Of Sisyphean Mind Anthology. A Review

Book Review

Sisyphean Mind Anthology by Ibrahim Oga

Sisyphean Mind Anthology is a collection of flash fiction stories. A flash fiction tale is similar to short story but it follows a more concise path, ranging from 500 to 1000 words, yet have a plot and character development an still leaving a whole lot of room for the imagination.

Before I started reading it I was curious about the title so I looked up the word Sisyphean

A futile task. The word is derived from Greek Mythology;

Sisyphus was a king who annoyed the gods with his trickery. As a consequence, he was condemned for eternity to roll a huge rock up a long, steep hill in the underworld, only to watch it roll back down

The philosophy behind the book is simply that because a task seems futile, does not mean you should abandon it completely, our actions however small, matter.

“This is the philosophy of the Sisyphean Mind. It is the courage to hope in the face of futility.”

Sisyphean Mind Anthology is a collection of a dozen flash fiction tales that tackle the theme of the Sisyphean Mind Philosophy in various creative ways through different narrations and characters.

The stories attempt to inspire

Sisyphean Mind Anthology

The beauty of flash fiction is that it draws you in easily, the brevity of the tales makes it easy to breeze through all the stories and still feel a connection with the characters and their conflicts.

Ibrahim weaves intricate tales yet with a simple grace that you cant help fall in love with the everyday characters as you see bits of yourself in a few hundred words till sadly have to say goodbye, when you turn the page and find another gem has begun….

I cant write about the stories themselves without giving away spoilers but I can say it’s a mixed bag with romance and comedy, sprinkled with deep philosophical musings, but I can drop a sneak peek at the flash fiction titles.

Sysphean Mind Anthology Flash Fiction Titles

• Coffee Wish
• Everyday Is Tomorrow
• And That’s How She Cooks
• Handyman
• Thinking Cap
• Rainbow
• Ride
• In My Third
• Pay Day Blues
• Pages
• The Waiter
• Chain

Some memorable lines from the flash fiction anthology:

Aisha is a waiter of big moments. But big moments are illusions she creates to mask her fears. The fear of losing what she’d gain. And the fear of stagnation, what if this is how far she can ever get?
Most times there are no big moments or big breaks. There’s just a chain of small victory moments,

The Waiter

Don’t let tomorrow be your favorite day, it doesn’t exist.

Everyday is tomorrow

That’s how dreams are achieved, by aligning them with the dreams of those that matter.

Pages

I don’t know if she’s my soul mate, I don’t know where my soul is. What I know is where my mind and my heart are, and they’re with her.

Rainbow

For a feel of Iba’s writing please click on the button below to read his guest post on my blog.

The anthology is available on the following link:

~B