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nityaji 's review for:
Half of a Yellow Sun
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This book is difficult to get through, not because it's not well written but because the subject deals with the brutal genocide that took place in Nigeria during its civil war in the late 1960's. To read this book is to bear witness to the slaughter of thousands of people.
I was but a child when these events took place, though I recall hearing about the starving people in Biafra. Biafra is the name of the new country that sought independence from Nigeria. With the support of the Western world, Nigeria was able to vanquish the uprising, conquer and kill not only the Biafran troops but many of the civilians of the new country. They also blocked shipments of food so that thousands in Biafra starved to death.
It sounds depressing and many people might turn away from such a story, but it is beautifully written and told through the lives of its main characters, whom the reader grows to love and care about.
Ugwu, at age 13 is lucky enough to leave his village and get a job as "house boy" for Odenigbo, a professor. Odenigbo sees Ugwu's desire for learning and has him enrolled in school. Odenigbo is a radical, who wants a country free of colonialization. He supports the revolution. His mistress, the beautiful Olanna is also a professorwho comes from a well to do family, but is of the Igbo tribe, who are the victims of the mass slaughter, because they are the ones purported to have led the coup (which led to the civil war.)
Ugwu,now 16 years old, Odenigbo, and Olanna are forced to flee the war and soon find themselves living a life completely unlike the one they had previously known. Olanna gets caught up in the violence and witnesses unbelievable atrocities which scar her physically for months.
Reading this I asked myself how I would behave if I lost my home, my job, my security and was forced to live in one room, sharing a bathroom with dozens of strangers? How would I act if I had no electricity and scarcely anything to eat? Would I be the same person I am now?
How the main characters weathered the incredible storm made this a great read, even if it was hard. I like reading historical fiction, too, because it educates me. This book is not for everyone, but I am really glad to have read it.
I was but a child when these events took place, though I recall hearing about the starving people in Biafra. Biafra is the name of the new country that sought independence from Nigeria. With the support of the Western world, Nigeria was able to vanquish the uprising, conquer and kill not only the Biafran troops but many of the civilians of the new country. They also blocked shipments of food so that thousands in Biafra starved to death.
It sounds depressing and many people might turn away from such a story, but it is beautifully written and told through the lives of its main characters, whom the reader grows to love and care about.
Ugwu, at age 13 is lucky enough to leave his village and get a job as "house boy" for Odenigbo, a professor. Odenigbo sees Ugwu's desire for learning and has him enrolled in school. Odenigbo is a radical, who wants a country free of colonialization. He supports the revolution. His mistress, the beautiful Olanna is also a professorwho comes from a well to do family, but is of the Igbo tribe, who are the victims of the mass slaughter, because they are the ones purported to have led the coup (which led to the civil war.)
Ugwu,now 16 years old, Odenigbo, and Olanna are forced to flee the war and soon find themselves living a life completely unlike the one they had previously known. Olanna gets caught up in the violence and witnesses unbelievable atrocities which scar her physically for months.
Reading this I asked myself how I would behave if I lost my home, my job, my security and was forced to live in one room, sharing a bathroom with dozens of strangers? How would I act if I had no electricity and scarcely anything to eat? Would I be the same person I am now?
How the main characters weathered the incredible storm made this a great read, even if it was hard. I like reading historical fiction, too, because it educates me. This book is not for everyone, but I am really glad to have read it.