Anchor Books Americanah

original product

The letters were in big font, so this was a negative surprise.

Got Americanah for someone special. It’s a thoughtful and engaging read, and I truly hope they enjoy it.

I love this author's ability to deal with serious subjects in a way that has warmth and positivity. What is it to be a woman? What is it to be a citizen of this or that country, a member of one race or another? Her lead character is trying to figure this out but never gets stuffy. We can see cameos of many lives on the edges especially in immigrant communities in the states and UK but it's all bearable because of the love story between the main characters and their home country, Nigeria.

This was overall an excellent, well written book! As a 30 year old black woman, it is easily one of my favourite reads of the last couple of years. Slightly too long, but I enjoyed the journey and the conversations on culture and race in both America and the UK. The author captured perfectly the difference between the two places and of course them and Nigeria. Overall this is a story of identity, race, immigration, coming of age and love. All equally important and complex. I read the book in 4 days, it was a page turner. A couple of critiques I had: 1. Not becoming black until moving to America - This was a central theme, but is race non-existent in Nigeria or is it just less important? If race was non-existent, skin bleaching, fake British and US accents and other whitening endeavors would not exist in Africa and other black countries worldwide. Blackness is a fact. But becoming a minority through immigration and race becoming a person's number one defining feature, is what changes. 2. Ifemelu's life became too easy for me - Apart from her initial struggle in America, which was awful!, she really never struggled again. She had steady jobs, steady boyfriends, lucrative blogs. Even though there were issues, I think the fact that essentially everything she tried for worked out to some extent, is not indicative of life in your early 20s to mid 30s. Those times are often much more turbulent and riddled with mistakes and failures, in my opinion.

When reading Americanah, I definitely has a few laughs and could relate to the experiences shared by Ifemelu. Adichie definitely wrote Ifemelu’s story with excellence. Although, I did struggle reading through Obinze’s story as it is a bit boring for me, I really enjoyed Ifemelu and Aunty Uju’s storyline. As well, the first I’d say 150 pages are a bit hard to get through for me as it is giving the backstory back in Nigeria it is interesting but her life in America is really captivating and keeps you wanting more. The theme of race is really well examined throughout the book and the comparison between how it is seen in Nigeria and in America is well written and was a part of the book I really enjoyed (especially her blog entries, definitely related to that).

As seen on The Bookish Owl (http://www.thebookishowl.net/?p=7015) It was a long time before I mustered up the courage to pick up Americanah as I was still reeling from the sheer beauty and power of Purple Hibiscus, the first Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie book that I read. When I finally finished devouring Americanah last night, I was struck by how speechless and awestruck it left me. It wasn’t merely up to par with Purple Hibiscus – it exceeded it, going far and beyond. The last book that made me feel this way – this abstract feeling which I can never ever verbalize – was Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. The magic of Americanah stems from its various themes, all equally provocative and colorful. To ask, “what exactly is Americanah about?” is to do the book injustice for it encompasses so many things. It is about race, racial identity, cultural identity, a country’s identity, and yes, love, among others. To be honest, I couldn’t relate with some of these ideas: specifically, those that pertain to being black, whether being “black” refers to being African-American or a Non-American Black. This theme was lost on me, obviously because of my race, inexperience, and isolation from the issue. Nevertheless, I thought that this theme and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s execution of it resonates and continues to apply to the issues that we face today. Or, to be more accurate, the issues that I hear and read about on the news. Concepts that I did appreciate, however, were those that spoke of Westernization, national and cultural identity and how these two relate to our own sense of self. The two principal characters of Americanah, Ifemelu and Obinze, both move abroad from Nigeria to work and in Ifemelu’s case, to study. She moves to America and he to England, two different people in two vastly different countries but with roughly the same experiences. Poverty, exploitation, homesickness, and their status as illegal aliens hanging over their heads. It wasn’t hard to imagine that these too were felt by the thousands of Filipinos working overseas. Then there was the matter of cultural identity; the clash between Nigerian culture and Western culture, most profoundly felt by Ifemelu herself. This conflict was reminiscent of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (mentioned in Americanah, by the way) which tackles the same thing albeit under different circumstances and in a whole other century. Ifemelu’s struggles to remain true to her roots despite the pressures and the need to be Westernized as well as her difficulties in reverting and adapting on her return home was excellently written and translated on the page. Ifemelu wasn’t just a character – she felt like a real, breathing, existing person and it was easy to empathize with her. Obinze’s chapters in the present as well as Ifemelu’s perspective on her return home from the USA gave a glimpse on how Westernized their country had become. Thanks to Ifemelu, the “old” Nigeria and the “new” Nigeria were blatantly juxtaposed. It was interesting to see this contrast but to see Ifemelu struggle to adapt in the new Nigeria and to witness the change in her friends, all who were introduced early on, was even more fascinating. One thing that bothered me about Americanah, however, was the ending. It felt too abrupt and too rushed. Nonetheless, I felt it an apt and fitting conclusion to Ifemelu and Obinze’s story. In A Nutshell: There’s a lot more that I want to say about Americanah but I’m struggling to find the right words to express my thoughts. One thing’s for sure; Americanah was sublime. It’s one of the best books that I’ve ever read and along with The Book Thief, one of the only books that I will enthusiastically, ceaselessly, and highly recommend to everyone.