The Literature Book

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

Africa and the West. Writing with

feminist overtones, Adichio also

questions the ethics of Western

journalism and the function of the

academic establishment, as well

as the effectiveness of relief aid.

WIZARD OF THE CROW

(2006), NGUGI WA THIONG’O

Set in an imaginary African

dictatorship, Wizard of the Crow is a

madcap satire of totalitarian politics.

Author Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1938–),

a prisoner of conscience in his native

Kenya, emigrated to the US after

his release. In a parody of corrupt

governments, the plot involves a

despotic ruler who wishes to climb

to heaven by building a modern-

day Tower of Babel. Hope is found

in multiple voices of dissent—such

as a group that causes chaos with

plastic snakes. Influenced by oral

traditions, the book operates by

broad strokes of caricature, with

some scatological touches.

THE RELUCTANT

FUNDAMENTALIST

(2007), MOHSIN HAMID

Presented as a monologue that

takes place in a Lahore (Pakistan)

café, The Reluctant Fundamentalist

captures the experiences of a

Pakistani man who comes home

from the US after a failed love affair

and 9/11, turning his back on a

well-paid business job. In Pakistan

his disillusionment with American

capitalism forms into more radical

views. Pakistani author Hamid

(1971–) uses the story line of the

narrator’s girlfriend’s inability to

free herself from a past relationship

as a metaphor of America’s nostalgic

attachment to past glories.

WE NEED NEW NAMES

(2013), NOVIOLET BULAWAYO

Set initially in a Zimbabwean

shanty named Paradise, the

coming-of-age novel We Need

New Names depicts lives scarred

by violence, poverty, disease,

and injustice. The young female

narrator, sent to live with her aunt

in the Midwestern US, is faced

with a new source of discontent:

the exclusiveness of the American

Dream. The novel is especially

memorable for its depiction of the

loyalty and vitality of childhood

friendships in Zimbabwe, where

author NoViolet Bulawayo (1981–)

was born and raised.

2666

(2004), ROBERTO BOLAÑO

The last, unrevised, labyrinthine

novel by the Chilean writer Bolaño

(1953–2003), 2666 (whose title is

never fully explained) focuses on

a mysterious writer, Archimboldi.

Partly set on the eastern front of

World War II, the story mainly takes

place in a Mexican town notorious

for around 300 serial homicides of

women. After detailing the murders

in a relentless series of police reports,

Bolaño rewards readers for their

stamina with a vivid historical

reconstruction that illuminates

the enigma at the novel’s core.

HALF OF A YELLOW SUN

(2006), CHIMAMANDA NGOZI

ADICHIE

Adichie named her masterpiece

Half of a Yellow Sun—which traces

the Nigerian Civil War (1967–70)

through its impact on three main

characters—after the symbol on

the Biafran flag. Themes include

conflict’s human cost, politics and

identity in postcolonial Africa,

and the relationship between

339

Chimamanda Ngozi

Adichie

Born in 1977 in southeastern

Nigeria, Chimamanda Ngozi

Adichie studied medicine and

pharmacy at the University

of Nigeria in Enugu, where

her father was professor of

statistics and her mother was

the first female registrar. She

studied communications and

political science in the US,

later obtaining a Master’s in

African Studies from Yale. An

author of novels, short stories,

and poetry, she won the 2007

Orange Prize for Fiction for

Half of a Yellow Sun. Adichie

divides her time between the

US and Nigeria, where she

teaches creative writing.

Key works

2003 Purple Hibiscus

2006 Half of a Yellow Sun

(see left)

2013 Americanah

Metaphors are our way

of losing ourselves in

semblances or treading

water in a sea of seeming.

2666

Roberto Bolaño

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