AHHHHH! STUPID COMPUTER WENT BACK AS I WAS WRITING THIS REVIEW, ALL MY WRITING GONE!!!!!
Rewrite review: Right, so, I was going to give this book a 3.5 AHHHHH! STUPID COMPUTER WENT BACK AS I WAS WRITING THIS REVIEW, ALL MY WRITING GONE!!!!!
Rewrite review: Right, so, I was going to give this book a 3.5 star but I bumped it up to 4 because of a certain point.
I have watched Chimamanda's Ted talk on how we should all be feminist and wanted to read her books, so i picked up Americanah.
Overall, this book talks a lot about race, specifically race in America and Nigeria. What is mean to be African, American, Black, etc. How people perceive you based on your skin colour. etc, etc.
Chimamanda has a talent for writing essays about complex topics in an easy to understand way. Having watched her ted talk i was able to learn more about what it means to be a women in this world. She is sassy and funny but always makes a valid point. So reading this book I expected and was rewarded no less. However, therein lies the problem.
After around 70% the book does start to drag and become a bit boring. It focuses mainly on Ifemelu, who is a Nigerian who reflects on her life in Nigeria and America. Initially the story is good and has me hooked but then it starts to waver. This is because around a certain point Ifemelu starts to take a more observatory perspective over an outspoken one. What I mean is that after a while the only way a book would progress was when Ifemelu would move from boyfriend to boyfriend. At the beginning you know that most of these didn't work out including the most recent one. So you read these parts with this knowledge and watch as Ifemelu goes through the relationship cycles. Each time she learns about how her race/skin colour is handled by her boyfriend, her boyfriend's family, friends, and community. She learns that race in America is not a set view. Everyone is different. Some are racist, some don't realize they are being racist. Some pity races, or are ignorant. But basically Ifemelu becomes more and more detached and angry. She starts to become an observer which made it really hard to separate her character from an essay on race. In other words, I felt that the novel become more of an observation essay on race rather then an book with a plot.
This was the only problem I had with the book but because the plot become a bit lost and the ending felt different from what 3/4 of the book was focusing on. Like we suddenly went back to the relationship between Obinze and Ifemelu which was dropped after a point.
BUT, there were so many points that made this book soar: 1. Flawed characters. NONE OF THEM ARE MARY SUE'S. THEY HAVE NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS. THEY HAVE REAL EMOTIONS AND HATRED FOR OTHER PEOPLE. THANK GOD FOR THIS. I treasured all of these characters because of this very fact.
2. SOMETIMES THE CONFLICTS ARE NEVER RESOLVED AND PEOPLE ARE NOT SET ON HOW THEY VIEW/FEEL ABOUT SOMETHING! Yes, this is an accurate view of real life people. Chimamanda herself is saying that because of history the concept of race is a confusing topic because we all have different views on it so there is no right or wrong way to go about it. They only thing we can do is constantly question whether how we think/act/or do is benefiting how race and skin is perceived by future generations.
3. How cheating is handled. Now I'm someone who doesn't like to read about characters cheating in books because I feel that it's never handled with accuracy or care. It's more like a author's attempt to bring 2 characters together which just shows that the relationship is more important to the author over the actual plot and point she/he is trying to make. BUT Chimamanda DID NOT LET ME DOWN! She handled it so beautifully and well that I was impressed just by this.
4. MY FAVOURITE PART. There is a small paragraph that most people might ignore and pass over because it doesn't mean much to them but it meant a lot to me. I was so shocked reading it because it was something I felt and still kind of do. I was so stunned that i wrote down that entire paragraph. I' m not going to say which one it was because it's too personal but wow. You know an author wrote a great book if you're writing down parts that really hit you home. This drove the book to a 4 star rating.
Overall, I would give this book a go. It has a LOT of important information about race that I think everyone needs to read, learn, and discuss. Otherwise anger, ignorance and hate will just continue to grow. ...more
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