Americanah by Chimamnda Ngozi Adichie
I came to know about this book while flipping through goodreads recommendations, looking at the cover I thought 'Hmmm... I might like this book.' And I was not wrong.
This is a book about Ifemlu; a girl growing up in Nigeria, where one struggles for basic needs like running water, electricity, et al. She has friends who keep going abroad mostly America and eventually have plans to move out of their homeland, And then she falls in love with Obinze. And their struggles growing up, moving to different countries, identity issues, diaspora. racism & longing for a home. Its witty, funny, heart wrenching at times and very very realistic.
I never like books based in developing or underdeveloped countries, it reminds me of the struggles and the plight of people living in India. And usually, these novels are overly exaggerated versions of the reality and mostly cater to the white audience. Whereas this novel is totally different, it appeals to one & all the same. Nothing hyped up or exaggerated. You come to know the nuances of the African culture and small things which make the people there different from the others.
Some noteworthy quotes in Americanah:
"Why did people ask "What is it about?" as if a novel had to be about only one thing.”
"But of course it makes sense because we are Third Worlders and Third Worlders are forward-looking, we like things to be new, because our best is still ahead, while in the West their best is already past and so they have to make a fetish of that past.Remember this is our newly middle-class world. We haven’t completed the first cycle of prosperity, before going back to the beginning again, to drink milk from the cow’s udder.”
My Ratings: 4 out of 5
Do I recommend it? Yes, Of course.
Will I re-read it? I don't think so.
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