excellently written the book captures the lives of three very different characters throughout a time of turmoil in the country which they are inhabitting. The three characters chosen were brilliant because they each showed a different perspective on the war as they had different roles. Harsh and shocking the book is heart breaking but it is really an art the way that Adiche manages to give you an understanding of true hunger and poverty. Truely brilliant

The main reason I wanted to read Half of a Yellow Sun was the fact that it was one of the books my book group had done before I joined. For the same reason, I didn't actually spend more than half a second finding out what it was about. And even if I read a summary, I must have thought Biafra sounded vaguely familiar but it wasn't until I was well into the novel that I started realising what it meant, and went on to find out a little more before finishing the novel.

With three protagonists whose lives overlap, Half of a Yellow Sun takes the readers through the early years of Nigerian independence and the years of civil war that followed. The idealism and a sense of everything being possible start to fade when Biafra, after separating from Nigeria, becomes increasingly torn by war and hunger. I found those chapters increasingly difficult to read, and very much heartbreaking. ( )

I loved this book. I love this author. I have read Purple Hibiscus and loved it too.

There has been some criticism regarding the sense of emotional removal from the horrors of war in Adichie's writing. I know from personal experience that when going through such tragedy one has to become emotionally void at times. I think Adichie was able to express the gripping emotional turmoil in the characters as well as capture the essence of emotional shutdown some of the victims experienced at times. Just beautifully written. ( )

There are so many things to say about this novel. I was completely swept away to another time and place while reading it. It basically follows the lives of three main characters during the Nigerian-Biafran War (1967-1970). This was a brutal war where the Igbo or Ibo (eebo) were slaughtered just for being Ibo. As the world falls apart around them, Olanna and Odenigbo who have become accustomed to the finer things in life, are stripped of all their worldly possessions and forced to focus on survival.

Ugwu, the boy servant who works for Olanna and Odenigbo, ended up being my favorite character. His innocence and boyishness is so well drawn. There were times where I just wanted to shake him and say, "Silly Ugwu! What were you thinking?" We really get to know Ugwu and his thoughts as he cares for Baby, Olanna and Odenigbo's young daughter. Ugwu is a constant reminder of the class differences within Nigeria. Although he is often considered part of the family, he quietly takes his place as the houseboy and never questions his place within the household.

There are other characters within the novel that I enjoyed as well. Richard, the Englishman that falls in love with Olanna's twin sister, Kainene. Richard is a misfit of sorts. A struggling writer who believes in the freedom fight and will do anything to win Kainene over. Although educated, he struggles with his place in the world.

Adichie's portrayal of a war-torn state is vividly real at times. There are some violent scenes within the book and depictions of rape. I do not have a strong stomach when it comes to rape but these scenes accurately depict the horrors that the Ibo people were forced to live with during their quest for freedom.

My book group met last night to discuss the book and it was a good discussion. Most fell in love with the characters and found the writing quite easy to follow. Although the novel is 500+ pages, you do not notice its length as you are reading it. Although it deals with a heavy subject matter, there are moments of hopefulness and even humor at times. I highly recommend this novel. ( )

I don't tend to read books set outside of North America and I'm not sure why. I'm a social worker and am very conscientious about diversity, but if you look at my bookshelf (or even my virtual bookshelf here at LT), you'll see mostly authors from the US and Canada. After reading Half of a Yellow Sun, I'm going to be change to this. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie told such a compelling story about a part of the world and during a time that I know close to nothing about. And I believe that part of her argument in this novel was exactly that: the US and other "major" countries tend to be very ignorant about what's going on in the world and look at other countries' struggles through a very simplistic lens.

This novel was set in Nigeria during the 60s. Because of interference by the British government, different regions of Nigeria hated each other. Southeast Nigeria seceded from the rest of the country to become the independent nation of Biafra. This book switches back and forth between very different characters and chronicles their pain and their struggles throughout the war.

I won't go into describing the characters, because you can get that from simply reading the back of the book, but there is one character that I'd like to mention. Richard is a white Englishman who has fallen in love with the country and one of it's inhabitants. He so desperately wants to be considered a Biafran, but that will never happen because of his white skin. There is one passage that really struck me, which happened right as the massacres were beginning. He was in an airport and watched the brutal murders of several people. Afterward, he realized that he was living his life the same as before and he had these thoughts (page 211 in my edition):

But he couldn't let himself be. He didn't believe that life was the same for all the other people who had witnessed the massacres. Then he felt more frightened at the thought that perhaps he had been nothing more than a voyeur. He had not feared for his own life, so the massacres became external, outside of him; he had watched them through the detached lens of knowing he was safe. But that couldn't be; Kainene would not have been safe if she had been there.

It was this realization that he knew he wouldn't have been hurt simply because of the color of his skin, so he couldn't be one of the people that was being targeted. He could not be an Igbo, so he would be fine. I believe this is an important part of Adichie's story: when we are not the ones being targeted, we're not as affected and we're more willing to turn a blind eye or be silent.

Now, I realize the irony of singling out the only white person in this entire story, but I think he was put in the story for that very reason - to point out that there will always be people who won't be affected by war and injustice, but that is not reason to be silent or complacent.

This was a very powerful book and I recommend to everyone, regardless of age, sex, or nationality. ( )