Half of a Yellow Sun
£3.49
Eastenders ? - Today one might think that war which is seemingly overshadowed by other wars in the public consciousness would provide an obscure yet perfect setting for a great novel. Not so here and far from perfect. This could have been any war anywhere, virtually. I learned little in this cobbled together book which has been assembled with little craft or skill. There is page after page of Eastendersish style prose, poorly described yet shocking events and even cheaper unnecessary little sex scenes.
Interesting but less than gripping - I m one of those minority reviewers who was less than gripped by this novel. I finished it but it seemed a bit of a chore at times (although other parts seemed to flow). I felt frustrated by the characters - the love stories between them never seemed convincing. I was hugely interested in the subject matter - I knew so little about the Biafra war and the book prompted me to find out more. However, the traumatic events surrounding our characters (and often happening to them) never seemed to be fully explored. The word Biafra is synonomous with starvation yet in the book I never got the sense of how bad things really were. Then in the last few pages, the war is over and they go home (minus Kainene). Having put so much emotional effort (throughout the book) into fighting for an independent Biafra, defeat by the Nigerians must have been devastating for our characters but I don t get this sense at all. Perhaps the war and famine had been so awful that they were simply glad it was over and that they could return to their homes, even if they had lost the war. I have to commend the author on bringing to life a long-forgotten (to the west) and little known part of Africa s history. But I don t know - it all felt a bit frustrating for me.
Brilliant - Cannot praise this book enough. I found myself on the train tears streaming down my face not wanting to get off at my stop. It is everything a good book should be. Wonderful characters some you love and some you hate. I hated reading the end as I didnt want it to be over. I fell in love with Ugwu and felt like I watched him grow up! I wont spoil it for you...Just read!
dissapointed - Apart from the insight about Biafra, this was a dissapointingly poor quality read. If the book had been shortened by half,then I think believe that it would have read better. Sadly, the story dialogue was stiff and I was not drawn into the saga.
Disappointing - It s not the sort of book I d normally pick up - prize winning, political etc - but I was approached it with excitement after hearing good reviews from people I know.Although the story seemed promising, neither the characters or themes interested me and the only thing that kept me going was the fact I had to read it. I found the skipping back and forth through time confusing, and was a bit baffled by the numerous characters who melted into one another at points.It caused a bit of a stir at the book group I run due to its subject and some people loved it, but sadly i did not.