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12th out of 29 books
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16 voters
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add to my books
Arrow of God
Set in the Ibo heartland of eastern Nigeria, one of Africa's best-known writers describes the conflict between old and new in its most poignant aspect: the personal struggle between father and son.
Paperback, 230 pages
Published
January 1st 1989
by Anchor
(first published 1964)
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I've heard that Arrow of God is Achebe's personal favorite out of all of his novels. It's written in a straightforward, parable-like style similar to Things Fall Apart, but delves further into the complex relationships between religion, authority, duty, and conflict.
Arrow of God is also set during a time that British colonizers were beginning to supplant local governments and cultures. Ezeulu, chief Ibo priest of six villages, sends his son to study with the local Christian missionar...more
Arrow of God is also set during a time that British colonizers were beginning to supplant local governments and cultures. Ezeulu, chief Ibo priest of six villages, sends his son to study with the local Christian missionar...more
Before reading this, I thought I'd like this book more than I did. In this one, Achebe writes of the conflict/confrontation between native Nigerian religion and colonial powers (the British). This book is almost anthropological, which normally is something I enjoy, but it didn't do it for me this time. I think perhaps the characters didn't engage me as much, except for the main character. It was also difficult to keep them straight as there were so many in the village. I didn't ever feel that I ...more
The final book in Achebe's African trilogy is the story of Ezeulu, the high priest of his clan, the members of whom live in five villages in Nigeria. Villages and clans have their own self-created gods, who rise and fall over time, depending on the successes or failures of the clan and villages.
Set in an unspecified time, probably early 20th century, Ezeulu is protector of the traditional ways and spirtual life of the villages, as the influence of the British rulers continue to encr...more
Set in an unspecified time, probably early 20th century, Ezeulu is protector of the traditional ways and spirtual life of the villages, as the influence of the British rulers continue to encr...more
No one could deny that this book is beautifully written, and the story is interesting...but apart from that it did little for me. Perhaps my hopes were too high, perhaps my expectations were different, perhaps I don't know enough about African (Nigerian) culture for it to sit comfortably in context...
I did, however, love the proverbs and colourful language:
"the moon he saw that day was as thin as an orphan fed grudgingly by a cruel foster-mother"
"better to say ...more
I did, however, love the proverbs and colourful language:
"the moon he saw that day was as thin as an orphan fed grudgingly by a cruel foster-mother"
"better to say ...more
i read this in '87, along w/a number of other stories from other countries. stories like petals of blood, too late the phalarope, the beautyful ones are not yet born, mine boy, in the castle of my skin, midnight's children, three or four others.
a year or two prior, i had read/studied karen horney's neurosis and human growth. horney, one of freud's rebellious daughters, (as i late learned when i read/studied another or her works in a different kind of course) seemed to have in min...more
a year or two prior, i had read/studied karen horney's neurosis and human growth. horney, one of freud's rebellious daughters, (as i late learned when i read/studied another or her works in a different kind of course) seemed to have in min...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I am a fan of Chinua Achebe and this trilogy on life in Africa, pre-during and post colonization has just given me a new persepective on writing and the writer's role. Arrow of God does take us back, into Africa where this priest Ezeulu is trying to merge both modernity and his tradition and so far I think he's got a temper and am still trying to figure out what will happen now that his son Oduche has committed the greatest abomination by trapping a python-which is considered sacred.
Reading...more
Reading...more
Achebe does it again--what a brilliant author! This was not an easy read (major characters were still entering the story by the halfway point), but it was worth the effort. He is so good at leading you down a narrative path where you think you know whom to cheer for, and then suddenly twisting events around and pointing out the unexpected consequences of people's basically good intentions--who is to blame? I read that this is Achebe's favorite of his own books, and I would say the main charac...more
I liked this one less than Things Fall Apart and again, I dislike his writing style.
This book is hard to like at times. Achebe is very unflattering to women.
Arrow of God (1964)
Chinua Achebe
Last summer I read Things Fall Apart which is the first of a trilogy by C. Achebe. Arrow of God is the third. I literally couldn’t put it down. Again, this is a novel about the struggle between old ways and new; tradition and change. It’s set in the 1920s. Here too a son is ‘sacrificed’ and sent to the White man’s school/church to learn his language and ways.
Arrow of God may essentially be the story of a chief priest, his wives and c...more
Chinua Achebe
Last summer I read Things Fall Apart which is the first of a trilogy by C. Achebe. Arrow of God is the third. I literally couldn’t put it down. Again, this is a novel about the struggle between old ways and new; tradition and change. It’s set in the 1920s. Here too a son is ‘sacrificed’ and sent to the White man’s school/church to learn his language and ways.
Arrow of God may essentially be the story of a chief priest, his wives and c...more
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Wendy Mar
added it
arrow of god is a novel based on the culture and the colonialism of nigeria.through this novel i have known how the white man set up on the igbo land.the chief priest ezeulu sent one of his sons to the white man'school intentionally.he wanted to be informed on the white man's purposes in order to be on the the good side and to save his village.but it seemed that his gods were not with him because at the end of the novel christianity took over the village.
It was alright. The story-telling could have been better, for I felt that we were introduced to a lot of characters that had zero impact on the telling of the story, so that takes away a lot of the luster. Plus, the conclusion and the way the story wrapped up was just "eh, I read all of this for it to end like this?". I've heard all this regard for Chinua Achebe, but this was a bad introduction to his work.
Madeline
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommended to Madeline by:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Shelves:
2010,
library-books,
nigeria,
historical-fiction,
colonialism,
race,
family,
religion,
westernish-canon,
novels
I had a fiendishly difficult time with this book, which I found odd because Things Fall Apart was like reading water, and even A Man of the People was engaging and straightforward. But although I loved what Achebe did in Arrow of God, I had a really hard time actually reading the damn thing. I'm pretty sure that the fault was with me - I don't know enough about the Igbo, I find proverbs irritating, my brain is lately in other places - because I could sense some of the power of the novel, but was...more
Charles
marked it as to-read
been sitting on my shelf for yeeeeaaaaars
was a gift from my wife who is now my ex wife which means i will read it if i go to prison and i have nothing else to read
of course that's retarded & unfair to myself. i'll read it.
Achebe's critical essays are incredible + very stimulating/satisfying.
was a gift from my wife who is now my ex wife which means i will read it if i go to prison and i have nothing else to read
of course that's retarded & unfair to myself. i'll read it.
Achebe's critical essays are incredible + very stimulating/satisfying.
All I got is that this book is about colonialism. But I regret to say I couldn't appreciate the work in its fullness because of the confusing names and places. But it is interesting to read an African book, and learn their cultures and traditions, and I liked the way they spoke in metaphors and "parables" some what. Enlightening.
Achebe has always written powerful novels that described the intense central African culture without boring the reader by pages and pages of describing each ritual. These books focus more on how the arrival of the Europeans causes upheavals among the Igbo tribes and the like. As such, the endings are always tragic and at times the characters are unforgivably set in their stubborn ways, but the books are enjoyable and mystic.
In my opinion, much better than "Things Fall Apart." The switching between viewpoints of the African village and the English officers drove home the... drift between them. I also found the ending to be more satisfying, on an allegorical level.
I enjoyed this book more than 'things fall apart'. i'm not that familiar with achebe's writing but it had a magical realism to it that i really enjoyed. it kept you wondering as to what was 'really' going on.
قرأت النسخة المترجمة،للهيئة العامة للكتاب،ترجمة : سمير عبدربه،المترجم المعروف بترجمته عن اللغات الافريقية.
It has the best quote that shows the difference between translation and interpretation - culturally apprpriate.
I've experienced it through many years of interpreting on the job.
I've experienced it through many years of interpreting on the job.
To me, this is Achebe's best book. It's a beautiful display of the triumph of the great African traditions over the so-called civilisation brought by the Europeans.
Definitely hard to read. Way too many names all with more vowels than you can shake a stick at and almost all of those vowels are a's and o's.
This was kind of interesting. The problem I have is with the end - all of the intensity throughout the book and then I feel like it was just done.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Philosophically challengeing, finely structured, and besides that, an intriguing story.
This book is super hard to get into. There isn't a plot and all the names sound the same! Learning about the culture is very interesting, and Achebe gives great examples of traditions throughout the book.
Claire S
marked it as to-read
Chinua Achebe is among those writers mentioned early on by President Obama in his book, 'Dreams From my Father.'
As lyrical as Things Fall Apart, but too fragmented. I kept losing the story line and actually didn't finish it.
I enjoyed this less than the other Chinua Achebe books. But it was still a fascinating read.
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Chinua Achebe is a novelist, poet, professor at Brown University and critic. He is best known for his first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.
Raised by Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria, Achebe excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. He became fascinated with wo...more
More about Chinua Achebe...
Raised by Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria, Achebe excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. He became fascinated with wo...more
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“What kind of power was it if everybody knew that it would never be used? Better to say that it was not there, that it was no more than the power in the anus of the proud dog who tried to put out a furnace with his puny fart.... He turned the yam with a stick.”
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