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Story 7: The Thing Around Your Neck

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  On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 7 titled The Thing Around Your Neck. Okayyyy, this one had me confused for most of the story because I was constantly trying to figure out what exactly the thing around her neck was.   First of all, can we talk about the narration? This wasn't the usual first person or third person POV. It was written in second person, and my goodness, was it flawless? It felt like the story was happening to you and not just being told to you. The story follows Akunna, who wins a visa lottery and moves to America carrying the hopes and expectations of everyone back home. But almost immediately, things begin to fall apart. The America she imagined and the America she finds are not the same.   One thing that stood out to me was Akunna's decision to walk away from an unpleasant situation even when she had no clear alternative. For me, that was the highlight of the story. ...
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Story 6: Jumping Monkey Hill

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"There wasn't a single monkey in sight, yet everyone at the workshop seemed to be jumping through hoops..." On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 6 titled Jumping Monkey Hill. You guyssssss, it's the way I want to scream, cry, and get angry all over again because damn it, this story has been my favourite so far. Maybe it's because one of my dreams is to attend a writing workshop. Maybe it's because I could almost share in the rage of the main character, Ujunwa. But nothing annoys me more than people who are not African trying to tell Africans what being African should look like. The story follows a group of writers from different African countries who are selected for a writing workshop outside Cape Town at a place called Jumping Monkey Hill. The workshop is organized by Edward, a white man who constantly talks about his love for African literature. The writers are expected to write st...
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Story 5: On Monday of Last Week

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On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 5 titled On Monday of Last Week. This story was a quiet one, but it left me thinking. It follows Kamara, who recently moved to America to reunite with her husband after six years apart. Only, when she finally gets there, things don't quite feel the way she imagined. While waiting for her green card, she takes up a babysitting job and meets Josh, an adorable four year old, his overly anxious father Neil, and Tracy, Josh's artist mother. Now, Tracy fascinated me. The first time she really spoke to Kamara, it was with so much warmth and attention that Kamara couldn't help but feel special. And honestly, I understood it. There are some people who make you feel seen in a way you haven't felt in a long time. As the story went on, I found myself wondering if Kamara's feelings toward Tracy were admiration, a crush, or a little bit of both. Then came the moment t...
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Story 4: Ghosts

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On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 4 titled Ghosts. I won't lie, this story confused me at first. Going in, I thought I was about to read something supernatural. The title certainly didn't help sef, for a while, I kept wondering if the narrator was hallucinating or imagining things. But the more I read, the more I realized that this isn't really a ghost story. The story follows a retired professor reflecting on his life during and after the Biafran War. He has lost his daughter, he has lost his wife, he has watched his country, his university, and even old friendships change beyond recognition. Then one day, he encounters Professor Ikenna, a colleague everyone had assumed died during the war, and that's where the story got interesting for me. Because the "ghost" isn't a ghost in the horror movie sense. It's the way the past keeps showing up when you think you've left it ...
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Story 3: A Private Experience

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On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 3 titled "A Private Experience". Wow. Just wow. This particular story felt so personal, like I was literally in that tiny dusty store with Chika and the woman. The story follows an experience Chika had when she and her sister, Nnedi, travelled to Kano to visit their aunt. A riot breaks out in the market, chaos erupts, people start running, and in the confusion, Chika loses her sister. Luckily, she encounters a kind Hausa Muslim woman who takes her somewhere safe. What follows is my favourite part of the story. In that tiny store, two strangers from completely different backgrounds spend the night together worrying about the people they love. Chika is worried about Nnedi. The woman is worried about her daughter, Halima, who had gone out hawking earlier that day. There was something beautiful about the bond that formed between them. Just two women sharin...
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"Imitation"

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"Oyibo people are like that, if you do something in a different way, they'll think you're abnormal as though their way was the only possible way." Story 2: IMITATION On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 2 titled Imitation. I really enjoyed the dynamic of the story. It started off with the end. Classic Chimamanda. She takes us through the annoying phone call that completely shatters Nkem as she discovers that her husband, her rich Nigerian husband who lives in Nigeria and only visits her and the kids in suburban Philadelphia for two months in a year, has a mistress. Then the story takes us to the very beginning. How she went from being an ordinary girl to a big man's wife, and how this life once felt like a dream. And how the news of his cheating didn't surprise her as much as I expected it to because she had at some point dated a married men herself.  I really liked the re...
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CELL ONE.

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You guyssssssss, I'm doing a daily review of each of the stories in the book The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This book is a collection of 12 short stories, much like the moonlight folktales we read in primary school. Each story, no matter how short, is deeply emotional and easily relatable. Here's what I have to say about Story 1. Story 1: Cell One I loved how descriptive it was. It felt like I could feel the underlying emotions. The story centres around a lecturer's family in Nsukka, particularly their son, Nnamabia, who was the favourite child. He was charming, handsome, popular, and the kind of kid who got away with a lot of things. He wasn't a cultist, but he was arrested alongside some of his cultist friends when they were drinking past curfew, and that's how he ended up in a cell. At first, he didn't seem shaken by the conditions. He played smart, became a favourite among the inmates, and generally appeared to be doing o...
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