Description
A collection of twelve stories includes the tale of a medical student in hiding with a poor Muslim woman, and a woman who discovers a devastating secret about her brother's death.
Genres
Collection
Publication
Anchor (2010), Edition: 1, 240 pages
Media reviews
In a few stories in this collection Ms. Adichie resorts to easy stereotypes of Westerners . . . For the most part, however, she avoids such easy formulations. In fact the most powerful stories in this volume depict immensely complicated, conflicted characters.
User reviews
LibraryThing member yosbooks
A masterful storyteller. Her descriptions of Africa are very vivid - I could close my eyes and imagine being right there. The sense of deep emotions were present in many stories even though the subject matter differed widely. I loved the sense of bewilderment and misunderstanding she created in
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some of the stories. A great collection of short stories. I'll be looking for more of her work. Show Less
LibraryThing member DubaiReader
A wonderful collection of stories.
This was a poweful collection of short stories with the general theme of Nigeria and Nigerians.
The stories include interaction between Africans and Whites, integrating with other cultures, Nigerian history, the problems women face under the rule of men and other
Having loved Purple Hibiscus but ground to a halt in the middle of Half of a Yellow Sun, I was thrilled to have the chance to read another of Adichie's books. It did not disappoint.
I particularly liked the female slant on the tales and the strong female characters. All in all a very satisfying read and definitely recommended.
This was a poweful collection of short stories with the general theme of Nigeria and Nigerians.
The stories include interaction between Africans and Whites, integrating with other cultures, Nigerian history, the problems women face under the rule of men and other
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cultural aspects that make the lives of Africans so different from inhabitants of much of the West.Having loved Purple Hibiscus but ground to a halt in the middle of Half of a Yellow Sun, I was thrilled to have the chance to read another of Adichie's books. It did not disappoint.
I particularly liked the female slant on the tales and the strong female characters. All in all a very satisfying read and definitely recommended.
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LibraryThing member Cariola
As one of the apparently rare few who wasn't blown away by Half of a Yellow Sun, I took a gamble on Adichie's short story collection, The Thing Around Your Neck--and I'm very glad that I did. These twelve stories all feature Nigerian protagonists, but the settings, time periods, and situations
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shift from the 1967 Biafran war, to immigrants in the contemporary United States, back to a time when white missionaries were still a rare sight in Nigeria. Many of the stories deal with women struggling to balance between the old ways and the new, but Adichie also focuses on Nigeria's brutal politics, history of violence, divisive class system, and exploitation by the west. But behind those messages are real characters--real people--working hard at relationships and trying to make tomorrow just a little better than today. Adichie's writing itself is engaging and compelling, and the stories have encouraged me to seek pout her other novels. Perhaps even to give Half of a Yellow Sun another try. Show Less
LibraryThing member rmostman
I enjoyed this short story collection almost as much as Half of a Yellow Sun. In most of the stories, it's about Nigerian-Americans, each told with a fresh perspective and about a different subject-matter. Stories range from the "cults" (gangs) in Nigeria to infidelity in America. Adichie doesn't
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confine herself to a certain story-type. Ehe adds a lot of irony and at the end of a lot of the short stories you won't know whether to laugh or cry. She writes beautifully and certainly doesn't disappoint with her latest. Show Less
LibraryThing member MyneWhitman
This is a collection of stories, some of which have been collected online in such publications as the Granta, new Yorker, etc. They are as interesting as they were the first time and the few new ones too. I however think that some of them lack a certain dept and are very easy to forget once you
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have closed the page. Show Less
LibraryThing member simora
I love this author! This is a great collection of short stories, portraying Nigerian characters in their conflict with Western culture. Adichie has a beautiful fresh and sharp writing style, keeping you interested. Great books for anyone who is an immigrant or is interested in immigrant's issues
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(and not only)! I loved her 'Purple Hibiscus', and plan to read "Half of a Yellow Sun'. Beautiful writing! Show Less
LibraryThing member allison.sivak
A varied and smart set of stories. Some highlights:
The Headstrong Historian: a rewriting of history from the perspective of a Nigerian woman, leaping ahead to her granddaughter, who rewrites the history of her people.
Jumping Monkey Hill: hilarious but sad story about an African writers' centre,
Tomorrow is Too Far: a suspenseful story of a woman's role in the childhood death of her brother.
On Monday of Last Week: a nanny's flirtation with the mother of her young charge.
The American Embassy: tells the story of a woman whose journalist husband is under threat by the Nigerian government. She tries to get herself and her son out of the country to join him.
I think most of these stories ask questions about what it is to live ethically: what is bravery, responsibility, love, truth?
The Headstrong Historian: a rewriting of history from the perspective of a Nigerian woman, leaping ahead to her granddaughter, who rewrites the history of her people.
Jumping Monkey Hill: hilarious but sad story about an African writers' centre,
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which is founded, funded, and dominated by its European director. Tomorrow is Too Far: a suspenseful story of a woman's role in the childhood death of her brother.
On Monday of Last Week: a nanny's flirtation with the mother of her young charge.
The American Embassy: tells the story of a woman whose journalist husband is under threat by the Nigerian government. She tries to get herself and her son out of the country to join him.
I think most of these stories ask questions about what it is to live ethically: what is bravery, responsibility, love, truth?
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LibraryThing member debnance
I won this book and I never win anything. I push Half of a Yellow Sun on everyone I see so I was thrilled to see Adichie had a new book coming out and even happier to win a copy.Thing Around Your Neck is a collection of short stories. Adichie has this way of making you think her characters are
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people who live right next door to you in America and then sneaking in some little this or that that reminds you her people are African and distinctive. The same and different. I had to pause after I read each story to let the story sink in. To think about it a little. Now that’s good writing. Show Less
LibraryThing member tayari
These stories keep breaking my heart-- in the very best way. I will certainly be using these stories in my classes from here on out.
LibraryThing member amandacb
Adichie is one of my favorite authors; she has quite the gift of creating poignant characters and situations without becoming maudlin. I prefer her novels over this collection of short stories, though, simply because about halfway through the collection the trope of strong-independent-woman in love
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with an overbearing man became a bit repetitive. If you read one or two stories, it's glorious; more than that, you might get the wrong impression of Adichie. Two stories I did not care for, and those were the ones written in second person point of view ("you did this, you knew him from..."). I look forward to Adichie's next novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member bohemiangirl35
This collection of short stories is my first exposure to Adichie and I will definitely be going back for more. I listened to the audio version but did not listen to it straight through. Many of the stories had a similar theme of women being oppressed by oppressive men who don't consider what the
However, I loved the book. Cell, A Private Experience and Jumping Monday Hill stuck in my mind more than some the others, but they were all engaging.
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woman wants for her own life. If they had been split up into other collections or in a different order in this book, it might have worked better for me. I ended up listening to one or two stories and then listening or reading something else to break them up.However, I loved the book. Cell, A Private Experience and Jumping Monday Hill stuck in my mind more than some the others, but they were all engaging.
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LibraryThing member TheBookJunky
A wonderful collection of short stories; read a couple of them before in Granta and somewhere else, but wonderful to read again. She has become one of my favourites.
LibraryThing member Helenliz
This is an interesting collection of short stories. They all have a link to Nigeria, but they are not all set there; some are, others are US based. It deals with the relationships between people, families, the things we say and the secrets we keep. They have African names and the accent is
The stories have either a female narrator or a female as the prime mover in the story, and that seems to reflect well in the way that it is the women who hold he place together, the women who queue and worry and sit at the heart of the family (or not, as the case may be).
There is a real mixture in here of distant past, immediate past and preset. A mixture of real deep country and US immigrant. And they are not even all in the same style. Its a really varied and good selection from an author with something to say about all of us.
I listened to this and the narrator made the stories come very much to life, accenting the different characters differently, bit not, to my ear, straying into caricature.
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unfamiliar, but the stories could be set anywhere based on the people encountered. The stories have either a female narrator or a female as the prime mover in the story, and that seems to reflect well in the way that it is the women who hold he place together, the women who queue and worry and sit at the heart of the family (or not, as the case may be).
There is a real mixture in here of distant past, immediate past and preset. A mixture of real deep country and US immigrant. And they are not even all in the same style. Its a really varied and good selection from an author with something to say about all of us.
I listened to this and the narrator made the stories come very much to life, accenting the different characters differently, bit not, to my ear, straying into caricature.
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LibraryThing member 1morechapter
I love Adichie’s writing. Both Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun got 4.5 star ratings from me, and her book of short stories will get the same. I started this book only intending to read one story for Nigerian Independence Day, encouraged by Amy from Amy Reads. Then it ran into four
Some of the stories in this book focus on just that, while others are set in Nigeria. I loved all of them. Many of them are sad and even tragic, but I always feel as though I’m right there with the characters. I felt for the family whose son strayed from the law and his family upbringing, the sister who lives with an unbearable guilt, and the mother whose son was killed because of her husband’s outspoken stance about the government.
It’s always difficult to define great writing, but it’s also very recognizable when one experiences it. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is definitely a master storyteller, and I believe she will be just as revered as Achebe is, not only in Nigeria, but in the entire world — if she isn’t already.
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stories, then all but two, then today I finished the final two. I’m a little bit sad, though, because now I’ve read all of her works. I’ve heard that her next novel will be about the Nigerian immigrant experience in America, and I’m wholly looking forward to it!Some of the stories in this book focus on just that, while others are set in Nigeria. I loved all of them. Many of them are sad and even tragic, but I always feel as though I’m right there with the characters. I felt for the family whose son strayed from the law and his family upbringing, the sister who lives with an unbearable guilt, and the mother whose son was killed because of her husband’s outspoken stance about the government.
It’s always difficult to define great writing, but it’s also very recognizable when one experiences it. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is definitely a master storyteller, and I believe she will be just as revered as Achebe is, not only in Nigeria, but in the entire world — if she isn’t already.
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LibraryThing member Steve38
An interesting enough set of short stories. But they read like an exercise in creative writing. A writer with a Nigerian background compiles a list of typical Nigerian settings, culled as much from newspaper clippings as experience, puts in some wafer thin characters and away you go. 'Jumping
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Monkey Hill' tells of a group of young writers from different countries in Africa assembled by a British teacher for a workshop. This book could be a product of that workshop. The tone of voice, though reflecting Nigeria, is from Europe. It has the feel of an outsider writing about things she's read but not experienced. Things she ought to know more about but doesn't. A product of modern multiculturalism and not bad for that. Show Less
LibraryThing member Pennydart
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2007 book “Half of a Yellow Sun” is an almost unbearably powerful novel about life during the short-lived Biafran revolution in Nigeria. “The Thing Around Your Neck” is a collection of short stories that she wrote about two years later. Like her novel, it is
The opening story, “Cell One,” tells of a young Nigerian girl whose brother, arrested on suspicion of being a gang member, endures extremely harsh treatment when he stands up for another prisoner. In “Tomorrow is Too Far” a young woman recalls the story of how her brother died eighteen years earlier, when they were both children, revealing a long-hidden truth about the episode. The title story is particularly powerful, and involves the wife of a dissident journalist, whose young son has been killed by soldiers and who is seeking an asylum visa to the United States.
Not all the stories are equally moving: in particular the two that focus on marital difficulties (“Imitation” and “The Arrangers of Marriage”) are not as satisfying. But the book as a whole is a wonderful, engaging read.
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often heart-wrenching, although the short-story format perhaps makes it just a little less so. The opening story, “Cell One,” tells of a young Nigerian girl whose brother, arrested on suspicion of being a gang member, endures extremely harsh treatment when he stands up for another prisoner. In “Tomorrow is Too Far” a young woman recalls the story of how her brother died eighteen years earlier, when they were both children, revealing a long-hidden truth about the episode. The title story is particularly powerful, and involves the wife of a dissident journalist, whose young son has been killed by soldiers and who is seeking an asylum visa to the United States.
Not all the stories are equally moving: in particular the two that focus on marital difficulties (“Imitation” and “The Arrangers of Marriage”) are not as satisfying. But the book as a whole is a wonderful, engaging read.
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
I didn't enjoy this collection of short stories as much as I had hoped. I love tales from Africa, especially Nigeria, which is a country so full of literary possibilities that it's hard to know where to start. However, I found a lot of Adichie's stories to be too choked. They suffer from a writing
The worst example is what could otherwise have been a very dramatic and moving tale of a woman trying to escape the country, and who whilst queueing for the embassy recalls the events of the last few days. It didn't work as well as it should have done.
A much better story, told more linearly and with a freshness not present in much of the rest, is the opening tale of a young man arrested on suspicion of being part of a gang. The prose is so much more direct and powerful, and the political commentary more oblique. The story that concerns a writers' group in South Africa is too clearly political, the characters simply one-dimension puppets made to regurgitate political speeches, and reading their diatribes one after another is simply exhausting.
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style that I think is unnecessarily heavy; at times the writing, and the structure of the story, get in the way of the tale. The worst example is what could otherwise have been a very dramatic and moving tale of a woman trying to escape the country, and who whilst queueing for the embassy recalls the events of the last few days. It didn't work as well as it should have done.
A much better story, told more linearly and with a freshness not present in much of the rest, is the opening tale of a young man arrested on suspicion of being part of a gang. The prose is so much more direct and powerful, and the political commentary more oblique. The story that concerns a writers' group in South Africa is too clearly political, the characters simply one-dimension puppets made to regurgitate political speeches, and reading their diatribes one after another is simply exhausting.
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LibraryThing member cat-ballou
I heard the title story of this collection on NPR's "Selected Shorts" podcast, and the actor who read it was amazing. Just wonderful. The drawback to this is that once you've had a story read aloud to you, it's not going to be as amazing or wonderful when you read it to yourself. Still, short
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stories = great beach book. It's easy to put down, and easier to pick back up. Show Less
LibraryThing member nicola26
Cell One: 4/5 stars. An interesting little story about cults taking over a town. The narrator's brother gets into some trouble and ends up in jail. Adichie's writing is fluid and lovely to read, and I also liked the side story of the old man locked up instead of his son.
Imitation: 4/5 stars. This
A Private Experience: 5/5 stars. I really liked this one. It follows two women hiding out during a riot. The two women are very different and it's interesting watching them interact with each other. Parts of this one were a bit unsettling but this only added to the atmosphere and showed the grim reality of religious rioting.
Ghosts: 2/5 stars. I did not really enjoy this one. It was a bit boring and rambled a lot. There wasn't really much of a story and it did not hold my interest.
On Monday of Last Week: 4/5 stars. I liked this one. It's the story of a Nigerian woman working as a childminder for an odd couple. The woman has been quite depressed since she moved there. ''On Monday of Last Week'' something happens which changes her mood and we watch the woman attempt to make sense of the situation.
Jumping Monkey Hill : 2/5 stars. I didn't really like this one. There didn't really seem to be much of a story. It was following a woman at a writing workshop but nothing really happened. This one was not very impressive or interesting.
The Thing Around Your Neck: 5/5 stars. I absolutely loved this one. It's a short love story about a Nigerian woman in a relationship with a wealthy man she meets in America. Her struggle to adjust to his way of life was interesting and the ending was quite sad.
The American Embassy: 4/5 stars. I liked this one a lot. It's a snapshot of time of a woman waiting in line to apply for asylum in America. Her son has just died and her husband has fled. I did find the ending a bit abrupt, though.
The Shivering 3/5 stars. This one was okay. It started off good and was very intriguing. A girl was waiting to find out if her boyfriend had been killed in a plane crash. However, as the story went on, I felt it lost focus a bit and was a bit all over the place.
The Arrangers of Marriages: 5/5 stars. This one was really good. It tells the story of an arranged marriage of an African couple living in America. I found it heartbreaking to read about all the parts of her culture that she had to get rid of in order to ''fit in'' there. An interesting story with a strong, likable heroine.
Tomorrow is Too Far 4/5 stars. This was good enough. A quick story about a girl reflecting on her brother's death and the real story behind it. I felt it was a bit rushed and could have been slowed down slightly but other than that, it was enjoyable.
Imitation: 4/5 stars. This
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one was interesting. Once again, Adichie's writing style makes the story a pleasure to read. Imitation focuses on a Nigerian woman living in America. She has just discovered that her husband has another woman back in Nigeria. It was an interesting look at relationships.A Private Experience: 5/5 stars. I really liked this one. It follows two women hiding out during a riot. The two women are very different and it's interesting watching them interact with each other. Parts of this one were a bit unsettling but this only added to the atmosphere and showed the grim reality of religious rioting.
Ghosts: 2/5 stars. I did not really enjoy this one. It was a bit boring and rambled a lot. There wasn't really much of a story and it did not hold my interest.
On Monday of Last Week: 4/5 stars. I liked this one. It's the story of a Nigerian woman working as a childminder for an odd couple. The woman has been quite depressed since she moved there. ''On Monday of Last Week'' something happens which changes her mood and we watch the woman attempt to make sense of the situation.
Jumping Monkey Hill : 2/5 stars. I didn't really like this one. There didn't really seem to be much of a story. It was following a woman at a writing workshop but nothing really happened. This one was not very impressive or interesting.
The Thing Around Your Neck: 5/5 stars. I absolutely loved this one. It's a short love story about a Nigerian woman in a relationship with a wealthy man she meets in America. Her struggle to adjust to his way of life was interesting and the ending was quite sad.
The American Embassy: 4/5 stars. I liked this one a lot. It's a snapshot of time of a woman waiting in line to apply for asylum in America. Her son has just died and her husband has fled. I did find the ending a bit abrupt, though.
The Shivering 3/5 stars. This one was okay. It started off good and was very intriguing. A girl was waiting to find out if her boyfriend had been killed in a plane crash. However, as the story went on, I felt it lost focus a bit and was a bit all over the place.
The Arrangers of Marriages: 5/5 stars. This one was really good. It tells the story of an arranged marriage of an African couple living in America. I found it heartbreaking to read about all the parts of her culture that she had to get rid of in order to ''fit in'' there. An interesting story with a strong, likable heroine.
Tomorrow is Too Far 4/5 stars. This was good enough. A quick story about a girl reflecting on her brother's death and the real story behind it. I felt it was a bit rushed and could have been slowed down slightly but other than that, it was enjoyable.
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LibraryThing member 50MinuteMermaid
Adichie's short prose is quick and colorful despite its often heavy subject matter. Her unexpected second-person narration wavers between effectively engaging and a little too gimmicky -- I never made it all the way into being the "You" telling the story. Nevertheless, the collection of stories
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effortlessly bridges the divide between the majority American experience, and the liminal, precarious existence of African immigrants in this country -- especially those people who don't fall neatly into an economic/class bracket. Show Less
LibraryThing member keylawk
Collection of story-narratives of great beauty and sadness, in a conflation of memoirist and annaliste social context styles.
LibraryThing member vguy
Great stories, giving a feel for the culture gap between educated Nigerians and the U.S. All with female central character, gives insight there too. The writing is fluent and vivid with much sensuous texture. Enhanced further by the reading brilliantly 'read' by Adjoa Andoh, including a dozen
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different Nigerian regional accents, 3 pain-in-the-ass American kids and an Irish priest. Show Less
LibraryThing member nandadevi
I (seem to) recollect that others have commented that there's a sense of 'incompletion' to some of these short stories about the experience of being a women in Nigerian culture (in Nigeria and the USA). But to my mind that is the essence of a short story, it is neither the start or the end of a
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'tale', but simply a window into the world the author has created (or reflected) that can only hint at what went before or came after. Nothing in life is complete, and the short story form truly reflects that. All that said, these are engaging (and sometimes disturbing) stories that take the reader somewhere unexpected and confirmed my intuition that West African literature has a lot to tell us about somewhere unfamiliar, and about some very familiar themes about being human. Show Less
LibraryThing member flydodofly
Fresh and revealing voice, I learn so much from every story.
LibraryThing member LibroLindsay
Beautiful, beautiful stories.
Awards
Commonwealth Writers' Prize (Shortlist — 2010)
Dayton Literary Peace Prize (Runner-Up — Fiction — 2010)
John Llewellyn Rhys Prize (Shortlist — 2009)
Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (Longlist — 2009)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2009)
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction — 2009)
Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year (Fiction — 2009)
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009-04-02