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sidharthan 's review for:
Half of a Yellow Sun
by CN ADICHIE
I did not know much about Nigerian history before I read this book. I knew vaguely that there had been some conflicts but that was about it. I never looked for details on all that. This book provides a fascinating first glimpse into Nigeria's rich history and also helpfully points to other books about the same conflict (perhaps only in this edition that I read!).
Chimmanda Adichie manages to humanize the war as much as possible. We have a core cast of characters that we are introduced to and allowed to live with for a while before the strife starts. This helps us connect with the people at a personal level. She also continues to take the plot forward not just through the major happenings of this time, but also through the little events that change individual life. So even as a major war is happening and one of the characters has to adjust to that, he also has to deal with feelings of attraction to a neighbour. It is this interplay of large monumental history and the minutiae of an individual life, that grounds us and makes us completely empathize.
There are some character inconsistencies - the constant one about Ugwu's misogyny always stood out to me. I didn't understand how even as he grew more mature, he never saw what was wrong with this. There was no exploration about any kind of conflict he felt about this. Contrast this with Richard's arc -how much can you belong to another nation when you come to it as part of a "conqueror" race? This was intimately explored and we could see the growth that occurred. Olanna and Kainene's relationship also had a similarly detailed evolution. This detail was missing in few of the other arcs and this was a deterrent to the book.
However, there is this overriding sense of the pain and suffering that war brings and this is at the top of everything else. All the other arcs are part of this major theme and this works very well in making us think about the multitudinous ways in which war affects life. This I think is what Chimamanda set out to achieve and she does this exceedingly well. I already have a huge respect for the Nigerians who lived out this war and are still living out the consequences of this event and I do want to read more about this. So without a doubt, this is a job well done and a book worth reading.
Chimmanda Adichie manages to humanize the war as much as possible. We have a core cast of characters that we are introduced to and allowed to live with for a while before the strife starts. This helps us connect with the people at a personal level. She also continues to take the plot forward not just through the major happenings of this time, but also through the little events that change individual life. So even as a major war is happening and one of the characters has to adjust to that, he also has to deal with feelings of attraction to a neighbour. It is this interplay of large monumental history and the minutiae of an individual life, that grounds us and makes us completely empathize.
There are some character inconsistencies - the constant one about Ugwu's misogyny always stood out to me. I didn't understand how even as he grew more mature, he never saw what was wrong with this. There was no exploration about any kind of conflict he felt about this. Contrast this with Richard's arc -how much can you belong to another nation when you come to it as part of a "conqueror" race? This was intimately explored and we could see the growth that occurred. Olanna and Kainene's relationship also had a similarly detailed evolution. This detail was missing in few of the other arcs and this was a deterrent to the book.
However, there is this overriding sense of the pain and suffering that war brings and this is at the top of everything else. All the other arcs are part of this major theme and this works very well in making us think about the multitudinous ways in which war affects life. This I think is what Chimamanda set out to achieve and she does this exceedingly well. I already have a huge respect for the Nigerians who lived out this war and are still living out the consequences of this event and I do want to read more about this. So without a doubt, this is a job well done and a book worth reading.