Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "Americanah"

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Chimamanda Ngozi. Adichie, "Americanah" (2013)

 

소설 속 나이지리아 사회가 한국을 2, 3 십 년쯤 뒤따르고 있는 것 같은 여러 면도 내겐 재밌게 읽혔다. 

 

New York Times 서평

 

위 서평에서:

 

What’s the difference between an African-American and an American-African? From such a distinction springs a deep-seated discussion of race in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s third novel, “Americanah.” Adichie, born in Nigeria but now living both in her homeland and in the United States, is an extraordinarily self-aware thinker and writer, possessing the ability to lambaste society without sneering or patronizing or polemicizing. For her, it seems no great feat to balance high-literary intentions with broad social critique. “Americanah” examines blackness in America, Nigeria and Britain, but it’s also a steady-handed dissection of the universal human experience — a platitude made fresh by the accuracy of Adichie’s observations.

 

“Americanah” tells the story of a smart, strong-willed Nigerian woman named Ifemelu who, after she leaves Africa for America, endures several harrowing years of near destitution before graduating from college, starting a blog entitled “Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black” and winning a fellowship at Princeton (as Adichie once did; she has acknowledged that many of Ifemelu’s experiences are her own). Ever hovering in Ifemelu’s thoughts is her high school boyfriend, Obinze, an equally intelligent if gentler, more self-effacing Nigerian, who outstays his visa and takes illegal jobs in London. (When Obinze trips and falls to the ground, a co-worker shouts, “His knee is bad because he’s a knee-grow!”)

 

본문에서:

 

A glum dusk was settling over London when Obinze walked into the bookshop cafe and sat down to a mocha and a blueberry scone. ... This was his weekly treat: to visit the bookshop, buy an overpriced caffeinated drink, read as much as he could for free, and become Obinze again. (p. 258)

 

He sipped his drink. "Nigerians can be so obsequious. We are a confident people but we are so obsequious. It is not difficult for us to be insincere."    "We have confidence but no dignity."    "Yes." he looked at her, recogition in his eyes. (p. 431)