I realize that I'm sailing against the tide on this one. Americanah has received almost universal praise, hailed as one of the "Best Books of the Year." And yet I don't like it.
Let me qualify that. Adichie is a terrific novelist. Her style is wonderful and I appreciate the amazing craft in this novel. My problem is with the main character, Ifemelu. Is it possible to like a book when one intensely dislikes the main character? I suppose it is, but I can't say it makes for an enjoyable experience.
Ifemelu is self-absorbed, selfish, and careless of the people whom she supposedly loves. And then when she hurts them, she's baffled that they are hurt. I can't abide people like that. And she does it again and again. Granted, some of the men whom she hurts are not ideal themselves, but her willful destruction of relationships is unforgivable.
Perhaps that's my failing and not the novel's, but not liking Ifemelu makes it nigh impossible for me to like the book.
From the publisher: Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. At once powerful and tender, Americanah is a remarkable novel of race, love, and identity by the award-winning writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Let me qualify that. Adichie is a terrific novelist. Her style is wonderful and I appreciate the amazing craft in this novel. My problem is with the main character, Ifemelu. Is it possible to like a book when one intensely dislikes the main character? I suppose it is, but I can't say it makes for an enjoyable experience.
Ifemelu is self-absorbed, selfish, and careless of the people whom she supposedly loves. And then when she hurts them, she's baffled that they are hurt. I can't abide people like that. And she does it again and again. Granted, some of the men whom she hurts are not ideal themselves, but her willful destruction of relationships is unforgivable.
Perhaps that's my failing and not the novel's, but not liking Ifemelu makes it nigh impossible for me to like the book.
From the publisher: Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. At once powerful and tender, Americanah is a remarkable novel of race, love, and identity by the award-winning writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
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