Historical Fiction | Book Chatter

Note from Ti: I am going to try something new with this review. My reviews will have three parts now: the summary, something that I am calling “the short of it” and then a section for my thoughts.

The “short of it” will be a few sentences about the book. Basically these brief sentences will indicate whether or not I enjoyed the book. Some readers like to know up-front if a book is worth reading so there you go! Consider it a mini-review of sorts.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher: Random House Inc
Pub. Date: September 2007
ISBN-13: 9781400095209
528pp

Here’s the blurb from Barnes and Noble:

“With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor’s beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna’s twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and the three must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another.

Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all. Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise and the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place, bringing us one ofthe most powerful, dramatic, and intensely emotional pictures of modern Africa that we have ever had.”

The Short of It:

Tightly woven, character driven novel about the fight for Biafra’s freedom. Although this novel is fiction, it is based on historic events and achingly real at times. I could not put it down.

My Thoughts:

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.

To read more about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, click here to visit her website. Also, Jill over at Fizzy Thoughts recently reviewed this book as well. She and I are on the same reading kick right now. Click here to check out Jill’s review.

Drood
Dan Simmons
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Pub. Date: February 2009
ISBN-13: 9780316007023

784pp

Here is the blurb from Barnes and Noble:

“Bestseller Simmons (The Terror) brilliantly imagines a terrifying sequence of events as the inspiration for Dickens’s last, uncompleted novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, in this unsettling and complex thriller. In the course of narrowly escaping death in an 1865 train wreck and trying to rescue fellow passengers, Dickens encounters a ghoulish figure named Drood, who had apparently been traveling in a coffin. Along with his real-life novelist friend Wilkie Collins, who narrates the tale, Dickens pursues the elusive Drood, an effort that leads the pair to a nightmarish world beneath London’s streets. Collins begins to wonder whether the object of their quest, if indeed the man exists, is merely a cover for his colleague’s own murderous inclinations.”

My thoughts:

As wonderful as the premise is, this is really the story of a man, Wilkie Collins who finds himself completely infatuated by another man, that man being Charles Dickens. Infatuated, yet envious of all he does and has. As readers know, Wilkie Collins was also a well known author during this time (1850-1889). He wrote The Woman in White, The Moonstone and many plays and short stories. His envy slowly turns to hatred and in a matter of years his good friend becomes his enemy. However, as much as Wilkie has grown to dislike Dickens, he still feels privileged to be in his presence and has hurt feelings when he is not asked to be a part of Dicken’s life. It’s that “best friend” syndrome that some of us face when our BFF is more popular than we are.

I enjoyed the rivalry. Simmons did a good job of portraying Wilkie as a talented sort, but one that clearly believes that his work tops that of Dickens. There are a lot of asides to the reader where Wilkie talks directly to us as he is telling his tale. Personally, I enjoyed these little tidbits of information. It was sort of like a flashing neon sign asking the reader to pay attention and pay attention I did, as the book is over 750 pages long and I didn’t want to miss a key piece of information.

As we learn about Wilkie’s drug addiction and his and Dicken’s quest to find Drood, we are introduced to a world that is called Undertown. This is a world that exists under the streets of London and is inhabited by the poor, the unwanted and a drug lord that happens to provide the fix that Wilkie needs to survive. The world that Simmons creates is full of crypts and unimaginable smells and I loved all of its disgusting goodness. However, I didn’t think there was enough of it. I was left wanting a bit more.

As they continue to search for Drood, the reader is left to ponder what is real, and what is fiction. Much of the book is based on historical fact but since The Mystery of Edwin Drood was never actually finished, there is a lot that can be surmised. Add to that Wilkie’s opium addiction and Dickens’ ability to mesmerize (hypnotize) and what you’ve got is one big question mark.
There are lots of different ways to interpret the ending of this book. I have my own thoughts on it, but I would love to discuss this book with others who have read it.

As for the writing, Simmons can tell a story. One of the reasons why it took me so long to read this book is that I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style and was in fact savoring it. With that said, I do feel that it was a tad too long. The part that immediately comes to mind is when Dickens travels to the States. There seemed to be a lot of information on his trip that I personally, didn’t think was necessary to tell this particular story. I was also a bit overwhelmed with the various female characters. They didn’t seem to evolve during the course of the story and it would have been nice to see a slightly different side to them.

It’s not necessary for you to have read the works of Dickens or Collins prior to reading Drood but it might help since there are references made to prior works. In comparison to another Simmons book that I read recently (The Terror), Drood was not as tightly woven but still an adventure worth taking.

To read more about Dan Simmons, click here.
To read my review of The Terror, click here.

The book was sent to me by the lovely Miriam over at Hachette Book Group. Thanks Miriam!

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