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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “4 and a half stars. |
Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “I need a category for "I Tried to Read it and Gave Up"! This book was on my "Plan to Read" list for some time. I'd heard Adichie was a promising new writer - and I must say, she has ability. Perhaps it's her youth, but her characters just have no depth. I can't believe in or care about any of...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“this far hard to put down.”
Lisa A wrote this review 2 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Interesting.. though it seemed like the author ran out of steam at toward the end of the book.”
Nosa E wrote this review 5 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Starred Review. When the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria seceded in 1967 to form the independent nation of Biafra, a bloody, crippling three-year civil war followed. That period in African history is captured with haunting intimacy in this artful page-turner from Nigerian novelist Adichie (Purple Hibiscus). Adichie tells her profoundly gripping story primarily through the eyes and lives of Ugwu, a 13-year-old peasant houseboy who survives conscription into the raggedy Biafran army, and twin sisters Olanna and Kainene, who are from a wealthy and well-connected family. Tumultuous politics power the plot, and several sections are harrowing, particularly passages depicting the savage butchering of Olanna and Kainene's relatives. But this dramatic, intelligent epic has its lush and sultry side as well: rebellious Olanna is the mistress of Odenigbo, a university professor brimming with anticolonial zeal; business-minded Kainene takes as her lover fair-haired, blue-eyed Richard, a British expatriate come to Nigeria to write a book about Igbo-Ukwu art—and whose relationship with Kainene nearly ruptures when he spends one drunken night with Olanna. This is a transcendent novel of many descriptive triumphs, most notably its depiction of the impact of war's brutalities on peasants and intellectuals alike. It's a searing history lesson in fictional form, intensely evocative and immensely absorbing. (Sept. 15)
North Shore Country Day School English-10 wrote this review 13 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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“This was dreadful. I plodded on for over 250 pages and then lost the will to live.”
chickenlips wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Chosen by Jean
Stirling Book Group wrote this review Sunday, November 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Score - 81 out of 100”
“fantastic read, I got really immersed in this book. As I remember the Biafran War this reminded me of the horrific images though this is not a war book as such. It is more an account of middle class life during this awful conflict. I couldn't put it down.”
Trish wrote this review Wednesday, November 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“OK.”
Imaya Kumar J wrote this review Tuesday, November 24 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“heart-breaking, haunting. three characters, each feeling completely real as the story develops, each of whom your mourn for, in a different way, by the end. brilliantly done sketches of corruption, idealism (sometimes decaying) and misguided well-meaning in background. ”
Vanora B wrote this review Friday, November 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“big characters and lots of action, story of Nigerian civil war told from many points of view, but Ugwu, the servant was my favorite.”
Sheila G wrote this review Thursday, November 19 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Chosen by Jean
Book Group wrote this review Wednesday, November 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Score - 81 out of 100”
