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Americanah
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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- By *** on 14-10-18
Summary
Shortlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction 2014.
From the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun, a powerful story of love, race and identity.
As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face?
Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents and numerous lives, the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Americanah is a richly told story of love and expectation set in today’s globalised world.
Critic reviews
“Actress Adjoa Andoh brings to life Adichie’s complex, beautifully wrought novel – which is both a love story and a nuanced analysis of political topics including systemic racism in America; immigration in the UK; and the class system in Nigeria.” (Vogue)
"One of the previous decade’s landmark novels [...] Andoh is a skilled, exciting narrator." (The Times)
"Andoh's rich voice and distinct characters and rhythm keep the listener engrossed.... Andoh has fun adopting a mocking lilt for Ifemelu's snarky blog entries.... [and] a more serious tone brings authenticity to the heartbreak of Obinze's London experience." ( AudioFile)
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What listeners say about Americanah
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Diana John
- 02-06-13
Life-changing
This was well-near perfect. The narration was fantastic and had me speaking in a Nigerian accent to myself and saying the names to myself because the sounds that made them up were so beautiful. The story was powerful, authentic, moving and challenging. As a white person who grew up in South Africa during apartheid and then moved to England, I felt heartbroken at some of the experiences that are portrayed in this book. The author has written a sensitive, deeply moving story about what it means to be a black person in the modern world. Ifemelu is a wonderful heroine - she has her faults but she grows through the experiences that happen to her and we really come to love her as she comes to love and accept herself. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Half of a yellow sun was fantastic, but Americanah is faultless.
56 people found this helpful
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- Emily Marbach
- 06-05-13
The Best Read Book from Audible
The reader of this compelling story was better than anyone I have ever heard.
She juggled American, British, Nigerian, Senegalese and other accents so masterfully. I was mesmerised.
41 people found this helpful
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- Eileen
- 18-08-13
Entertaining and poignant
What made the experience of listening to Americanah the most enjoyable?
The narrator was excellent, bringing alive the different cultures and circumstances of the main characters
Who was your favorite character and why?
Efamala, by far the most interesting, her take on cultural differences and norms were so well observed
Which scene did you most enjoy?
Probably the hairdressing scene, where she is making a major change because she can as she is successful, whereas the hairdresser is stuck in an underworld with no choices and no hope. Life chances, choice and individual determination are all thrown into the pot in this scene. Very memorable
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me sad in so many ways. Migrants hardship, very day battles coping with different and alien circumstances, while facing hostility and prejudice are all dealt with, however not really with any sense of being a victim
Any additional comments?
The real triumph of this book is that the two main characters find success in their homeland, hardship, misery and success overseas brings fresh insights and resolution. It's really well read, I Could actually feel the crowds and the heat of Nigeria as well as picture the warehouse scene in London with clarity.
I would definitely read more from this author
10 people found this helpful
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- Miss
- 09-04-15
If only it had been shorter!
The parts of the story set in Nigeria are really engaging and interesting, but the dominant section in the USA is far too long and the plot is a thin vehicle for the author's preoccupations. The English section cliched. It takes considerable commitment to soldier through to the end despite the wholly excellent narrator, who is the real star of the story.
7 people found this helpful
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- Solveig Taylor
- 13-10-18
Culture shock
A story of love that endures, but most of all about the dream of America, and the harsh reality of immigrant/ expat life. This story brought back memories of my high school year in the US, ages ago, and of Janet from Kenya and Elizabeth from Sierra Leone who befriended and overwhelmed me with their warm, open and slightly scary otherness. I found this story at times uncomfortable and slightly nauseating. Maybe the long stretches of description of adapting to life in the US were a little too efficient in conveying the feelings of the protagonist. At other times I felt the narrative was overly talkative and eager to convince, but preaching to the converted in my case. It may have been the audio book format that got to me, as it forces the listener to swallow every word, instead of being able to skim the less interesting bits. I enjoyed the parts of the narrative set in Nigeria, purely because it describes a different, and therefore interesting place, and the way of thinking, the difference, but also the sheer humanity of people living there. Though I could personally relate to the protagonist's critical attitude and feeling of superiority, she sometimes annoyed me. I felt that in fighting prejudice, the narrator did not always see her own prejudice.
All in all a book I am glad to have read.
6 people found this helpful
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- Sigrin
- 22-01-16
Love,Life and reflection
I will be straight here as I see all you clever literaries have seen deeper than I have.
I enjoyed Ifemelus and Obinzes journey through life, and their return to Nigeria for different reasons. I do feel that it could have been edited down by a few hours though. I was a bit put off at first by her lectures on racism, however she made very good points with them.
Had I bought this first in a book version I know I would have given up, but Adjoa Andoh's narration gave colour and vibrancy to all the charcters and her ability to swap accents was incredible.
I have never been that keen on that hard ivory coast accent but I found myself wanting to mimic her Nigerian prose.
Can't say I will try another by this author but a good listen all the same.
5 people found this helpful
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- obinna
- 23-10-13
For those of us in diaspora
Would you consider the audio edition of Americanah to be better than the print version?
Yes because of the various accents, which brings the story home
What was one of the most memorable moments of Americanah?
Most memorable part was Obinze's plight in London, I can relate to that on so many levels.
What about Adjoa Andoh’s performance did you like?
Okay but I would recommend getting coaching on pronouncing the Igbo words properly so it doesn't lose it's mean..
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Very much so
10 people found this helpful
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- A. Hunt
- 11-05-13
A superb achievement
I loved this book. The story is convincing, I cared about the main characters, I was kept guessing, and I was drawn completely into their world.
Ifemelu's journey – from an outsider to whom everything is new and unexpectedly strange, to confident resident alien in the USA – was one I could relate to from personal experience. Like her, I was eventually pulled back home, never entirely feeling a sense of belonging, yet recognising the positive aspects of American life and values that are often overlooked by the country's critics (many of them from a point of ignorance).
The descriptions of American society and the minefield of cultural groupings and sensitivities that take so long to navigate are right on the mark here. Yet the narrative flows naturally, the characters have depth (even when they're apparently there to represent stereotypes!), and the social observation blends seamlessly with the story itself: Ifemelu's account of how her life unfolds, and to a lesser extent Obinze's story in England, too. Most of all, the love story is powerful and completely credible. It's a masterpiece of storytelling.
The narration is virtually flawless and I enjoyed having this story read to me. I'll probably go back to the beginning and listen to it all again!
10 people found this helpful
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- Elisa
- 06-05-14
Simply Wonderful
What made the experience of listening to Americanah the most enjoyable?
this book had me from the first chapter right to the end. It was such an engrossing story and I was so sad when I realised I was reaching the end.
What does Adjoa Andoh bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Adjoa Andoh is s brilliant narrator, she navigates all the accents and even the mixed accents and really does a great job bringing it to life.
10 people found this helpful
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- Elizabeth
- 23-07-13
Another great story from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This book got me hooked. Not immediately, but within maybe 1 hour of listening I couldnt stop and during the weeks I listened to it, I lived for my car journeys and time spent with my earphones in.
Americanah is the story of Ifemelu, a girl who leaves Nigeria for America to study. She isn't hugely academic but follows a fairly academic life course, exploring issues of race from within America from an outsiders perspective. Alongside this, her relationships past and present are explored, up to the point when she returns to Nigeria (an 'Americanah') and confronts her past.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is in my opinion one of today's most talented writers. Alongside Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun it is an incredible story which is captivating, wonderfully written, and truly takes the reader (or in my case, Listener) on a journey.
I will probably buy this book in print despite having listened to it as an audiobook first, because I do want to read bits again and have a physical copy - it's that enjoyable.
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- Bruce SW
- 28-08-13
Provocative and occasionally maddening
I found this novel fun and memorable, sharing many of the traits of its principal character Ifemelu. She's an engaging but highly flawed person who seems to pass her days judging the people around her, telling folks she’s only just met about their own experiences, even saying “That’s a lie” to someone she disagrees with. Yet she cannot bear that other people should occasionally judge her. She thinks she sees The World As It Truly Is, while everyone else merely grasps at shadows, bound up in their own biases and limited perspectives. She perceives racism everywhere around her--except in Nigeria where, we learn, there’s no racism, merely “prejudice.” She begrudges other people their privileges while blind to her own.
Ifemelu spends much of her time casting a disapproving eye at others—Malian hair braiders, white American carpet cleaners, Haitian poets, Asian beauty parlor managers, white American girls with cornrows, francophone Africans, crass fellow Nigerians, Black American activists, and anyone more honest than herself. Reading the Ifemelu chapters I began to feel swamped by a gentle but persistent tide of negativity. Where was the beauty in humanity? Where was the love?
But the love was there for Obinze, Ifemelu's romantic foil, who as a character is less contradictory and less fully formed than she. He is primarily a site for desire (namely the desire to emigrate to America), and someone to whom unfortunate things happen. The novel's American characters, irrespective of their race, struck me as entitled, child-like, and conspicuously unaware of themselves, while its protagonists Ifemelu and Obinze seem to have keen senses of who they are and what they want.
As for the audio performance, narrating "Americanah" could only be a huge challenge given its characters' array of accents—Nigerian, British, and American, of course, but also French, Ethiopian, Angolan, Malian, Kenyan, etc. Anglo-Ghanaian actress Adjoah Andoh performs Adichie’s third-person narration in a clipped, upper class British accent such as one hears on the BBC. Her rendering of Nigerian and British characters’ accents sounds, to my American ear, convincing and delightfully varied, but the dialect she uses for the novel’s American characters (male or female, black or white) is monochromatic and nasal, such that most Americans (and even Nigerians who've spent time in America) come off sounding like Fran Drescher. Whether or not this was intentional, it lessened my listening enjoyment. While Ms. Andoh's mispronunciations were occasionally amusing-- someone please teach her how to say “Potomac, Maryland”!--they were also frequently distracting.
Reading and listening to this story had me at turns intrigued, impressed, frustrated and bemused. Yet weeks after finishing it, I find myself often thinking back on these characters and their observations, and sometimes second-guessing my own beliefs and behaviors. I can say that, as a direct result of reading "Americanah," I have sworn off eating ice cream cones in public: Ifemelu wouldn't approve. And, as a direct result of listening to Ms. Andoh's narration, I'm considering pronouncing the "t" in the word "often."
7 people found this helpful
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- Lorraine
- 17-01-14
The best book bar none!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I have been a member of Audible since 2006 and hence listened to hundreds of books. I must confess however, I am a selfish listener because this is my first written review. I am compelled to write a review on this book for the following reasons ...
The Writing: This book has got to be some of the best writing I have had the privilege of listening to. I am lulled by the wonderful use of the authors beautiful construction of words and how they flow. The Story: I am more than two thirds through this book (regrettably) and I have not been absorbed since the very beginning - I want to drink in this beautiful amazing story which covers culture, life, love and humor. The combination of the wonderful literature and the story itself, sewn together so flawlessly make it the BEST listen EVER. Last but CERTAINLY not least - the Narrator, OMG, the Narrator! she is the master of all masters! Again, I have not heard anybody that comes close! there was not one accent that she did not ace in sound and pronunciation - who exactly is she - if not magnificent!! I have heard GREAT narrators on audible such as Frank Muller and George Guidall - Giants, but this woman, she is in a class all of their own. Thank you Audible for this one - Thank you SO MUCH!!
11 people found this helpful
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- Molly-o
- 19-01-14
So, so good
A particularly telling standard I have for if a book is good is if I listen to it as I am walking the 5 minutes -- not half hour, but 5 minutes -- to my office from where I park which I did throughout my read of this one. It definitely interrupted my life - the two strands of the love story and the commentary on race in America and in Nigeria kept me glued to the book in many unusual situations. I walked more as I read this book and I listened whenever I could and still be responsible. It is beautifully written, the characters are plucky and memorable and the story is very clever. Perhaps most important, it will shake your beliefs around a bit - and when is that not a good thing? The New York Times was right in naming this one of the year's ten best!
3 people found this helpful
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- Maj-Britt
- 05-07-17
Greatly performed!
I loved everything about this novel, the storyline, the social criticism, everything but the thing I loved the most was the performance of the reader and her ability to switch from one variety of English to the other, and adding even more to the experience of reading this great piece of literature!
2 people found this helpful
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- Chrissie
- 09-06-13
Two themes - love and race
There are two central themes to this book; it is both a love story and an in-depth look at what it is to be black, today, in America and in Nigeria. It also looks at how it is to be young in today’s world – a world of computers and cellphones and blogs and, on a more general level, how people interrelate with each other.
Different readers will be drawn to different aspects of the novel. The love story did not draw me in. It begins with a “coming of age” attraction between two teenagers in Lagos, Nigeria. The story goes full circle and ends on the same note, back in Nigeria and back with these two, Obinze and Ifemelu. Will they find each other at the end? And if they do, at what cost to others? That this aspect of the novel did not attract me is not to say that it was poorly written, but only that my interests lay elsewhere, given my particular past experiences and age.
What did interest me is Adichie’s penetration of race, racial bigotry and inequality. Obinze and Ifemelu are separated. Ifemelu goes to the America with her aunt, but after 9/11 Obinze cannot get into America and immigrates to London. Political turmoil in Nigeria and the impossibility of getting a good education at home is what forces both abroad. Both experience how it is to be without family in a foreign country as an immigrant, Obinze an illegal immigrant. Ifemelu learns what it is to be an African Black in North America. Both flounder. The central themes remain love relationships and race.
As with all books it is the reader’s own experiences that influence how one perceives a book’s content. How do I compare my own immigrant experiences with those portrayed in the novel and why are they different? To what extent are blacks discriminated against in the US today in comparison to Europe? I look with admiration at the US and think how wonderful it is that Obama, a black could become president. That does say something, no matter how you twist or turn it. That Adichie isn’t satisfied, that she reveals to me, a non-black, the inequalities that still remain is only admirable. Through her characters you come to understand on a ground level the inequalities that remain. You understand on a personal level. One example: in all the women’s magazines there are article after article about what eye shadow works best for brown our blue or green eyes, but what if you have black eyes? There are full discussions of what to do with straight, wavy or curly hair, but where is there help for kinky hair? Yeah, there STILL isn’t total equality, total acceptance of all our differences. I like that the book made me more aware of what is to be black on a daily basis. There is also the difference of being a Black-American and the difference of being a Non-American Black. Being colored, Hispanic versus African versus Asian, are all different. A Black-American lives with the baggage of historical discrimination in the US.
Narration of the audiobook by Adjoa Andoh is excellent, albeit a bit difficult for those, like me, who are not accustomed to the many different black accents. I had to listen carefully. I am glad I had a chance to do this through this audiobook.
I believe how you will react to this book will be determined by the theme that most draws your attention. You may be enthralled by the love story or like me just interested in current racial and immigrant injustices.
6 people found this helpful
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- Justyna
- 03-09-17
Love this book
Showing the many layers of the life we can have if we are willing and open to it. Inteligent and deep.
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- Rio Delta Wild
- 31-01-14
Great story-line, black/black/white culture.
What did you love best about Americanah?
I love the Nigerian dialect and depths of discussion about different social structures.
What did you like best about this story?
Believable characters and very believable settings.
Which character – as performed by Adjoa Andoh – was your favorite?
The two main characters were my favorites; I can't remember how to spell their names, having listened to the book rather than reading it!
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I believe my reaction was a better understanding of Nigerian culture and "Africahn" migration to "white" countries.
Any additional comments?
The blog post streams were excellent.
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- Vanessa
- 15-01-14
Amazing story that came to life by the Reader
If you could sum up Americanah in three words, what would they be?
brilliant, touching, though-provoking
What other book might you compare Americanah to and why?
I really can't think of another book that captures humor and love while addressing important issues of race and immigration.
What does Adjoa Andoh bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
The reader has so many different voices and accents and she brings the personalities of the characters to life. I've listened to many books on tape and rarely does a reader create such a vivid distinction between characters. I had started reading the story on my own, and the protagonist was harsher in my mind. However, the reader's voice softened her for me and created a new image of her that I enjoyed.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes - Obinze's struggle in London was especially touching for me.
Any additional comments?
This is one of my favorite books that I've ever read or listened to.
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- Anonymous User
- 24-11-20
What a book!
I loved it, Fiction with the perfect deep dive into real issues. The story starts in the middle and then Chimamanda takes the you to the past and the future all at the same time. I found myself smiling and crying at the same time. Beautifully written and easy to follow.
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- Anonymous User
- 26-09-20
great read!
wasn't ready for the end. incredible book. I am still convinced Ifemelo is Chimamanda lol