A review by xcinnamonsugar
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3.0

I’d not known about the short-lived existence of Biafra before reading this novel, so it was interesting to learn about the tribal and religious fault lines along which the state came to be.

The four-part structure of the narrative seemed somewhat confusing and unnecessary. Rather than being in chronological order (A-B-C-D), it switched the middle portions around (A-C-B-D). Perhaps this was meant to seed curiosity in the reader, but I ended up feeling very disengaged throughout the C-part and wondering if I should DNF this book. I’m glad I didn’t, since the second half of the book was great.

The wartime experiences were described in unflinchingly intimate detail, from food rations and forced conscription to air raid drills and assault. Unfortunately, the same quality was sorely lacking for the characters in this story, who had the most banal reactions to extreme events.

Spoiler

And whatever page space was dedicated to the inner world of the houseboy, Ugwu, was mostly about this woman’s breasts or that woman’s buttocks. He balks at the thought of a girl he fancies sleeping with an army commander for favours, and yet when he was peer-pressured into participating in a gang rape, he later thought of it as something he “had no choice but to do”. NGL I’m mad he was still alive at the end of the story.