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A review by moniquemanike
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
5.0
I really enjoyed reading this book! I'd read (and loved) Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun but had felt at the time that Adiche's characters where at times a bit one dimensional and only really came into their own when they interacted with each other. I didn't find this with Americanah, right from the start I loved Ifemelu, and I feel like the novel begins right in the middle of things. I was pretty amazed with the pacing of the novel in general... It sets itself over a few decades and over three continents yet I never felt annoyed at the way it jumped around.
Tbh I wasn't that into the love story which is the central storyline in the novel. I also kind of hated reading Obinze talking about his wife Kosi and the constant comparisons to Ifemelu. It was much more interesting, rather than hearing two women compared through Obinze, to read Ifemelu's own thoughts and experiences and comparing the different relationships that Ifemelu has with Blaine, Curt and Obinze. Through these relationships came her much more complex observations around race and gender in the US (specifically blackness and the 'non-American black') which I felt were some of the best parts of the novel. The book was filled with polite conversations, and I was facinated with the way she wrote in the nuance of social interaction within a particular kind of liberal elite (Blaine's US university friends or Obinze and Emenike's UK friends). When it comes to universities (both in the US and Nigeria) Adiche seems to write from experience.
Overall I highly recommend it!
Tbh I wasn't that into the love story which is the central storyline in the novel. I also kind of hated reading Obinze talking about his wife Kosi and the constant comparisons to Ifemelu. It was much more interesting, rather than hearing two women compared through Obinze, to read Ifemelu's own thoughts and experiences and comparing the different relationships that Ifemelu has with Blaine, Curt and Obinze. Through these relationships came her much more complex observations around race and gender in the US (specifically blackness and the 'non-American black') which I felt were some of the best parts of the novel. The book was filled with polite conversations, and I was facinated with the way she wrote in the nuance of social interaction within a particular kind of liberal elite (Blaine's US university friends or Obinze and Emenike's UK friends). When it comes to universities (both in the US and Nigeria) Adiche seems to write from experience.
Overall I highly recommend it!