When you are in a Civil Services Academy and are undergoing Foundation Course, you wont find much time to read a book, thats why this post is coming bit late.
I became a great fan of Chinua Achebe after reading his classic magnum opus 'Things Fall Apart' couple of months back, my interest in Nigeria also rose because of this book. So i started reading 'Half Of A Yellow Sun', written by brilliant Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie couple of weeks back, and every line i read was full of emotions and suffering. Its a story of a group of Igbo speaking people of Eastern Nigeria who got caught up in the brutal Nigerian Civil War (1967-70). Its a story of human emotions, family drama, war brutalities, love and revenge. Rich Nigerian lady Olanna falls in love with a university professor Odenigbo, who was living with his servant Ugwu. The story takes various turns and exposes ugly and not so ugly faces of human lives. How a rich couple living in luxurious house with all the facilities had to live in extreme poverty during the war is deeply moving! How their world of friends, relatives fell apart during the civil war! How poor women with drooping and thinning breasts struggled to feed their kids and died in scores during the civil war! How thousands of Nigerian women were gangraped? How people chased rats and lizards for food and how the western world overlooked the conditions of Igbo people and even supported the Nigerian regime to suppress the revolt of Igbo people in a most brutal manner! Its a great book and a must read for every one who wants to understand the post colonial history of Nigeria. Perhaps the current schism is Nigerian polity ossified during this civil war in which hundreds of thousands of Nigerians died and they continue to die even now. Very relevant specially in the context of India.
Highly Recommended (8/10).
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