Name: The Thing Around Your Neck
ISBN: 9780007321049

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

From the Orange Prize-winning author of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ come twelve dazzling stories that turn a penetrating eye on the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Nigeria and the West.

The Thing Around Your Neck

A collection of twelve stories includes the tale of a medical student in hiding with a poor Muslim woman, and a woman who discovers a devastating secret about her brother's death.

Good compilation of light reads. A lot of open ended endings though. 

Ariariari

hileahrious

Enticingly written short stories, organized in a way I think takes the reader on an emotional, yet educational journey of Nigerian life and history. Adichie lightly dresses her writing with satire, I think, as well as with her opinions of injustices through the narration of these characters' experiences. It has me intrigued and thirsty for more of her work!

Laura Mauler

Only 1 story really stood out and wowed me, and it was a totally engrossing, gasping-out-loud-on-the-train-and-not-caring-who-noticed kind of story. A few years from now I will certainly still remember it, and maybe the ghosts of a few of the other stories (maybe). Generally fine book overall.

Emelie

Constance Chédot

Ce livre évoque des thèmes importants et nous montre le point de vue d’une autrice nigérienne qui a du constamment se battre dans sa vie contre le danger d’une histoire unique : les stéréotypes européens sur l’Afrique. Par ses multiples nouvelles, Adichie fait vivre tour à tour des hommes et des femmes nigériens qui ont tous en commun de vouloir se battre pour un monde meilleur, que cela concerne la relation homme-femme, le rêve américain ou la réussite sociale. 
J’ai appris beaucoup sur ce pays qu’est le Nigeria et sur les difficultés que certains peuvent y rencontrer. J’ai aimé la façon dont Adichie nous le décrit. Les nouvelles sont prenantes mais font passer le message de façon percutante. A lire !

kate humphreys 

(4.5) holy crap this was amazing...i had to read this for my summer class (global women writers) which starts tomorrow and i was excited because what i’ve read and heard of adiche’s work is incredible. i’m by no means against short story collections but i typically fall in love with a few stories and feel meh about the rest, but this collection did the exact opposite. i absolutely LOVED and felt a connection to each of this stories (aside from one with wasn’t my absolute favorite) and wow. i can’t even begin to put into words how much of a genius this woman is and how important her work is to the world of literature and to society as a whole. i learned so much through this collection and i am so very excited to continue reading her work and to learn more.

Chiyeung lau

A collection of deeply introspective stories.

jaynah joy

wasn't too bad to be honest? some stories were less exciting than others however overall, very insightful read.

Vivian

A collection of 12 short stories from Adichie. A quick and interesting read. Most of these stories could easily be turned into a fascinating book on its own. Adichie is a natural story teller.

Ang’asa Malowa

Will remain one of my favourite short story collection for a long time to come.

Astha Prakash

Chimamanda Adichie makes writing seem like a breeze. Every sentence holds so much weight, every word so much power and emotion. Lyrical, beautiful imagery and such evocative narration. She makes me want to write in that typical, fearless, non-chronological style. All her characters are so realistic, flawed, human. All her stories so fresh and earthy. I've found a new hero.

megan

Elena Garcia Navarro

I looooooved this short-story collection. 

All the characters felt unique and real and I would't mind to read whole novels about some of them. Chiamamanda portrays throughout her stories important themes such as women's sexualization and repression, african politics, traditions, immigration and the cultural clash Africans deal with once they move to North America. 

I just found a couple of stories lacking but all in all I really enjoyed it and 100% recommend anything written by this author.

Millie Pellsäter

Jessica Smith

This is a collection of 12 short stories which, in general, cover the same kinds of themes - being an immigrant in America, being an Igbo academic, being an Igbo writer, facing war and persecution in Nigeria, having to reclaim your identity and history from white colonisers. These are essentially themes I don't have a lot of experience with, so I can't comment on how they're used or anything, but it was a collection of stories and themes I found interesting.

In response to some of the other reviews I glanced over - I don't think it's a problem that the stories were all largely on similar themes; to me it makes more sense for a collection to be on similar themes than for a collection to consist of things that have little to do with each other. But another criticism I read is that a lot of the stories have weak endings, and this I agree with; a lot of the time it seemed that they stopped suddenly, with no real conclusion reached.

As I mentioned when I reviewed Half of a Yellow Sun, I really like Adichie's prose. She also clearly writes things that are close to her, and her experiences - she returns to the same social layers, the same towns, etc. to tell her stories. It all seems very personal.

So in the end, I'm giving this four stars. For me, probably the highlight of the anthology was the last story, "The Headstrong Historian", but there were quite a few good ones. I recommend it!

Mahasin S Ameen

Pia Sophia

I loved all of these stories. The Thing Around Your Neck in particular. It had me on the verge of tears.

Adichie is a master storyteller. Her characters feel oddly familiar, she makes you feel as if you yourself are going through the things they experience. A new favorite of mine.

The Thing Around Your Neck

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