“Half of a Yellow Sun” Is More Than Half a Dissappointment
By Lindsey Kumar ‘08
News Reporter
“Half of a Yellow Sun,” by Nigerian-born Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, chronicles the 1960’s Nigerian coup, the resulting civil war, and the genocide of the Igbo people. The novel interweaves the lives of three characters; unfortunately, they are all very predictable. If there were a textbook on how to write a novel, Adichie’s characters would be chapters 1, 2, and 3. She uses a common format of alternating focus, but doesn’t take the full move to speaking through each character in the first person.
The first character Adichie presents is Ugwu, the typical “young voice” of the novel. His struggle between loyalty to his original, tribal home and the wealthy, urban household he lives and works in adds to Adichie’s exploration of class and society in 1960s Nigeria—although the exploration is hardly deep. Ugwu is possibly the only character that doesn’t reek with predictability. His point of view does add a factor of interest to the story, although he is somewhat two-dimensional. Then comes Olanna, the rich voice in the novel, whose father is a political bigwig. The dramatic situation in which the Nigerian political turmoil places her acts as the climax of the book—but it’s really only mediocre. Much of the novel takes place in Nsukka, where Olanna resides with her “revolutionary lover” in defiance of her parents’ taste. Richard is the last character, and one of the only white figures in the novel. He contributes to the unintentional condescension in the novel; one aspect of the book is that is subtly well done. The story shifts between these three characters and the intermingling of their lives.
The overall idea of the book is great, but ambitious. Adichie attempts to personalize a country’s political struggle. In her author’s note she even describes that she has “taken many liberties for the purposes of fiction; my intent is to portray my own imaginative truths and not the facts of war.” It’s a nice concept, but unfortunately it fails to hit home. One can appreciate her effort to bring something so distant to the average person down on a face-to-face level, but in the end appreciation won’t satisfy the reader. Adiche’s own heart is certainly sewn into the book, but through her overly fictionalized characters the entirety of the book comes off as unauthentic, despite her unique view into the lives of Nigerians. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie seems to be wise, but her attempt to emulate the path of such writers as the respected Chinua Achebe comes up short. Considering she is only 29 and Half of a Yellow Sun is only her second book, Adichie has a long, long time to further develop her style.
“Half of a Yellow Sun” might be worth it if you have a lot of time to kill, but for the busy, bustling, and bright among us… it’s not worth it. Rating: B-
