Despite my crush on the author, I actually don't like the book.

Considering this was meant to be a book about the sixties, it was strangely very modern, like it could have been the nineties. Kaineine is a very modern character and I doubt they would have been many like her in the sixties.

The love story at the centre of the book I found also unconvincing and frankly treading on familiar ground. I know I have definitely heard the story of the modern couple who are haunted by the antagonistic traditionalmo mother in law who gets a local girl to get pregnant by the man bla bla bla.

Why she decided to posit Richard the white man as one of the main voices is also strange and I found him a strange fit throughout the book.

Ugwu the houseboy was very interesting though, and the rape scene at the end was probably the most convincing aspect of the book.

I also feel she should avoid the sexual innuendos especially in a sixties context. There was simply too much sex or sexual references in the book.

I can understand why she got the Orange Prize, especially when the judges are unfamiliar with Naija environment.

But for someone like me who has heard the story many times, it was somewhat boring.

My crush still remains though.

I do not think this book was written for an African audience even though it did help me understand the issues surrounding the Biafran war better.

One of the first things you learn as a writer is to define your audience before you start a book. I believe the author has done just this. Personally i agree with most of the points Doyin raised

@newera

i guess that raises questions regarding the author.

Do authors owe an obligation to their 'own' constituencies?

I remember Achebe used an authentic African voice to captivate the world, a voice that speaks to us but managed to intrigue the world at the same time

That chimamanda perhaps made a 'commercial' move I think diminishes her literary merit.

I don't think authors who fail to follow up their best works are sellouts. There's so much luck involved.

But Seun this followup was the one that won the coveted prize.

Does that say more about the author or the judges?

I did a review of this book a while back and one of the things I raised was the triviality with which she treated certain issues like pre-marital co-habitation. I stated then that anyone who has even a slight knowledge of the Nigerian way of life would find it almost impossible to believe that Igbo parents would endorse such co-habitation (tacitly or otherwise) in this modern day and age talk much less of in the 1960s.

The book shows the writers foreign influence and like has been previously stated, was probably written predominantly with a foreign audience in mind. This does not make Adichie a sellout. she has chosen this style and it works for her. To be sincere, she will probably succeed in drawing and attracting (to African literature) a new crop of foreign readers with this style as it is a style that they understand and are quite comfortable/familiar with.

Good observation@SMC. Are you a writer in the making?

never bothered with either of the novels. i figured it wont be any better than Achebe had already done so why bother. By the way her books have been overhyped.

her style is different, and her portrayal was from another angle.

granted the sexual references were a tad overdone, but that aside it was an interesting take on the entire episode.

not everything was light hearted and funny, there are hard hitting and very evocative scenes in the book.

While there may have been hype, she's really a good writer and she gave the story a bit of her own personal twist I think.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, you enjoy the story through ugwuh and the white man's eyes, not a typical narrative style for such a serious issue, I think writing on such a topic took guts and she did a pretty good job of it.

Ugwu's viewpoint i liked, but the white man's one a bit clumsy at best. His character didn't convince me at all.

[b]Despite my crush on the author, I actually don't like the book.

Considering this was meant to be a book about the sixties, it was strangely very modern, like it could have been the nineties. Kaineine is a very modern character and I doubt they would have been many like her in the sixties.

The love story at the centre of the book I found also unconvincing and frankly treading on familiar ground. I know I have definitely heard the story of the modern couple who are haunted by the antagonistic traditionalmo mother in law who gets a local girl to get pregnant by the man bla bla bla.

Why she decided to posit Richard the white man as one of the main voices is also strange and I found him a strange fit throughout the book.

Ugwu the houseboy was very interesting though, and the rape scene at the end was probably the most convincing aspect of the book.

I also feel she should avoid the sexual innuendos especially in a sixties context. There was simply too much sex or sexual references in the book.

I can understand why she got the Orange Prize, especially when the judges are unfamiliar with Naija environment.

But for someone like me who has heard the story many times, it was somewhat boring.

My crush still remains though.[/b]

i agree with everything up there. i think she is a fine writer but we must understand her audience is not the typical nigerian. which is why we have no say in why she is supposed to be a great writer. that is decided abroad, for us presumably.

i will also add that i did not understand why eastern minorities had no voice in the east, especially considering the prominent role she gave to richard. in an interview she says she felt the british voice was important because of our history. but more important than those that lived in it? dunno.

Ive not read her 2nd novel - just the 1st. But in analysing her slant we must look @ her upbringing. For the idyll campus of UNN to an american university, i think we can rely on her real experience to tell a truly nigerian story. She always has to rely on her powerful imagination to sail her through. But she's the freshest thing to happen to nigerian literature.

But she's the freshest thing to happen to nigerian literature.

says britain. i think habila is better

don't like the title, never bothered reading.

@ obong habila has not done a serious prose work. He did well with his award-winning short story, prison notes, but since then he's growth's been dwarfed.

.

Ndipe:

Good observation@SMC. Are you a writer in the making?

My brother, I will refer to myself as a writer in progress. May the good Lord help me along.

All I can say is, I have read better and more objective African literature. Maybe a new genre of African literature should be started, called African Diasporic literature. That way, the reader knows where the author is coming from.

african diasporic literature is a brilliant idea. thats essentially what they are.

I was not impressed by Habila's 2nd novel, (I did not read the first), "Measuring time". I guess in the literary world it is always hard to replicate the sucesses/acclaim that followed your previous work. There are quite a number of writers who have sucessfully scaled the higher bar set on their second novels, following their 'critically acclaimed' first novel.

I very rarely (and I am not a critic) jump on the bandwagon and extol a novel because of the rave reviews that it has received in the media, or that people talk about. Hmm, I have to admit one of my weaknesses and that is I tend to judge a book on its cover, before even reading it. The title must also be catchy. Overall, irrespective of the acclaim that Nigerian writers are currently receiving in the media, my preference is tilted to the first generation of African writers.

Ndipe, what a coincidence that you have mentioned Helon Habila's book - Measuring Time. I am actually currently reading the book and I agree that it is a disappointment. There is an inconsistency  in some bits of the novel that is never found with great writers e.g. on page 43 Haruna left for war at 16 and just a few pages later on page 47, he left for the war before his elder brother died and the elder brother died at 15. How on earth is that possible? I wonder why no one editing caught this glaring error. Errors like this are usually found when a book is extended or beefed up. Another problem is that the novel is written in a way which alternates between serious prose style writing on one hand and the manner in which Nigerians speak on the other. Though writing in Naija speak is not bad in itself, a writer has to identify his style and stick to it for a reason (e.g Uzodinma Iweala's Beasts of No Nation).

Regarding the success of his first book (which is actually in fact his second book) and which I have not read too, it is always hard to live up to the high expectations of initial success (Adichie did and she was lucky that her audience lapped it up). I agree with Ikhide R. Ikheloa when he said "Helon Habila is one formidable writer – of short stories".  To me, he seems out of his depth with novels. It is important to note that the success or acclaim he got for his first novel was because he had entered a chapter of the book in the form of a short story for the Caine prize and the buzz from the prize carried the book along (which reinforces my point that he does better with short stories as I doubt that even his first book would win serious literary awards as it stands whole).

I'm actually impressed that i finally seem to have found someone who has read that book. In my opinion its so STUNNING, the gory graphic details gives you an insight as to what the war was like. However, the love story woven in was WEAK, Kainene loved a white guy and Olanna, an unrealistic and unrepentant biafran. pleaseeeee. The author's strong point is her clarity, she never leaves things to your imagination, very coherent for such a young author. Has anyone actually read her first book "Purple hibiscus"?

Virtually every student in Nigeria knows that getting into admission into a university in Nigeria is not exactly "moi-moi", i wasnt unfortunate enuf to spend some years in Unihome and i had no previous experience in any boarding school, i was THE PERFECT AJEBUTTER. all that changed with Unilorin. For me and other bloody freshers, GP-less students, hungry students and all other such names first year students are called. First semester for me was HELL, i was lavish and before i could say ILORIN, i became a victim of the much dreaded OWU. Neways, school had its high points, the gals, the parties, ilorin's trademark ARO and of course forming for the chicks.
Exams came and the swotting was, PHEW, then came the results, the tale of my floormate with his four wonderful F's and the likes. However, second semester was a breeze as i was used to the system and could get around without asking "abeg bros, where is the lecture theatre?". Registration stress was over and could confidently say I'm a student of ilorin. Shout out to all Unilorin students. We're "Better by far"
Have you got a first year experience? share it with your school's name and its trademark. Chao

I have read Purple Hibiscus.

Your Ilorin University Post belongs in the Educational section. You are 'defacing' this thread with it.

It seems that most of you guys don't know how the publishing industry works. The grey-haired Jewish folks that run the industry need to pander to existing stereotypes. And in today's world, Africa is a synonym for suffering and barbaric human behaviour. Is it not weird that all the so-called great books from Africa all seem to celebrate the continent's backwardness and her penchant for internecine conflicts? I've read Chimamanda's two books and it is pretty obvious that all the scenes have been professionally "touched up" by editors. Chimamanda, Helon Habila, Ishmael Beah and Uzodinma Iweala may claim to be true African writers but in truth they are only agents of the global Caucasian agenda. I think more praise should be given to the likes of Chris Abani, Helen Oyeyemi and Segun Afolabi.

qblaze:

It seems that most of you guys don't know how the publishing industry works. The grey-haired Jewish folks that run the industry need to pander to existing stereotypes. And in today's world, Africa is a synonym for suffering and barbaric human behaviour. Is it not weird that all the so-called great books from Africa all seem to celebrate the continent's backwardness and her penchant for internecine conflicts? I've read Chimamanda's two books and it is pretty obvious that all the scenes have been professionally "touched up" by editors. Chimamanda, Helon Habila, Ishmael Beah and Uzodinma Iweala may claim to be true African writers but in truth they are only agents of the global Caucasian agenda. I think more praise should be given to the likes of Chris Abani, Helen Oyeyemi and Segun Afolabi.

Yes. . . . .and also to Sefi Atta. Chimamanda's account of the war missed out on one redeeming feature: the story of how friendships could thrive across the ethnic divide. But unlike doyin13, I actually liked her portrayal of the dominating, tyrannical, arch-conservative mother. It was so real, and I have often found myself asking if it was modelled on a particular individual she knew, in real life.

most fictional characters have are modelled on real people

@laudate

Well I think that sort of friendship you were referring to, she potrayed through the
relationship between the Hausa Prince and Olanna.

About the tyrannical mother in law, I just feel we've trod that ground so many times
that a neophyte observer would imagine there are no nice mothers in law in Nigeria.

Can't someone wirite in a nice one for once.

A bit nit picky I know.

Ndipe:

I was not impressed by Habila's 2nd novel, (I did not read the first), "Measuring time". I guess in the literary world it is always hard to replicate the sucesses/acclaim that followed your previous work. There are quite a number of writers who have sucessfully scaled the higher bar set on their second novels, following their 'critically acclaimed' first novel.

I very rarely (and I am not a critic) jump on the bandwagon and extol a novel because of the rave reviews that it has received in the media, or that people talk about. Hmm, I have to admit one of my weaknesses and that is I tend to judge a book on its cover, before even reading it. The title must also be catchy. Overall, irrespective of the acclaim that Nigerian writers are currently receiving in the media, my preference is tilted to the first generation of African writers.

I just finished Measuring time as well, and well for quite a significant portion of the book I was killing time.

The central irony of the book had me interested(sickle cell boy 'rejected' by life ends up being a chronicler of lives in a rustic setting)

I thought the book lacked focus, veering from a romantic story to a detective thriller and back.

And this I felt resulted from the premise of the book. 'Measuring Time'

5/10 stars.

its a good thingy that some others have actually noticed something i have often pondered. it really seems that african writers are instantly stereotyped as brilliant if they are in the diaspora, win an award or write about the many wrong things about africa. lots of great african writers are ignored becase they dont fall into this category. i have not read chimamanda's book yet(because i havent seen it), but the raving reviews shout its praise so loud that i wish to read it, but from a few honest reviews i got wind of some bad spots. she did good for a young writer, but she may still need to read all the honest criticisms you guys are dishing out.
i have read habila's waiting for an angel. the beginning was scintillating, but the end was vague and very disappointing. whereas i have read some very nice book by africans who dont have that much aclaim.

example:
LINK OF A CHAIN GENYA (a kenyan)
JAGUAR NANA'S DAUGHTER CYPRIAN EKWENSI

these books were (in my own rating) spotless and profound.
i think the touch needs to be turned to actual content a book instead of name, or viewpoint or even awards.

I think that beautiful young woman is highly overrated.

I've read half of a yellow sun and the only thing I can say in praise of her is I truely admire how she could spin all that bulk from such an unconvincing plot. It should have won the "Purple prize": reading it made my face turn purple.

Habila's got his flaws, but I'd prefer Waiting for an Angel anyday.
Her third work "the thing around your neck" is quite interesting, but why the foreign setting?
That girl ain't Nigerian!

amazyn: I think that beautiful young woman is highly overrated.

I've read half of a yellow sun and the only thing I can say in praise of her is I truely admire how she could spin all that bulk from such an unconvincing plot. It should have won the "Purple prize": reading it made my face turn purple.

Habila's got his flaws, but I'd prefer Waiting for an Angel anyday.
Her third work "the thing around your neck" is quite interesting, but why the foreign setting?
That girl ain't Nigerian!

Authors are influenced by the millieu, Adichie lived practically abroad...

She grew up in Nigeria.