'(The writer) in whose company the prison walls fell down' - Nelson Mandela. After a long silence Achebe published in 1987 what many see as his gre...
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Oct 27, 2008
Ben
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Apr 04, 2010
Beatles24
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One of the best books from Africa that I have read in a long while. This is a thinly veiled commentary on Nigeria today. The storyline is reflective of Africa's prevailing political ethos: A seemingly benevolent dictator takes over from an unbiasedly corrupt "democracy"; the dictator decides to stay in power "only till conditions are restored for democracy"; people are exploited; the ruling class is full of sycophantic country brutes; intellectual opposition is snuffed out
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Jul 01, 2009
Michael
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Anthills of the Savannah presents the establishment and subsequent fall of a tyrannic (yet legal) regime in the fictitious country of Kangan. Having read Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Arrow of Gods, I was already aware of his storytelling mastery. With Anthills of the Savannah I was very curious how storytelling can meet the topic of ruthless politics. First, snappy anecdotes describe the birth of a tyrant, the struggle between humanity and power, and the depredation of a people. Second,
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Jun 16, 2009
Curtis
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The landscape of Abazon is dry -- a parched, sun-bleached Kangan desert pockmarked by anthills. After two years without rain or aid from Bassa, the seat of power, six elders have come to the city to petition the President for help.
In his fictional African nation, Chinua Achebe presents a notion of faltering government from within and without. From the perspectives of a government Commissioner (Chris), the Editor in Chief of the national newspaper (Ikem) and the woman important to th More...
In his fictional African nation, Chinua Achebe presents a notion of faltering government from within and without. From the perspectives of a government Commissioner (Chris), the Editor in Chief of the national newspaper (Ikem) and the woman important to th More...
Nov 24, 2009
John
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The gallows humor in this novel verges on hilarity at times, but you know from the beginning that life is not going to be pleasant from now on for the tightly-knit group of friends who are its main characters. They are living in -- and are minor officials of -- a military dictatorship run by another of their old friends. Personal paranoia and vendettas masquerade as politics in the claustrophobic world of the elite in an impoverished African country, where all the bigshots know each other and wh
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Oct 25, 2009
Jen
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Painfully boring story of politics in Africa. If it had not been written like a newspaper article, if there had been some effort toward characterization or coherent plot, or explanation of the history of the circumstances described, I still would probably have disliked this book. Much time passed before I could make myself knock off the final 20 pages, not a good sign.
Story of friends who become entrenched in politics, end up double-crossing each other and fleeing from the one of them who More...
Story of friends who become entrenched in politics, end up double-crossing each other and fleeing from the one of them who More...
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Oct 31, 2009
Madhuri
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Anthills of Savannah is a story of a nation facing the political conundrum of a new found independence. After years of ruling, it is expected that a country finds itself unable to take charge of a freedom, which it severely struggled to obtain. It is almost like you wait for exams to get over and when they are finally over you do not know how to manage the free time since you have been so focused on seeing them through that your head is heavily blocked up with that.
Achebe describes this co More...
Achebe describes this co More...
Feb 22, 2011
Bunxena
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This was the second book studied in our World Literatures in English class. It had a tough act to follow; our first book was the most excellent Green Grass, Running Water.
Anthills takes place in a fictional African country, Kangan, after it has gained independence from Britain. It centres on three figures: Sam, the dictator of Kangan; the newspaper editor guy whose name I can't remember right this second; and Chris, the Minister for Information. The story chronicles Sam's dictatorshi More...
Anthills takes place in a fictional African country, Kangan, after it has gained independence from Britain. It centres on three figures: Sam, the dictator of Kangan; the newspaper editor guy whose name I can't remember right this second; and Chris, the Minister for Information. The story chronicles Sam's dictatorshi More...
Sep 16, 2011
Shabneez
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Achebe shows how the educated elite alienates himself from his own people when he has acquired a university degree abroad. There is this separation between the elite and the common people which is a kind of hint that as long as this separation is going to exist, Africa is doomed. In the book, Ikem and Elewa symbolise this union and their child can be thought of as a ray of hope, a ray of hope for Africa's progress-only when the literate and the illiterate get together. Nice book.
Sep 02, 2011
Ronald
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A novel of political struggle in a West African nation. Three college friends find themselves in high places following a coup d'état making one of them "His Excellency." For me a valuable inside view into the societal and political tension in Africa, the likes of which we hear of in the news all the time. This book was added to my list after reading Achebe's Things Fall Apart.
Dec 04, 2010
LeAnna
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I went ahead and finished this book, even though I wasn't really enjoying it. I don't usually do that, but because it was small enough and concerned with real-life Africa, I thought I would give it a chance. I just couldn't really latch on to the style, I guess. Also, I think I'm not familiar enough with post-colonial Africa for it to make a lot of sense to me. The parts written in dialiect were really difficult to understand, and I think there is probably a lot of symbolic meaning throughou
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Apr 11, 2010
Jain
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An alternately funny and painful examination of a dictatorship in a fictional West African nation. I especially liked Achebe's use of codeswitching in his narrative; several of his main characters are university-educated and speak English as their primary language, but also speak an English-based creole during numerous scenes.
Feb 11, 2011
Endelea
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Certainly one of the my favorite of Achebe's books. He's a a vivid storyteller. I felt like I was right there on the continent of Africa. 'Anthills of the Savannah' is inspiring and makes you grateful that you can read, think, imagine because you are able to experience for yourself (via great literary fiction) the misconceptions of people Africa.
Aug 28, 2011
Esteban
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I could have done without the interplay of first person narrative at the beginning, but as it progressed to more familiar third person (like TFA and No Longer at Ease) it became quite a compelling read. The examination of the role of reform versus revolution and personal responsibility was very thought provoking.
Jan 26, 2012
Marc
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The book never grabbed me. The characters seemed wooden. I didn't understand why all the place names were made up and that bothered me. I found it difficult to follow most of the dialogue in pidgen English. The writing was nothing special, either.
Jul 26, 2009
Steven
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This is a good novel that deals with a number of colonial and neocolonial motifs. It lacks the simple magic of Things Fall Apart, but allows Achebe to use a different style, one definitely worth checking out.
Dec 29, 2008
Anna
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One thing I like about this novel is Achebe's use of creole forms. It's probably the first novel I read with extensive use of "non-standard" English, and I remember finding it a little difficult at first. I also found it intriguing, though, and that interest persists. Standards in language are overrated.
Jun 11, 2007
Jennifer
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Another fantastic book by Chinua Achebe. The novel details the events leading up to a military coup from the perspective of the president's (dictator's) inner circle of college friends. The strong main female character is almost like an apology from Achebe for leaving women out of Things Fall Apart. This is a fantastic read that picks up after the first 40 pages or so.
As people who live in the U.S. we have a unique sense of political stability that we often take for granted, and More...
As people who live in the U.S. we have a unique sense of political stability that we often take for granted, and More...
Jul 28, 2008
Nana
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ok, i'll rarely admit to this: i couldn't finish this book. perhaps one day i'll pick up where i left off, but for now, back on the shelf it goes. i adore chinua achebe. i wanted to adore this book with the same fervor as "things fall apart," but, even when i do complete it, i don't think that will happen. i can't claim a scholarly knowledge of his work, so i can't say this is his best or worst; he took an interesting angle writing this one--a more complicated angle, and a strange writ
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Jun 14, 2009
Shibbie
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Starts off as a comical look at politics today (specifically, African politics, but really the themes transcend national/cultural borders), but gets all too deep.
Feb 19, 2011
Lindsey
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Achebe proves yet again that traditional tribal beliefs have a place in African modernity. A tragic, yet beautiful story of the effects of power in postcolonial Africa.
Feb 18, 2009
Chinua Achebe is among those writers mentioned early on by President Obama in his book, 'Dreams From my Father.'
Nov 23, 2008
Teresa
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Not Achebe's best. A fairly straightfoward story of two friends caught in the regime of an increasingly crazy dictator.
Apr 28, 2011
Joe
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I didn't like this. To me, brutal tyrants are not funny even when they are depicted as clownish buffoons.
Dec 14, 2010
Phase Reading
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Had to force myself to finish this, it just didn't engage my interest. There was very little plot and too much prose that didn't add to the story. I preferred "Things Fall Apart" by the same author.
Jul 27, 2011
It was interesting enough but made me want to read his more famous Things Fall Apart if I'm honest
May 29, 2010
while reading The Anthills of the Savannah, i so often see myself in tears. Chinua Achebe is really good at portraying the coups and counter coups that have been and continuing to occur in Africa.
it is too treble to see that Sam, the head of state is a good listener to liars and he use their information to butcher the best minister he has in his government.
i cannot stand to hear the brutal killing of Ikem, a renown editor of the national gazette. the killers do not believe that elimi More...
it is too treble to see that Sam, the head of state is a good listener to liars and he use their information to butcher the best minister he has in his government.
i cannot stand to hear the brutal killing of Ikem, a renown editor of the national gazette. the killers do not believe that elimi More...
Oct 27, 2007
Hanaan
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What an intelligent book. I liked it so much. There were some really beautiful passages and it was very well constructed. It even had a smart, good-hearted, sucessful professional woman as one of its main characters, which I always forget is rare until I see it in print. I was a bit dismayed when the author resorted to the cliche of ascribing her goddess imagery, and the book did include maybe too many speeches. But I feel pretty humbled by the whole thing and so don't care about such small diff
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