Americanah
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie · first published 1969
86% recommend14% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A novel following a Nigerian woman who moves to America, offering sharp observations on race, immigration and identity. Its insight into life as an immigrant and its strong writing stand out.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Americanah is a 2013 novel by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, for which Adichie won the 2013 U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Americanah tells the story of a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu, who immigrates to the United States to attend university. The novel traces Ifemelu's life in both countries, threaded by her love story with high school classmate Obinze.
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There's a great line from the book Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie where the narrator of the book remarks that (and I'm paraphrasing here), there's loads of ways in the world to be poor, but apparently there's only one way to be rich - indulge…
on “Things I Never Knew About Las Vegas Until I Ran a High-Roller Suite” ↗Sure, my Top 5 books by non-whitemen I read in 2014 are: FICTION 1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Americanah 2. Terezia Mora - Der einzige Mann auf dem Kontinent (not translated yet I think) 3. Octavia E. Butler - Parable of the Sower 4. Jose Saramago - Blindness 5. James Baldwin - If Beale Street Could Talk…
on “The Best Books I Read in 2014” ↗If anyone is wondering why he returned to where he was from I suggest to read the novel «Americanah» by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which tells a story sharing at least one motif, perhaps. I suppose he felt alienated and was homesick even after decades of living in Europe.
on “On the Kidnapped African Boy Who Became a German Philosopher” ↗…to appreciate minimalist art to boot. - Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice - Kurt Vonnegut - Breakfast of Champions - Burton G. Malkiel - A Random Walk Down Wall Street - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Americanah. Saw myself in several of these characters - Nikos Kazantzakis - Zorba the Greek --- Also good: - Jack London - John Barleycorn: Alcoholic Memoirs. Illustrates all of the interesting ways in which…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is very good. It's fiction, but semi-autobiographical. It's as much about living as a Nigerian immigrant in America as it is about Nigeria, but it's really well-written and…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗Highly recommend her work! I've read Americanah and loved it. My partner read Half of a Yellow Sun and also really enjoyed it.
on “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on what it means to be “an African writer”” ↗Fellow African here, this reminds me of a book I read called Americanah. Was a sweet story. Nigeria is cool. Also a compiler enjoyer so this slaps. I love seeing people roll their own.
on “Yorlang Programming Language” ↗Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗