Half of a Yellow Sun - 3M's Review

A beautifully told story of a savage civil war, Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun definitely deserves the 2007 Orange Prize and to be on the NYT Most Notable list.

"They sat on wooden planks and the weak morning sun streamed into the roofless class as she unfurled Odenigbo's cloth flag and told them what the symbols meant. Red was the blood of the siblings massacred in the North, black was for mourning them, green was for the prosperity Biafra would have, and finally, the half of a yellow sun stood for the glorious future."

I resisted reading this book because I really just don't like war stories at all. I wanted to give it a chance, though, because so many bloggers had said they appreciated it. They were right; it's a very special book. Based on the conflict in Nigeria in the late 1960's, it not only depicts the horrors of war, it also hauntingly and lovingly depicts the lives of the participants. Apparently many of the characters were based on real people in Adichie's family history, and this authenticity very much shines through.

There were some content issues for me in the book, but I'm very glad I read this story. I look forward to reading Purple Hibiscus and other books of hers to come. If you decide to read the book (and I highly encourage it), afterwards you might want to go to her website http://www.halfofayellowsun.com where you can find a lot more information about the true story.

2006, 541 pp.
2007 Orange Prize
Rating: 4.5

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (reviewed by Literary Feline)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Knopf, 2006
Fiction; 435 pgs

Completed: 06/18/2007
Rating: 4.5 Stars

First Sentence: Master was a little crazy; he had spent too many years reading books overseas, talked to himself in his office, did not always return greetings and had too much hair.

Reason for Reading: I was drawn to this novel from the very first time I heard about it several months ago, and the more I heard about it, the more I was sure I wanted read it. And so it was with great anticipation that I opened the book to the first page and began to read. This is my third selection for the New York Times Notable Book Challenge and my eighth and final selection for the Spring Reading Thing.

From the Publisher: With the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Adichie weaves together the lives of five characters caught up in the extraordinary tumult of the decade. Fifteen-year-old Ugwu is houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor who sends him to school, and in whose living room Ugwu hears voices full of revolutionary zeal. Odenigbo’s beautiful mistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, is running away from her parents’ world of wealth and excess; Kainene, her urbane twin, is taking over their father’s business; and Kainene’s English lover, Richard, forms a bridge between their two worlds. As we follow these intertwined lives through a military coup, the Biafran secession and the subsequent war, Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise, and intimately, the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place.

Comments: Between 1967 through to the beginning of 1970, Nigeria was in the midst of a civil war. A coup over the government by the Igpo people was short lived when another coup by the Hausa followed hot on its heels, becoming a nightmare for the Igbo people in Nigeria. On the back of a massacre that would continue throughout the war, the southeastern provinces of Nigeria declared themselves the Republic of Biafra and attempted to secede from the rest of the country. Although atrocities occurred on both sides, the use of starvation as a weapon to the isolated and war torn Biafra has become one of the grim trademarks of that vicious war.

A number of books have been popping up recently describing life and war in Africa, from a variety of cultures and perspectives. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel is one among many; however, it is one that stands out. The author is a gifted storyteller and her novel drew me in from the very first page and did not let go until long after I breathed in the last word. I am struggling with what to write about this book. The story moved me beyond words. I found myself chuckling during the lighter moments of the book, bubbling with anger at the atrocities described, fearful for the lives of characters I had grown to care very much for, and as if covered by a great veil of sadness, knowing that although Adichie’s novel is a work of fiction, there is much truth there as well.

The author’s words breathe life into the characters. How typical Ugwa was as a thirteen-year-old boy! There was Olanna with her kind heart and self-doubt; Odenigbo, so full of passion for what he believes; Richard whose outsider status never held him back from believing he belonged and yet whose uncertainty made him unsteady on his feet; and Kainene, who stood apart and kept her distance more often than not, hiding behind her sarcastic comments. It was Kainene I was most fascinated by, surprising even myself. I would have expected to be taken in more by Olanna’s gentle but tough character for she is the character I could most identify with.

Adichie painted a vivid picture of the brutality of war and the impact it had on her characters. No one went unaffected in some way, whether they paid the ultimate price or were oblivious throughout most of the war. I especially remember the scene near the end when a woman visits the Nsukka home searching out her old friend, Odenigbo. She makes a comment about how life had gone on for her almost like normal during the war and that she had no idea the extent of the war on her Igbo friends. She only learned of the terrible conditions her Igbo friends endured by reading a London paper while attending a conference. The irony, the dichotomy, of the situation was like a hammer hitting a nail home.

From the interactions of the characters and their relationships, and in the war itself, the author was able to touch up the issues of race and class struggles, the prejudices surrounding them. One aspect I found intriguing throughout the novel was the underlying influence the British colonization had on the various tribes and cultures in Nigeria and how much of that played into the events that would unfold in that country as well as in the book itself. It came as no surprise, mind you; however, it is a reminder of how all actions have consequences, some of which are unforeseen until they completely unravel.

The morning after, I still feel the affects of this marvelous book. Half of a Yellow Sun is a haunting story that took me right into the hearts of the characters and a country torn by jealousy, greed and hate. The story of Nigeria’s Civil War is not so unusual in the grand scheme of things, but it is a story that needs to be told and remembered. Still, Half of a Yellow Sun is not just about the war, it is about the people, their relationships, and their struggle to survive.

Favorite Part: With a novel like this, it is hard to pick out one favorite part, or even two or three. There was not a moment while reading this book I was not riveted to the words on the page. The characters were well drawn and interesting and the story flowed so smoothly that I was surprised at how quickly I moved through the book.

I liked how the author divided up her sections, at times going back and forth in time. The break from the war to return to the pre-war period was a short reprieve from the darker moments in the story, while at the same time proved quite revealing in better defining the characters and their relationships with one another.

Miscellaneous: There is a section on the author's website where people are allowed to share their own experiences regarding Biafra, which I spent a little time perusing and hope to revisit again to read at more length in the future.

(review originally posted at Musings of a Bookish Kitty).

Orange Prize Winner: Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun has won the 2007 Orange Prize.

Orange Prize Shortlist

The Orange Prize Shortlist includes Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.

Also included were:
Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
The Observations by Jane Harris
Digging to America by Anne Tyler

The official announcement is here.

Half of a Yellow Sun discussion.

SPOILERS......Only go to the comment section here if you have read and are ready to discuss 'Half of a Yellow Sun'.

Half Of A Yellow Sun -- Kookiejar's Review

In 1966, Igbo soldiers tried to overthrow the Nigerian government. They failed and the Nigerians launched retaliatory strikes on Southeast Nigeria where the Igbo primarily live. For 3 years the newly formed republic of Biafra held its own, until famine and fighting decimated the population. In "Half of a Yellow Sun" (which refers to the flag of Biafra...see bottom of post), Adichie tells the story of the war through the experience of twin sisters Olanna and Kainene, their extended families, acquaintances and their servants.

I thought it was very interesting to see the way the war affected people of different colors (such as Richard, the white man in love with Kainene), economic position (like middle class professor, Odenigbo and the rich parents of Olanna and Kainene), and social class (as embodied by Odenigbo's houseboy, Ugwu).

Wendy mentioned in the comment section of an earlier post that there are many similarities between this novel and Uzodinma Iweala's "Beasts of No Nation" and I would agree. One ('Yellow Sun') focuses more on the war from the civilian point of view and 'Beasts' from the reluctant soldiers forced to act on their own people.

The first 60 or 70 pages are slow and at times I wondered if anything was actually going to happen, but once the war starts it takes off like a rocket and becomes compulsively readable.


On a side note: Throughout the reading, I was brought again and again to the author photo on the back flap. Adichie is so young and fresh and pretty, her smile gave me a lot of hope, not only for her novel, but her country as well.

The flag of Biafra.

Laura's Review - Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun (original review in my book journal)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

433 pages

First Sentence: Master was a little crazy; he had spent too many years reading books overseas, talked to himself in his office, did not always return greetings, and had too much hair.

Last Sentence: Ugwu writes his dedication last: For Master, my good man.

Reflections: This book takes place during the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-70, when the southern part of Nigeria seceded and formed its own state, known as Biafra. We see the conflict through the eyes of the main characters, who are Biafran: Olanna and Odenigbo, well-off and well-educated academics; Ugwu, their houseboy; Kainene, Olanna's twin sister; and Richard, a British expat and Kainene's partner (and the only one who is not native to the country). We get to know them before the war, becoming familiar with their "normal" life, and watching with horror as the war's violence and atrocities come closer and closer.

"The world has to know the truth of what is happening, because they simply cannot remain silent while we die."

Why do human beings do this to one another? Why is war considered an effective method of resolving conflict? And why do powerful, economically advantaged, nations stand by and allow crimes against humanity? It is too easy to distance ourselves from the conflict and the people, as if they are not real. Adichie's writing makes it real. We can identify with the characters, their day-to-day routine and concerns. As their lives are torn apart by war, as they lose their livelihood and have to fight for housing and food, as they witness and experience violence and fear, we realize that yes, this does happen to real people.

"...the rule of Western journalism: One hundred dead black people equal one dead white person."

And despite this reality, those of us living in predominantly white cultures do not hear or read enough about it. War, violence, poverty, and famine rage in Africa and the Middle East today, and there are not enough calls for humanitarian relief and action that will bring an end to the conflict. In the United States, gun violence is escalating and is especially devastating in the poor areas of our cities. But the news media quickly tire of these stories, unless one of "our own" (usually white, American) is at risk.

Are we not all one people? What would it take to bring unity and an end to violence?

Sally906's Review: HALF A YELLOW SUN

Review: HALF A YELLOW SUN - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Original review is here

Rated A+

At the time of the 1960 Nigerian independence from Great Britain, the country had a federal constitution comprised of three regions defined by the three principal ethnic groups in the country. The first region was the Muslim Hausa/Fulani semi-autonomous feudal states in the north. The second was the principally animist kingdom of Yoruba in the south-west; and the Christian Igbo were the third group in the south-east. As the British withdrew, the barely suppressed ethnic tensions broke out. In 1966 some 30,000 Igbos were massacred by Hausas, as reprisal following an ill-fated coup in the Nigerian Government by Igbo military. Over one million refugees fled to their Igbo homeland in the east, and in May 1967, the Igbo region formally seceded from Nigeria and the Independent Republic of Biafra was born. Nigeria responded with military force, and a bloody civil war ensued. The Nigerian forces, backed by Britain and the USA, gradually advanced. By 1969 the Biafran people were cut off from the sea and surrounded by Nigerian troops. At this point Nigeria closed the borders, all supplies into Biafra were severely restricted. Starvation gradually defeated the Biafrans. In January 1970, the short-lived Biafran nation fell and was re-incorporated into Nigeria. It is believed that over one million people died of starvation during the war.

It is with this heartbreaking civil war in the background that Nigerian Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie sets her second novel, HALF A YELLOW SUN. The whole conflict is seen through the eyes of three characters. The first is Ugwu, a peasant houseboy who comes to work for a professor with revolutionary ideas. The second character is Olanna, an educated, wealthy Nigerian woman who becomes the mistress of the professor. Finally, there is Richard, a white man who is in Nigeria to research Igbo art, but is drawn into the conflict through his love for Olanna’s sister. It is through these three narrators that the reader experiences lives being turned upside down by ideals and war. You see how they go from a comfortable existence to a life where everything familiar is taken away. Rape, torture, murder and the fight for survival destroys the last vestiges of civility. The characters come alive for the reader, just leaping out of the pages straight into your heart. This is an emotional, and horrific, period of world history. Adichie is able to let the reader see the horrors without letting you drown in them. Even at the very worst part of the ordeal she is able to inject a little humour to show that all the spirit is not destroyed. This book made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me angry that humans are able to do this to each other. Don’t be put off by the politics; they are in the background only. The real story is the survival by those whose lives are influenced by politics without fully understanding the nuances of political motives. The story is about uselessness, despair, love, standing up for what is right. It is about relationships, as well as what makes innocent people turn into war criminals. It is a book you must read.

Sarah's (Loose Baggy Monster) review of "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

NOTE: this is an excerpt from the review posted on my blog. The fuller review contains some "spoilers" so I thought I would only give a briefer version here. I'm sorry if the review feels choppy (plus it's my first book review of a work of fiction, so bear with me)....

In his review of Half of a Yellow Sun for The Morning News's Tournament of Books, Brady Udall makes the observation, that "[f]or a war novel there is a distressing surplus of discourse, with characters holding forth in long paragraphs on subjects like Marxism, European colonialism, and tribal politics." I have to say, that this sentence caught my attention, for in my opinion, it does a bit of disservice to Adichie's work to categorize it in such a simplistic manner. Yes, Half of a Yellow Sun is about war and the ways in which the ravages of violence can quickly pervade a family, community, country, etc., but in many respects, I feel that it is also a novel about ideas, the transmission of those ideas, and the ways in which those ideas play out in a practical sense in the "real" world. Thus, it is vitally important that the first part of the novel focuses on the daily lives of these academic revolutionaries, who do sit around the radio engaging in a "surplus of discourse" involving the politics and various -isms that Udall mentions above. It sets the stage for the way in which the realities of war (the hunger, the pervasive death and terror) often seem to betray the ideals of revolution (or in this case the secession of Biafra from Nigeria, 1967-1970).

The pacing of Adichie's novel really reflected (for me) the descent into chaos once war began. For the first half of the novel, Adichie sets the scene, introducing us to the major characters, giving us glimpses into their everyday lives. We meet Odenigbo, the revolutionary academic, and Ugwu, his houseboy. Olanna, a fellow academic, is also Odenigbo's lover. And we meet Richard, an Englishman, who is also the lover of Kainene, Olanna's twin sister. Adichie seems to enjoy "pairing" in this novel: we have Olanna/Kainene, Odenigbo/Ugwu, Odenigbo/Richard, and a pairing that really struck me, that of Richard/Ugwu. Richard is a writer, entranced with a vision of Africa as he perceives it through the "roped pot" as an artistic artifact. Richard is also impotent on occasion, both in a sexual sense as well as an authorial sense. He writes page upon page, but his story has no cohesiveness (we are told), he can't seem to make sense of his experience, and ultimately, he ends up with little more than a title, which Ugwu later appropriates for his own work (and to a far more effective end).

I feel that Half of a Yellow Sun is an incredibly rich novel, although its full impact didn't strike me until I had finished the book and mulled it over. I did find myself lagging in some parts (particularly early on), but in the end, I can't wait to read this over again, to mine the riches I know are there. However, given that I have 19 other books in this challenge, perhaps a good rereading should be postponed for another occasion....

I do recommend this book, and as a shout-out to Apparent Dip (my husband) and the classic tv show "The Reading Rainbow" I feel compelled to say: "But don't take my word for it...."

Half of a Yellow Sun - Alisia's Review

For the review on my blog, go here.

I read Half of A Yellow Sun for my Reading Across Borders challenge. Travelling on from Austria, I hop across the Strait of Gibraltar, trekking across the Sahara to eventually arrive in Nigeria. I arrive in 1960's Nsukka, a small university town in the southeastern, largely Igbo region. Once there, I meet Odenigbo, a Nigerian professor; Olanna, his mistress who is from an elite Nigerian family; and Ugwu, a village boy that is employed as a houseboy in Odenigbo's home.

1960's Nigeria is one of turmoil. This epic story follows the plight of Odenigbo, Olanna, and Ugwu, as they are caught in the middle of the Biafran War. Following discrimination and massacres against Igbo in northern Nigeria, the south-eastern provinces of Nigeria seceeded to form their own nation of Biafra. What follows, both in history and this novel, is a brutal civil war in which hundreds of thousands lose their homes, are forced to flee numerous times, and ultimately face starvation and disease.

As Caribousmom has said, this is not a feel good novel. It is a novel about the realities of a post-colonial nation burdened by distinctions of class, race, and ethnicity. It is a novel about the horrors of war. It is a novel about death and destruction. That Chimamanda portrays such devestating topics with such depth, clarity, and compassion, is a sign of a masterpiece. And ultimately, in many ways, it is a story about love and survival.

Half of a Yellow Sun - Book Review by Wendy

Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Read the original post of this review here.
Submitted by Wendy

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half Of A Yellow Sun is a wrenching novel about love, disappointment, forgiveness and the unbearable emptiness of loss. Set during the 1960's, the story details Biafra's struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria. The novel gives the reader a glimpse into the politics which created Nigeria's civil war. Adichie's simple and eloquent language reveals the vivid, stark images of Nigeria's cities, people and bush villages. Ugwu, Olanna, Odenigbo, Richard and Kainene are just some of the characters who people this novel - complex, rich and unforgettable they show us what it is like to be vulnerable and human during a time of uncertainty.

This is not a 'feel good' novel - instead it stuns the reader with the horrifying images of a brutal war and reminds us that in the end, despite cultural and religious and race differences, we are all just people struggling to anchor our lives with others.

Half Of A Yellow Sun is a literary masterpiece that has earned its place on the New York Times Most Notable Ficiton of 2007.

Excerpts from the book:

About forgiveness....

"I also think that you should forgive Odenigbo," he said, and pulled at his collar as though it was choking him. For a moment Olanna felt contempt for him. What he was saying was too easy, too predictable. She did not need to have come to hear it.

"Okay." She got up. "Thank you."
"It's not for him, you know. It's for you."
"What?" He was still sitting, so she looked down to meet his eyes.
"Don't see it as forgiving him. See it as allowing yourself to be happy. What will you do with the misery you have chosen? Will you eat misery?"

AND

"There are some things that are so unforgivable that they make other things easily forgivable," Kainene said.There was a pause. Inside Olanna, something calcified leaped to life.
"Do you know what I mean?" Kainene asked.
"Yes."

About the horrors of war...

His first article was about the fall of Onitsha. He wrote that the Nigerians had tried many times to take this ancient town but the Biafrans fought valiantly, that hundreds of popular novels had been published here before the war, that the thick sad smoke of the burning Niger Bridge had risen like a defiant elegy. He described the Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where soldiers of the Nigeria Second Division first defecated on the altar before killing two hundred civilians. He quoted a calm eyewitness: "The vandals are people who shit on God. We will overcome them."

About loss...

She wanted him to truly talk to her, help her to help him grieve, but each time she told him, he said, "It's too late, nkem." She was not sure what he meant. She sensed the layers of his grief - he would never know how Mama had died and would always struggle with old resentments - but she did not feel connected to his mourning. Sometimes she wondered if this was her own failure rather than his, if perhaps she lacked a certain strength that would compel him to include her in his pain.

AND

Olanna reached out and grasped Odenigbo's arm and the screams came out of her, screeching, piercing screams, because something in her head stretched taut. Because she felt attacked, relentlessly clobbered, by loss.

About racism...

"Who brought racism into the world?" Odenigbo asked.
"I don't see your point," Kainene said.
"The white man brought racism into the world. He used it as a basis of conquest. It is always easier to conquer a more humane people."
"So when we conquer the Nigerians we will be the less humane?" Kainene asked.
Odenigbo said nothing.