Half of a Yellow Sun

Some days back we had this terrible class on investment banking where we had to give a presentation on some restructuring strategies for a company. We thought we had done our homework and in fact all the groups had done some good analysis. But we somehow did not strike a chord with the Prof who was ill tempered right from the morning. The diatribe which followed our presentations would go down as the worst I have faced in my academic life so far. Every small mistake was highlighted and the presenters were torn apart with criticism. The whole class heaved a sigh of relief when it was 6:30, time for the class to get over.

Five minutes later, the entire finance batch was in the bus going to the city! Everyone wanted to put the day behind them and have some good time. So we went to the city, laughing all the way about some of the comments made in the class. Only when we reached the city did I realize that I had no idea where to go. I just wanted to be out of the campus and did not think for a minute as to where I should go.

Then I thought I would go to the Naturals Ice cream bar in Aundh as its one shop which never fails to cheer me up. And when I reached Naturals I saw a new Crossword store next to it. I went inside on an autopilot and started browsing. There was this book in the new arrivals which caught my attention, “Half of a Yellow Sun”. The book has been written by an African writer by the name Adichie and has won quite a few awards for fiction in 2007-2008.

I flipped the pages and read some lines here and there and got mesmerized by what I was reading. But when I saw this line, “Is love the safety I feel in our silences?”, I knew I had to buy the book. There was just no walking away from it!!

What followed the purchase is too short to be described. I read the book. I did nothing else! I remembered nothing else! The two and a half days is the shortest 60 hours of my life! I was sucked so deep into the characters and the situations and was laughing and crying along with the lead characters in it.

The plot is simple. The story is set in 60s Nigeria against the backdrop of the Nigerian civil war. There is this Odenigbo, charismatic and rebellious professor in Nsukku university, then there is Olanna, his wife, friend and philosopher who is very pretty and very human, in the sense you and me can identify with her most of the time, and lastly there is Kainene, Olanna’s twin, enigmatic, moody and distant. These three have very complex relationships with each other and Richard, Kainene’s boyfriend and a white journalist.

Most of the story is told through the eyes of Ugwu, the domestic help of Odenigbo. Odenigbo’s family loves Ugwu as their own son. The best part of this novel is the way in which human weaknesses are portrayed. No character is shown in black and white. Everyone is shown to be human in more ways than one. They display fear, arrogance, haste, regret, love, humour, joy, hope, despair etc in such a way that you want to reach out and comfort them when they are sad, kick them when they act superior and curse them when they kill their love. You root for their happiness right from the start as the love story between Odenigbo and Olanna is one of the most beautiful I have read in the recent times. There is a betrayal, then follows the hurt, then the revenge, then the realization that their love Is still alive, then their next realization that now their love is not going to be above suspicion, and their resignation to that fact are all told in such a gentle and touching tale that you cannot escape shedding some tears every now and then.

Kainene is portrayed as someone who is a hard nut to crack. Her own boyfriend is enchanted but pained by the enigma she is to him and some of her dialogues are so profound that she goes down as the most favorite character from this book (and most of the others I have read). She is a challenge to people near her and no action of hers in unjustified, but none can be justified either. The bitterness she shares with her twin because she is way prettier than her might remind you of people from you past who made you feel uglier than you really are! She bowls you over with her courage and frankness and if I need to ever have a role model from the books I have read, it would undoubtedly be Kainene. She later mellows down and revives the bond with her sister but before you can rejoice, there comes an important twist in the tale.

There is a very subtle humor which runs throughout the book despite the serious backdrop and surprisingly quite a few places make you laugh aloud too!! The premise for most of our so-called civil wars is very beautifully explained and you don’t amateurishly think anymore that language and land are stupid reasons to fight a war. What is happening in most of the African nations is plain legacy of the British rule and Nigeria civil war is no exception. But what is exceptional is hearing the story and justifications through an insider’s voice. War time diseases, war time love, war time cooking etc make you count each of your blessings twice.

Just to reiterate, don’t miss reading this book. You will be glad that you did when you finish this. Some philosophical thoughts and melancholy will haunt you a few days after completion, but then it is what makes this book so special. You connect with it. Totally! An emotionally honest book which makes you feel liberated from invisible bondage once you read it.

Next to read – Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus ! If there is one person I would like to meet right now and talk to, its Adichie. I have completely fallen in love with her words. And don't for a moment feel that I have reviewed this book. I am not qualified at all to do that. I just have tried to introduce this book to as many as I can and may be give an outlet to the satisfaction I feel ever since I completed this book.