February 2017 Reviews

Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3/5
Forth Estate 9/03/2017 Paperback
Amazon


In the spirit of reading more broadly and outside of my comfort zone, as well as having read Americhana last year, I picked up Half of a Yellow Sun. I found both of Adichie's books difficult to read, although this one was definitely more difficult to follow. Part of my reasons for reading is because I feel I ought to self educate my self on other cultures. But unlike Americhana, where I felt I was learning and changing my opinions on how things work in Nigeria and the US and London, as well as finding the answers to those ignorant questions I might have asked, I felt completely out of touch with the characters in Half of a Yellow Sun. 

It was a difficult read to pick up, I loved the storyline set in a time of revolution, but I somehow really struggled to connect with its protagonists. Half way through I voiced my scepticism to my Grandmother, who has both read the book, and remembered the forming and dissolving of Biafra. For her it was a touching memory, and captured the atrocities and the feeling of the time. She told me of how Biafran children were promoted for adoptions, and the starvation. Suddenly I had new eyes and finished the book quickly with new appreciation for these people living their lives amongst it all. 

I've called it a 3 out of 5 because of that; "well maybe you had to be there" feeling that I had in the first instance. It is the only book I read in February and it slowed me down. A difficult, but overall a good read.