This is an amazing book, had me reeling with so much emotions.

Nigerian faux Hemingway. Habila treats his mystery plot with seeming disinterest, preferring instead to spatter the novel in scenes of horrific violence (children doused in gasoline) meant to rouse our political sympathies. Fine as a piece of activism, but why not write a pamphlet instead? Or just shoot an oil executive?

This novel deserves all the kudos heaped upon it. The clarity of the writing, the construction of the central mystery, the steady buildup of tension, the detailed character development—all are remarkable and accomplished. The story is simple and straightforward, but becomes nail-bitingly tense as the cub reporter Rufus pursues the kidnappers of a woman on the Nigerian delta. Rufus wouldn’t have volunteered for the dangerous mission but for wishing to accompany a veteran reporter he admires, Zak....

Reviewed by Rachel LenstraThe narrative of "Oil on Water" meanders among several timelines, making it a challenge to follow. However, the storyline is an important one: the effects of large corporations from (predominantly white) countries coming into Nigeria to exploit the land for oil. Upon first glance, one might assume this book is a mystery of sorts: the white wife of an English petroleum engineer is kidnapped by a rebel group, and a young reporter and his would-be mentor set out to find he...

This book opened up my eyes to what is happening in the Niger Delta. Two journalists head out to find an English woman, the wife of a prominent oil engineer, who had been kidnapped for ransom, expecting the oil company to give them millions. The Delta Niger is all about peaceful islanders, whose lives have been turned upside down by the armies of the oil companies who are taking their land by force, their homes, polluting their waters and the environment. Many of these peaceful island people hav...

The opening chapter describes a harrowing river journey that immediately brings to mind Heart of Darkness. It is not the same story, but the physical surroundings, the fog, the fearful emotional atmosphere...I'm thinking, "Mistah Kurtz, he dead." It was a strong powerful chapter.The story is of an ambitious Nigerian reporter who is trying to find the kidnapped wife of an expatriate European oil executive. Nothing is as it seems, and the plot moves slowly, somewhat weighed down by the earnestness...

2.5 stars.Accidentally abandoned this book for over a month, it didn’t actually take me this long to read it! I thought the premise of this was intriguing but unfortunately it didn’t really grab me at all.

a gripping novel surrounding the violence of petrocultures, particularly in the nigerian delta. deals heavily with themes of environmental, individual, and communal trauma, memory, truth, and journalistic integrity and work. incredibly powerful, moving, and educational. you will not think of oil and the oil industry the same after this book.

This was a wonderful glimpse into the confusion, violence, desperation and hope of the Niger Delta region and its people. It was up close and personal in the way I like when reading about conflicted parts of the world. Too often, writers bring the camera too far back so that readers can see the big picture; however, in the process they lose the humanity of what's going on and the humans involved become more like tiny pawns being moved about. I hate that. This book did the opposite. I love that.N...

Heading: Disillusioned and DisheartenedOil on Water is the masterful third novel by Helon Habila, and once again the author tackles another timely topic, this time the deadly politics of oil in the Niger Delta. The wife of a British oil executive has been kidnapped by a group of militants, and this in itself is not necessarily newsworthy as it is a common enough occurrence in the region with its own rules for the exchange of monies and the release of the kidnapped person. As journalists are usua...

Despite its rushed conclusion, Oil on Water is a complex and intriguing story that highlights neocolonialism in the form of oil markets in Nigeria.

Rufus, a young journalist on his first major assignment, travels into the troubled oil-rich Nigerian Delta, hoping to land his breakthrough news story: interviewing the kidnappers of a British oil engineer's wife and proving that the captive is alive. The dangers lurking among the oilfields and the pipelines that meander snake-like across the Delta's waters cannot deter him, especially as he is in the company of his much-admired former mentor, the erstwhile prominent reporter, Zaq. Helon Habila'...

a stunning novel, one I highly recommend it to people who want to be enlightened about human and environmental conditions in other nations. Maybe some people think it's not cool to be reading fiction about the damage caused by "big, bad corporations" but really, I don't care about opinions -- I want to know what's happening in the world. Oil on Water highlights only a small portion of what's going on and what's been going on for some time, but what is happening now and what's been happening in t...

A strong 4.5, to be honest.Oil on Water is a very engaging book, because while the story is about oil drilling in the Nigerian Delta and the violence - both hard and soft - that comes from it, it's also a thriller mystery surrounding a kidnapping, and the interpersonal conflicts that led up to and complicate it. The novel very cleverly layers these stories to create a very intriguing and stunning story. Other petrol-fiction or cli-fi stories take a different approach and focus heavily on corpora...

The most interesting thing about this book is the subject matter of the political and environmental disaster caused by oil companies in Nigeria. Eventhought this is an extremely important and interesting topic, I must say that I don’t think I would have finished this novel if I didn’t have to read it for university. Regarding this book as a novel, rather than an important piece of Nigerian literature, I couldn’t get behind the author’s style of writing. The main character, Rufus, did not seem co...

This book revolves around the Niger Delta area, the struggle for oil and power, the contaminated water, the fleeing Niger-Deltan residents and the consequences of greed. Helon Habila takes the reader on a ride exposing the environmental conditions, poor health, insecurities, and the harsh realities that people in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria are experiencing through the eyes of two journalists, Zaq and Rufus. Zaq, who was nibbling on his past glory as an accomplished journalist, was on a miss...

Oil on Water by Helon Habila is a compelling read depicting two journalists trying to find a kidnapped woman in the Nigerian Delta, an environment dominated and devastated by the impact of oil, plagued by violence and pollution. As Rufus, our protagonist, and Zaq, the disillusioned established journalist who accompanies him, search, they deal with lies and shadows, disease, soldiers, and militants. Occasionally I got a little lost in the nuances of the timeline due to the way Habila weaves the s...

Oil On Water, by Helon Habila, is a novel that takes in Nigeria where oil has become the main concern. The oil companies are buying up villages and destroying the environment. That’s when the militant group starts fighting back, and one of the ways they do so, is by kidnapping important people and family members of the oil company. This is where Rufus and Zaq, two reporters, come in. They are sent to determine a ransom for “the white woman.” What appears to be a simple, but frightening task, tur...

Meant to read this when it came out and finally caught up with it six years later. It's a bit of a slow burn, as a young Nigerian journalist and a salty veteran journalist are asked to help find the kidnapped wife of a British oil industry worker in the contested delta area. She's been missing for nine days and although there's been no ransom demands, it's assumed that rebel forces have her -- although no one seems to really have a good idea of how to contact the rebels. The two journalists deci...

Last week in a seminar presenting environmental issues in Africa, my lecturer strongly recommended this book. Out of the whole class, I think I was the only one to actually follow his advice, and I must say, I'm not disappointed, and I'm going to make my classmates read it too.The story takes place in the Niger Delta, where a huge conflict arose between the oil companies destroying the environment and the militants trying to do anything they can to make them stop and leave. The oil companies hav...