Chike and the River

"Chike and the River is about a boy who discovers his dreams. It’s like Oliver Twist . He is used to being pampered and being kept within the house, and then he goes and discovers the river on a trip to the city. That wakes up this taste, or quest, for a deeper understanding of life. I think the encounter with that element, water, actually opens the window to him developing a kind of internal philosophy of life. That is what the book is about. It’s a coming-of-age story. I think it depends. Books like Chike and the River are aimed primarily at children. The language is so plain and its probe into life is not adult-deep. It’s so on-the-surface that I think an adult might find it almost laughable. You will have already seen all of these things, but to a child it will be new knowledge, “Oh, so this is how a house is built—by many people. It’s a division of labour.” This is the first time a child understands that kind of thing, “There’s an architect who comes and draws the house, and then the builder who moulds the bricks.” That is the first time a child knows how it’s done. This would be my idea of a children’s book that is meant for kids. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter But I cannot call William Golding’s book a children’s book, although there are children characters, nor will I call Salinger’s a children’s book, nor even my own. These are different books, because of the depth of analysis of what it means to be human."