October 2014: Americanah (Adichie)

Post date: Oct 25, 2014 6:14:35 PM

We had ten alums (from classes of 1946-95) on October 21 at Betsy's place high in the Berkeley hills, discussing Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie while folding, sealing, labeling, and stamping the 180 paper copies of the club's Annual Report (look for your PDF in an email soon!).

In general, everyone enjoyed the book, some unexpectedly so like Kate who got the teaser from Amazon and then was hooked! Catherine was taken in by the love story and then surprised by the depth of the blog [device in the novel] which gave the book a delicious extra layer for her. Betsey didn't think the main character was very likable, that she was callus and didn't seem to contribute to the romantic relationships she was in. Many of us found the novel edifying as well as entertaining (the author apparently wrote it to be humorous), it touched on the non-American black experience of racism in the US, and her story was as much of the immigrant experience as it was about the subject of racism and how different Americans deal with it (naively ignoring, activism, blog writing to engage in discussion of racism as well as aspects of daily life for blacks from Africa and who grew up in the US such as how they take care of their hair).

Our discussion, as usual, meandered: from race and hair to being an ex-pat and our knowledge of countries like Nigeria. We all agreed that our instruction in history of countries that had not been British colonies paled in comparison with those that had.

Jennie wondered who the intended audience was for the book. We wondered how many "American blacks" or "non-American blacks" were reading it. Many said it was a tough book to check out from the library as it was in high demand.

There was an article in The New York Times Magazine (October 19, 2014) that discussed transgender students and admission policies at women's colleges. We then began a lively discussion on gender and the blurring of gender lines. Several of us were grateful not to be in college administrative positions so as not to be forced to make those decisions.

Thanks to Jennie & Catherine for this write-up!