D. Othniel Forte.

CreateSpace Independent

Publishing Platform, 2014.

90 pages.

If D. Othniel Forte’s finesse of an opening line to the prologue of his book, A Liberian Christmas: Memories of Amazing Times, doesn’t command your instant and exclusive attention, I am afraid not many other sentences elsewhere in literature may succeed in doing so. He writes: “The boy was flying on the clouds on the back of the mystical dragon.” Simultaneously simple and complex, this sentence drew me in immediately; beckoning me, seemingly, to prepare for a thriller of a ride. And oh yes, what a ride it was! As, from that magical first sentence onward, in the 90-page slim but stimulatingly weighty book, Forte embarks on a singular mission: To take the reader on an intrepid journey to experience the sensation of ‘flying on the clouds’ akin to that felt, albeit in a dream, by his main protagonist, the fictional little boy he introduces to us so early on in the book.

For readers, like me, who grew up or lived in Liberia before the comeuppance that was the brutal civil war of 1989 – 2003, Forte takes us on a nostalgic trip down memory lane as he weaves a lighthearted but poignant narrative of the glorious days of a peaceful Liberia epitomized by his moving portrayal of the secularity that, back then, marked Christmas in the land of his nativity—both in spirit and in performance.

Forte reminds us, through his vivid recollections and descriptions of holiday symbols such as Old man Beggar and Santa Claus, as well as the old-time nationalized anthems like ‘Santa Claus We Are” and ‘Young Girl Stop Drinking Lysol’ of the amazing atmosphere of oneness that spun from the spirit of Liberian

Christmas of old.

With the silkiness of a raconteur— Perceptive and wise, Forte delves into a host of issues. Among them: Liberian family dynamics—especially as it pertains paternal dominance, the hard life of vast segments of Liberian society in which, for example, poor market women sold wares all day, every day to educate their children, the ‘bush people’ versus ‘city people’ dynamic, and so much more. But through it all, he doesn’t forget to stress how those times, ‘normal times’ he calls it, still were, comparatively, better. In harkening back to what ‘once was’ in Liberia when, in his words, “each person was the keeper of the other,” Forte sends us all a powerful message: that all is not lost, that we still have it in us as a people to do good by our neighbors and by our country just like in those days he so admiringly recalls. I could not help, but read this book with a look of reminiscence and satisfaction spread across my face. I can assure you too that your experience will be the same if not better!

Reviewed by: Momoh Sekou Dudu