Young Nigerian’s powerful new novel

BBC Learning EnglishWeekenderYoung Nigerian’s powerful new novelAmber: Hello, I'm Amber 1, and you’re listening tobbclearningenglish.com.
　　Today, we listen to an interview with the young NigerianwriterChimamanda Ngozi Adichie, about her powerful new novel,Half of a YellowSun.
　　Chimamanda is only 28, but she’s already being describedby critics as ‘a writer wise beyond her years’.
　　Half of a Yellow Sun is set in Nigeria during the 1960swhen people in the south east fought for independence fromthe rest of the country. More than a million people diedduring the conflict, and Chimamanda’s novel tells thestory of these dreadful 2 events through the eyes ofdifferent characters. We see how the war changes people’slives, and how the characters develop under stressand by surviving the conflict. For example, Odenigbo, aconfident, passionate 3 and ‘fiery’ university lecturerturns to despair, while the middle-class Olanna growsstronger as she looks after her adopted daughter indreadful circumstances.
　　As you listen to Chimamanda talking about Half of a YellowSun, try to catch what she says she thinks was a positiveeffect of the Nigerian Biafra war.
　　Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‘I don’t think it’s really a book about war. I think it’s a book about people, you know, andhow people change in different circumstances. And Odenigbo,you know, in the beginning we see him and he’s sort offiery and very passionate about things and at the end, youfind thatthe war really has changed him, as I think it changed manypeople in my father’s generation atthe time. And we also see how Olanna comes into her own,how she becomes a strong andYoung Nigerian’s powerful new novel  ? BBC LearningEnglishPage 1 of 3bbclearningenglish.comfull woman because of the war. And for me also, the war isn’t just how people died and how horrible it was, it wasalso that I think it had the capacity to bring peopletogether.’
　　Amber: So Chimamanda felt that despite the horrors, theNigerian Biafra war ‘had the capacity’ – the ability –‘to bring people together’.
　　Her novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, is ‘a human portrait’ ofwhat life was like at that time – ‘it’s a book aboutpeople’ she says. For example, Olanna ‘comes into her own’ – if you ‘come into your own’, you discover yourinner strength. Chimamanda believes that human beings areimpressive because they will try extremely hard to remainhuman even when terrible things happen. She says she wantedher novel to show that she believes in ‘the human spirit’
　　– in thefeelings that make people care for each other. And shesays, ‘it amazes me how much our hearts can absorb’ – ifyou are ‘amazed’ by something, it surprises you very muchand it fills you with wonder.
　　As you listen to the next part of the interview, try tocatch the expression thatChimamanda uses to talk about love.
　　Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‘And I really do believe that, I do believe very stronglythat love is what – what makes the world go round is love.
　　And I wanted to show that I also believe in the humanspirit – it amazes me how much our hearts can absorb. Imean, reading accounts of the war and what people wentthrough, I’m just absolutely amazed, you know, howwonderful it is to be human.’
　　Amber: Chimamanda says she wanted her novel to show that,‘what makes the world go round is love’. ‘Love makes theworld go round’ is a well-known, well-worn expression inEnglish!
　　In the author’s note at the end of Half of a Yellow Sun,Chimamanda has written,‘May we always remember’. So in the last part of herinterview, we askedChimamanda about how she hopes the book will be received inNigeria. How much of her book was written with an eye onNigeria today?
　　Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie‘All of it, I think. I mean, this book is even moreimportant to me because I’m hoping that what it will do inNigeria is make people in my generation start to questionour history and start to engage with it in a real way.
　　Biafra is such a potent 4 issue in Nigeria today but, youknow, we talk about it in sort of unimaginative ways,people use it as a reason to fight, and to write – often– you know, inaccurate 5 things in the newspapers, that sortof thing. And we’re not really asking questions about howmuch of that is relevant today. The people who were activein the war are still active in Nigerian politics, and Ijust feel that we need to ask more questions, we need tosort of air things out.’
　　Amber: So Chimamanda says that ‘all’ of her novel waswritten with the Nigeria of today in mind – she has hopesthat it will make people of her age – ‘in my generation’
　　–‘start to question our history’ and ‘start to engagewith it in a real way’.