Chimamanda is a writer and a sociologist who is Nigerian. She is the famous writer of a very famous african novel called 'half of a yellow sun'
the book is based primarily on a young house boy called Ugwu and the way he matures from boy to man in light of the civil war that was taking place at the time. His master is a math professor called, Odenigbo. Odenigbo is quite an eccentric character, very fierce in his views and passionate about the political stance he has on the affairs of Nigeria at the time.
Other central characters in the book are Olannna and her twin Kainene; the two are as fraternal as they come. the former being weaker in character the fairer of face. The former posessing a very sardonic view of life and though described as 'ugly' her character is strong. The twins are from a very wealthy family and they are not united in any other way apart from the fact that they share the same birthday. A central character in Olanna's life is her Aunty, Ifeka, who breast fed her and Kainene at infancy, Olanna holds an open regret that Aunty Ifeka is not her actual mother.
Olanna is Odegnigbo's girlfriend and Kainene has a white boyfriend called Richard.
Now I appreciate the fact that not everyone is interested in literature. But i believe that this book is a good read for anyone; no matter your intellectual maturity or literal passion. It presents a simple yet detailed and realistic view of the biafran war which forms a central part of Nigeria's history. The war is presented as battle, a means of initiation into the bitter reality of life and adulthood ( particularly for those characters who experienced it in their early adolescent years). But above all, it serves to bond the relationships of characters who were apart (especially in the case of the twins).
The plot climaxes at different points which makes the story line unique. Richard writes some chapters titled, ' the world was silent when we died' from the perspestive of how he had felt the war and the experiences that helped him understand the cause. As we progress through the book we come across many lines that only a sociologist could have come up with; someone who is in tune with the workings of society and the way humans think as an integral whole. The valiance that Chiamamanda Ngozi Adichie portrays in the biafran soldiers would never be better explained than by the following line, 'Before I came to Biafra I heard that Biafrans fought like heroes but after my visit to Biafra I can tell you that heroes fight like Biafrans' by the french ambassador in response to the valiance he experienced first hand.
Perhaps the ultimate suspense is at the end when we are unsure whether olanna's twin, Kainenen, is dead or not. Chimamanda leaves that piece of information for us to decide; it depends on whether it affects your view of the book. kainene could be alive or dead. It depends on which ending suits the reader.
At the end of the last chapter the ultimate shock is given. The last line reveals to us what we knew but could not know for sure. here the person from whoes perspective the book is written is revealed. it is the loyal house boy Ugwu (or 'my good man' as odenigbo calls him). And as ugwu writes his dedication last it reads, 'for master, my good man.'
A tribute to Half of a Yellow Sun? Seriously?
ReplyDeleteIn all of my life, and I count myself a voracious reader, there have been only 3 books I couldn't finish reading. And one of them actually got lost so I really couldn't help it. Yellow Sun was the second such book.
It's slow, it rambles, it has no jokes, or perhaps the jokes have no punchlines. I'm sure there is some depth to it but it was always too bland for me to get at its depths.
I know I am Nigerian and I should patriotically love something created by a fellow Nigerian, especially something with as much critical acclaim as Half of a Yellow Sun but I'm sincerely beginning to think that Yellow Sun is just a contemporary case of the Emperor's New Clothes.