There was a common view that the book was slow to start and
that it took time for the romantic comedy and the satirical elements to grab
the reader. Ras found this to be so much to be the case that he had decided to
bail out after 100 pages. Others felt that the book improved rapidly after
tepid beginnings and dramatic tension grew as we came to know the 2 characters
who were destined to be reunited at the end.
Many described the book as a good read and a thoroughly enjoyable novel. Chris W saw it as one of the best books he
has read for years
Adichie’s prose was widely admired as fresh and inventive
and at the same time, easy to read. The satire on race, class and money was
well-received and her linkage of these themes to 3 geographical settings (USA,
UK, Nigeria) was generally seen as convincing.
This ranged from the bittersweet humour and irony (cash register, hair
styles) to more outrageous examples of prejudice, discrimination, corruption
and snobbery.
Mark T was most taken with the depiction of first love and
the power it can exert. He also
emphasised the continuing impact of re-visiting early love and relationships.
Chris W also saw the central love story as beautiful and very moving.
Mark Th enjoyed the way that the author used the blogs and
set pieces to absorb the more polemical commentary so that the dialogue was in
general about the everyday life and
instances of prejudice and snobbery as they are experienced. (Steve loved the
Special White Friend blog). The dinner party was widely admired, though many of
us found the American setting more convincing – perhaps because the author was
writing more from experience. However, Richard also loved the depiction of Obinze
trapped in the UK with no official papers.
Like the prose style, the characterisation was widely
appreciated. There was general agreement that the female characters were
stronger than the male – with Obinze as the one exception here. Many of the
male characters were almost Dickensian caricatures (such as the uneducated
father and his long words, or Emenike losing his Nigerian identity so completely).
On the negative side, there was a sense from some (e.g. Rob)
that there was too much middle class intellectualising with the characters
coming from a narrow and fairly elite group. Many also agreed with Neil that
the book was too long and could have lost some scenes and blogs. There were also
comments to the effect that the main characters – particularly Ifemelu – were
selfish people who hurt others by summarily dropping them or cutting off from
them. A further theme concerned there being a sense that she was perhaps too
uncritical of Nigeria (Chris B).
Discussion was still in full flow well after 10pm and there
was a sense of the book – despite its imperfections - having scenes, themes and
qualities that we had not had time to discuss.
Scores were generally high.
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