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Girls at War and Other Stories

by Chinua Achebe

3.76 · rating details · 127 ratings · 9 reviews

Girls at War and Other Stories reveals the essence of life in Nigeria and traces twenty years in the literary career of one of this century's most acclaimed writers. In this collection of stories, Chinua Achebe takes us inside the heart and soul of a people whose pride and ideals must compete with the simple struggle to survive. Hailed by critics everywhere, Chinua Achebe'...more

Paperback, First Anchor Books Edition, 121 pages

Published August 1st 1991 by Anchor Books (first published March 1st 1973)

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May 08, 2010

Josephus FromPlacitas rated it

· review of another edition

This collection of stories from three different decades feels a bit strange, just in the different personalities of the stories from different times. The stories from the 1950s and 60s often have a quiet gentility, an observational quality that was almost a little distancing for me. "The Madman" is a social portrait of reversal of roles on market day between a wandering lunatic and a young man trying to rise up the social ladder; "Marriage Is A Private Affair" tells a tale...moreThis collection of stories from three different decades feels a bit strange, just in the different personalities of the stories from different times. The stories from the 1950s and 60s often have a quiet gentility, an observational quality that was almost a little distancing for me. "The Madman" is a social portrait of reversal of roles on market day between a wandering lunatic and a young man trying to rise up the social ladder; "Marriage Is A Private Affair" tells a tale of family tension around a mixed marriage; in "Akueke" four brothers fail their sister and grandfather during her sickness and lose their familial links to both; and a story like "Chike's School Days" almost seems to have no plot development at all. "The Sacrificial Egg", set in the midst of a horrible smallpox plague, has a greater sense of direness and action than most of the other earlier stories, but most of them come from an almost tranquil place, which I found a little harder to access.

There's a real enjoyment in these 'social portrait' stories, please don't misunderstand me. For a relatively poor and untraveled fellow like me, the stories are a great opportunity to enjoy what the Chinese saying describes: "The reader can travel around the world without leaving his home." It's a wonderful glimpse into a world of great cultural differences and great human commonalities, providing an opportunity to compare and contrast with the cultures I've known. It's also neat to see social critique within a culture ("Vengeful Creditor" almost seems to be an embryonic version of A Man of the People, even though the story is five years younger than the satirical novel). It's a fascinating simultaneous embrace and criticism of one's own culture.

But then come the last three stories from the aftermath of the Biafran War and a new intensity suffuses these stories. Like the world Christopher Hedges describes in War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning, life seems so much more vivid under the conditions of war. Survival means so much more, as do patriotism, loyalty, friendship, desire, and need. "Sugar Baby" revolves around the character Cletus' miserable addiction to sugar in a time when it can't be found. Instead of feeling small and distancing as it might have in the earlier stories, the narrator's harsh judgment of Cletus seems absolute and total. Cletus has humiliated himself, abased his character and alienated a woman who loved him for a half dozen sugar cubes. We know everything about him we could ever need to know from the narrator's stories about him. In "Girls At War" and "Civil Peace", the various actors' strength of character, senses of honor, and personal ethics also come into sharpest relief. If they are great souls, it becomes clear. If they are venal, it shows. The desperation of the times reveals all, lays bare the inner fortitude of Achebe's characters. Maybe I am a victim of the small-minded dependency on war culture that Hedges described, but these three stories are those that most struck me in this beautiful little book. (less)

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Feb 03, 2012

Sheila rated it

*Girls* is a short-story collection, chronicling with everyday life in 50's - 60's Nigeria. Actually, they're vignettes rather than stories, serving more to illustrate the political corruption and the effects of missionaries of that time. It was an ok read, if a bit dry. A few exceptional passages were: "Vengeful Creditor", "Civil Peace", and "Sugar Baby".I much preferred Achebe's *Things Fall Apart*, though I can't really say why.

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Feb 18, 2009

Claire S marked it as to-read

Shelves: a-5-evertimeless-interest, id-constructs-race-gender, fiction, global, form_complexia, obama-term-1, politics-learning, pov-content_global-of-location, struggles-of-use

Chinua Achebe is among those writers mentioned early on by President Obama in his book, 'Dreams From my Father.'

· see review

Aug 10, 2011

Sumanya added it

Achebe never disappoints.

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Aug 20, 2009

RK Byers rated it

Achebe has a weird sense of the absurd.

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Feb 28, 2011

Lindsey rated it

"Girls at War" is by far the best short story in the collection. The others are quite nice as well.

· see review

Mar 31, 2008

Judy rated it

Shelves: anthology-short-stories

It's hard for me to rate books of short stories, because I often like some and dislike others. I remember the title story in particular was ironic and quite good.

· see review

Oct 30, 2007

Signe rated it

Some aspects of African history are very ugly - this is an unsentimental description of some of them

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Jun 26, 2008

Tiffany rated it

Expected more

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Feb 08, 2012

Ellie marked it as to-read

Feb 05, 2012

Megan added it

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Jan 23, 2012

Rowena M. marked it as to-read

Shelves: afrocentric

Jan 23, 2012

Tumpale rated it

Shelves: world-books

Jan 23, 2012

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Dec 29, 2011

Bret rated it

Shelves: africa, finished

Dec 27, 2011

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About Chinua Achebe

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...moreChinua 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 world religions and traditional African cultures, and began writing stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service and soon moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention for Things Fall Apart in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Achebe writes his novels in English and has defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers", in African literature. In 1975, his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" became the focus of controversy, for its criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a bloody racist".

When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe became a devoted supporter of Biafran independence and served as ambassador for the people of the new nation. The war ravaged the populace, and as starvation and violence took its toll, he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved himself in political parties but soon resigned due to frustration over the corruption and elitism he witnessed. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and returned to the U.S. in 1990 after a car accident left him partially disabled.

Achebe's novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of values during and after the colonial era. His style relies heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He has also published a number of short stories, children's books, and essay collections. He is currently the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.(less)

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