Books are best friends, review of “Americana” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Since childhood one of my favourite activity is reading. I learn to read when I was three years old and as an only child book have been my best friends for a long time. I was always reading at home, at school, everywhere. What I love about books is that they can transport you far away from where you stand, they can make you laugh, cry or learn a lot of things. The characters become your best friends or your worst enemies for few pages and you can meet them whenever your want. But growing up, screens have (slowly) replaced books and not for the best: I am totally aware of the fact that I don’t read as much as I used to or as much as I should. What for? Scrolling on social medias, playing stupid games, watching movies, binge watching TV shows… By becoming aware of this fact, I decided that I had to do something about it and for a year now I started reading a lot again. In Munich taking subway every day has become a new part of my daily routine and I have decided to always carry a book with me in order to read in public transportations. That’s why today I wanted to share with you the last book I read, which by the way was a very good one, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer, she studied pollical sciences, communication and literature in the USA and her first book Purple Hibiscusreceived a price. In her texts she approaches important social themes like discrimination, poverty, war or racism. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is praised by critics: they say she is the most talented African writer of her generation and Americanah, the book I am going to talk about, was in Barack Obama summer reading list last summer.

Americanah tells the story of Ifemelu a young Nigerian woman going to the USA for her studies. We follow her from Lagos to Philadelphia, leaving her African life behind her and becoming aware of the fact that she is a “black” person for the Americans. The story is also about the blog Ifemelu opens after the breaks up with her rich white American boyfriend: she starts writing about race in America and names her blog “Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black”. This reflection about race in America is based on the personal observations of the author. In America Ifemelu seems to have found her way with her blog and in her personal life but one day she decides to go back to Lagos and to find her African life back.

The story is captivating, and the book is very well written. The angle under which these issues are addressed is not common and very smart. This is a feminist approach of racism and discrimination in the USA today seen by an African woman. This book is one of my absolute favourites of 2018 and I highly recommend it!