Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Things Fall Apart
Book Review: The best book. Ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a fervent reader of books and I have to say this is the best book ever written.
I read this when I was about 8 or 9, and 20 years later I have never tired of reading this.
Good work! Pure genius.
Book Review: The coming to end of an era - and the beginning of a new.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very simply written book, not burdened by elaborate language or symbolic construction. It is told in a manner similar to that which its characters use to tell their stories to each other.
Fast paced, as is apt to a documentation of the changing of ages: when British colonialists cement their rule on South Eastern Nigeria. And in that time, we are told the story of a man, Okonkwo, of the old times - and the Ibo people who live there. A traditionalist, a warrior, a proud (and complicated) man. The book is as much about him, and those who surround him, as anything. Very accurate, and sensitive, never overdramatic. The rhythm of the book is masterful; exchanging intensity for sensitivity for joy, then fear with engaging momentum. An enthralling and humane snapshot from the history of the Ibo.
(By the by, some readers may be interested in some of the insights into Ibo custom provided by the book. Why is the snake, of all creatures, identified with the sea, and water? Why are the women not allowed inside the hut, in which the powerful spirits of the village reside, though it is women who paint its outside with patterns at regular intervals? Why is the name "The Mother is Supreme" so popular - when men are always in dominant positions? Those interested in answers to these questions, and similar others, would do well to check out the anthroplogical tome Blood Relations by Chris Knight.)
Book Review: Balanced Response to Colonialism
Summary: 5 Stars
Achebe's first novel, this is perhaps the most famous post-colonial text, dealing as it does with the moment of the European's arrival in Africa. The novel details the effects of the arrival of white missionaries and white administration on the Ibo community, centred around the character who epitomises Ibo values, Okonkwo. In the first half of the novel Achebe plunges the reader into Ibo society, so that when the white men arrive, it is they who seem foreign. Achebe's careful, almost artless prose keeps authorial perspective in the background.
Achebe said that the writing of Things Fall Apart was "an act of atonement with my past, the ritual return and homage of a prodigal son... It's that fascination with the scraps and pieces of information I could gather about my ancestors that developed into a desire to write my story. Colonial education was saying that there was nothing worth much in my society, and I was beginning to question that, to see there were things that were beautiful even in the `heathen'." He added "I must not make this story look nicer than it was. I went out of my way to gather all the negative things, to describe them as I think they were -- good and bad -- and ordinary human beings as neither demons nor angels."
It is this sense of balance, considering who was responsible for things falling apart, which makes the book so fascinating.
Book Review: A Cultural Awakening
Summary: 5 Stars
Okonkwo epitomized a die-hard African traditionalist with a firm conviction in the destiny of his people, yet a man who failed to accept the inevitable changes in his world. Things fall apart exposes us to the culture of the Ibo people of Nigeria and brings out the characters to the understandable to the reader. In our own little ways, we are like Okonkwo, caught in a world where we have little influence. The lesson is that No matter how powerful we are, we should not impose our wills on others, especially a will that reflects our egos and not the interest of humanity. Clash of cultures is what this book tells us about. Just as in THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, NO LONGER AT EASE,THE OLD MAN AND THE MEDAL, TRIPLE AGENT DOUBLE CROSS, one gets a better idea of what Africans and other native peoples went through after being left with no choice but to accept the values and laws of the foreign powers that came into their lives.
Book Review: Interesting
Summary: 4 Stars
Aside from the obvious philosophical topics this book raises regarding the influence of the white man on African life and the changes wrought by missionaries etc, but there are several questions I need to answer myself such as:
What is the Kola Nut that is eaten when guests arrive? How do they make palm wine? What exactly if foo-foo?
This book tells in a concise manner the routine of life for these Nigerian villagers who live solely on the land around them. Bravery is highly prized as well as adherance to beliefs in Gods. A man who cannot fight or provide for his wives and children is not a man and so on. I love some of the details such as how on moonless nights everyone stays indoors terrified of the dark and that even the word 'snake' cannot be uttered, instead the word 'string' must be used.
Not a long book and although written in 1958 it is timeless. A good and interesting read about African society prior to colonialism.