Devastating. I was riveted until the end. Finished my wonderful TOC edition with a couple of days of concentrated reading.

I had definitely given up on Ugwu, while still holding out hope for Kainene.

Also makes me want to stock up on canned goods for next year... ( )

A fascinating story life through the Biafran War. The characters' lives before the war -- the petty relationship drama, the casual comfort of their dinner parties and friendly bickering, the unappreciated luxury -- contrasted poignantly with their mounting struggles, trauma, and exhaustion as the war raged on. ( )

I have watched Chimamanda's intellectual lectures, heard and watched some of her interesting interviews and read a fascinating short story by her. This was the first novel by the author and what a novel.

Through the beautiful but insecure Olanna , the dutiful Ugwu and the taciturn Richard, Chimamanda narrates of the joy and love during a time of peace in Nigeria and the strife, hunger, fear in a time of war.

A beautiful story. ( )

I’d vaguely heard of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ but did not really know what to expect when I was lent it. The narrative unfolds in Nigeria across the 1960s, when the country was split by a civil war that I’m ashamed to say I'd barely heard of. Events are brilliantly dramatised through the lives of several people and their families: Ugwu the houseboy, Olanna the rich academic, and Richard the British writer. The characters are evoked with great sensitivity and richness, both on their own and in their relationships with one another. As their circumstances become parlous after the secession of Biafra, the bonds between some are strained and others strengthened. The pace is beautifully judged to develop the characters while conveying the momentum of political events. The descent of the new state of Biafra into starvation is absolutely heart-rending and depicted so powerfully. Food is significant throughout, making the shift from varied menus to acute shortages all the more notable. As the whole book is very moving, it’s difficult for me to review. I find it much harder to write about fiction I have more of an emotional than an intellectual response to. ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ is a singularly intelligent, humane, and beautifully written novel. I was blown away by it. ( )

Great novel. Almost couldn't put it down. Like Achebe, the characters almost have a life independant of the author's control, unlike Achebe, Adichie's prose is much more florid and romantic. Living with these immensely likeable characters in the first act is anxiety inducing with the knowledge that they will be in the middle of one of the worst civil wars of the 20th century. Clearly this work was extensively researched to be able to breathe this level of authenticity and reality. Combined with her easy-reading, flowing prose it does make it an excellent read. Umberto Eco took one year of research before he started writing his In the Name of The Rose. Similar to him she took a real place and time but injected geographical and economic inventions as suited her novel.

Within the novel's characters there are a few major themes: the failure of the middle class Nigerian to construct a postcolonial future, the failure of male mind, and within that the solely female ability to think outside the ethnic bonds of Nigeria. This was examined by Mohammed Ghazi Alghamdi. I took issue with some of these supposed themes, explicated by Chigbo Anyaduba, who saw in the denouncement of the Igbo man the blaming of the Igbo for their own genocide. In Nigeria then and now there is a general opinion that the Igbo need to essentially get over this monumental catastrophe which was followed by humiliation and a pittance of reconciliation from the federal government. I don't neccesarily think those themes were all entirely intentional or that they need to be brought to the full extent of their conclusion. Ultimately, the characters of Odenigbo and Ugwu are compeltely powerless to the events around them, and while Odenigbo is portrayed as stubborn and masculine. He is able to develop his ideas flexibly as events are happening. As the genocide has not been able to be properly come to terms with on a national scale, it is the task of books and literature to be able to deal with what happened, and Adiche's book being the most popular representation of this tragedy it comes under fair criticism.