save himself, he decides not to kill any more people in his remaining time on the force.
From the boy who struggles to accept who his father is, to the man who throws a funeral for his ailing brother who is still alive, much to their mother’s dismay, to the student unable to function under the weight of the grief of losing his best friend who joined a confratenity in their university, we see a thread of shared grief, loss and struggles. There are rarely events that affect only one person.
In Desperado, a man comes to terms with losing the love of his life as he deals with his issues and eventually settling for some form of friendship with her. You Suppose Know is a heartbreaking end to an already heavy book. A love and friendship that has stood the test of time and lasted decades abruptly ends—no warning, nothing.
“Be good to each other. Love your love. Life is short.”
Although some of the stories are extremely sad, the author deftly wields such amazing storytelling and captures the reader from the first story to the last one. We also see how people can find healing in songs. You may want to grab some tissues because no matter how much the stories mess with your emotions, you won’t be able to put the book down.
Earlier this month, the year’s edition of Spotify Wrapped all but broke the internet. Users got a summary of the music they had been listening to all year. The kind of music we listen to per time is sometimes a reflection of a phase we’re in or a situation we’re wading through, and that makes the story of our lives, like a soundtrack of sorts.
So yeah, what’s on your playlist?
Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Kindly leave a comment.
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