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discussion from May 15 to June 15, 2013. Half of A Yellow Sun
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A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as "the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe," Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s,
… More »A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as "the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe," Half of a Yellow Sun re-creates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed. With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor's beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna's twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another. Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race--and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one of the most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.
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Add a SummaryThis profoundly gripping story takes place as the Igbo people try to form the independent nation of Biafra during the 1960s. Yes, you will read what you would expect to read when the word “Biafra” is mentioned: famine and war. But if you turned away before reading this amazing book, you would miss the story of Olanna and her sister, Kainene. You would miss learning about the cultures of eastern Africa from the poorest villagers to the wealthy landowners and the intellectual elite. This story transcends its setting by an author who lets you into the lives and relationships of the families and in so doing, you learn more about the human condition even in inhuman times. One of the most interesting characters is scarcely mentioned as the story begins – Ugwu, the 13-year old houseboy – but through his eyes you see how he rises from insignificance to one of the main characters. Everything in this story is believable and compelling; a real tour de force!
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Add a CommentI read this book two years ago and it was great. If you get a chance, you should read the authors other book called, "Purple Hibiscus". It's awesome
Adichie had me on the opening page. It's a long book but the characters are so rich, so full of love and eagerness to love, pinned against the wartorn economically impoverished background of Nigeria, such an overwhelming and engrossing contrast.
Set in the 60's, this is the story of two grown sisters who struggle to survive the civil war where Biafra fights to establish themselves independent from Nigeria. It is a story about war and famine, but it is also a book about relationships, loyalty and family. It won the Orange Prize for fiction.
Love this author...have read everything by her.
A real tour de force! A must read.
Brings the cruelty of war together with deep characters. A story that needs to be heard since humanity cannot seem to get past tribal warfare and racism. The writing is clear and doesn't get in the way of experiencing the surreal force of the war. Beautifully done, it was in her bones to tell this story.
Gorgeous book from an amazingly gifted writer. One of my favorites. If you like this, check out her first book, "Purple Hibiscus" - not as good, but still a great read.
Fully realized characters bring to life the slaughter and starvation in Biafra that baby boomers remember from news reports. This is the story of upper middle class Igbo sisters caught up in the aftermath of the genocide against their race in NIgeria and the short-lived saga of Biafra, which tried to become an independent country, in response. We meet the beautiful and idealistic Olanna and her estranged and exotic twin sister, a highly successful businesswoman, and their lovers: Odenigbo, the mathematics professor with his sparkling salon of intellectuals waited on by Ugwu, a gifted boy who escaped abject poverty to live with his beloved Master, and Richard, a British orphan drawn to Africe because of his love of a discovery of exquisite ancient artifacts, who falls in love with Olanna's sister. Infidelity and unexpected infamy by the good, atonement, compassion and forgiveness amidst the horror of rampant death and destruction make this book truly memorable. It was a wonderful choice for our April 13, 2011 book club meeting!
Novel set during the Biafran war follows three characters; a Biafran woman from an upper class family, a house boy, and a white Englishman who becomes attached to the cause.
This will lead you slowly and painfully through a triangle of difficult relationships set against an even more difficult backrop of the Biafran war in southwestern Nigeria. This is a brilliant young writer who I unfortunatly missed at the Vancouver's Writer Festival -I'm kicking myself still.