"Colour one is too black, it looks fake," Ifemelu tells her, but Aisha merely "shrugged, a haughty shrug, as though it was not her problem if her customer did not have good taste". Part fairy tale, part adventure, the ambitious novel follows Ifemelu and Obinze with attention and sympathy, charting their humiliations and indignities, their failures and successes, capturing in empathetic detail what happens when people go in search of choice and certainty far from home. This is Adichie's third and most ambitious novel – her first, Purple Hibiscus, was longlisted for the Booker prize and her second, Half a Yellow Sun, won the Orange prize. For something I wasn’t quite loving it was a lot to slog through. We are all only human. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. ", I enjoyed Adichie's novel Purple Hibiscus, but this book was a slog, for multiple reasons. The observations are keen and I don't disagree with their general message, but the delivery is smug and repetitive, an endless series of cocktail and dinner party scenes where the narrator mocks the ridiculousness of liberal and conservative Americans. (Not really a spoiler, because there are too many relationships for this to be focused on one.) What I mean by that is that I wanted more, let’s call it, ‘epicness’. In class, she is singled out as someone who will intuitively understand the plight of African Americans because of some half-formed belief in a nebulous, shared "black" consciousness. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Library Journal. There are several reasons for this but the one that had the most impact was the sense that the writer wasn't sure what type of novel this should be. There’s discussion about how mental illness is handled in the black community. Otherwise the next black person who comes in will get awful service, because waiters groan when they get a black table. In this sprawling book, Adichie puts racism, the dark malaise of "choicelessness" and the changing face of global politics under her microscope. It is definitely great to get your perspective on it, and I wondered how you would take it as being from the UK and not American. Need I say more? And another big thing I didn’t care for is she never grew by the end of the book. She's writing from the outside. Their connection is easy and electrifying, the stuff of true, once-in-a-lifetime love. It is a time of mass emigration, and Ifemelu's Aunt Uju flees to America when her married lover, a military general, is killed in a plane crash. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion—for each other and for their homeland. I think I’m scared of the length. First, she must take a train out of Princeton, where the few black people she has seen are "so light-skinned and lank-haired she could not imagine them wearing braids", then she must take a cab to an unfamiliar salon, her usual hairdresser being unavailable because she has returned to Ivory Coast to get married; then wrangle over the price; then sit in baking heat for many hours, during which she will be asked repeatedly whether she knows the Nollywood stars on the television and, more alarmingly, whether she can intercede on her Senegalese braider Aisha's behalf to persuade either of her Igbo suitors to marry her. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? As for the plot, in itself it was just okay. I got to relieve that moment among characters whose lives and histories were validated and effected by it in so many ways. By clicking “I agree” below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. This book is a beautiful mess. asks Aisha, to which she replies, "I like my hair the way God made it", meaning that she refuses to straighten her hair by means of chemicals and smoothing irons; but it is also a statement made ironic by its context, given that the pair are in the midst of a disagreement about what colour hair extensions Aisha should use to weave into Ifemelu's braids. And the ending/romance storyline between Obinze and Ifemelu... fail. This review and more can be found on my blog. (Admittedly, that's what it says in the blurb.) Hair is a big deal in Americanah (the slang term that Ifemelu's Lagos friends will use to describe her when she goes back to Nigeria). When Ifemelu is presented with an opportunity to continue her postgraduate studies in Philadelphia, she takes it. Great review, Olivia. May I suggest you write a review? Her fellow students speak to her with painful slowness, as if she cannot comprehend basic English. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. If she were African-American, she'd just be labelled angry and shunned." Whether they are able to retrieve their former intimacy, or whether it has been chased away by the transformations wrought in them by their travels, provides a tentative resolution. I'm not sure you want so much an answer, as you want to express your opinion in the Q&A section. It is hard to really enjoy a novel when you aren’t liking the characters. Ifemelu has herself created a life based on observing the weirdnesses – mostly painful, sometimes comical – that emerge when different groups of people live together in a system shaped to maintain the dominance of one group over others. Their love is beautiful, but then it is tried, beaten, stretched, yet it endures and gets stronger. This post uses affiliate links! I did so because of Colonization and Western economic policy that was enforced in Latin America which ruined our political system. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a d. Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Its structure is complex and sometimes unwieldy; there is much looping backwards and forwards in time as Ifemelu sits in the hair salon, and one feels slightly lost once her braids are finished and the narrative has moved on. The food is served on self-consciously "ethnic" plates brought back from a holiday in India and Obinze is left wondering whether Emenike has become a person "who believed that something was beautiful because it was handmade by poor people in a foreign country, or whether he had simply learned to pretend so". (Admittedly, that's what it says in the blurb.) "Americanah" is a book of great impact and importance. I can stomach it much better if there is some kind of grounding or reasoning behind it, or if it is shown to be frowned on in the novel at least, by the end of it. “Americanah” is social satire masquerading as romantic comedy. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. The newspapers are full of stories about schools "swamped" by immigrant children and politicians' attempts to clamp down on asylum seekers. * Synopsis: Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Adichie's writing always has an elegant, accessible shimmer to it. She gets turned away from menial jobs as a waitress, bartender or cashier. February Wrap Up! I enjoyed Adichie's novel Purple Hibiscus, but this book was a slog, for multiple reasons. Sounds like it handled a lot of important topics well, but it’s tough to like a book when you don’t like the characters. I really appreciated that. Book Club Award for Author of the Year (2016), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2015). Adichie is terrific on human interactions – some of the strongest set pieces are dinner party scenes, in which well-intentioned, well-educated and moneyed people speak with open hearts and narrow minds, casually exposing their limitations and blind spots. We rely on readers like you to uphold a free press. Or was it a guide to the perils of hair weaving and hair relaxing? ''Chimmy'' is back as strong as ever. The observations are keen and I don't disagree with their general message, but the delivery is smug and repetitive, an endless series of cocktail and dinner party scenes where the narrat. The tension between these two characters has simmered for some time, and this is an explosive moment. In fact, the lovers in this one aren’t too attractive, but their love is. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. But my fears were misplaced. Nonetheless, this is an impressive novel – although very different from Adichie's Orange prize-winning Half of a Yellow Sun, it shares some of its freewheeling, zesty expansiveness. Stop telling Americans you are Jamaican or Ghanaian, she writes in To My Fellow Non-American Black: In America, You Are Black, Baby, because "America doesn't care": "You must nod back when a black person nods at you in a heavily white area. More depth, maybe, and though I don’t remember it very clearly I remember feeling unhappy about some things, e.g. In Americanah, Ms Adichi tells an interesting story that is ultimately a love story, but to me the most interesting parts of the book are her extensive blogs, which are very fresh and which create by detail as well as by language a moving and occasionally plaintive image of the loneliness and confusion of an immigrant, interspersed from time to time with an exhilaration of comfort and success in a new … "Americanah" is a book of great impact and importance. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. But my fears were misplaced. For nearly 500 pages, Ifemulu judges, judges, judges, and she's never wrong. To see what your friends thought of this book, Laura, you know you don't really want an answer to your very rude question. Too bad you didn’t end up loving it more because I can see how important this book can be. I think we’re a great country, but that’s because it is my country. . I remember shaking my head in disbelief at the repeated blogging success too! The book is, at points, indulgent, just on and on the writing goes, the writer showing off her admittedly impressive way with words. But it failed to fully make me empathise with them, probably due to their personalities. If Americanah's end comes rather predictably, and in a bit of a rush, the novel overall remains wise, entertaining and unendingly perceptive. One of the best books I've read in 2013. But seriously, I wish I had walked away from it. I learned a lot about black situations, but like you, I disliked the character, Ifemelu, which closely matches the author’s life. This is one that I feel like I need to read. Even Ifemulu's own flaws, such as lying and cheating, are portrayed as justifiable responses to the petty jealousies and insecurities of those around her. But when this book is good, it is absolutely brillian. Adichie takes on race, immigration and emigration, the politics of natural hair, interracial relationships, what it means to leave home, and what it means to return, all wrapped up in a love story. Desiring more of her captivating prose, I chose Americanah, her intricate discussion on race in three countries and continents. There are also more concrete reasons: perhaps the example of her Aunty Uju, a doctor who came to America following the death of the military high-up who kept her in fine style as his mistress, but who has found herself incrementally diminished by it; or Ifemelu's failure to find a definitively comfortable fit with her painstakingly moral and politically fastidious boyfriend Blaine; or by the knowledge that she herself feels a disconnect in what she is doing. "They would not understand why people like him, who were raised well-fed and watered but mired in dissatisfaction, conditioned from birth to look towards somewhere else… were now resolved to do dangerous things, illegal things, so as to leave, none of them starving, or raped, or from burned villages, but merely hungry for choice and certainty.".