Papertrail11:


her writings are a bit one kind she should just thank her stars shees got a bit of media hype on her ...her movie was also crap

She didn't direct or produce the movie. I also felt that version of the movie "Half of a Yellow Sun" was crap. Not all great novel turns out to be great movies especially if the screen writer does a poor jobnof it coupled with low budgets.

"Shogun" and "The girl with the dragon tatoo" were great books but the movies sucked.

as for your third point, you forgot that obinze's mother educated both of them on the need to remain chaste and in the event that if there is no self control, then protection should be used because if Ifemelu gets pregnant, it is she who will bear the brunt and not Obinze which in my opinion is very realistic.

jejemanito:

She didn't glorify no sugar daddies The novel was set in a period where CONNECTION with powers that be was the only realistic way to make it.

Honesty wasn't paying off as we cn see in Obinze's life. Nigga was forming americana with posh personality, until hunger and reality made him loyal and went to Chief with his cap between his hands. Adichie was basically being honest

If a man had to bow to the whims of Godfathers before he could make it, how do you expect the females to cope


Summary: The author told an honest and realistic story.

u can say that again... the book only states and tells is exactly what's happening, there was no need for the author to sugar coat it. Even if she had we all know the trust and that was exactly what she served us...

Largas:
What do you mean she is subtly encouraging pre-marital sex, dating sugar daddies and all those bullshiit.

Have you ever written a book? Incase you don't know, adichie was simply expressing the society literally, these things are what happen so often in the society, Nigeria and abroad so I don't see how she is promoting them, she just creates a story to depict the kind of society we have found ourselves in. Her Novel is not an article or Presentation that reflects these event in bad light but rather a story of our society.

I believe when she wants to portray these events in bad light she will write essays, articles and publish them for it.

You know how some people try to get attention by attacking a successful person?? The op is one those people. The op is full of shit. That book is a good story with good dose of reality.

I have never been a fan of Adichie. None of her books have impressed me.

...In my opinion she is one of the Worst writer whose book have ever read.

...People involve in writing/movie production should understand that they can influence anyone reading/watching their piece...



#Mindset.

DesChyko:
I think the OP's trying to say the author made a realistic work. Kudos to her then

Did you really read the review?

dingbang:
people did club as far back in 1960. What's so new in a random sex? Jeex. What of the girls fela kuti had sex with? U want to tell me now that they were decent? Those girls turned out to be people's mothers/grandmothers who behave so innocent now

Fela's life wasn't normal, you can't use that to judge, you need to know how much his lifestyle was frowned at, it was haywire then and that was 70s not 60s.

Except all the characters she wrote about are all the abnormals of that generation, then her writing is an unrealistic representation of how Nigeria was.There were more responsible marriages and less sugar daddies then than now.

gensteejay:

Did you really read the review?

Why do you ask?
In criticizing it, all the OP mentioned are norms in our society today. So, it's obvious she rendered a realistic work, not a fictitious one.

DesChyko:


Why do you ask?
In criticizing it, all the OP mentioned are norms in our society today. So, it's obvious she rendered a realistic work, not a fictitious one.

Ok.

This review is infantile @ best, nd stupid @ worst. Written by someone who either hasn't done a lot of reading in his life, or who hates miss Adichie passionately. Whichever is d case, the OP just displayed his propensity for misconstruction

FakoMaybach1:
Before i start please note that all i opine here are just random thoughts and i post them here not out of mischief or to insult Chimanda

The book Americanah is set in a plot of the military and early democracy era of Nigeria and this is a time that fortunately i am conversant with,
it follows the love story of Ifemelu and Obinze; how they met in secondary school, kicked of the relationship till university till ifemelu went to the united states and lost contact...i wont bore u with a full synopsis so i will go straight to my analysis and support it with passages and quotes

THE GLORIFICATION OF SUGAR DADDIES/ Reading this book you might begin to think that the writer (being adichie) either subtly encourages sugar daddysm or is indifferent to it.
Aunty Uju in the book is a well educated woman, a medical doctor but refuses to settle with any young man in Nigeria but chooses to sleep with a Military man (General) for FREE!!!...the writer presents a scenario that makes it look not to bad for young girls to sleep with old men old enough to be their fathers and not ask for material things.
The writer refused to take into cognizance that highly impressionable young girls could read this book and feel that dating already married men is not so bad. Through out the book there was no subtle condemnation of this act or even an effort to shine light on younger symbiotic relationships. the writer chose to paint young relationships in a very poor taste, in the case of Kimberly and her husband and even obinze and his wife; the writer presented a scenery that depicts women who marry young, successful and handsome men as insecure, paranoid and sad.
Even Ifemelu's friend Rayinudo is also into this sugar daddy runs and the writer goes so far as to show that she was bought a Jeep, if that is not an advertisement of the profitability of sugar daddys then i wonder what else it could be...Chimamnda being a brilliant writer does not pay attention to the social responsibility her work needs to have

Men Are Depicted As A Means To An End The writer made subtle effort to show throughout the book that a man in a relationship must be used to achieve any target and dumped whenever it suited the ladies. This is exactly what i interpreted in the relationship between Ifemelu and Curt, Aunt Uju and Bartholomew, Rayinudo and her sugar daddy, Ifemelu and Blaine ( this one was for her activist and academics side), and so many other instances in the book.
The writer does not see relationships between young couples as a journey, but as an enterprise. [/b]Subtly she encourages ladies to go for men who are very rich, and every relationship somebody has to be bringing more or it is balderdash. The book presented men in a light that made me sick to my stomach and i asked myself "so this is where these women place us? as a tool to be used, expired then thrown out" the manner which ifemelu cheated on curt, the way aunt uju divorced Bartholomew after she did not get the child she was looking for showed me a side which i never want to venture, now talking about venture

[b]American Grass is not so Green As a young man with high hopes this book helped to kill any dreams i had about America. i had a friend who always said " After Heaven na US, even e get as u go waka for US u go see God direct"... But this book has put an end to that fantasy.
The writer constantly hammered on racism and black on black segregation that makes one wonder if the thought of greener pastures is worth the stress and strain involved. The English society which i personally thought were to conservative and rigid was painted in a liberal light, and American society painted 50 shades of black. The writer painted a simple solution to race issues in England which is class, your money is ur rank while in america with money u are still second class/ Nigger.

Morality and Lack of it For a book that is not a romance novel or a james hardely chase soft porn; this book has a very low standard in the setting of morals. premarital sex was not frowned on even underage sex was treated with kid gloves. Ifemelu and obinze's escapade in obinze's house was made to look cool as if young people like that could keep things under check; if i hear.
The writer saw nothing wrong with ladies having sex with married men, not once was the consequences of such folly exposed: even when aunt uju got pregnant for "The General" the writer created a scenario of All is well that ends well, the general owning up to the child and taking responsibility....this is bad and any girl reading this might be conned to thinking it is applicable (we all know how young girls are easily influenced by books they read)...[/b]HIV, Gonorrhea and other STD's were hardly mentioned, i began to wonder if in that world they didnt exist.
i dont know if it is [b]Adichie's western upbringing [/b]that caused this but i have read the Soyinkas, the Achebes, the Elechi Amadis, the cyprain ekwensis, and there was a thin code of conduct observed by this great literary icons, sex was not "cool" to this men and they spelt it out in black and white. Obviously Adichie does not think in african lines little wonder the book was titled Americanah.

Now to the issue that vexed me the most

[b]The Ridicule Of The Institution Of Marriage Adichie made sure she downplayed marriage to the best of her ability, only ifemelus parents were the couple she really wrote on and she presented them as poor, the father a sycophant and the mother a bordering fanatic. If she had anything against marriage she should have said so.... Obinze's wife Kosi is a God sent babe any man could pray for. A girl that started with him when he had nothing, was patient, dutiful, beautiful, well mannered, cultured etc; and how did Adichie treat this character? she made sure Kosi lost out to the rude, childish, condescending, ill mannered Ifemelu. Adichie threw out the notion that one can grow to love someone she replaced it with in her own words "Feeling of responsibility". Adichie made single motherhood look Hip,cases of Aunt uju, obinze's mum comes to mind and surely Adichie made sure she blocked out the longing, loneliness and insecurity these women pass through daily.
In all i can say i am just getting to know Adichie having read two of her works that is Half of a yellow sun and this Americanah....i will go for purple hibiscus and see what she penned there...i really need to know other new generation authors we have please mods if i made an error move it to the right section cc Obinnau copy lalasiclala

First, you're the one who's assuming she was trying to promote certain things. Instead, why won't you take the book for what it is: an author telling the life experiences of fictional characters. Just go into it with an open mind.

Second, Uju did not become a medical doctor until after she came to the United States. She did not have financial support when she left Nigeria for the United States.

Third, the author is not promoting women to get sugar daddies. She was trying demonstrate that love has no boundaries, and it can come in all different ways. The fact the love happened between a married General and a mistress, that he financially supported her, and she supposedly used him, is what displeases you, just like it displeased Ifemelu, and left her secretly judging Uju.

Fourth, just like I mentioned above, Ifemelu does subtly judge people for what she doesn't approve of. For example, when she finds out that her old friend, Rayinudo, is having an affair with a married man, Ifemelu, without her friend's knowledge or permission, writes about it on her blog. When Rayinudo angrily confronts her about, she points out Ifemelu's hypocrisy. How was Rayinudo receiving a jeep or any number of favors from her lover different from how Ifemelu got her visa and finally her citizenship when her then boyfriend, Curt, pulled some strings for her? This is one of Ifemelu's flaws. She's secretly judging others or writing about them on her blog without realizing she participates in the same behavior she writes about. She's very observant with others but seems to lack that foresight when it comes to herself.

Fifth, I don't agree with your assessment of the relationships in this book. All the people here in relationships are grown people who gave their consent to be in the relationship. Curt offered to get Ifemelu a job and the green card. It made sense for Ifemelu, who didn't have a job lined up after college and could have been sent back to Nigeria, to accept his offer. What did you want her to do? Say no? And how in the world did she use Blaine? They both flirted, made out, slept together, started a relationship, and eventually, mutually, broke up.

Sixth, America is not just conservative and rigid. It's a mix of everything, with people who come from all different walks of life. Yes, there is racism and there are racist people. But the author was a) telling one specific experience and therefore b) you should not let that one experience tarnish your entire outlook of a vast country made up of hundreds of millions of people. If you want, you should at lease visit America before you completely write if off. All countries, including Nigeria, have their good and bad. Just like people, just like these flawed characters in this book.

Seventh, your paternalistic view of women is startling. Young women are easily influenced by what they read? Please stop being sexist. All authors, men or women, trust their audience, believe them to be smart individuals who can handle what they have to say.

Eighth, premarital sex in Nigeria happens. Men and women in Nigeria cheat on their spouses. Women and men in Nigeria have children out of wedlock. Human beings do cruel things to each other because we're human. Just because the author chose to write about it, doesn't mean she's promoting it. She's writing about very real experiences that happen in Nigeria and the last thing we need to be doing, as a country, is pretending it's not there.

Ninth, the author was not raised in the west. Stop blaming the west. The author is allowed to talk about what she wants to talk about in her own darn books.

Tenth, Kosi did not meet Obinze when he had nothing. He was already a big man in Lagos when they met a mutual friend's wedding. The author can treat her characters the way she wants to. Again, it's her book. We may not like it but it's not our call. Yes, a person can learn to love another but as it was clearly stated in the book Obinze did not love Kosi and did not want to learn to love her. He even told Kosi he would not cheat on her unless he wanted to. And therefore, he cheats on her[b] because he wanted to. [/b]

Despite Kosi being beautiful (no one is denying that), she did not compliment Obinze and did not fit into want he found desirable in a partner. Ifemelu was opinionated, fiery, honest, insightful, and smart, despite her many flaws. I think why so many people did not like Ifemelu was because she put her own needs and wants before anyone else's. She looked out for herself first and foremost and may not have the "nurturing" behavior that many people expect in women. It's never seems to be an issue when men put their needs first. But when a lady does it, men and women, get personally offended by it.

Kosi, on the other hand, was complicit, never truly engaged Obinze in conversation that wasn't superficial, went along with what he said without questioning him, assumed things about him (believed he was disappointed she gave birth to a girl instead of a boy), was terribly insecure (frequently visited a pop-up church that held seminars about how to pray and make sure your husband does not cheat), and was too accepting of Obinze's cheating when she did eventually find out. Kosi is flawed like everyone else is in this book. Is it right that she got cheated on? No. But you have to understand why it happened.

The author is allowed to tell whatever story she wants to. You can't go in reading a book and expecting certain moral codes or rules to be followed so it can placate your sensibilities. If anything, books are supposed to challenge us, makes us think beyond ourselves and understand other people's perspectives. If anything, this should be an opportunity to try and understand and embrace the uncomfortable parts of Americanah, its characters, and their situations.

But if you're so concerned about social responsibility, upholding the sanctity of marriage, and all those other things you mentioned, please go read something else.

Sanchez01:

Chimamanda is an upcoming writer compared to those you paired her with. Truth is, she's a crazy feminist who doesn't hide it. Ironically, she's married, yet, champions a cause that subtly negates marriage.

I stopped reading her materials when I read 'Half of a Yellow Sun'. Other than the fact that writers sometimes use their works to poke at the socio-cultural anomalies plaguing their socities, that of Adichie was birthed on cheap sentiments and her understanding or judgement was obviously inclined. On the issue of sex, there seems to be an aggressive campaign for premarital sex and that it does not bother her bothers me.

I honestly don't expect her to take on the bandwagon route as seen in most writers but one would really get to wonder how the likes of Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie's works negates Buchi Emecheta's.

For those who have read most of Buchi's works, majorly 'The Joy of Motherhood' and 'Second Class Citizen' as opposed to Chimamanda materials, you'd see a great deviation, particularly on how women should be seen or viewed. Truth is, times have changed and one can hardly pick the concept of didactism and sermony from Chimamanda's works. She comes off to me as the Andrew Marvel, John Donne and a host of metaphysical writers we never had.

You don't understand feminism. Being a feminist and being married are not mutually exclusive. The definition of feminism is, "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." People like you who try to denounce it, make it an us vs. them problem, and try to define feminists in a certain way and in a certain image are only being undermining. All people are entitled to freedom and liberty within reason--including equal civil rights--and that discrimination should not be made based on gender.

Could this be her own concept of feminism? In Beyounces song titled flawless, Chimamanda defined feminist, as someone who believe in the social, economic and political equality of all sex. she said why do we teach girls to shrink themeselve and dont teach boys the same.
Which means, If we have young men who date married women, why cant we have young women who date married men?
...................

iRepNaija1:


First, you're the one who's assuming she was trying to promote certain things. Instead, why won't you take the book for what it is: an author telling the life experiences of fictional characters. Just go into it with an open mind.

Second, Uju did not become a medical doctor until after she came to the United States. She did not have financial support when she left Nigeria for the United States.

Third, the author is not promoting women to get sugar daddies. She was trying demonstrate that love has no boundaries, and it can come in all different ways. The fact the love happened between a married General and a mistress, that he financially supported her, and she supposedly used him, is what displeases you, just like it displeased Ifemelu, and left her secretly judging Uju.

Fourth, just like I mentioned above, Ifemelu does subtly judge people for what she doesn't approve of. For example, when she finds out that her old friend, Rayinudo, is having an affair with a married man, Ifemelu, without her friend's knowledge or permission, writes about it on her blog. When Rayinudo angrily confronts her about, she points out Ifemelu's hypocrisy. How was Rayinudo receiving a jeep or any number of favors from her lover different from how Ifemelu got her visa and finally her citizenship when her then boyfriend, Curt, pulled some strings for her? This is one of Ifemelu's flaws. She's secretly judging others or writing about them on her blog without realizing she participates in the same behavior she writes about. She's very observant with others but seems to lack that foresight when it comes to herself.

Fifth, I don't agree with your assessment of the relationships in this book. All the people here in relationships are grown people who gave their consent to be in the relationship. Curt offered to get Ifemelu a job and the green card. It made sense for Ifemelu, who didn't have a job lined up after college and could have been sent back to Nigeria, to accept his offer. What did you want her to do? Say no? And how in the world did she use Blaine? They both flirted, made out, slept together, started a relationship, and eventually, mutually, broke up.

Sixth, America is not just conservative and rigid. It's a mix of everything, with people who come from all different walks of life. Yes, there is racism and there are racist people. But the author was a) telling one specific experience and therefore b) you should not let that one experience tarnish your entire outlook of a vast country made up of hundreds of millions of people. If you want, you should at lease visit America before you completely write if off. All countries, including Nigeria, have their good and bad. Just like people, just like these flawed characters in this book.

Seventh, your paternalistic view of women is startling. Young women are easily influenced by what they read? Please stop being sexist. All authors, men or women, trust their audience, believe them to be smart individuals who can handle what they have to say.

Eighth, premarital sex in Nigeria happens. Men and women in Nigeria cheat on their spouses. Women and men in Nigeria have children out of wedlock. Human beings do cruel things to each other because we're human. Just because the author chose to write about it, doesn't mean she's promoting it. She's writing about very real experiences that happen in Nigeria and the last thing we need to be doing, as a country, is pretending it's not there.

Ninth, the author was not raised in the west. Stop blaming the west. The author is allowed to talk about what she wants to talk about in her own darn books.

Tenth, Kosi did not meet Obinze when he had nothing. He was already a big man in Lagos when they met a mutual friend's wedding. The author can treat her characters the way she wants to. Again, it's her book. We may not like it but it's not our call. Yes, a person can learn to love another but as it was clearly stated in the book Obinze did not love Kosi and did not want to learn to love her. He even told Kosi he would not cheat on her unless he wanted to. And therefore, he cheats on her[b] because he wanted to. [/b]

Despite Kosi being beautiful (no one is denying that), she did not compliment Obinze and did not fit into want he found desirable in a partner. Ifemelu was opinionated, fiery, honest, insightful, and smart, despite her many flaws. I think why so many people did not like Ifemelu was because she put her own needs and wants before anyone else's. She looked out for herself first and foremost and may not have the "nurturing" behavior that many people expect in women. It's never seems to be an issue when men put their needs first. But when a lady does it, men and women, get personally offended by it.

Kosi, on the other hand, was complicit, never truly engaged Obinze in conversation that wasn't superficial, went along with what he said without questioning him, assumed things about him (believed he was disappointed she gave birth to a girl instead of a boy), was terribly insecure (frequently visited a pop-up church that held seminars about how to pray and make sure your husband does not cheat), and was too accepting of Obinze's cheating when she did eventually find out. Kosi is flawed like everyone else is in this book. Is it right that she got cheated on? No. But you have to understand why it happened.

The author is allowed to tell whatever story she wants to. You can't go in reading a book and expecting certain moral codes or rules to be followed so it can placate your sensibilities. If anything, books are supposed to challenge us, makes us think beyond ourselves and understand other people's perspectives. If anything, this should be an opportunity to try and understand and embrace the uncomfortable parts of Americanah, its characters, and their situations.

But if you're so concerned about social responsibility, upholding the sanctity of marriage, and all those other things you mentioned, please go read something else.

You my brother/sister is the first person i am responding to because i see that u analyzed my post, and gave me a great response.
But ur last line is a bit condescending. if u read my first line those thoughts were not aired out of mischief but i saw those ills and i had to share, i am open to more views on the book which u pointed out and i am very grateful, but brother/sister all i am asking for is a more balanced literature. Social responsibility should not be overlooked in all works of life, we owe our society a debt to try and make it better; this is my grudge with the writer.

i wont argue with u cus argument usually brings resentment, but adichie needs to add a little social responsibility to her works and please why i said young girls are influenced by books is because here in nigeria girls dont learn by trial and error like boys. This is why telemundo and Mills and boon shaped most of our young women's views on relationship, Adichie has a cult of girls following believe me i have dated a girl that worships adichie (that will be a story for another day) ...thank you for ur input and i also thank everyone for their input for u all took me to school

iRepNaija1:


You don't understand feminism. Being a feminist and being married are not mutually exclusive. The definition of feminism is, "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." People like you who try to denounce it, make it an us vs. them problem, and try to define feminists in a certain way and in a certain image are only being undermining. All people are entitled to freedom and liberty within reason--including equal civil rights--and that discrimination should not be made based on gender.

You're quite right, but unfortunately, the feminism most Nigerian women preach are what I earlier highlighted. You want me to prove this? Take a peek at the romance section and see some of these advocates and how they preach their ideology. Have you ever seen or read Adichie's perspective of feminism? If you haven't, I'd suggest you query this on Google and you'd be amazed at how dangerous she is at preaching feminism.

Amma Darko, a female Ghanaian writer preaches this perfectly well by drawing sharp contrast between her characters. 'FACELESS' comes to mind. I'd advise that you read the piece. Buchi Emecheta? She advocated feminism through her many works, particularly 'Second Class Citizen' where she opened up, through her character, the many ordeals an African society would go through in the hands of a man.

Chimamanda? Well, her feministic stance is the same as a typical modern Nigerian lady; men are subtly seen as enemies and means to an end which must be duly exploited by women, even in marriage.

I am no misogynist and I advocate women's rights but Chimamanda's perspective is quite disturbing. Again, I ask you to Google some of her quotes and ideologies of feminism. You might be forced to edit your post afterwards.

Bsc:
Could this be her own concept of feminism? In Beyounces song titled flawless, Chimamanda defined feminist, as someone who believe in the social, economic and political equality of all sex. she said why do we teach girls to shrink themeselve and dont teach boys the same.
Which means, If we have young men who date married women, why cant we have young women who date married men?
...................

It's titled 'Why we should all be feminist'. Glad someone has read or come across it.

All I can say is she is a good writer- probabaly inpired by the likes of Charles Dickens, Chinua Achebe. Very didactic, that's how a book to be read worldwide should look like, not Soyinka's elitist way of putting his thoughts together.

TLAX:


She didn't direct or produce the movie. I also felt that version of the movie "Half of a Yellow Sun" was crap. Not all great novel turns out to be great movies especially if the screen writer does a poor jobnof it coupled with low budgets.

"Shogun" and "The girl with the dragon tatoo" were great books but the movies sucked.

Twilight too...abyssmal movie, amazing book
You are right @ Half of a Yellow Sun movie not being a great adaptation...but of course, it was made by people who are ignorant of the prevailing cultural context of the book, they could not relate as they are not from here....but, it was manageable, not as terrible as the Twilight movie series

FakoMaybach1:
Before i start please note that all i opine here are just random thoughts and i post them here not out of mischief or to insult Chimanda

The book Americanah is set in a plot of the military and early democracy era of Nigeria and this is a time that fortunately i am conversant with,
it follows the love story of Ifemelu and Obinze; how they met in secondary school, kicked of the relationship till university till ifemelu went to the united states and lost contact...i wont bore u with a full synopsis so i will go straight to my analysis and support it with passages and quotes

THE GLORIFICATION OF SUGAR DADDIES/ Reading this book you might begin to think that the writer (being adichie) either subtly encourages sugar daddysm or is indifferent to it.
Aunty Uju in the book is a well educated woman, a medical doctor but refuses to settle with any young man in Nigeria but chooses to sleep with a Military man (General) for FREE!!!...the writer presents a scenario that makes it look not to bad for young girls to sleep with old men old enough to be their fathers and not ask for material things.
The writer refused to take into cognizance that highly impressionable young girls could read this book and feel that dating already married men is not so bad. Through out the book there was no subtle condemnation of this act or even an effort to shine light on younger symbiotic relationships. the writer chose to paint young relationships in a very poor taste, in the case of Kimberly and her husband and even obinze and his wife; the writer presented a scenery that depicts women who marry young, successful and handsome men as insecure, paranoid and sad.
Even Ifemelu's friend Rayinudo is also into this sugar daddy runs and the writer goes so far as to show that she was bought a Jeep, if that is not an advertisement of the profitability of sugar daddys then i wonder what else it could be...Chimamnda being a brilliant writer does not pay attention to the social responsibility her work needs to have

Men Are Depicted As A Means To An End The writer made subtle effort to show throughout the book that a man in a relationship must be used to achieve any target and dumped whenever it suited the ladies. This is exactly what i interpreted in the relationship between Ifemelu and Curt, Aunt Uju and Bartholomew, Rayinudo and her sugar daddy, Ifemelu and Blaine ( this one was for her activist and academics side), and so many other instances in the book.
The writer does not see relationships between young couples as a journey, but as an enterprise. Subtly she encourages ladies to go for men who are very rich, and every relationship somebody has to be bringing more or it is balderdash. The book presented men in a light that made me sick to my stomach and i asked myself "so this is where these women place us? as a tool to be used, expired then thrown out" the manner which ifemelu cheated on curt, the way aunt uju divorced Bartholomew after she did not get the child she was looking for showed me a side which i never want to venture, now talking about venture

American Grass is not so Green As a young man with high hopes this book helped to kill any dreams i had about America. i had a friend who always said " After Heaven na US, even e get as u go waka for US u go see God direct"... But this book has put an end to that fantasy.
The writer constantly hammered on racism and black on black segregation that makes one wonder if the thought of greener pastures is worth the stress and strain involved. The English society which i personally thought were to conservative and rigid was painted in a liberal light, and American society painted 50 shades of black. The writer painted a simple solution to race issues in England which is class, your money is ur rank while in america with money u are still second class/ Nigger.

Morality and Lack of it For a book that is not a romance novel or a james hardely chase soft porn; this book has a very low standard in the setting of morals. premarital sex was not frowned on even underage sex was treated with kid gloves. Ifemelu and obinze's escapade in obinze's house was made to look cool as if young people like that could keep things under check; if i hear.
The writer saw nothing wrong with ladies having sex with married men, not once was the consequences of such folly exposed: even when aunt uju got pregnant for "The General" the writer created a scenario of All is well that ends well, the general owning up to the child and taking responsibility....this is bad and any girl reading this might be conned to thinking it is applicable (we all know how young girls are easily influenced by books they read)...HIV, Gonorrhea and other STD's were hardly mentioned, i began to wonder if in that world they didnt exist.
i dont know if it is Adichie's western upbringing that caused this but i have read the Soyinkas, the Achebes, the Elechi Amadis, the cyprain ekwensis, and there was a thin code of conduct observed by this great literary icons, sex was not "cool" to this men and they spelt it out in black and white. Obviously Adichie does not think in african lines little wonder the book was titled Americanah.

Now to the issue that vexed me the most

The Ridicule Of The Institution Of Marriage Adichie made sure she downplayed marriage to the best of her ability, only ifemelus parents were the couple she really wrote on and she presented them as poor, the father a sycophant and the mother a bordering fanatic. If she had anything against marriage she should have said so.... Obinze's wife Kosi is a God sent babe any man could pray for. A girl that started with him when he had nothing, was patient, dutiful, beautiful, well mannered, cultured etc; and how did Adichie treat this character? she made sure Kosi lost out to the rude, childish, condescending, ill mannered Ifemelu. Adichie threw out the notion that one can grow to love someone she replaced it with in her own words "Feeling of responsibility". Adichie made single motherhood look Hip,cases of Aunt uju, obinze's mum comes to mind and surely Adichie made sure she blocked out the longing, loneliness and insecurity these women pass through daily.
In all i can say i am just getting to know Adichie having read two of her works that is Half of a yellow sun and this Americanah....i will go for purple hibiscus and see what she penned there...i really need to know other new generation authors we have please mods if i made an error move it to the right section cc Obinnau copy lalasiclala

Very nice review.
Coincidentally, I just started reading the book, having bought it over two years ago and left on the shelf for lack of time.
I',ve only read half way but I think I agree with you on all points.
You will get Chimamanda's disdain for church doctrines(which includes marriage ) right in his first Book, The Purple Hibiscus.
Following up that in Americanah, she fully expressed that same sentiments you hear on Nigeria tweeter trends today about Feminists' disregard for men and the marriage union. Little wonder she is regarded as the most vocal black feminist today.

I planned buying the book for my nieces in secondary school, thank God I've read it first! The romance scenes are explicit sex content!
They won't get that from me

However you might not agree on her book themes, you can't fault her keen sense of narration. She sure weaves beautiful stories that makes you feel you're watching a movie.

cecegorz:


Very nice review.
Coincidentally, I just started reading the book, having bought it over two years ago and left on the shelf for lack of time.
I',ve only read half way but I think I agree with you on all points.
You will get Chimamanda's disdain for church doctrines(which includes marriage ) right in his first Book, The Purple Hibiscus.
Following up that in Americanah, she fully expressed that same sentiments you hear on Nigeria tweeter trends today about Feminists' disregard for men and the marriage union. Little wonder she is regarded as the most vocal black feminist today.

I planned buying the book for my nieces in secondary school, thank God I've read it first! The romance scenes are explicit sex content!
They won't get that from me

However you might not agree on her book themes, you can't fault her keen sense of narration. She sure weaves beautiful stories that makes you feel you're watching a movie.

Actually No, Chimamanda leaves you to your imagination. She upholds african morals and as such she didn't go into details on the romance. P.S: I've also read the book, not once The only thing i didn't fancy in it was that Chimamanda didn't uphold that bond of friendship that stands the test of time. A friend leaves for jand and entirely forgets his ride or die?? Hell no!!

DONGOYARO1:
Chimamanda Adichie is an overated storyteller

Illuminati things. She prolly doesn't even know she is being used
Meanwhile she get husband, she no sleep with big man and she base for Yankee steady. Yet some mumu go de defend her

Deeboiy:
That woman has issues,she is taking this feminism matter too far

it's paying her bills

FakoMaybach1:


You my brother/sister is the first person i am responding to because i see that u analyzed my post, and gave me a great response.
But ur last line is a bit condescending. if u read my first line those thoughts were not aired out of mischief but i saw those ills and i had to share, i am open to more views on the book which u pointed out and i am very grateful, but brother/sister all i am asking for is a more balanced literature. Social responsibility should not be overlooked in all works of life, we owe our society a debt to try and make it better; this is my grudge with the writer.

i wont argue with u cus argument usually brings resentment, but adichie needs to add a little social responsibility to her works and please why i said young girls are influenced by books is because here in nigeria girls dont learn by trial and error like boys. This is why telemundo and Mills and boon shaped most of our young women's views on relationship, Adichie has a cult of girls following believe me i have dated a girl that worships adichie (that will be a story for another day) ...thank you for ur input and i also thank everyone for their input for u all took me to school

I'm not trying to be condescending. But you're asking the author to do something that would cater to your specific needs on what an author should or should not do with their work. But I appreciate your response.

Fiction should be judged on the ability of the author to paint a picture of the characters.

And from the review it shows that Chimamanda did an excellent job at that.

Whatever thoughts expressed in the book belong to the characters and that should be very clear. It is not an autobiography or history book.

Of course it may throw some light on the author's beliefs.

lol. you are right on some and I felt the same way about the book, to the extent that I hid it in the bookshelf so my daughters won't read it, at least for now.
at first, I tot she is frank but most of the times she went to far in the description of sexual act. I'm sure her upbringing must have contributed a lot.
Purple hibiscus makes an interesting read, I hope you're not disappointed

letterman:


Haba, colonial era ke Americanah wasn't set in the colonial era o.

but you got the picture

mamawin:
lol. you are right on some and I felt the same way about the book, to the extent that I hid it in the bookshelf so my daughters won't read it, at least for now.
at first, I tot she is frank but most of the times she went to far in the description of sexual act. I'm sure her upbringing must have contributed a lot.
Purple hibiscus makes an interesting read, I hope you're not disappointed

Thank you very much...please if u know of any other Young nigerian authors you could recommend them...i really want to know what literature has metamorphosed into.

Bros enh! It is because of people like you that pontificate about every little thing that the book was written. The book is by far one of the bravest literary attempts of recent times.
The book takes on an uncharted terrain in ways no other book I know of has taken. Racism and segregation is an 'enterprise' that few dare to take on these days for fear of being labelled racist, prejudiced or opportuned.
I called it an enterprise because it keeps growing albeit in different form whereas everyone involved feigns an indifference.
You may be dissapointed because the book exposed America and Nigeria in their true fabric, but sorry to burst your bubble bro, it isn't all rosy as you may think but it sure is a zillion years ahead of Nigeria. Every society has its own challenges. Some of you look at the world through the lens of Hollywood and CNN and that is why you'd be easily disappointed when confronted with the actual situation on ground.

It is just like anyone looking at Nigeria through the lens of Nollywood. It is all a script. The lifestyle you expect is scripted because it is all based on what you've seen on tv. That is however not the reality on ground.

As for the sugar daddy part, the lessons inherent in the story are obviously lost on you. I would suggest you read the book again and slowly this time to see how she discourages that without pontification.

As for the rest of your remarks, refer to above about reading again slowly. Her only crime was being brave to write about societal ills in subtle creative ways without pontification. If you really read the book, you'd see all that. Bros please write about tribalism in Nigeria in a way that is not condescending nor flattering to any ethnic group and let us see. Just an essay, post it on Nairaland and cc me. Let's see if you'll not be torn into shreds in nanoseconds.

It is always easy to criticize than to create.

iRepNaija1:


First, you're the one who's assuming she was trying to promote certain things. Instead, why won't you take the book for what it is: an author telling the life experiences of fictional characters. Just go into it with an open mind.

Second, Uju did not become a medical doctor until after she came to the United States. She did not have financial support when she left Nigeria for the United States.

Third, the author is not promoting women to get sugar daddies. She was trying demonstrate that love has no boundaries, and it can come in all different ways. The fact the love happened between a married General and a mistress, that he financially supported her, and she supposedly used him, is what displeases you, just like it displeased Ifemelu, and left her secretly judging Uju.

Fourth, just like I mentioned above, Ifemelu does subtly judge people for what she doesn't approve of. For example, when she finds out that her old friend, Rayinudo, is having an affair with a married man, Ifemelu, without her friend's knowledge or permission, writes about it on her blog. When Rayinudo angrily confronts her about, she points out Ifemelu's hypocrisy. How was Rayinudo receiving a jeep or any number of favors from her lover different from how Ifemelu got her visa and finally her citizenship when her then boyfriend, Curt, pulled some strings for her? This is one of Ifemelu's flaws. She's secretly judging others or writing about them on her blog without realizing she participates in the same behavior she writes about. She's very observant with others but seems to lack that foresight when it comes to herself.

Fifth, I don't agree with your assessment of the relationships in this book. All the people here in relationships are grown people who gave their consent to be in the relationship. Curt offered to get Ifemelu a job and the green card. It made sense for Ifemelu, who didn't have a job lined up after college and could have been sent back to Nigeria, to accept his offer. What did you want her to do? Say no? And how in the world did she use Blaine? They both flirted, made out, slept together, started a relationship, and eventually, mutually, broke up.

Sixth, America is not just conservative and rigid. It's a mix of everything, with people who come from all different walks of life. Yes, there is racism and there are racist people. But the author was a) telling one specific experience and therefore b) you should not let that one experience tarnish your entire outlook of a vast country made up of hundreds of millions of people. If you want, you should at lease visit America before you completely write if off. All countries, including Nigeria, have their good and bad. Just like people, just like these flawed characters in this book.

Seventh, your paternalistic view of women is startling. Young women are easily influenced by what they read? Please stop being sexist. All authors, men or women, trust their audience, believe them to be smart individuals who can handle what they have to say.

Eighth, premarital sex in Nigeria happens. Men and women in Nigeria cheat on their spouses. Women and men in Nigeria have children out of wedlock. Human beings do cruel things to each other because we're human. Just because the author chose to write about it, doesn't mean she's promoting it. She's writing about very real experiences that happen in Nigeria and the last thing we need to be doing, as a country, is pretending it's not there.

Ninth, the author was not raised in the west. Stop blaming the west. The author is allowed to talk about what she wants to talk about in her own darn books.

Tenth, Kosi did not meet Obinze when he had nothing. He was already a big man in Lagos when they met a mutual friend's wedding. The author can treat her characters the way she wants to. Again, it's her book. We may not like it but it's not our call. Yes, a person can learn to love another but as it was clearly stated in the book Obinze did not love Kosi and did not want to learn to love her. He even told Kosi he would not cheat on her unless he wanted to. And therefore, he cheats on her[b] because he wanted to. [/b]

Despite Kosi being beautiful (no one is denying that), she did not compliment Obinze and did not fit into want he found desirable in a partner. Ifemelu was opinionated, fiery, honest, insightful, and smart, despite her many flaws. I think why so many people did not like Ifemelu was because she put her own needs and wants before anyone else's. She looked out for herself first and foremost and may not have the "nurturing" behavior that many people expect in women. It's never seems to be an issue when men put their needs first. But when a lady does it, men and women, get personally offended by it.

Kosi, on the other hand, was complicit, never truly engaged Obinze in conversation that wasn't superficial, went along with what he said without questioning him, assumed things about him (believed he was disappointed she gave birth to a girl instead of a boy), was terribly insecure (frequently visited a pop-up church that held seminars about how to pray and make sure your husband does not cheat), and was too accepting of Obinze's cheating when she did eventually find out. Kosi is flawed like everyone else is in this book. Is it right that she got cheated on? No. But you have to understand why it happened.

The author is allowed to tell whatever story she wants to. You can't go in reading a book and expecting certain moral codes or rules to be followed so it can placate your sensibilities. If anything, books are supposed to challenge us, makes us think beyond ourselves and understand other people's perspectives. If anything, this should be an opportunity to try and understand and embrace the uncomfortable parts of Americanah, its characters, and their situations.

But if you're so concerned about social responsibility, upholding the sanctity of marriage, and all those other things you mentioned, please go read something else.

So so on point. I just do not have the patience like you do to start breaking everything down for him hence my advice to him to read the book again. Folks think they have a say in every damn thing. They want everything spelt out for them verbatim. No wonder it is said that if you want to hide something from a black man, put it in a book. The things in this work of fiction play out on a daily basis in our world of today. I wonder where all this critique are coming from? I guess they are coming from a position of non-comprehension of the basic fabric of the book.

seguno2:
Great opinion.
I must confess that I have not bothered to read the book as I was discouraged by the title and the different reviews that I had read. This OP simply confirms that I missed nothing by not wasting my money and time to buy and read the book.

Lazy brat u re waiting for all d reviews to be good before u read abi smh everybody is a critic

I agree with the op 85% Adiche is good but not so good. Aside from depicting the reality and struggle to survive in our society, how dignity is rubbished, failure of government and infrastructure etc, Morale wise, it is very poor. Ifemule mother's religious fanatical depiction especially like the proverbial ostrich that covers itself from reality is way to high. It appears Adiche is an atheist as well as a hardcore feminist.