Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read this because it came highly recommended, and it's also a huge success. The story can feel unique, starting off in Nigeria with Ifemelu and Obinze as they meet, fall in love and look out to America as their saving grace. Ifemelu gets the chance to study there, while Obinze stays back to be with his mother.
What should have been a fantastic experience turns into a nightmare for Ifemelu; her prospects are dim and her university classes appear to exclude her. She desperately attempts to get by, finally settling down with a babysitting job.
On Obinze's side, he has zero prospects in Nigeria itself, so his mother takes him to England, where he has an even worse time than Ifemelu.
While many of the observations and the distinctive migrant experience makes this book a worthy and resonating read, the emphasis on the romantic side of the story chips away at its realism. Ifemelu's story is almost completely defined by the romantic partners in her life. And then the more interesting aspects are swiftly skipped over. While her relationship with Curt is still a good one, there's no precursor for how she ends it, and it isn't explained either. Nor does the author at that point bring up how a similar act by Curt was forgiven by Ifemelu and their relationship continued.
I also couldn't understand why Ifemelu stuck around with Blaine. Seemed like every experience with him was a poor one, and he seemed too self-involved to care about her. Why'd she stay with him?
There's also not much clarity on how and why Ifemelu decides to return to Nigeria. It's a decision that would be long in the making, yet it is not dwelt on as much in the book. Much more emphasis is put on the relationships and the break ups.
Obinze's story was, for the most part, uninteresting. I preferred Ifemelu's, at least she was more fleshed out. Obinze seemed to be a cardboard cutout molded for different circumstances.
The whole premise of the book, unfortunately, turned out to be about Ifemelu and Obinze getting back to each other. They seem unhealthily obsessed with each other, and the reasons for Ifemelu breaking it off weren't fully explored, and felt contrived because of it. They don't seem to grow as people, despite the text constantly telling us so. It irks me even more that Obinze touches down in Nigeria and becomes a big shot but we never see how or why that's happened.
Perhaps we could have done without his point of view completely, which would have given more time for Ifemelu.
One of the more ridiculous aspects of the book was just how good looking everyone is. Like, everyone in the book is conventionally attractive and swoon-worthy. How is that any better than stupid rom-coms?
A lot of the book was telling and not showing, and while the writing is succinct and easy to get through, all the telling detracted from the author's skill. It also ends abruptly, with a neat little bow tying it all together.
I know why this book is highly regarded and I'm surprised that I wasn't as taken with it as most people are. I should be, it's different and looks at things from a migrant/expat black viewpoint, yet those singular achievements are flushed under meandering romantic subplots. Ifemelu spends very little time being single, which really bothered me.
I'm hoping if and when I pick up Chimamanda's other books, I'll come away with a much more positive and realistic experience. I love her We Should All Be Feminists, it's a good speech, and her views on the world resonate with any person of colour. Yet that is not reflected through a lot of this book, which, as I've mentioned, doesn't give enough credence to the race and gender talk. I did like a lot of the blog entries in the book, and they were far more interesting than most of what was happening in Ifemelu's life.
While I agree that everyone should give this book a shot, I wish parts of it had been longer than others. And the romance had been cutout completely.
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