419 book review

Book Review, 419 by Will Ferguson

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419 By Will Ferguson Viking 397 pp; $32

There’s a brilliant scene in humourist Will Ferguson’s novel Generica — later republished as Happiness — in which the anti-hero, a beaten and cynical self-help editor, is sitting naked at his home computer, having lost the only copy of his prized manuscript and needing to submit something to his boss the next morning. The naked editor brews himself a pot of strong coffee and bangs out an approximation of a self-help book, cobbling together platitudes and witticisms from various sources, over the course of a single night.

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For the first 60 pages of 419 , Ferguson’s grim departure from the comedy that built his reputation, the author comes across like a real-world version of his protagonist. Having read maybe the first half-dozen chapters of the last 20 Giller winners, he has faked a shallow and naive reconstruction of Canadian lyrical typicality, piecing it together from spare parts. Speaking in sentence fragments about lost souls yearning their way listlessly through a family tragedy, he teases his fan base with phrases as unoriginal as “A vein of lightning on the far side of the sky,” or unencumbered by meaning as “Heat and thirst and sand.” Ferguson’s new style borrows the elliptical sentences made famous by Camilla Gibb and Lisa Moore (who both give 419 loving blurbs on its dust jacket), but 419 lacks the accountability that keeps the best work of those authors away from the self-erasing circularity of lines such as “It is almost a question, the way he says it. Almost, but not quite,” which Ferguson offers up like it means something, with none of the irony you’d expect from a master deflater of pretensions. 419 is set in Calgary and Lagos and concerned with the so-called 419 scams, updates of the Spanish Prisoner trick that appear as those Nigerian phishing emails that sprinkle junk email folders. Like both of Will Ferguson’s earlier novels, Generica and Spanish Fly , 419 tells the story of a fraud. Unlike those two jewels, among the best novels — comic or otherwise — Canada has produced in the past 15 years, the author has made the choice to focus as much on the victims as the perpetrators. The victim here is a retired schoolteacher who trusted the scammers, lost everything and committed suicide. The hero is his daughter, Laura, a dead-eyed publishing employee every bit as bland and uninteresting as Generica ’s editor, except drawn here by Ferguson with none of the satirical bite of his past works. Laura is all nude earnestness, inner turmoil and stimulus response. She exists as a reactor to external events. Ancillary to her own life story, she is an uncharacter. More interesting are the men on the other end of the emails, the insiders who work the fraud machine and provide Ferguson the opportunity to show off his research. He gets deep into their slang and the politics of their country. In the Nigerian scenes, 419 is unsettling and keen of ear. Ferguson’s novels have always run on plot, so when he trusts his story to characters with things to do and say, the book starts to build.

A minor character named Nnamdi is given an incredible amount of backstory, and this mythic bit of biography is the most exciting part of the book. Almost 100 pages long, we see the whole history of the Niger Delta play out through Nnamdi, with con after con laid on the land by slave traders, Shell Oil men, rampaging generals and corrupt officials. It’s here that Ferguson finally gets his brain and tongue working in the same direction, as the various linguistic forces at play in the young man’s story bounce against each other, working in everything from bawdy slang to petrol politics. We see how con and myth can intersect, how a fairy tale is just a scam written to the tune of a more trusting reality. And when Nnamdi’s story is paused for the return of Laura’s, some of that energy carries forward.

The story’s momentum demands that victim and perpetrator meet. When Laura herself figures this out, she begins to plan her own con. Here, Ferguson finally finds a way to handle her. Of course, this plot point demands she become a totally different person. There is no credible explanation for Laura’s sudden switch from mealy mouthed wallflower to the adrenaline-fuelled risk-taker of the final chapters. When Laura shows up in Lagos ready for deceit, you know that Ferguson is throwing the reality of her earlier depiction under the bus. You just don’t care, because old Laura was far less than new Laura, and the novel needs her replaced in order to tell its story. You allow him to fall back on the more liberal credibility limits of the “comic novel,” because that’s where his richest bag of tricks lies.

So what to make of 419 ? Surely, talented authors should stretch their bounds. Ferguson can do many things, from travel writing to joke-telling to satire. What he can’t do is present believable earnestness. As an artist, 419 plays to all of his faults, and few of his talents. He has attempted to test himself by writing an international tragedy in the vein of Michael Ondaatje, but has imported many more of Ondaatje’s excesses than achievements.

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• Coffee House

419 by Will Ferguson – review

• From magazine issue: 07 September 2013

Will Ferguson

Head of Zeus, pp. 419

The term ‘419’ is drawn from the article in the Nigerian penal code that addresses fraud. However, it has transcended its origins in statute and become shorthand for trickery across West Africa. When I worked as a correspondent in Sierra Leone, 1,400 miles from Nigeria’s capital Abuja, the phrase was in widespread use.

Deception is fertile ground for fiction, and Will Ferguson has produced a fine novel from the West African variant. He takes 419 in its purest form: the email scam. Nigerian hustlers persuade foreigners to part with their savings, often with the promise of a tranche of a fortune that just needs a western bank account to park in.

Here the bait is 15 per cent of ‘THIRTY FIVE MILLION SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND dollars US,’ thus capitalised in a transatlantic email exchange. The scammer is Winston, a young operator in Lagos, Nigeria’s muggy commercial capital. Winston’s victim is Henry Curtis, a retired Canadian schoolteacher.

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The novel opens as Curtis’s car plunges down an embankment. A police investigation indicates suicide, as a result of financial ruination. The Canadian authorities advise that Nigeria is such a maelstrom that redress is impossible. Curtis’s daughter Laura disregards them and flies to Lagos. Without spoiling the plot, suffice it to say that, by and large, Laura turns the tables on the scammers.

Ferguson makes extensive use of parallel narratives. In Canada, exposition of the fraud folds back from the initial car crash, while in Africa a pregnant girl called Amina treks south from the Sahel. She eventually meets Nnamdi, who has himself emerged from Nigeria’s oil-producing delta. This ambitious structure in general works, and the dénouement, when the strands twist together, is genuinely thrilling.

However, earlier pacing is problematic. Amina’s trudge — ‘every step now would be a blind step off a tall wall’ — is over-extended. Likewise, while the description of the degradation engendered by oil in the Niger delta is colourful — ‘sometimes, after the gas is flared, the rains that come down itch the skin’ — Ferguson overplays his point that exploitation in Africa is a two-way street.

These patches of heavy-handedness are striking because elsewhere Ferguson handles his material with considerable finesse. He dissects the position of 419 operators in Nigerian society, both derided as fraudsters and lauded for their entre-preneurship. A song with the lyrics ‘419, play the game; 419, all the same,’ becomes a repeated refrain, in an effective example of that old writing-school diktat to show not tell.

Ferguson’s greatest achievement, though, is his depiction of the African cityscape. He draws squalor — ‘pools of urine in littered lots, open sewage running through drains and ditches’ — but also recognises that Lagos is not chaos. There are webs of allegiance and patronage, as in any human society. His description of the network of ‘area faddahs’ who control each neighbourhood shows a laudable ability by an outsider to see beyond the mad surface.

There are themes that merit further exploration. Ferguson describes the code of the 419 players — ‘we who traffic in falsehoods must put a premium on the truth’— but only touches on the broader societal consequences of absent trust in African societies. He grants a cameo to a Lebanese character, but does not assess the way Levantine commercial dominance in West Africa is predicated on intra-group trust. Lebanese businessmen often are, as Ferguson writes, the sort of people ‘who could grow fat in a famine’. But they only prosper because, to other Lebanese, their word is their bond.

There are some stylistic problems too. In particular the rhetorical question, a device which should have no place in serious fiction, appears on multiple occasions. However, 419 remains a fine novel and deserves a wide readership.

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Will Ferguson

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Will Ferguson is best known as a travel writer, and here he puts his experiences roaming around the world together in a global, political thriller, that isn’t particularly thrilling, and I know some people have issues with it being “global,” particularly as it writes of the experiences of an African woman, and, well, I didn’t think it actually all came together that well. 419 isn’t a terrible book — I thought the writing was nice, and I enjoyed delving into its central motivating plot device — but for me its strengths never quite got the better of its weaknesses.

When the book opens, we watch a car careening down a snowy embankment. Henry Curtis is dead, and it isn’t certain it was an accident. Warren Curtis, the high-strung son, believes his father drove off the cliff on purpose.

He may be right. No one knew it at the time, but before his death Henry put the family home up as collateral for a large loan. It’s strange because the house was paid off and Henry was a retired schoolteacher who spent his time woodworking and visiting internet sites devoted to woodworking. Further, he increased his life insurance policy. Why? His family cannot begin to understand, but investigation reveals multiple emails between Henry and someone named Victor Okechukwu, from Lagos, Nigeria. You’ll probably recognize a lot of this:

SUBJECT: Urgent Matter to the Attention of Mr. Henry Curtis. Please do not turn away! RECEIVED: September 12, 11:42PM Complements of the season! With warm heart I offer you wishes of good health from Africa. I am contacting you today regarding an urgent business proposal, and though this letter may reach you as a surprise, I implore you to take the time to go through it carefully as the decisions you make will go a long ways toward determining the future and continued existence of a young woman’s happiness. Sir, I am writing today on behalf of Miss Sandra, daughter of Dr. Atta, late Director & Chairman of the Contract Award Committee for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. As you may know, Dr. Atta died tragically in a helicopter crash in the Niger Delta under circumstances most suspicious. Miss Sandra’s uncle vowed to care for her, but he too has fallen afoul of government-back criminals . . . As might be imagined, between father and uncle, Miss Sandra was able through God’s will to amass quite a sizable fortune. [. . . ] Although only twenty-one and renowned for her beauty she is unable to find a suitor, for she has been forced into hiding by her family’s high-placed enemies. She has asked me to contact you — MR. HENRY CURTIS — for help. She cannot turn to the police, for the police are part of this murderous cabal. She is pleading on bended knees for you to rescue her from a hopeless future.

Henry’s first response is that they must be confusing him for someone else. But the man on the other end of the email has done his homework: “I was looking for Henry Curtis, graduate of Athabasca University, retired from the noble profession of teachering, a member in Good Standing of the Amateur Woodworking Society of Hounsfield Heights, subscriber of the Briar Hill Beacon Community Newspaper, husband of Helen, grandfather of twins, a highly respected figure in his community, known for his honesty and integrity. I apologize for this mis-sent mailing.”

We’re all familiar with these internet schemes (called 419 after the criminal code that makes it illegal), and several people who have fallen victim have lost everything, like Henry. In this case, though, his daughter, Laura, is going to Nigeria to get it back.

It’s ambitious, but I think Ferguson bites off more than he can chew. The main story line involving the cyber scam is interesting, and as familiar as we may be with these scams I haven’t encountered it in a novel before, so I enjoyed it, even if I didn’t love it. Truly, it would probably feel slight if it were on its own.

However, after adding the other threads, particularly the one about the Sahel woman, the book felt choppy, and, I think naturally, it started to feel like everything was forced to fit into this examination of corruption and the disparity of wealth. In the end, I felt things didn’t really come together in a believable way, let alone a way that complemented the gravity of the themes.

All that said, I did enjoy the book. It reads nicely and, as ill-fitting as the threads might be, Ferguson gives each a beating heart.

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JP Marshman

Fantasy author extraordinaire, 419: a book review.

From international bestselling writer Will Ferguson, author of  Happiness™  and  Spanish Fly , comes a novel both epic in its sweep and intimate in its portrayal of human endurance.

A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa. And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the internet looking for victims. Lives intersect. Worlds collide.  And it all begins with a single email:  “Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help…”  Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is “419”, the world’s most insidious internet scam.

When Laura Curtis, a lonely editor in a cold northern city, discovers that her father has died because of one such swindle, she sets out to track down – and corner – her father’s killer. It is a dangerous game she is playing, however, and the stakes are higher than she can ever imagine. Woven into Laura’s journey is a mysterious woman from the African Sahel with scars etched into her skin and a young man who finds himself caught up in a web of violence and deceit.

And running through it, a dying father’s final worlds: “ You, I love.”

First of all, 419 was the winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize, which is probably the most prestigious literary award in Canada. That alone piqued my interest in reading this, so as soon as it came out in paperback I was all over that like flies to honey – or corpses, because for some reason flies like both.

If you aren’t put off yet, keep reading!

On the whole, I really quite enjoyed 419. It definitely lived up to the hype surrounding it because of the aforementioned Giller Prize win. I had experience reading a Will Ferguson book before – one co-written with his brother, Ian, called How to be a Canadian (which is hilarious and worth a read, by the way) – so I was thrilled to read something else that was so acclaimed. And my opinions are as follows:

It was very well written, as was to be expected. A book doesn’t win the Giller Prize for nothing. The characters were engaging. As a reader, you could feel the heartbreak and odd sort of detachment Laura feels after learning of her father’s death, and her frustration with the actions of her brother and mother.

As there were many main characters to follow, this translated into their narratives as well. Laura was the only North American main character; the others were from Africa, from Nigeria in particular: Amina, Winston, and Nnamdi. Each are involved with 419 in some way or another, and though their stories don’t start out together, Ferguson weaves their tales together almost flawlessly and by the end everything is so tightly connected you can hardly believe the characters hadn’t known each other all along. He explains very well the plight of Nigerians in such a lawless state, being overwhelmed and overpowered by the government and the gangs that help run it. It is clear with each passing chapter that he did thorough research to bring his novel to life.

One thing that really bothered me at first (I did get used to it over time) was Ferguson’s overuse of fragment sentences. I’m an advocate of fragment sentences when they add to the atmosphere, but this was too much. Since a very large portion of the novel was told through fragment sentences, it seems to be artistic style of his, but it was difficult to get used to.

Though reading about the day to day lives of Nigerians was fascinating, hearing about the constant struggle of the Delta clans against the oil companies got a bit much. They seemed to just seemed to go on and on about things that weren’t necessarily important to the plot. I started out really disliking the chapters in Nnamdi’s point of view because of this, but after a while grew to like him as he finally left the Delta and the oil companies were left behind, at least for the moment. Another thing that bothered me was the chapter lengths. Sue me, but I think chapters should be more than a paragraph long.

I really enjoyed 419 and so far have a very good opinion of Will Ferguon’s work. He is a literary icon, and I’m proud that he is Canadian. I haven’t read any of the other Giller nominees, but I will say that this was definitely one of the finest literary works I’ve read in a while.

419 gets four of five stars. It was an excellent read altogether, but the fragment sentences really got to me. Picky picky.

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419 by Will Ferguson

Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is "419," the world’s most insidious Internet scam.  A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa. And in the ...

Introduction

Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is "419," the world’s most insidious Internet scam.  A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa. And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims. Lives intersect.  Worlds collide.  And it all begins with a single email: "Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help?" When Laura Curtis, a lonely editor in a cold northern city, discovers that her father has died because of one such swindle, she sets out to track down?and corner?her father’s killer.  It is a dangerous game she’s playing, however, and the stakes are higher than she can ever imagine. Woven into Laura’s journey is a mysterious woman from the African Sahel with scars etched into her skin and a young man who finds himself caught up in a web of violence and deceit. And running through it, a dying father’s final words: "You, I love."

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Member Reviews

Four main Characters who's very different lives collide together making this a absolute must read. I'm not a big reader but this grabbed my attention which is something I didn't think would happen.

Our club enjoyed it. Gave you insight into the dark world of Internet scams and how easily people fall for it. A bit confusing at times and some parts were like reading a second book. But our club had... (read more)

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Interview: Will Ferguson talks about his novel 419

We chatted with Will Ferguson about his Giller-winning novel 419, our first pick for the Cityline Book Club.

Have you been reading our first Cityline Book Club pick ,  419 by Will Ferguson ? Here at the studio, we’ve been loving this gripping, Giller prize-winning novel and so we jumped on the chance to chat with him when he came through Toronto recently to promote the paperback edition of 419 . You asked, and he answered! Watch the video below and find out all about Ferguson’s inspiration for the novel, which characters were his favourite to write, and what he’s working on next.

If you’ve been reading along with us, we want to know what you’ve thought of  419 so far! Post a comment below with your thoughts on the novel, and you’ll be entered to win a book prize pack courtesy of Penguin Canada!

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By Will Ferguson

Category: literary fiction | suspense & thriller.

Mar 26, 2013 | ISBN 9780143176015 | 5-1/4 x 8-1/4 --> | ISBN 9780143176015 --> Buy

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Mar 26, 2013 | ISBN 9780143176015

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From internationally bestselling travel writer Will Ferguson, author of Happiness™ and Spanish Fly , comes a novel both epic in its sweep and intimate in its portrayal of human endurance. A car tumbles through darkness down a snowy ravine. A woman without a name walks out of a dust storm in sub-Saharan Africa. And in the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the Internet, looking for victims. Lives intersect. Worlds collide. And it all begins with a single email: “ Dear Sir, I am the daughter of a Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help… ” Will Ferguson takes readers deep into the labyrinth of lies that is “419,” the world’s most insidious Internet scam. When Laura Curtis, a lonely editor in a cold northern city, discovers that her father has died because of one such swindle, she sets out to track down—and corner—her father’s killer. It is a dangerous game she’s playing, however, and the stakes are higher than she can ever imagine. Woven into Laura’s journey is a mysterious woman from the African Sahel with scars etched into her skin and a young man who finds himself caught up in a web of violence and deceit. And running through it, a dying father’s final words: “ You, I love. ”

Also by Will Ferguson

About Will Ferguson

Will Ferguson spent five years in Asia, based in Japan, and travelled to Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, and China. He is the author of Beyond Belfast, which charts a 560-mile walk across Northern Ireland in the rain, and Hitching Rides with… More about Will Ferguson

Product Details

Category: literary fiction | suspense & thriller, you may also like.

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“419 is more than a drugstore-rack police procedural: It’s a deeply ironic, thoroughly engaged politico-philosophical thriller from a comic writer best known for winning a trio of Leacock Awards…. you won’t sleep until you finish, and then rest won’t come easily. Riveting. Provocative.” – The Globe and Mail “A sweeping story with complex twists and turns that spans continents, breaks hearts and ruins lives.” – The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax) “The story [Ferguson] weaves is heart-wrenching, fascinating, and scary. A thriller with a raw nerve ending…. Ferguson … dazzles us in 419 with an intricately woven, urgent story. It is an unflinching, ambitious work, flinging us back and forth across the Atlantic, and taking us into danger…. It is a persuasive work of fiction based on a very original premise. Ferguson who swings so deftly from humor to thriller is a writer who can genuinely surprise.” – Toronto Star “Ferguson’s revenge novel will appeal to everyone…. A sprawling but beautiful third novel. It is a mixture of intrigue, storytelling, parenthood, sorrow, vengeance and fun. It reads a little bit like a Ludlum spy saga, a little bit like a Dickens character novel, a little bit like an Oscar-seeking movie…. [Ferguson] designed [419] as a page-turner. He succeeds fully.” – Winnipeg Free Press “This book shimmers. Tautly paced and vividly drawn, 419 captures the reader in a net of desire and deceit drawn tight by the interconnections of humanity in the twenty-first century.” – Vincent Lam, Giller Prize-winning author of Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures “419 is an ambitious, fast-paced global thriller which I found impossible to put down.” – Camilla Gibb, author of Sweetness in the Belly and The Beauty of Humanity Movement “Will Ferguson’s 419 unveils the brilliant layers of a Nigerian cyberspace sting that brings devastation to an entire family. Ferguson’s characters live by their wits, employing techno-wizardry and the cold ingenuity of the old-fashioned con. Intrigue, coercion, shame, and torqued suspense unfold with harrowing speed and the illuminating elegance of a cyber click.” – Lisa Moore, author of Alligator and February “Though there is a touch of humour in its pages, 419 is much more of a showcase for Ferguson’s travel-writing talents…. A truly enjoyable book…. Ferguson is a keen observer of landscapes and cityscapes, and has a brilliant ear for dialogue and accent…. you will never see those creative 419 emails in your inbox in quite the same way.” – The Gazette (Montreal) “A powerful read…. Ferguson is a heavy-weight now.” – NOW Magazine

Scotiabank Giller Prize WINNER 2012

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419, by Will Ferguson

This article was published more than 11 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

Will Ferguson

419? For North Americans, it's most familiar as the area code for northern Ohio, Toledo and its suburbs. For Nigerians in Nigeria? Not so much.

In Will Ferguson's 419 , four one nine refers to "the section in the Nigerian Criminal Code that deals with obtaining money or goods under false pretences. Any kind of fraud really," an investigator explains to Laura, the grief-stricken daughter of Henry Curtis, a retired Alberta schoolteacher who emptied bank accounts, remortgaged the family home and maxed out credit cards before dying in a suspicious car crash that has left Laura's mother destitute.

Laura is dumbfounded as Detectives Saul and Brisebois, polite, articulate members of the Calgary Police Commission, go through files that the Economic Crime Unit retrieved from her father's hard drive and explain precisely how Curtis was trolled, snared and ruined by a WiFi-empowered Lagos "businessman."

"Nigerians have a wry sense of humour," Detective Saul continues. "Four one nine now refers to any sort of ruse. … A boy who tries to hide his report card. … Girls who have a boyfriend on the side. … They've got pop songs … that celebrate the wiles of the 419ers. … But don't be fooled: 419 is a business. … It's bigger than Nigeria; it's as old as sin. As old as desire."

Ferguson's third novel performs a public service by providing an "autopsy" of a familiar Nigerian e-mail scam and its typical victim – "Average loss in a 419 scam is somewhere to the tune of $250,000. … The going rate for dreams, apparently" – as well as a cautionary tale for those like Laura, who seek revenge by attempting to scam the scammer.

But 419 is more than a drugstore-rack police procedural: It's a deeply ironic, thoroughly engaged politico-philosophical thriller from a comic writer best known for winning a trio of Leacock Awards for Happiness™ (2002), Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw (2008) and Beyond Belfast (2010).

In 419 , Ferguson seriously questions how much sympathy we should have for fellow North Americans naive enough to believe that even if they gain some portion of the windfalls promised by 419ers, they will escape prosecution by our own governments for money laundering? Just how jejune are the financial woes and emotional traumas of avaricious tax-dodgers compared with those of anyone living as honourably as possible in a part of Africa that is rapidly becoming the most dangerous place on Earth, because of multinational oil interests?

Ferguson puts flesh on the bare bones of this question of distributive versus retributive justice by interweaving the story of Laura Curtis and her pursuit of the one identifiable man who scammed her father – Winston, a hustler of some education, much ambition and no future – with the stories of Amina, who falls into Nnamdi's care before both are dropped into Laura's life as potential guardians or assassins, with little choice in what role they will have thrust upon them.

Until these lives collide, Ferguson creates four distinct narratives.

A freelance copy editor working from home, Laura lives in the bubble of a Calgary high-rise attached to a mall that meets her every need and from which vengeance propels her to Nigeria.

Winston dreams big dreams of life in the West while conjuring fictitious identities, false financial predicaments, fake documentation for e-mail recipients he expects never to meet.

Amina's story is the solitary journey of a pregnant woman seeking water, food and anonymity day by day as she flees her tribal ties to northern cattle herders for life as a stall-keeper in some southern city's marketplace.

Nnamdi's tale is the most complicated: He's a fisherman's son from the Niger Delta who works as a "mechanic" in the black market as he helps others drain and transport oil from ruptured pipelines within an ecosystem ravaged by oil spills and patrolled by rival factions of "protectors" as Nigeria teeters on the edge of civil war.

Until Ferguson's characters move toward inevitable confrontations in Lagos, 419 suffers some drag. But from roughly page 187 on, you won't sleep until you finish, and then rest won't come easily. Riveting. Provocative.

Contributing reviewer T.F. Rigelhof's most recent book is Hooked on Canadian Books: The Good, the Better and the Best Canadian Novels Since 1984.

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419 Paperback – August 27, 2013

• Print length 411 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Pintail
• Publication date August 27, 2013
• Dimensions 5.5 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 0143188720
• ISBN-13 978-0143188728
• See all details

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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pintail; 7/28/13 edition (August 27, 2013)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 411 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0143188720
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0143188728
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
• #118,606 in Suspense Thrillers
• #163,809 in Literary Fiction (Books)

About the author

Will ferguson.

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419 – Will Ferguson

419 – Will Ferguson – 2012

Posted by Steven on 29/7/2013, 12:26:36

419 is a novel by the Canadian author Will Ferguson. It won the Giller Prize last year. The first US edition is about to be released, and I was sent an advance review copy by the publisher. I’m mentioning it here because it is a Canadian novel that Lale has probably heard of, but also because I thought it was excellent, entertaining, and very informative about conditions in Nigeria. Here is the review I just wrote: In Calgary, Canada, a man drives his car over a cliff hoping (in vain) that the life insurance settlement will compensate his family for his losing everything they owned. He is just one of many victims of a type of fraud known as a Nigerian 419 scheme. His daughter, Laura, and the rest of the family later sit in stunned disbelief as the police explain how her father was lured in by e-mails promising a rich reward for helping a person in need. They are also astonished to learn that there is nothing the police can, or will, do to pursue the defrauder. When asked about taking action as an individual, the police advise strongly against it, saying that it’s almost impossible to recover the money, and that going to Nigeria is very dangerous. “What if it’s not about the money?”, Laura asks.

For a number of years I worked as the manager of an IT department, and it was my job to educate the employees in my organization about these 419 schemes, most, but not all, of which originate in Nigeria. (The number “419” refers to a Nigerian penal statute.) I have seen many variations of the initial fraud message, and I have had highly educated people take the first steps toward disaster, only to bring copies of their correspondence to me for reassurance before taking the final bait. They are always dumbfounded to learn that nothing can be done about these fraud attempts. So I am speaking from some personal experience when I say that Will Ferguson has perfectly captured not only the modus operandi of the schemers, but the psychology of the prospective victims. It’s unthinkable that intelligent people would fall for such frauds, even after having been warned, but they do.

Laura is a copy editor and highly attuned to patterns in English usage and common mistakes. She will use her skills to track down the man who caused her father to take his own life. She will go to Nigeria. We know this from the beginning of the novel because Ferguson’s narrative is broken into dozens of short chapters shifting back and forward in time and from place to place, and we have seen Laura arrive in Lagos before we know why. But Laura’s quest for retribution is actually not the predominate theme of the novel. 419 gives us a panoramic portrait of Nigeria through the eyes of three Nigerians, one of whom is the defrauder himself.

One of the others is a young woman named Amina from the arid northern savannas where Islamic law is in force. Expelled from her village for an unwed pregnancy, she undertakes a perilous journey across a parched land, begging, stealing, and scavenging among garbage for food.

The third Nigerian, and in some respects the central character of the novel, is Nnamdi, a boy from a fishing village in the mangrove swamps of the Niger River delta. Through him, and over the course of several years, we see the impact of oil exploration and drilling on Nigeria. Forests are bulldozed, crops destroyed, rivers poisoned, and the air and water turned foul by what one villager calls “the devil’s excrement.” Oil companies from Europe and America operating free of environmental controls and government oversight turn the delta into a sewer and take unconscionable risks. Corruption spreads, the farmers and fishermen become beggars or criminals, while the rich hide in fortified compounds and drive armored limousines.

The author gives us a vivid and sometimes horrifying picture of Nigeria: its ethnic diversity, economic disparity, and chaotic violence. Homeless children scavenge in raw sewage in the shadow of gleaming office towers. Young men sabotage oil pipelines in the hope of being hired by the oil company to clean up the mess they made. There are riots for fuel in a country rich with oil, and the army and the police fight one another. Interwoven with the Nigerian scenes, the story of Laura’s quest for vengeance maintains and edge-of-your-seat tension.

The weakest aspect of 419 is that some elements of Laura’s story beg for further development. Her plans seem to depend all too often on the unlikeliest of several possible outcomes, as though the ending is pulling the story to it. But the broader scope of the novel, its depiction of today’s Nigeria, and the insightful portrayal of the psychology surrounding the 419 fraud schemes makes this a book I highly recommend.

Lale Eskicioglu

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My Hero Academia Chapter 419 Review

The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 419, now streaming on Crunchyroll. It also contains some discussion of violence.

My Hero Academia 's ending is already one for the history books. Almost every character in the exhaustive cast has been given a role to play in this final war arc -- but somehow, the villains have always maintained the upper hand. Chapter 419 continues this disturbing trend of villain domination. Frankly, it’s very difficult to imagine the heroes overcoming the new hurdles they're faced with.

My Hero Academia Chapter 419, "Design," takes a break from extraordinary character writing in order to answer one of the series’ oldest questions. For the first time, All For One’s involvement with the Shimura family is explored, once again confirming an MHA fan theory . Chapter 419 is an incredibly difficult read for multiple reasons -- yet it could end up becoming one of the manga’s most pivotal chapters.

All For One Unveils His Master Plan in My Hero Academia 419

Shimura tenko's entire life was engineered by all for one, 10 darkest my hero academia villains.

After All For One was resurrected in My Hero Academia Chapter 418 , the villain is taking a victory lap in Chapter 419. Free from any influence by Shigaraki, the Demon Lord begins to explain the circumstances of his return in one of the series' most unsettling monologues. All For One’s speech is accompanied by a montage of images that reiterate Horikoshi Kohei’s capacity for more horrific art choices -- as opposed to My Hero Academia ’s usual clean cut appearance. All negative space in this initial vestige sequence is filled with pitch darkness, and the borders between the following individual flashback panels have a static looking design.

Deku is the first to receive All For One’s attention, even before the villain’s vestige fully materializes. He comments on Deku's deconstruction of One For All, before confirming that Deku was responsible for his return . Because Deku weakened Shimura Tenko’s resolve , All For One's vestige was able to rise again and seize control of the body. He then turns to Shimura’s vestige trapped within his, calling him foolish and taunting him by claiming none of his choices had ever been truly his.

According to All For One, he’d realized that stealing One For All would be impossible without a will that was greater than its wielder’s. Since he couldn’t match them himself, he’d turned to creating a perfect vessel that could overwhelm them. This vessel’s willpower depended on them believing that they were in full control of their actions, so from his infancy, All For One secretly began to groom Shimura Tenko to steal One For All. His plan to inhabit Shimura's "perfect body" had been decades in the making

All For One’s plan for manipulating Tenko shows just how far the villain was willing to go in order to achieve his aims. His first target was Tenko’s father Kotaro, whose existing anti-hero sentiment was encouraged by the madman. By fostering Kotaro’s insecurities, All For One ensured the Shimura household would not be a safe place for children aspiring to be heroes. Meanwhile, All For One was simultaneously encouraging Mikkun and Tomo to play at being heroes with Tenko, planting the seeds of ambition in the unsuspecting youngster.

All For One’s revelation perverted every single aspect of Shigaraki/Shimura’s backstory. Even the Quirk that he had identified so strongly with, and that had influenced his dream of complete destruction, had been prepared for him. Decay was revealed to be from All For One . It was a synthetic Quirk created by Dr. Garaki. The times Shimura shared pretending to be heroes with Mikkun and Tomo were among his favorite memories, and even those had been tainted by All For One’s greed. There had been no part of Shimura’s life that was free from the Demon Lord's influence. To truly flex his total control of the body, All For One forcefully ejected Deku from his vestige realm, ordering Shimura’s would-be savior to vanish from his body.

My Hero Academia 419 Brings the Battle Back to the Physical World

Deku pays the price for being reckless, my hero academia: shoto todoroki's complete family tree.

Following All For One’s command, both he and Deku are abruptly transported to the physical world, where both fighters immediately begin to assess the effects of their vestige brawl. Almost immediately, the Simple Growth Quirk begins to respond to the remnants of Shigaraki's influence by manifesting his trademark hand mask. However, All For One quashes any hope of a Shigaraki return by immediately ordering the lingering voice that activated the Quirk to be silenced. As his body slowly repairs itself, All For One begins to consider his next steps out loud. Upon his announcing a half-hearted desire for world domination, Deku objects but falls forward, leading to one of the most devastating page turns in manga history.

The injuries Deku sustains in the vestige realm carry over to the physical one, meaning that both of his forearms are completely gone. His severe injuries are almost a cruel slap in the face for the altruism he showed while dealing with Tenko and inadvertently reiterate My Hero Academia Chapter 419’s running theme: that every action so far has been for All For One’s benefit. Considering All For One’s inability to sense his brother’s vestige, there’s no guarantee Deku is still in possession of One For All , or if he’d even be able to use the Quirk in spite of the pain from two fresh amputations.

Deku tries to ignore his injuries and stop All For One, which just confirms how truly helpless he has become. Never one to pass up an opportunity to verbally berate his opponent, All For One offers to create a world in which people gain strength proportional to their losses, but ends by making fun of Deku’s being Quirkless -- claiming that Deku never had anything to lose in the first place. With this final taunt, All For One is primed to destroy Deku, but is once again interrupted in the nick of time.

Class 1-A's Reserve Team Warps to the Rescue in MHA 419

Sero hanta, rikido sato, mashirao ojiro and eraserhead return in spectacular fashion, 10 best my hero academia character designs, ranked.

The welcome appearance of Sero Hanta marks a visible change in Chapter 419. Suddenly, all the backgrounds take on a sharp white color as if to reflect the reappearance of hope, as Sero loudly declares that he has arrived to save Midoriya. Sero’s sudden appearance confuses All For One long enough for Mashirao Ojiro and Rikido Sato to burst onto the scene. They both launch their most powerful super moves at the villain -- pushing him away and placing themselves firmly between him and Deku. The icing on the cake is on Chapter 419’s final page, which showcases the quotable Shota Aizawa stepping out of a Warp Gate to rejoin the battle.

These sudden arrivals have several implications, but at the very least, tease that Kurogiri has been subdued. Whether the Warp Gate villain was beaten into submission or recalled part of his memories as Oboro Shirakuma remains to be seen, but his Quirk opens up a lot of options for the Pro-Heroes. All For One may not be able to realize his goal of world domination just yet, as even more reinforcements for Deku are surely on their way. My Hero Academia Chapter 419 ends on yet another cliffhanger -- but for a change, it's one that bodes well for the heroes. However, it feels like their celebration could be short-lived, depending on the lasting effects of this chapter's reveals.

My Hero Academia Chapter 419

All For One's return cuts Deku's victory with Shimura Tenko short, and the young hero's reatest fear is abruptly realized.

Author Khei Horikoshi

Genre Science Fiction, Adventure, superheroes, Fantasy

Publisher Shueisha, Viz Media

Artist Khei Horikoshi

Release Date July 7, 2014

Chapters 386

Adaptation My Hero Academia

• Features some of My Hero Academia's most unique art.
• Missing members of Class 1-A return in Chapter 419.
• ChConfirms popular fan theories without undermining its reveal.
• The details of All For One's plan are rushed through.
• Chapter 419's ending does not stand on its own.
• All For One's final goal makes him a more generic villain.

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My Hero Academia Chapter 419 “Design” Review

My Hero Academia Chapter 419 picks up right where the previous chapter left off with All For One revealing he is still around. Like the cockroach that he is, All For One revealed that he was bidding his time within Tomura Shigaraki’s Vestige World to take over his “protégé’s” body. Thanks to the efforts of Izuku Midoriya and the other One For All users efforts Shigaraki was weakened to the point All For One could strike. Now there is a new battle as All For One is looking to complete his plan to take over Tomura Shigaraki’s body. Let’s see how things go next with My Hero Academia Chapter 419.

CREATIVE TEAM

Writer & Artist: Kōhei Horikoshi

Within Tomura Shigaraki’s Vestige World, All For One berates Izuku Midoriya for destroying One For All and his little brother, Yoichi. All For One then thanks Midoriya for his efforts allowing him to return.

All For One then speaks directly to Tenko Shimura. All For One reveals he manipulated Tenko’s entire existence. This includes giving his dad the idea of having a son to removing Tenko’s original Quirk and replacing it with the incomplete Decay Quirk to encouraging Tenko’s father to abuse his son.

With all of these revelations, All For One completely shatters Tomura Shigaraki’s spirit and forces Midoriya out of the Vestige World.

Back in reality, All For One has gained control of Shigaraki’s body. When the lingering part of Shigaraki tries to fight back All For One creates a hand to cover his mouth.

All For One then tells Midoriya, who is bleeding out from both his missing arms, he is now moving forward with his plan of world domination.

As All For One is about to kill Midoriya he is stopped by Cellophane, Tailman, and Sugarman combo attack. Eraser Head then emerges from a Warp Gate and apologizes for the delay. End of chapter.

My Hero Academia Chapter 419 was all about getting over All For One as a dastardly villain. Kohei Horikoshi wanted to drive home that he built All For One to be the final boss of My Hero Academia. With that goal in mind My Hero Academia Chapter 419 certainly hit its mark.

Given how unhinged we last saw All For One this rebuilding of the absolute menace that he is was very much needed. All Might and Bakugo made him look like a punk by the end of what appeared to be his story. With that being the last visual of the villain there needed to be a reminder of who All For One is. My Hero Academia Chapter 419 was very much that.

In the process Horikoshi gave us details to aspects about Tomura Shigaraki backstory we have only theorized at this point. We already saw from the last chapter’s flashback that All For One had a friendship-like relationship with Kotaro Shimura. But now we see the plan ran deeper than simply using Nana Shimura’s bloodline to get his ultimate revenge and achieve his goal.

All For One revealing that what truly motivated him to use Nana Shimura’s bloodline going back to his battles with previous One For All users Daigoro Banjo and En Tayutai showed this was much more personal. Adding in the strength of will All Might also showed in their battles, got over the idea that stealing One For All was more complicated than it already was. Coming to realize that he needed a will that was born and breed with pure hatred makes his manipulation of Tomura Shigaraki’s entire existence even more evil.

With this revelation we really see that Tomura Shigaraki from even before he was even an idea in his parents mind had zero agency in his life. From the moment he was born as Tenko Shimura he was nothing more than a puppet crafted to be the ultimate vessel for All For One’s world domination plan. The visual of Shigaraki’s spirit being shattered was the final nail to drive this entire idea home.

Horikoshi nailed how to make sure to draw All For One in control of Shigaraki’s body. All For One Shigaraki stood in a similar straight manner that the usually hunched Shigaraki doesn’t. It is a little detail but goes a long way in getting over how different All For One carries himself as a villain.

All For One making sure he continued to talk smack to a downed Midoriya in the real world helped get over his aura. The fact that Midoriya returned to his body with bleeding out of his half-torn off arms was a memorable visual. It really felt like there was no one left to stop All For One in this moment. The hero we’ve been rooting for this entire time is in a completely broken physical and mental state.

It all made the moment Cellophane, Tailman, and Sugarman appeared for the save to be a genuine surprise. It really felt that there was no left to stop All For One. And when it comes to heroes you expect to come for this type of last second save Cellophane, Tailman, and Sugarman are near the end of the list. Understanding their lack of build up Horikoshi made sure that the combo attack by Cellophane, Tailman, and Sugarman got the trio over.

This made the ending with Eraser Head appearing out of the Warp Gate a strong ending. This sense of escalation emphasized that this final battle isn’t just about Izuku Midoriya vs Tomura Shigaraki. This is a battle to decide the direction of the world. Not knowing how things will end make the story even more exciting.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My Hero Academia Chapter 419 drove home how All For One truly represents the ultimate evil there is. All the revelations of how All For One manipulated Tomura Shigaraki further drove home how he is villain built to be hated because of his pure evil actions. The ending of the chapter created even more things to be excited about discovering how the story will end.

Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10

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