Am I an awful human being if I write that I was expecting more from this book, given the nearly universal acclaim? I mean, it's a good book, but I'm not quite sure it's a great one.
One thing that I found a bit disappointing, for instance, is that the cultural reference points of the main characters appear either to be Western or, out of the African names, most are rather "mainstream" (Achebe, Fela Kuti, etc.). The reflections on race are interesting and poignant, but not excessively original - though that's not to downplay their importance. And, crucially, the happy ending is a bit sickening, making me react in the same way in which the cinematic version of Breakfast at Tiffany's had made me react years ago.
The sections in London and (most of the ones in) Nigeria make up for the blandness of some of the American passages, and for the sappy romanticism of the end. And probably I would have enjoyed the American parts a lot more had I not previously read Malcolm X's thoughts about styling black hair...
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