Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie burst onto the literary scene with her remarkable debut novel, "Purple Hibiscus, "which critics hailed as "one of the best...
read full description
reviews
Sep 20, 2011
Alan
rated it: 
These, by now, are familiar stories of immigrants to America adjusting to a clash of cultures, which exposes faults on both sides and tests relationships. Lahiri springs to mind, Mukherjee, or Le Thi Diem Thuy, but Adichie lacks Lahiri's subtlety and power and the latter's poetic wonder.
The stories set wholly in Africa detailing close scrapes with civil war/unrest in Nigeria, or its prison system or, eg, a queue outside the American embassy in Lagos studiously ignoring the 'soldier More...
The stories set wholly in Africa detailing close scrapes with civil war/unrest in Nigeria, or its prison system or, eg, a queue outside the American embassy in Lagos studiously ignoring the 'soldier More...
Jun 04, 2010
Sokari
rated it: 
What an excellent set of short stories exploring the human condition with all its flaws and neurosis. Adichie addresses the institution of marriage - arranged marriage, infidelity; same sex desire, sibling rivalry and the consequences of subordinating female children; she then intersects these with immigration and migration and interracial relationships. Each story is complete yet you feel it could also form the basis for a longer novel. Unlike many young Nigerian writers Adichie's language i
More...
4 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Dec 22, 2011
Wanderlust
rated it:
I read this book in two days...I do enjoy short stories at times, it makes the progress faster and there is always the next story to look forward to if you not particularly engrossed by one story. I first read Purple Hibiscus three years ago and fell in love with Adichie's writing. The Thing Around Your Neck is a collection of stories previously published in various publications. It tells of immigrant Nigerians, professionals, students, wives carving their way in the land of opportunity, America
More...
Apr 07, 2011
Sally906
rated it: 
A collection of twelve short stories finds Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi reflecting on various aspects of relationships; relationships between family, people and cultures. Each of the stories are either set in Nigeria or America, and all the central characters are Nigerian.
As with most books of short stories - some are better than others. My only criticism is that a couple of the stories just seemed to stop before the end, so I didn't get a sense of closure - in fact I didn't even get a sen More...
As with most books of short stories - some are better than others. My only criticism is that a couple of the stories just seemed to stop before the end, so I didn't get a sense of closure - in fact I didn't even get a sen More...
Jul 08, 2011
Babydoll
rated it:
After familiarizing myself with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s literary works, I found it appropriate to read her most current publication, The Thing Around Your Neck. I did not approach this book, which consists of a collection of short stories, with the same exuberance that I had when reading her first two published novels. This is likely because I do not prefer to read short stories. However, in doing so, I assessed this volume with a sense of admiration for Adichie’s exceptional literary prose.
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 27, 2010
Mohd Nazmi
rated it:
GAYA dan langgam penulisan Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie yang mengalir sepanjang 12 cerpen dalam The Thing Around Your Neck memudahkan kita menyusuri karyanya yang sarat dengan pascakolonialisme.
Tidak hanya gaya dan langgam penulisan serta bahasa yang sederhana yang menyenangkan kita untuk menikmati kumpulan cerpen ini, bahkan kita seolah-olah membaca hal yang dekat dengan kita.
Di tangan Adichie, perwatakan tertawan kepada Barat benar-benar diselam ke dasar karyanya sehingga kita More...
Tidak hanya gaya dan langgam penulisan serta bahasa yang sederhana yang menyenangkan kita untuk menikmati kumpulan cerpen ini, bahkan kita seolah-olah membaca hal yang dekat dengan kita.
Di tangan Adichie, perwatakan tertawan kepada Barat benar-benar diselam ke dasar karyanya sehingga kita More...
Nov 07, 2011
Sam
rated it:
The Thing Around Your Neck is a short story collection by one of my favourite authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Having previously read and loved Purple Hibiscus (my review) and especially Half of a Yellow Sun (my review - go and get a copy now if you haven't read it), I couldn't wait to get my hands on this collection, her only work published in book form that I had yet to read. And I wasn't disappointed.
The Thing Around Your Neck is a short story collection about women, the immigra More...
The Thing Around Your Neck is a short story collection about women, the immigra More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 04, 2011
Amélie
rated it:
J'avais beaucoup aimé Half of a Yellow Sun, que j'ai lu au mois de janvier, alors j'étais contente de tomber sur le recueil de nouvelles d'Adichie à la bibliothèque. Mais même si je l'ai gobé en, disons, deux traits & demi, je suis pas tout à fait convaincue.
Ce qui m'a le plus chicoté, avec ces nouvelles, c'est que celles qui parlent de la guerre du Biafra reprennent des thèmes (quand c'est pas des détails & des anecdotes au complet) qui ont été mieux traités dans Half of a Yellow Sun. More...
Ce qui m'a le plus chicoté, avec ces nouvelles, c'est que celles qui parlent de la guerre du Biafra reprennent des thèmes (quand c'est pas des détails & des anecdotes au complet) qui ont été mieux traités dans Half of a Yellow Sun. More...
Jan 01, 2012
Adrian
rated it:
Here is an author that understands the human condition better than just about any author I’ve ever read before. In this collection of short stories, Adichie has penned works that strike perfectly at the heart of what makes us human: the ties that bind and also that separate. Her prose are strikingly beautiful, her stories wonderfully poignant, and her characters remarkably vivid. And all the while, there is this great sense of universality to her writing. All of these stories are about African c
More...
Jan 03, 2011
Rachael
rated it:
What a great way to start my reading year in 2011. I loooooved this book of short stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
The Thing Around Your Neck contains 12 short stories about Nigerian women (and one man) who struggle with their families, their marriages, their country, American immigration & culture, sexism, racism, education, war, religion, their children, and their neighbors. Her characters are very realistic and her writing is beautiful and honest.
I am a big fan o More...
The Thing Around Your Neck contains 12 short stories about Nigerian women (and one man) who struggle with their families, their marriages, their country, American immigration & culture, sexism, racism, education, war, religion, their children, and their neighbors. Her characters are very realistic and her writing is beautiful and honest.
I am a big fan o More...
Sep 26, 2009
Patrick
rated it:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes of displacement. Of loss, of dysphoria, and of strange new begins for disseminated people in strange lands - which is some instances is their own country. She has the uncomfortableness of it all down to a science. She brings in the familiar, she talks of the past. She has concise images of family, friends, and former lives newly forgotten and traded away for the future. America seems to play the reluctant role of redemption, although it is always with a price. Goi
More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Mar 09, 2010
Deborah
rated it:
Great book!
Written from a woman's perspective, each vignette gives the reader a peeek or insight into the immigrant perspective. These are stories to which we can all relate. Actually not all of them deal with being a Woman Nigerian immigrant to America. Some address problems that women face in Nigeria.
Actually one story, "A Private Experience" proves to be quite timely in light of the recent violence between Christians and Muslims in Dogo Nahawa. Ms. Adichie a More...
Written from a woman's perspective, each vignette gives the reader a peeek or insight into the immigrant perspective. These are stories to which we can all relate. Actually not all of them deal with being a Woman Nigerian immigrant to America. Some address problems that women face in Nigeria.
Actually one story, "A Private Experience" proves to be quite timely in light of the recent violence between Christians and Muslims in Dogo Nahawa. Ms. Adichie a More...
Jul 30, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it:
"A country famously known to the West for its e-mail scams, Nigeria is indebted to Adichie for these graceful and evocative stories that portray it as the rich and diverse nation it truly is. They also demonstrate her keen insight into the rough terrain of human nature beset by external demands and pressures. Adichie, compared to a ""hostess"" (San Francisco Chronicle) who invites her achingly believable characters fully formed into her stories, treats her protagonists -
More...
Jul 31, 2009
Theresa
rated it:
All of these 12 short stories center on Nigerian individuals, either in Nigeria or as immigrants in the United States. Some would have rated four stars, others three, so I settled on a three star rating overall. Several of the stories illustrate the conflict between modern culture and tradition, particularly in the immigrant stories.
One interesting note - the author's use of point of view in her narratives. One story appears to be in first person, but the pronoun is not "I," More...
One interesting note - the author's use of point of view in her narratives. One story appears to be in first person, but the pronoun is not "I," More...
Jul 27, 2011
Richard
rated it:
I can barely begin to explain the catharsis of reading Adichie's prose. In particular, I am captivated by the way her stories respond to the expectations many readers might have of "ethnic fiction" or "African fiction," as genres full of Third-world starvation and refugees. She deftly handles subjectivities of black African privilege, of facets of identity which the market would slam as "inauthentic," or "not African enough." Her stories are delightfully a
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 12, 2009
S Shields
rated it:
When I heard someone on NPR mention that Adichie was, figuratively speaking, "Chinua Achebe's daughter", I knew I had to read this book -- not because I love Things Fall Apart (which I do), but because it always strikes me as short-sighted to compare a writer to another writer merely because of their homeland, in this case, Nigeria. I had a feeling that Adichie's writing would be all her own, and it was -- there is only one story that very blatantly mirrors the style of Achebe's writi
More...
Jul 15, 2010
Vicki
rated it:
The first several short stories didn't blow me away in the way I've come to expect from Adichie, so I sort of half-formulated this theory in my mind that what I really love about her is her character development and the way she can put you into a mood or emotional state without seeming to try (like the way she builds the mood of the family around the abusive father in Purple Hibiscus - spot freaking on), and maybe those traits can't be fully developed in a short story. But then I got to On Mond
More...
Jun 25, 2011
Patricia
rated it:
I went on a Nigerian reading binge this month, found a bunch recommended for me on Amazon and decided to specialize, just for one month, learn a little about Nigeria. It has been a wonderful experience.
This book is fascinating because it isn't just about Nigeria, but about the expat experience, the dislocation one feels coming to another country as other than a visitor, so her characters look at America and Americans through the eyes of foreigners, and find us very different in some wa More...
This book is fascinating because it isn't just about Nigeria, but about the expat experience, the dislocation one feels coming to another country as other than a visitor, so her characters look at America and Americans through the eyes of foreigners, and find us very different in some wa More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 04, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
This book of short stories is amazing. I'm not always the biggest fan of short story collections because they feel sort of choppy to me, but that wasn't the case with this one. The Thing Around Your Neck was somehow more cohesive, working around a theme that I can't name but was definitely there.
There are 12 stories. Some take place in America and some in Nigeria, but all have Nigerians, usually women, as their main characters. No story disappointed, but "Jumping Monkey Hill" More...
There are 12 stories. Some take place in America and some in Nigeria, but all have Nigerians, usually women, as their main characters. No story disappointed, but "Jumping Monkey Hill" More...
Feb 22, 2010
Crystal
rated it:
I am not fond of short stories. I picked this book up at the library thinking it was a novel. Upon starting the second story in the book, which I thought was a chapter, I was confused as to how the characters would meet up or relate, as one was in Nigeria and the other in Philadelphia. OK, then I figured it out. I kept reading. Now I remember why I don't like short stories; I became so invested in the characters after just a few skillfully crafted pages by Adichie, that I was let down when at th
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 04, 2010
Ralph
rated it:
I randomly chose this book when I couldn't find a copy of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from the popular library. Turns out it's yet another short stories book about Africa. While there is a story about genocide, the collection of stories is much more authentic feeling than Say You're One of Them and focuses only on stories from the perspective of Nigerians (probably the reason why). As in most short stories, the story arc is too short to develop characters or be satisfying, but the stories
More...
Oct 12, 2010
Lisa (Ravenswood)
rated it:
The stories really make one realize how difficult many African women find their lives, whether remaining in Africa or immigrating. If staying in countries such as Nigeria, they are subjected to blatant sexism and discrimination by the dominant males in government, business, and their own personal lives. Previous generations, with their superstitions and fetishes, put enormous pressure on them, making them want to escape. Arranged marriages are still common in many countries in Africa. It is d
More...
Oct 24, 2011
Bernard
rated it:
Readability: 2.5/5
The book was written well. However, the problem is the Nigerian Names are so hard to memorize, and any Nigerian term just sets off problems in my reading. I completely lose my train of thought.
Comprehension: 4.5/5
The comprehension of the book was there. It was a meaningful book with a lot of tiny short stories, and you get a lot out of each chapter, than any other book.
Clarity: 1.0/5
The clarity was the hardest thing to know in t More...
The book was written well. However, the problem is the Nigerian Names are so hard to memorize, and any Nigerian term just sets off problems in my reading. I completely lose my train of thought.
Comprehension: 4.5/5
The comprehension of the book was there. It was a meaningful book with a lot of tiny short stories, and you get a lot out of each chapter, than any other book.
Clarity: 1.0/5
The clarity was the hardest thing to know in t More...
Apr 07, 2011
Jordan
rated it:
A fantastic collection of beautiful short stories. Adichie is a writer with real poise. Her prose are simple and elegant; she does not impose melodrama upon the reader, but allows the strength and significance of each story to shine through with its own vitality. All of the stories are full with Nigeria, they are a celebration and lamentation of that country's culture and history, but like all extraordinary writers she conveys a universal message that transcends the phenomenal boundaries of cult
More...
Jul 09, 2009
shannon
rated it:
this book is among the best books i've read. made up of short stories, each chapter is a vignette, a world within itself. adichie is a master of character development in a short amount of time. you leave each story empathizing with the characters and sorry to leave them. she explores the idea of identity in america, nigeria, and what happens when the two interact. she discusses the insecurities that arise when a person moves to a foreign land and the thin line between "fitting in"
More...
Apr 22, 2010
Catherine
rated it:
This is a gorgeous set of short stories - stories that are a little longer than the usual short story seems to me, which helps in terms of having me invested and pulling me into the lives of each character. There's such a range of experience here too - class, rank, religion, urban, rural, Nigerian, other African, American, male, female, revolutionary, staid. Unlike other books I've read that try and capture something of a diaspora effect - Ha Jin's A Good Fall, for example, or Jhumpa Lahiri's
More...
Feb 27, 2011
Alice
rated it:
In her TED talk and through her characters, Adichie is determined to share an "African story" without the cliches. Some of these short stories take place in Nigeria while others are based in the US. All of the characters are aware of their history and nearly all of them are Igbo, Adichie's tribe, but otherwise, their experiences are wide-ranging. Even those that come to America see their new country with different eyes. The range of ages, sexual preference and experience, income an
More...
Jan 21, 2010
Ellen
rated it:
Despite liking Purple Hibiscus and liking Half of a Yellow Sun even more, I didn't buy this collection when it was initially published. Silly me. The paperback found its way into my hands, partially because I was hoping to find a story to assign to my AS English Literature students. And I did. I wish I could have given them "Cell One", but it didn't fit our topic. That story would have reminded them of Osundare's "Not my Business" from their GCSE poetry study -- and it would
More...
Jul 22, 2009
Mike
rated it:
"The Thing Around Your Neck" is the third book from acclaimed Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who deploys her calm, descriptive prose to portray women in Nigeria and America who are forced to match their wits against threats ranging from marauding guerrillas to microwave ovens. Within its somewhat narrow range -- the men are all feckless brutes, the women invariably resourceful and spunky -- these stories are haunting. The devastating final piece, "The Headstrong Histori
More...
Aug 30, 2010
Tanja
rated it:
After having read with much enthusiasm two other books by the same author (i.e. Purple Hibiscus; Half a Yellow Sun), my hopes were high for this collection of short stories. I love good short stories and was therefore expecting a real treat. Maybe that's why I am a bit disappointed after finishing the book. None of the stories really blew me away even though there was a wide variety of interesting topics and issues around Nigerian and American societies as well as the status and struggle of wome
More...
