Review for "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Ifemelu wanted, suddenly and desperately, to be from the country of people who gave and not those who received, to be one of those who had and could therefore bask in the grace of having given, to be among those who could afford copious pity and empathy. 



Rating: 3 stars

This review will be brief, and unfortunately my opinion will probably be controversial. Buckle in!I read Americanah as a part of my 100 Best-Loved Novels Reading Challenge. I am really glad I read the book, though I did nit-pick at some things.

The story alternates between two main characters - Ifemelu, a strong-willed, brutally honest, and intensely unapologetic young woman who grows up in Nigeria and then moves to America for 13 years, and Obinze, Ifemelu's first love, who makes his own name for himself in Lagos. The story tackles the events of Ifemelu's Nigerian childhood through university, and then migration to America and her experiences there, and finally her return and resettling in Nigeria. We also read about Obinze's experiences during the same time span, including his immigration to and deportation from England.

I really liked the set-up of this story, both with the alternating viewpoints and the alternating timelines. We start the book as Ifemelu's about to leave America to move back to Nigeria. Things from her American experience are referenced but we don't yet know what they really are, and we can see how America has changed Ifemelu based on how she is judging other African women living in the US. I'm torn between whether or not I liked Ifemelu's character development. On one hand, it was really interesting to see her deal with assimilating in America while not losing her roots, and then assimilating back into Nigeria as a long-term American resident. She really struggles with her two identities - the African woman and the American immigrant. The reason I can't say I love her development is because to me, Ifemelu seemed to mature backwards. I felt that she was much less mature in the end of the novel when she's back in Nigeria and is somewhere in her thirties than she is in the beginning of the novel when she's a university student. I thought her composure and responses to American ignorance were very poised and articulate during the time that she was in America, and when she returned to Nigeria she was very unreasonable, whiny, and just immature.

I don't have much to say about Obinze's side of the story. Overall it felt more boring, and I didn't see as much development from him in any capacity. The main function of Obinze seems to be to show how much he's still in love with Ifemelu throughout her time in America, so he's more of a prop to show her personality than he is his own character.

Here's where it gets controversial: I thought Ifemelu's view of America was very one-sided. Put down your pitchforks and hear me out real quick! I understand that the author is a well-known advocate for racial equality/feminism/human rights, and I really enjoy her Ted Talks, her ideas, and the outreach that she does. That is why I found the portrayal of American ignorance so disappointing. I feel like Chimamanda could have used the opportunity to talk about the systemic issues with race in America and why those contribute to American ignorance on race. For example, I couldn't honestly say that I knew the official language of Nigeria was English and that I wouldn't have asked a person like Ifemelu if we met what her native language was, and perhaps that's considered "ignorant", but my public education system did not put value on understanding different countries and cultures. I think the root of a lot of Ifemelu's frustrations and confusion are the lack of education about these things, and it is a shame but I think it would be oversimplifying to say that Americans are ignorant on their own account.

I was willing to get over this minor detail and was ready to give this book a solid 4 stars, probably rounded down from a 4.25-4.5. But then I read the last 15% of the book. This goes back to the characters maturing backwards. Here's Obinze, who as soon as his ex-girlfriend from college, literally over a decade ago, comes back into town he drops his entire family to be with her. The cheating used as a plot device was just... absolutely deplorable. And the thing was--we were supposed to "side" with Ifemelu and Obinze! We were supposed to think that they should be together and Obinze should just divorce his wife already because clearly Ifem and Obinze are soulmates. I was so so so uncomfortable reading it. I kept thinking of Kosi, Obinze's wife of 5 years, and Buchi, Obinze's daughter with Kosi, and thinking that you can't just throw them out because you got married "because you were restless" and "it was a mistake". NO. What kind of trash human does that? And yeah, Obinze does spend some time thinking of his wife and daughter and feeling guilty because of them, but in the end he does it anyway because ~true love~. I would say "screw your true love", but evidently he already was. So yeah, just not a fan of this ending. If this book had ended right after Ifemelu returned to Africa, without the year in Africa taped onto the ending, my overall view of the book would be much different.

So overall, I recommend this book, especially for people who don't know much about being an immigrant to America or about African society and customs because that was interesting to learn about, but just put it down after chapter 44 because that's when it gets real bad.