Half of a Yellow Sun

A stirring, heartbreaking account of the Nigerian Civil War, as seen through the eyes of three very different characters. The novel starts in the early sixties, not long after the end of British colonial rule, presenting a nation, Nigeria, that did not exist before the British invented it. As the British continue to meddle in the shadows, the disparate peoples of newly independent Nigeria are left to figure out how to coexist. We are introduced to this world by Ugwu, a village boy who has just landed a coveted position as a houseboy for a university professor, Odenigbo. Through the perspectives of Ugwu, Odenigbo’s lover Olanna, and British expat Richard, the story of the rise and horrific fall of the breakaway state of Biafra is told. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie brings this terrible story to life in clear, powerful prose, and creates fully human characters, with all the flaws and internal inconsistencies inherent in the human condition. Ugwu is easy to sympathize with, though he never questions his position, and often has little sympathy for others. Expat Richard is a good man who desperately wants to be seen as different from the other white men in the country, but can not grasp the extent of his privilege. Odenigbo and his band of academics are full of revolutionary zeal, but steadfastly refuse to consider what consequences the realization of their ideals might bring. One of the things I really liked was the dichotomy between twin sisters Olanna and Kainene. Olanna is the more outwardly idealistic of the pair, the one who makes a show of eschewing her family’s status to move in with her academic lover, while fatalistic Kainene takes over aspects of the family’s sprawling business interests. When the war breaks out Olanna suffers much more than her sister, who rides out most of the conflict in relative comfort. But it’s Kainene who sees with clearer eyes and uses her privilege to render aid, while Olanna never manages to rid herself of her bourgeois haughtiness. This is a novel written by an Igbo author about Igbo characters, and the atrocities committed against the majority Igbo Biafrans by the Nigerians are well known and well documented, but Adichie here has the courage not to show the Igbo as entirely blameless. Biafra has its own corruption, and the Igbo commit their own atrocities born out of prejudice. We have a tendency to simplify historic wars, to gloss over complexities and hide from truths that don’t fit easily within the prevailing narrative. In Half of a Yellow Sun Adichie thankfully doesn’t do this.

This is quite a book and the last 100 pages or so, are a rough ride. The book is based, largely I believe, on real life characters and follows each of them through the war/massacre/mass starvation that became known as either the Nigerian Civil War, or the lost war for Biafran Independence in the years 1967-1970. What I liked about this book is that the characters are well developed and flawed; therefore, they are believable and you feel empathy for them, even when they act destructively. The writer's prose is simple and straightforward. It is not overly descriptive or flowery. So, in many ways, she is purposely a better story teller than she is a story writer. But that's okay. This is a page turner and a humane telling of a conflict lost to the blind ambitions of the Big Powers and the ego-maniacs that rule the world. The author does not spare her scorn for the Brits and the Americans and their cynical backing of a corrupt Nigerian government. In the end, I felt her main message was a simple yet profound message. No one wins in war. Even, the so called "winners" sacrifice their humanity and their ideals. So, in a strange way it made me reflect on America's present wars. In the end, does anyone really win? I don't give five star ratings unless a book is one of the best I've read in the past several years; but this book comes close. It's easily a 4. Okay, let's give it a 4.5. It's a perfect selection for a book club as much discussion could be made of the various characters and what they represent. But if you buy this book, stick with it for the first, fairly slow, 100 pages as it does build up a story foundation as it progresses to its relatively sad ending. I highly recommend this book.

I have been spending part of my summer reading Adichie books, and Half a Yellow Sun is one of them. Why I am reading Adichie? Because I like her writing style, I enjoy the stories she tells, and I think it is fascinating to read about a country from the perspective of a native of that country. Surely anyone can write about Nigeria, but having a Nigerian writer do so seems to add even more credibility. I enjoyed Half of a Yellow Sun because it talks about the Biafrian war from the insider perspective. Adichie had me feeling I was actually there as the war unfolded facing the difficult choices people in war torn countries must make. First, Adichie lets us know what life is like for academics living in a college town. There are days and nights of endless academic discussions, in homes with ‘help’ in the form on house boys from the bush with menus that are almost improbable. This life style is contrasted with Nigeria’s wealthy ‘Big Men’ and their families who have almost everything they desire: money, homes, food, the luxuries of travel; really all that money can bring. Will they stay in Nigeria, or will they flee the county until the unrest is over? More than about War, Half of a Yellow Sun is about people, and the choices they make or are forced to make. Standing up for your principles is not always easy and Half Yellow Sun brings this concept firmly into focus. Hal of a Yellow Sun is not easy beach reading. Rather it is food for the mind and soul. It is an exploration of values and an exploration of what true nationalism is about from several perspectives. I highly recommend it. When you finish reading, you will be enlightened. You will walk away with a great understanding of Nigeria, their civil war and the people who populate this fascinating country.

There has never been a better time to read Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Not only because it has recently been hailed as, 'A benchmark for excellence in fiction writing,' by the Baileys prize judges as they crowned it the ‘best of the best’ of the past decade’s winners. Not only if – like this reader – you were woefully ignorant of the Biafran war, its causes and consequences and your own government’s underhand behaviour throughout the period covered by the novel. Instead, read it because it really is an enlightening tale, far from being a dry history lesson, instead packed with vivid, memorable characters who it is difficult to step away from every evening when it becomes time to put down the book. Twin sisters Olanna and Kainene couldn’t be more different in their approach to life after graduation: Kainene dryly amused by her work in their father’s businesses while Olanna heads off to an unfashionable university in a outlying town to be with her boyfriend Odenigbo (who Kainene dismisses as ‘the revolutionary’). Events leading up to the outbreak of war between Nigeria and Biafra conspire to drive the sisters apart and it is not immediately clear that they will be able to resolve their differences amid the chaos. The stories are also narrated in part by Richard, Kainene’s British boyfriend, who is attempting to write a novel inspired by Igbo-Ukwu art and Ugwu, Odenigbo’s houseboy, whose adolescence, education and journey to maturity are interrupted by the fighting. This is a novel of bold ambition, not only in telling the stories of the war, but in dealing with the themes that engaged and challenged people through the 1960s. Olanna and Odenigbo are both academics, hosting colleagues and visitors at their home each night for lively, wide-ranging and drunken debates on the future of post-colonial Africa. Kainene and Olanna are both modern girls, keen to have careers and not be as dependent on their men as their mother perhaps is. Meanwhile fine distinctions abound – between wealthy Olanna (who after fleeing finds herself missing her tablecloths) and her aunt’s more down-to-earth family, the differences between the sophisticated city dwellers and the superstitions of village life, Richard’s attempts to distinguish himself from the other Westerners – which are often missed when the ill-informed speak of ‘Africa’ as one mass. Although set on a different continent, there is a lot here to inform about current events in Europe and the Middle East. Olanna and Odenigbo's failure to get out of harm's way, not anticipating the need to leave until literally the moment that they can hear shelling. And then, a form of internal exile as they move from one place to another, trying to remain in contact with friends and family who are similarly scattered, while facing starvation and diseases as deadly as the fighting. Ambitious in scope, but that ambition is realised in this wonderful, challenging and vivid story.

This is a wonderful book about a time and a tragic war of which I knew almost nothing. I could not put it down. The story is deeply involving and the characters are achingly real. It is one of those books that make you feel as if you are watching the action unfold in an extraordinarily vivid way. I loved it. I thank the author for her wonderful gift to readers.

Amazing book, strong writing. How love, relationships between man and woman, siblings, parents and children are so universal. How war can bring up the worst and the best in people. If you remember Biafra this narrative will give it good context, very sad and beautiful at the same time

Une claque. Page turner saisissant autant que sensible et émouvant.

I love the book. Nicely organized to follow the story. This is my first read from Chimamanda and I will surely be reading Americanah. Thanks