The Thing Around Your Neck

"At night, something would wrap itself around your neck, something that very nearly
choked you before you fell asleep."

Last month I closely read and reviewed two of the short stories from the collection The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in anticipation of reading the others, which I now have.

I enjoyed this volume; Adichie's writing is evocative and intense but I didn't think that the stories had the same impact as her novels. Some stood out and overall I found the political ones, the ones set in Nigeria, to be more powerful, especially "The American Embassy". In the others, she focused on the alienation of Nigerians living in the United States and I found them to be a little cold and disconnected, even jarring, which may have been the point to evoke the incongruity and the hard work of adjusting to a new country, culture, and language. Anyway, I liked those stories but I didn't emotionally connect with them as I did the others.

The stand-out story for me was the last in the volume, "The Headstrong Historian", which can be read here. Not set in recent Nigeria nor in America, this story is about the wife of a fringe character from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and parallels the great African Literature story of Okonkwo. In Adichie's debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, she pays tribute to Achebe, the "grandfather of African Literature (an accolade paid by Nelson Mandela), and in this story she does so again by telling the story of the wife of Obierika, Okonkwo's wife. Set amongst the Igbo tribe in the fictional villages of Umuofia, it tells the struggle of Nwambga ,following the death of Obierika, to provide for their son Anikwenwa, with the help of White missionaries. I re-read Things Fall Apart four years ago so my memory was not fresh enough to say how closely the story parallels the events of the novel but I noticed a couple of clever allusions, the same recalled memory or cultural tale. By far, this was the story that most impressed me.

Have you read these stories? How do you think they compare to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novels, if you have read them?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I forgot to mention in my Library Loot post this week that finally my requested copy of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is available to collect from the library. I have been desperate to read it since it was published in early April and now it is only six weeks until it is published in paperback. Oh well, I'll read it and purchase it at a later date. As it is I already have a head-start on reading the collection having read two of the short stories collected.

"A Private Experience" is one of the short stories.

Adichie's writing is understated but possesses a richness and a resonance that is powerful and profound. Both of her wonderful novels and now this short story (not the collection) concern the Nigerian Civil War (1967-70), also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, where ethnic tensions and violence escalated. Adichie evokes the War in almost a minimalist way: a devastating truth and reality in a sentence written like a throw-away comment, not embellished or exaggerated but standing upon the merit of its own stark wording. The horror she can convey in one simple line is awe-inspiring and difficult to describe; its simplicity is implied but it is an artistic technique to pack so much punch in a few words. One of Adichie's literary idols is her fellow Nigerian writer -and the founding father of the modern African novel (an accolade given to him by Nelson Mandela) - Chinua Achebe, and he too possesses the gift of constructing words in such a simple yet brutal way, shocking the reader.

"A Private Experience" occurs over one day and night in a small, abandoned shop between two women: Chika, a Medical student and an Igbo Christian from Lagos, who is visiting her aunt in the town, and the nameless woman who leads her to shelter, who is a market trader with five children and also an Hausa Muslim. The women have sought safety from the violent street riot they were caught up in at the market; "Later, Chika will learn that, as she and the woman are speaking, Hausa Muslims are hacking down Igbo Christians with machetes, clubbing them with stones".

Chika has been separated from her sister Nnedi, and the woman from her eldest daughter; the story provides flash-forward hints to the fate of Nnedi and the future of Chika, who is the main protagonist, but not to the woman, excluding "perhaps the beginning of future grief on her face". The riots are a way of life to the woman but Chika has always been sheltered and somewhat oblivious, "Riots like this were what she read about in newspapers. Riots like this were what happened to other people". Their private experience is shared: two women -one nameless and unidentifiable, one not- who have a shared experience, despite their ethnic, religious and class differences. "The woman's crying is private, as though she is carrying out a necessary ritual that involves no one else" except for Chika who is witness to this personal moment; they also share the incongruous Medical exam of the woman's dry nipples. Later, when the private experience becomes the public, "Chika will read in the Guardian that "the reactionary Hausa-speaking Muslims in the North have a history of violence against non-Muslims", and in the middle of her grief, she will stop to remember that she examined the nipples and experienced the gentleness of a woman who is Hausa and Muslim."

The other short story from the collection I have read is "Cell One".

I believe that "Cell One" is the opening story in The Thing Around Your Neck and it definitely captured my attention from the opening lines:

The first time our house was robbed, it was our neighbor Osita who climbed in through the dining-room window and stole our TV and VCR, and the “Purple Rain” and “Thriller” videotapes that my father had brought back from America. The second time our house was robbed, it was my brother Nnamabia, who faked a break-in and stole my mother’s jewelry.

It starts after the fact, looking back; it is shocking and intriguing; it is dated and contains Western touches. This was not the first criminal act of the narrator's brother, nor would it be the last. The story centres around Nnamabia's arrest in his second year of university for belonging to a cult and his subsequent days in prison and in Cell One, the titular location for punishment. Typically Adichie, the story is told with subtle, understated language that nevertheless conveys horrific situations. It too is political although Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie states in this interview that she is not a political writer but a storyteller (watch the interview if you have time as I think she comes across as a very interesting and meditative writer). Adichie is indeed a storyteller, a wonderful one, and I look forward to reading the remainder of the collection, The Thing Around Your Neck.

Thou Shalt Covet Books

My first commandment: thou shalt read books
My second commandment: thou shalt covet books
My third commandment: thou shalt have books

What better way to blog on a dreary Bank Holiday Monday than to blog about the books I covet. I have read a number of book coveting posts this month that contribute to Debi's mini-challenge in honour of Dewey and I thought I would contribute.

My book eyes being bigger than my book stomach I am continually coveting new books to read and my wants and desires are eclectic and wide-ranging. For the purpose of the post I took the books most recently added to my Amazon wishlist, along with the first three books that I am desperate to own.

1. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters: I am literally counting down the days (THREE) until this is released in the UK. I am jumping up and down with anticipation. Thanks to Littlebrown's Sarah Waters website I have had a sneak read of the first two chapters and I am impatient to read the remainder. I have splurged and pre-ordered a copy and I only hope that it arrives on time.

2. The Thing Around Your Neck, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: I have mentioned in a previous post how much I am looking forward to reading this title; I have requested it from the library but am fifth in line so should expect it some time close to Christmas. I really should own it in hardback as I own Adichie's previous titles in that format.

3. Journal by Katherine Mansfield: I am itching to puchase the title. I have been obsessed with Katherine Mansfield recently (which reminds me I have an unfinished blog post concerning her) after re-reading some of her short stories and remembering how much I loved her writing. This is the title from Persephone Books that I most covet.

4. The Gourmet by Muriel Barbery: the follow-up (not a prequel per se, more a side-by-side?) to The Elegance of the Hedgehog this book isn't released until Autumn but my book taste-buds are salivating in anticipation - an appropriate yet unintentional desciption as it concerns a food critic.

5. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White: the advantage of taking these directly from my wishlist is that it demonstrates my book likes in all their versatility. This timeless manual for writing is the one I am most wanting to invest in.

6. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson: Another one that isn't being released until later in the year (by Penguin Modern Classics,) I have been coveting this book for a while but it has been out of print. I don't know much about it and would like it to stay that way until read.

7. Mixed Media: Feminist Presses and Publishing Politics by Simone Murray: Simon reviewed this title recently and I was immediately interested. The Virago section alone is enough to peak my interest although I was disappointed to discover that Persephone isn't included.

8. Moomin: the Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip: I loved the Moomins as a child and I would love to own the four-piece hardback collection. How lovely would they look on the shelf with the other comics and graphic novels?

9. The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook: Cupcakes, enough said. I covet a visit to this bakery on Portobello Road.

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Volume 3: Wolves at the Gate: Volumes 4 and 5 are also on the wishlist so I can read Season 8 of the cult TV show (and personal favourite) in graphic novel form.

11. Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson: Another Persephone and another I covet. The synopsis amuses me.

12. Captivated: J.M. Barrie, the Du Mauriers and the Dark Side of Neverland by Piers Dudgeon: I cannot articulate how much I covet this book. J.M. Barrie? Daphne Du Maurier? I've been wanting this book for six months, since reading Daphne by Justine Picardie.

Library Loot

Today I decided to combine my favourite activity (reading and all things book-related) with my least favourite (exercise) by walking to my local library. Now, I'm not usually a library goer as I much prefer owning books and having lovely new copies in my hands but economy as it is and my own personal circumstances I'm all for supporting the community (and small booksellers). I only joined last week, in the hope of borrowing this month's book group book, but my hopes were dashed. However, I decided to waste not want not (besides it makes a lovely walk) and as it was I picked up a few books I've been wanting to read, pictured above (very beige, aren't they?!)

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett: this one has been on my wish-list for some time. I can't wait to read about the Queen's discovery of the mobile library!

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill: I've heard much about this and fancy reading something Gothic and suspenseful before getting my impatient mitts on Sarah Water's The Little Stranger later this month.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice: seemingly very popular across the blogosphere this book was first brought to my attention by Danielle at A Work in Progress. The beauty of digital word of mouth is that this is a book I would probably have otherwise overlooked in a bookstore as I would be put off by the chick-lit like cover! I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Miss Chopsticks by Xinran: I was researching some potential Eastern literature reads last night and this one caught my eye (as it has in the past); the premise interests me and the library happened to have it on the shelf. I also happen to have another Xinran book, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices, unread on the shelf.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery: apparently another popular book amongst bloggers (I've seen it reviewed a few times) this was brought to my attention by Fleur Fisher; the title intrigued me and her review prompted me to add it to the wish-list.


I have also began to make good use of the inter-library loan service by requesting a few other titles that were on my wish-list, that I hope will arrive soon.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb: I have heard so many good things about this title. A group of friends in the States all received it for Christmas and were reading it at once and commenting on it.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa: mention of this has frequently been popping up online and the pretty cover definitely caught my attention.

Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman: one of the six shortlisted titles for the Orange Prize for Fiction this year (of which I have so far read 1/6) the synopsis below definitely peaked my interest, especially as it's a true story:

Alabama, 1931. A posse stops a freight train and arrests nine black youths. Their crime: fighting with white boys. Then two white girls emerge from another freight car, and fast as anyone can say Jim Crow, the cry of rape goes up. One of the girls sticks to her story. The other changes her tune, time and time again. A young journalist, whose only connection to the incident is her overheated social conscience, fights to save the nine youths from the electric chair, redeem the girl who repents her lie, and make amends for her own past.

The Wilderness by Samantha Harris: another Orange contender and also appealing.

It’s Jake’s birthday. He is sitting in a small plane, being flown over the landscape that has been the backdrop to his life – his childhood, his marriage, his work, his passions. Now in his early sixties, he isn’t quite the man he used to be. He has lost his wife, his son is in prison and he is about to lose his past. Jake has Alzheimer’s.

As the disease takes hold, Jake struggles to hold on to his personal story, to his memories and identity, but they become increasingly elusive and unreliable. What happened to his daughter? Is she alive or long dead? And why exactly is his son in prison? What went so wrong in his life? There was a cherry tree once and a yellow dress, but what exactly do they mean? As Jake, assisted by ‘poor Eleanor’, a childhood friend with whom, for some unfathomable reason, he seems to be sleeping, fights the inevitable dying of the light, the key events of his life keep changing as he tried to grasp them, and what until recently seemed solid fact is melting into surreal dreams or nightmarish imaginings. Is there anything he’ll be able to salvage from the wreckage? Beauty, perhaps, the memory of love, or nothing at all?

Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki: of all the Eastern titles I looked at last night, this is the one that was immediately added to be wish-list and is at the top of my to read list when it arrives.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson: taking pride of place as number one of the 50 Books You Must Read But May Not Have Heard About (not in order and ongoing), Simon at Stuck in a Book's review of this book made me anxious to read it this summer.

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: the book I most want to buy but am awaiting the day I have money to do so and the book I am too impatient to wait to read until then. Enough said.

Even though I have a huge pile of books awaiting me (and all of the ones on the shelf), I'm off to read my copy of Marie Claire before I make dinner! I also woefully behind reviewing but please check in over the next few days when I hope to add a few.