2017 in books

2017 has again been a year of great reads, with my discovery of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's books being the highlight of the year.  Be it Half of a Yellow Sun - a compelling narrative of the horrors of the Biafran war that shamed me about my ignorance and filled me with horror and sorrow - or Purple Hibiscus, which shook me with an account of domestic violence in the backdrop of opulence and faith - or Americanah, a remarkable account of immigrants in a "new world" far away from home - every book by this lady is a big 5 stars.  Engrossing stories that I highly recommend.

Half of a Yellow Sun

For the sister who would be searched for every day but never found, and for the sister who was found, but more dead than alive.

For the sons who never got a chance to bury their mothers, and for the parents who had to bury their children.

For the people who tried to stay positive even as they poached rats for lunch, and for the mothers who forced protein tablets into the mouths of unresponsive infants.

“Red was the blood of the siblings massacred in the North, black was for mourning them, green was for the prosperity Biafra would have, and, finally, the half of a yellow sun stood for the glorious future.”   

"The world was silent when we died", says the author.  Death, be not proud...

Purple Hibiscus

Half of a Yellow Sun enthralled me, and I picked this book up with a lot of expectations.  

It far exceeded those expectations.

This story made me flinch in a lot of places, with a remarkable setting of domestic violence in the backdrop of opulence and faith.  It had me silently screaming "Bravo!" for Aunty Ifeoma and her children, admiring Jaja's bravado and strength, pitying Mama, and relating to Kambili - her shyness, her lack of self-esteem, her quiet nature - I love how beautifully the author develops her character and her inherent strength.

5 big stars.  A masterpiece.

Americanah 

After the masterpiece Half of a Yellow Sun and the stunning Purple Hibiscus, my expectations of Americanah were high.  

The book did not disappoint.  The importance of a good education.  What life is like as an immigrant in a foreign land.  To what depths of despair unemployment can drive one.  What colour means in a modern world.  What it is like to bring up children born in a country far away from home, who have never seen the land of their people.  How the meaning of love evolves with age.  And, most importantly - how is it when one returns to the country of one's birth after years spent abroad?  What is it like to revisit one's home through the eyes of a "foreign-returned" person?

And then there was The Light Between Oceans that made me shed copious tears with its take on "right and wrong and how sometimes, they look the same".

The Light Between Oceans

"Soon enough the days will close over their lives, the grass will grow over their graves, until their story is just an un-visited headstone". 

We all know there's a lot of grey between "right" and "wrong", but rarely does a book make you question yourself - what if what is evidently, completely RIGHT for someone is tragically WRONG for another? 

Set in a remote island far, far away from the mainland - an island with one majestic lighthouse and two human beings - The Light Between Oceans simply swept me away. When a tiny boat sweeps up, carrying a man - dead, and an infant - miraculously alive, the couple on the island has to make a choice that will have devastating consequences - not just in their lives but also on a number of lives far away on the mainland.

This book made me seethe with fury. This book made me cry unashamedly. Some parts had me weeping like a baby. This is a story that will stay with me for years.

The Catcher in the Rye is a genuine masterpiece with its imagery, play of words and sheer poignancy. This is a book I am going to re-read many times.

The Catcher in the Rye

Someone asked if I've ever had a crush on a fictional character. Oh yes. Holden Caulfield. "Certain things, they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone". I mean, a teenager who thinks and says this stuff - I have definitely had a crush on him since the first time I read The Catcher in the Rye, and still do. And this - "Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it ends up making me sad". Until I read this masterpiece of a book, I thought I was the only person weird enough to feel this way. Hell, my eyes get moist almost every time someone is kind to me! "I know he's dead! Don't you think I know that? I can still like him, though, can't I? Just because somebody's dead, you don't just stop liking them, for God's sake--especially if they were about a thousand times nicer than the people you know that're alive and all". I think this is the point at which I get something in my damn eye whenever I read this book. I’ll stop with this - "It's not too bad when the sun's out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out". I take my hat off to you, JD Salinger. What a book The Catcher in the Rye is. I recommend it to everyone who hasn’t read it yet. Please do, and be awed.

I'm ending the year with Chaos by James Gleick, which quite accurately sums up my current state. 😉

I hope everyone has a great year ahead with plenty of books!