Naija Review Blog: Half of a yellow sun - A Review

half of a yellow by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Ugwu, a houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor, grows in fascination of his master’s evolutionary ideology. His master’s girlfriend, Olanna, runs away from her family’s wealth and extravagant life and moves in with her lover in Nsukka teaching Sociology in the same school as he. Her suave twin, Kainene, takes over their father’s business and moves to Portharcourt. Kainene’s English lover, Richard, moves to Nsukka serving as a link between the lives of the no identical twins. We follow these characters through a Military coup, the Biafran Secession and the subsequent war. Chimamanda succeeds in weaving these characters through promises, disappointments and the darkness that marked the time.

The Characters were a good blend and I had clear pictures of them in my head at the end of the book. The way the writer described the lives of the Characters before, during and after the war enables the reader to relate to what they felt.

At first I wondered why Kainene’s Point of View was not written but in the end I understood, it worked better the way she wrote it. The back and forth times of the plot had my suspense piqued. Most writers who write this style fail to achieve it and usually leave the reader confused.

My problem as always with Chimamanda is her descriptions; they are sometimes too much in the abstract, in a way only she can understand. If one is writing for others, then I think the priority is writing what they can feel and imagine. Here’s an example ‘…she felt as though she had swallowed a white sparkling light…’ How does one swallow a white sparkling light. I don’t know how that feels, I don’t feel it, I have no idea what that means. Another example, ‘…she looked like a ripe cashew fruit…’ I rest my case.

Half of a Yellow Sun wasn’t just a novel but a record of history which many of this generation cannot picture nor can they understand. I have heard censored tales of the war from my mother, censored because she probably thought the whole story was too gory to bother me with. I realize that now after reading Half of a Yellow Sun. Most of the stories I read in its pages came as a shock. After I read the last page, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine it all, and then I understood. I understood why the Ibos were making a big deal of Biafra, it all began to make sense.

I admire Chimamanda’s skills in the way she weaved love stories into a sad-tale of war. I say, well done!