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Americanah-Discussion
I finished this yesterday, just in time. Americanah is a very different kind of book than Half of a Yellow Sun, but just as well-written. I am a white woman who grew up in the Jim Crow south. It has taken a lot of reading, thinking, and caring to try and extricate myself from the legacy of racism I grew up with. I was lucky to have a mother and father who taught me better, but others in my family (most notably my grandfather) were flagrant, unapologetic racists. I thank Adiche for helping Americans see how they look like from the outside.I am guilty for seeing Africa as "having one story" as she talks about in her TED talk here: https://www.goodreads.com/videos/1227... , but reading Americanah has shown me how limited my view was. (If I actually had a view. Mostly I had a glimpse.)
I did get a bit confused by some of the names of the characters. A few of them I never did nail down, but overall, I think some of them existed for atmosphere and not plot. I thought the device of using the hair braiding salon as a touchstone of place and time was quite successful. I had no idea how difficult and expensive managing black hair was. At first glance, one might assume that talking so much about hair is a banal exercise, especially for a literary work. But on second glance, it is a perfect example of how the very essence of a person (even a whole race) is dismissed and supplanted by what many of us would call "the norm." Hair has often been the dividing line of generations. Just see that musical.
Hair salons are big business in Africa. It is one of the fastest growing enterprises for women. I grew up in Ohio, and there was and I am sure still racism there. My mother was the one who had no prejuidices. I was thinking about how alien race was to the woman, until she left her country. I tried to imagine myself going to Nigeria, and learning a new culture, and the languages.
I read this about a year ago, and liked it very much. In fact I had it sitting on my desk to remind me to nominate it for the Reading List. Then I plumb forgot to nominate anything. Thanks, Carol, for picking up the slack.That said, I didn't get around to giving it a reread for this discussion. Too much going on around here, my concentration is shot.
Like you, Sherry, I found it enlightening, especially seeing Americans from the other side.
I wasn't quite as enchanted with the book. I didn't like her complaining voice. I felt the character was presented as a person who was never satisfied, whether with her living conditions, boyfriends, jobs (the job with the sleaze trainer WAS very humiliating and dehumanizing). I know if I went to live in Nigeria, I would complain constantly because of the difference in life styles, and I would be aware of how lily-white Irish I am (cheap Irish skin). A good thing, the book caused me to again question myself on how I feel about race because I grew up in Georgia, where it was so predominant.
I did enjoy the part about Ifemelu straightening her hair with the relaxer. That was humorous, then again, she had a bad attitude toward the Senegalese woman who braided her hair.
Hope I haven't said too much.
Gina wrote: "I wasn't quite as enchanted with the book. I didn't like her complaining voice. I felt the character was presented as a person who was never satisfied, whether with her living conditions, boyfrie..."Gina, never worry about saying too much here. Nothing you said above wasn't worthy of comment. I didn't take her attitude as complaining so much, as being brutally honest about herself and others. I was amazed that her blog allowed her to actually make a living so quickly. It got me to thinking "Now how could I do that?" I'm too lazy, though, I think.
Just got the book from the library today, so I am averting my eyes and posting to say that I'll be back to check out the discussion soon.
I'm really disappointed that I couldn't get this from the library in time for the discussion. Like Mary Anne, I'll be checking back...but much later, I'm afraid. Sounds like an intriguing book.
Do you think it was a harsher discovery for Ifemelu in America, or Obinze in England? If so was it because of gender differences?
I think it was harsher for Obinze in England, although, I say that and I think I might change my mind because Ifemelu had such a hard time getting a job and became so depressed. Okay, I've officially changed my mind. I think it was harder for Ifemelu. But they both had it hard. Obinze had his dreams crushed and was deported. Luckily Ifemelu found the job as the nanny and was pulled out of her depression.
I thought it was as harder for Obize, being as he was male and from a traditional patriarchial society. He found it harder to accept that women had minds and thoughts all their own. I don't think he would have married Ifemelu , he would have her as a mistress , but never a wife. She doesn't fit the traditional woman role. Look who he married. He followed tradition and not his heart. Whereas Ifemelu really broke away from all things Nigerian if you think about it. She was independent, and free to think on her own. She had more life experiences than Obinze had. And yet Nigeria kept calling her back, why do you think that was so?
I read this book a year ago and I loved it - both for its captivating story and for its thought provoking ideas. i couldn't put it down, and that doesn't happen much anymore.Regarding the hair motif - I taught African girls and was always very aware of the role hair played in their lives. Many of the elaborate braided styles were really beautiful. But this also involved hours of work (6 or more hours) and pulling the hair tightly away from the scalp in an unhealthy way and weaving the natural hair with artificial hair. Many of the Sudanese girls also wore straight wigs to cover their natural hair.
I always thought what a burden society placed on these young women by refusing to value natural African hair.
I read Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun after this book and remember that the rich Lagos women generally wore Western style wigs during the time period of the Biafran war. I don't know if that has changed.
Carol asked, regarding Ifemelu: "And yet Nigeria kept calling her back, why do you think that was so?"I think this sentence helps explain that: "I feel like I got off the plane in Lagos and stopped being black.”
I think it can be very difficult always being "the other." And Ifemelu was not only black, but also African which made it difficult for her to completely fit in on two counts.
I think I understand some of the feeling about hair. I was born in 1951, when wavy hair for women was in. As soon as my straight hair grew in my mother had me in curlers. (I have pictures!) She gave me store-bought "perms" and I remember how much they burned my 6-year-old scalp. Then the girl friends of The Beatles came on the scene in the 1960s and girls with curly hair were wrapping their wet hair in beer cans as I let mine dry naturally.So, no, I have no African ancestors, but Hair As Identity is something that resonates for a lot of women.
This is the prime reason I like this book so much. Ms. Adichie, an African woman half my age, has her characters make statements that make me say, "I get that." Here are two I particularly like. The page numbers are from the paperback.
"Some of the expressions she heard every day astonished her, jarred her, and she wondered what Obinze's mother would make of them. You shouldn't of done that. There is three things. I had a apple. I want to lay down." P. 165
"... there was an impatience in her tone, almost an accusation, as she added that academics were not intellectuals; they were not curious, they built their stolid tents of specialized knowledge and stayed securely in them." P 401.
There is something I am missing from this book, I can't put my finger on it. I am hoping someone will hit on it in this discussion. I don't know if itIis Obinze and Ifemelu relationship or not. I keep thinking something was not right . What was missing , other than Ifemelu left him to go to America. Why didn't she want to keep in touch, if she loved him?I forgot she said that about stepping off the plane and losing her blackness. I loved that passage, but she was consisdered a foreigner in her birth counrty as the title implies. After being here many years, my husband went back to his country and everyone said he spoke with an American accent. His uncle told him not to speak in the bazaar, because they would know he was not from there,. Lol! So it is true for every immigrant no matter what country they are originally from , I suppose.
Were others embarrassed how new immigrants were treated ? I know I was.
I think the fact that she allowed herself to have sex for money caused her terrible shame. She could not bring herself to tell Obinze nor could she bring herself to put on an act for him as though everything was as it had been before her decision. So she just kept putting off answering his calls and texts until he stopped calling.
Carol wrote: "There is something I am missing from this book, I can't put my finger on it. I am hoping someone will hit on it in this discussion. I don't know if itIis Obinze and Ifemelu relationship or not. I k..."Gina wrote: "I wasn't quite as enchanted with the book. I didn't like her complaining voice. I felt the character was presented as a person who was never satisfied, whether with her living conditions, boyfrie..."
What I am missing is something more basic and enduring than particular criticisms of attitudes, clothing, and hair styles. Americanah strikes me as a rather unpleasant series of rants against labels and labeling rather than anything enduring. I will keep reading just because I am stubborn.
Susan, if this book doesn't speak to you, I can understand that, and its fine to say so.However, like Portia, I found so much I could relate to, even though my personal experience is very different from Adichie's. Emotionally, it resonated. Maybe that's because I also had long periods in my life where I just didn't fit in. Of course, it also appeals to me because I love books about other cultures and I am always curious about how others see us as Americans.
Carol, good point about Ifemulu no longer completely fitting in either in America or Nigeria. Still, in Nigeria, she didn't have that special burden of being categorized as "black," with all the stereotypes that African Americans have to deal with just because of their appearance. I lived for almost two years in Japan and I got tired of sticking out.
Carol, does your husband feel that he straddles two cultures, and is that difficult for him? I can see where it might be. I have read that Adichie divides her time between American and Nigeria.
I sense that you don't like the love angle in this book. Is it because Obinze is married and a father by the time they find each other again?
It not that the book does not speak to me, but rather that the tone is harsh. It was recommended by a former colleague from when I taught in a historically black college where many of my best students were from outside the USA.
Not really Ann, he considers himself first and foremost an American, who happened to be born in a foreign country. In fact he had quite a discussion with a brother-in-law a few years back on that very point. I don't know if it is because he is immersed in the culture. He still hangs on to the food of his childhood and of course his religion. I think it is because in his country he attended all British schools, and he married outside his race. I don't know if that would have made a difference with Imefelu, she was first an African of Nigerian descent. My husband is of the South India culture. Over the years colonial colonization had a strong role in both countries. What impact did it have on her decision to study abroad do you think?
I think her decision to study abroad was because the schools and universities were always on strike.
I agree, Sherry. Plus, she followed advice and applied for and got a scholarship.
I thought that Adichie's structuring of this novel was absolutely brilliant. Her point of view as an African immigrant allowed her to look at race in the U.S. from the point of view of both an outsider and an insider. Integrating the blog into the narrative part way through increased the complexity of the observations. I also don't think that she presented any issues simplistically. Things were not perfect in Nigeria, London or the U.S. Nigeria was, first and foremost, home, a place where she wasn't immediately seen as different because of her skin color. I think that was her reason for going back.I thought it was very important that she highlighted that white people like to think that life is infinitely better for people of color in the U.S. these days. That allows us to put our blinders on about all of the discrimination that is still happening.
The only thing I questioned in the book was the amount of money that Ifemelu was able to make from the advertising and connections that arose from her blog. I have known a number of people who have written excellent blogs and, though they did often make enough money from advertising to pay for the blog, they rarely made much in addition to that.
I agree with all you said, Barb. And I too, questioned the money-making part of the blog.
Well put Barb. That puts it in perspective for me. What about her Aunt, I felt sorry for her. She had to compromise happiness again and again. First the general, then her career.
I felt like the Aunt didn't find her self until the end. In Nigeria, she put her fate entirely in the General's hands. Adichie highlighted this thinking among other women there, that the goal was to find a man with as much money as possible who would take care of them. It reminded me of the U.S. in the 50's and 60's. But, when the man is gone, the woman often has nothing. In the U.S. though the Aunt worked hard to attain her own credentials, she fell prey to the same ideas when she lived with the man there. I thought she was finally happy in the end when she had her own profession where she was accepted and man that loved her for herself.I've been thinking today about Ifemelu's blog in the U.S. and the one in Nigeria. She put the skills that she learned in the U.S. to work to try and achieve change in her home country instead of becoming an expatriate. I read Paul Theroux's book, Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town,recently about his travels through Africa as an older man after serving in the Peace Corps as a young man. One of the trends that he thought was working against countries there was that the goal for so many young people was to get a good education and then leave the country. They weren't coming back to help. Adichie must've thought a lot about this issue herself since she lives in both the U.S. and Nigeria. And, I certainly see it highlighted in this book.
Good points, Barb. I wonder if much of the problem in Africa is the endemic corruption which makes it harder to get a fair shake - unless you are a member of the favored political or ethnic group. It's been awhile since I read this book, but didn't Obinze have to deal with this all the time in his business?
In Nigeria, do you think it is not so much about race, but class and religion?
Barbara wrote: "I felt like the Aunt didn't find her self until the end. In Nigeria, she put her fate entirely in the General's hands. Adichie highlighted this thinking among other women there, that the goal was..."Barbara, I am going to gently take exception to your statement. "Coming back to help" can be defined as many different things, one of which is a trap, especially for women. I won't bore you with TMI. And, as you noted, Ms. Adichie does live both in the U.S. and in Nigeria.
I should add a quick P.S. Even going away for college takes people out if the flow of those who went to school close to home. Living in and near NYC and WAshington, D.C. gave me experiences I could' not share with the people I knew in high school. The first time I went home after working for a short time in D.C, I spoke in acronyms no one understood. My family had no idea who this creature was who taked about DOD and HUD and DOJ and The Hill.
I understand why you would take exception, Portia. Theroux's statements met with controversy at the time. But the fact remains that these issues have been discussed and I think that this book reflects that atmosphere, at least to some extent.
Now it 's my turn to be at a loss. Please tell me where I missed the discussion of these issues. I read back through and found only your comment . Was there a link I overlooked?
I'm sorry, Portia. I was referring to the remarks by Paul Theroux in his book Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town. I referenced them in my original note. He is the one who made those observations.
Carol wrote: "In Nigeria, do you think it is not so much about race, but class and religion?"Carol, race per se is not usually the issue, but ethnicity is very important. By that I mean, the tribal group you belong to. Adichie is an Igbo, the group that tried to break away from Nigeria during the Biafran war, which she wrote about inHalf of a Yellow Sun. Class is always most important, but it can be influenced both by ethnicity and religion. I checked and found it interesting that Islam holds the edge, but Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.
Adichie writes about the middle and upper classes, which gave me a whole new perspective on Africa.
Barbara wrote: "I'm sorry, Portia. I was referring to the remarks by Paul Theroux in his book Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town. I referenced them in my original note. He is the one ..."Got it. Thanks for clearing that up.
Susan wrote: "It not that the book does not speak to me, but rather that the tone is harsh...."Blunt is the word that keeps coming to my mind. There are points made that are very direct and I am liking that. In fact, the book pokes fun at the tendency of some people of not being direct and pretending that they are not allowed to notice or say certain things when it comes to race.
Interesting info, Ann. I read Half of a Yellow Sun, but keep forgetting that fact about the Igbo people.Julie, I really liked the directness of her observations too.
I think as a foreigner she had more latitude to say things about race.
Julie wrote: "Susan wrote: "It not that the book does not speak to me, but rather that the tone is harsh...."Blunt is the word that keeps coming to my mind. There are points made that are very direct and I am ..."
I am enjoying Americanah more the more I read. Perhaps it was the assertive tone of the opening that bothered me. I felt that she took off against easy targets. The sections on teenage love are less pointed and, to use an outdated notion, more universal and touching.
I didn't care for the beginning as much either. Something about the blog turns me off and annoys me, and although it is mentioned later (I am somewhere a little past the middle of the book right now) it is easier to overlook then for some reason. And her attitude in the hair salon was annoying to me also.
I definitely don't think Ifemelu is supposed to be a hero. In fact, she can definitely be irritating. But, she utters some pretty stark truths from time to time.In fact, did anyone think any of the characters were heros? They all seemed to have flaws that made them pretty human to me. I think Obinze's mother came the closest to be totally admirable.
Ifemelu is being a person, a real person with all the flaws, and warmth of a human being, for me. I think I better understand a woman of color in relationship to her country, herself and her sex. I think Adichie relays that information well with her characters. She makes us think about them and what they are experiencing . Would a person born here of African descent feel the pressures of a new immigrant, if they were to immigrate to Nigeria? Would the class and religious distinction affect them? I know they would be a transplant , not an Americanah.
Interesting question, Carol. I think an African American would definitely experience culture shock if they moved. The African students I taught were mostly Somalian and Sudanese refugees. I also taught some middle and upper class Africans from Togo one summer. The refugee students were looked down on by some of the African American students and treated very badly. These were not the middle class African American students, but those living in the poorest part of town. I suppose if you are at the bottom of the social ladder, it makes you feel better to have someone below you. Irish immigrants were treated terribly by other whites in the 19th century.Ifemelu runs in very educated, well-to-do circles in the U.S. Her experience is very different. It really bothers her to be lumped together with African Americans because their culture is so different. I don't think she feels superior. Most of the white people treat her well, but she can never fully relax with them. I think sharing the same race with a minority here in the United States makes the whole experience more difficult for her. I suspect she would have felt more at home in another African country, but in many ways she was attracted to the U.S.
Thanks Ann, anyone else have an opinion?
What was your opinion of Curt, was he trying to be cool to show how progressive his thinking was, or was he insincere? Do you think that is typical of the upper white academia? Was Ifemelu his token black?My first thought was he was an all for show guy. I was thinking Ifemelu used him like her aunt used the general. Am I wrong?
I think many people experience culture shock, even in their own country. Moving from one region to another -- how many times have we heard that New York is not Los Angeles is not Chicago? -- can be a difficult adjustment.
Carol wrote: "What was your opinion of Curt, was he trying to be cool to show how progressive his thinking was, or was he insincere? Do you think that is typical of the upper white academia? Was Ifemelu his toke..."I couldn't "read" Curt. I think he probably really cared. She talks about "the unbelieving horror that was deepening the blue of his eyes" when she told him about her short affair. Also, Ifemelu says of Curt, "he was upbeat, relentlessly so, in a way that only an American of his kind could be, and there was an infantile quality to this that she found admirable and repulsive." She was the first black woman Curt had dated, but Ifemelu felt that Curt's mother expected him to date "exotic species," but, in time settle down properly.
I have just read your reactions to Americanah and I'm fascinated. I always get a much larger perspective when I visit these discussions.I read Americanah when it first came out. I'd heard her TED talk about the danger of a single story during an opening faculty meeting a few years ago. The school where I teach has a diverse student population and we've done study projects and action research to try to move our faculty to greater awareness of the way racism and white privilege affect our teaching and classrooms. My students are ten and eleven and the black students talk movingly about their own experiences. Almost all of these kids have stories about parents, usually dads, being pulled over by police if they are driving nice cars. "They think black people wouldn't have a nice car."
I agree with those who admire this book. It is so smart, so insistent on resisting a "single story." and we do get a window on a very different experience from either white or black worlds in America. It's eye opening. I absolutely loved the scene in the hair salon. So much happened in that scene in terms of culture and psychology and race.
I also had a reaction to the bluntness of the main character, and there were times when I wanted more tenderness in the book. Or I wanted to have a deeper insight into the emotional lives of the characters...but that's not what this book was trying to do. It was describing how culture and being an immigrant affected one particular person. A character Adichie created, whose experience she shares in some ways, but it's not a memoir, it's fiction. So, I think the bluntness or harshness is the character's way of coping with is what is often a very harsh life. Throughout the novel I kept thinking of it as a survival story. Ifemelu's money and ability to go to school in America didn't protect her from racism or sexism.
Gina, I think you have answered the question. It was not so much Curt as it was his mother. I did not foresee a pleasant outcome for their relationship , neither did I feel certain about Blaine.
Constant Reader
Books mentioned in this topic
Half of a Yellow Sun (other topics)Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town (other topics)
Half of a Yellow Sun (other topics)
Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town (other topics)
Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town (other topics)
More...
Here is the link to Wikipedia for others who don't know much about her.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimam...
I think this article addresses the issues she writes about, I hope you will take the time to read it.
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/07/2869036...
Looking forward to others opinions.