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Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

3.51 · rating details · 59,683 ratings · 3,477 reviews

THINGS FALL APART tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict betw...more

Paperback, 206 pages

Published November 25th 1996 by Heinemann Educational Books (first published 1958)

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Apr 06, 2009

Madeline rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: assigned-reading, the-list, ugh

How To Criticize Things Fall Apart Without Sounding Like A Racist Imperialist:

1. Focus on the plot and how nothing very interesting really happens. Stress that it was only your opinion that nothing interesting happens, so that everyone realizes that you just can't identify with any of the events described, and this is your fault only.
2. Explain (gently and with examples) that bestowing daddy issues on a flawed protagonist is not a sufficient excuse for all of the character's f...more

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Sep 13, 2008

Skylar Burris rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, general-fiction

I read this many years ago as a teenager, before it was as well known as it is today, and then I read it again in college. Readers often expect imperialism to be dealt with in black and white. Either the author desires to see native ways preserved and consequently views any imperial attempts as immoral and threatening, or he's a Kipling-style "white man's burden" devotee who believes non-European cultures ought to be improved by supervision from their European "superiors." Y...moreI read this many years ago as a teenager, before it was as well known as it is today, and then I read it again in college. Readers often expect imperialism to be dealt with in black and white. Either the author desires to see native ways preserved and consequently views any imperial attempts as immoral and threatening, or he's a Kipling-style "white man's burden" devotee who believes non-European cultures ought to be improved by supervision from their European "superiors." Yet Things Fall Apart is a novel that complicates both of those simplistic views. In it, a desire to preserve the native way of life coexists with an urge to admit improvements to it. A tension inevitably arises from the juxtaposition of these two goals. In Things Fall Apart, this tension courses through every page, and it is part of what makes the book so fascinating.

Achebe seems to despise the tendency to simplify complex human life. The events that occur in Things Fall Apart signify the destruction of an entire way of life, an obliteration of the ties that bind a people together. Yet it is not that Achebe unconditionally embraces the culture of the Ibo people. He makes the reader feel for Okonkwo's father, whose failure by Ibo standards is the source of Okonkwo's severity, and for his son, Nwoye, who does not fit into the strictly ordered masculine warrior society.

I appreciated, especially, Achebe's nuanced portrayl of both the positive and negative aspects of missionary activity. When the missionaries come to Nigeria, the church provides a haven for the discontent: for the woman who can not bear to leave her twins to die, for the outcasts who are shunned by the community, and for Nwoye, who can only fit into Ibo society by denying himself. I was moved by Achebe's depiction of how Christianity provides a place for the outcast: the hymn they sing about brothers "who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted [Nwoye's] young soul--the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. He felt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul."

Yet by providing an outlet for the discontent, the church begins to unravel the ties that bind the Ibo people together. Although the church gives dignity to the outcast and the misunderstood, the second missionary who comes fails to restrain his converts from injuring the dignity of other Ibos. Achebe makes us sympathize with Nwoye's dissatisfaction and acknowledges that Ibo culture was imperfect, but through Okonkwo he also shows us what was lost when the Ibos failed to preserve their culture from the onslaught of the Europeans. What was lost, Achebe has said elsewhere, was DIGNITY, "and it is this that they must now regain. The worst thing that can happen to any people is the loss of their dignity and self-respect. The writer's duty is to help them regain it by showing in human terms what happened to them." Achebe succeeds brilliantly. He painfully and tragically depicts the tragedy that can result when the only way of life a man has ever known begins to crumble. (less)

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Mar 05, 2009

Keely rated it

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Shelves: contemporary-fiction, novel, reviewed, africa

Like the bloom of Native American novels of the late seventies, this book does not come from another culture. It does not represent an original or alternate storytelling tradition. This is literature that has already been colonized. It has already moved from the oral to the written, even taking the form of the quentessential western novel.

It is a tragic form of the monomyth, taking its cues from the Greeks, and from Shakespeare. I don't mean to say that it fails to represent the Afri...more

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Dec 13, 2011

Praj rated it

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I had said earlier in one of my former reviews, about how if a certain character is not overwhelmed by the plot-theme of a script and stands out on its own potency becoming more memorable than the story itself, the book is worth applauding and so is the author for its creation. When one reads Things Fall Apart, amongst its vast documentary of Igbo culture of the southeastern part of Nigeria; a man named Okonkwo shines not for his tragic fate but for the man he turned out to be due to his with...more I had said earlier in one of my former reviews, about how if a certain character is not overwhelmed by the plot-theme of a script and stands out on its own potency becoming more memorable than the story itself, the book is worth applauding and so is the author for its creation. When one reads Things Fall Apart, amongst its vast documentary of Igbo culture of the southeastern part of Nigeria; a man named Okonkwo shines not for his tragic fate but for the man he turned out to be due to his withering circumstances. He was conceited, stubborn, ill-tempered, and ruthless, yet he took pride in the customary and social hierarchies of the powerful clan of Umuofia. He feared failure; a psychological diffidence nurtured through his father’s shortcomings. Okonkwo strived with hardcore determination to be the leader of the clan. He robustly stood tall like a tree , faced every crisis that came his way with obstinate wit, but sadly overlooked his own limitations and never learned to bend or turn like the grass to the changing winds and finally succumbed to the gust of harshness. My heart goes out to men like Okonkwo, whose personality represents numerous other men from various patriarchal societies; like my own for instance. Staunch patriarchs rarely accept changes for they have been rooted in their ancestral cultural mores and dread its disintegration with time. Okonkwo’s father died when he was young burdened with debt and mortification. Hence, he feared his own collapse and saw accomplishment and power as a sign of acceptance and dignity amongst the members of the clan. Okonkwo was the uncrowned prince of masculinity. As a patriarch he believed the molding of a true man was carved through use of brutal force and authoritarian services. Any vulnerability was a sign of effeminate demeanor and a shame to his manhood. It has always been a classic case of "my way or the highway" when dealing with the head of a certain family structure. The father or the grandfather whoever occupied the supreme position tends to be engulfed in his own obsessive hubris failing to show necessary restraint; ripping away the family piece by piece. It was no surprise when Okonkwo’s son Nwoye despised his father’s preaching and turned to Christianity for a serene existence. I have no sympathies for Okonkwo’s tragic ending for I strongly felt he deserved every bit of the death that came his way. I know I got a bit carried away with this character, but I saw shades of his personality that hit closer to home. A man who cannot change with time is a friendless traveler.

When my anger receded, after a while, questions arise as to whether it is easy for a human being who is deeply embedded in a certain way of life to accept drastic change at the risk of losing a critical part of his existence- his cultural identification? When I compare myself with past generations I wonder if my children will ever remember or follow the sediments of my ancestral culture that has barely found a way in my lifestyle. Colonization brings westernization; the advent of the “white” man on exotic foreign shores brings a modernists wave that practically wipes out the primary ethnicities of the land. Democratic amendments bring liberation banishing orthodoxy and atrocious superstitions. It is a definite wondrous prospect, I must say; nevertheless, it gradually washes away the crucial hierarchical cultural institutions terming it as a blot of vernacularism. I embraced westernization as a child through my schooling years, but my father still finds some of the libertine values humbug. It is then, I reflect on Okonkwo and his failure to accept the presence of British missionaries in his village and his belief in the calamitous penalties by the spread of Christianity.

Achebe brings a complex mix of digression and misfortune that revolves around one man, his fate and the collapse within his tribal ethnicity. The anthropological image of the Igbo people and their civilization in the late 19th century, exhibits a democratic opulence of the Igbo people ingrained in tribal origins of African literature. Themes of religious convictions in the mysterious aura of the village Oracle, the hypocrisy and miscarriage in the justice structure during colonization and the commanding anxiety of free will are well meshed in depicting the Igbo world. Tribes and cultures either disintegrating or amalgamating into Western civilization bring an end to a strong ethnic era that once thrived and later waits patiently for its revival through generations. Languages and customs disappear with colonization making the world a uniformed global dais with treasures of ancient cultures hidden amongst its dark interiors. One man’s treasure is another man’s trash; tribal practices although termed as an archaic form of savagery, were valued institutions of traditions and justice to a few. Although, Chinua Achebe’s book tries to echo the related attitude, somehow it seems depressing and vacant at the closing stages of the book.
(less)

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Feb 01, 2008

Kelly rated it

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Shelves: truly-dreadful, fiction, 20th-century-postwar-to-late

I was so bored by this book I cannot even describe it to you. This is spare prose that breaks your heart in a bad, bad way. (Effing Hemingway, this is what people like you lead us to in the end!) I did not feel any sympathy for the characters involved. I tried to work myself up to wishing fiery deaths on them all (as I was obligated to finish this, since we read it for class in high school), but I just didn't even care that much.

I am sorry I wasted any minutes of my young, healthy bo...more

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Bibliomantic I just picked up a copy of this in exchange for $1, hoping that I got something of value for it, and alas, here I see so much venting against the book...more
updated Jan 22, 2010 01:20pm

Tracey Kirk wrote: "Well, I often teach Things and Tree in the same class, and about the only thing they have in common in that students hate them both ...more
Apr 03, 2011 12:29pm

Jan 11, 2012

Harmonybites rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: literary-fiction, popular-fiction, fiction, novels, 2012-around-the-world, classics, historical-fiction, favorites

I found this a smooth, good read. Absorbing, well-paced, engrossing and not at all long--novella length. Sad to say, I don't as a rule expect good reads in those books upheld as modern classics, but this pulled me in. Someone who saw me reading it told me they found the style "Romper Room" and some reviews seem to echo that. I didn't feel that way. I'd call the style "spare"--which befits a writer who when asked which writers he admired and who influenced him named Hemingway ...moreI found this a smooth, good read. Absorbing, well-paced, engrossing and not at all long--novella length. Sad to say, I don't as a rule expect good reads in those books upheld as modern classics, but this pulled me in. Someone who saw me reading it told me they found the style "Romper Room" and some reviews seem to echo that. I didn't feel that way. I'd call the style "spare"--which befits a writer who when asked which writers he admired and who influenced him named Hemingway along with Conrad and Graham Greene. And I loved how Achebe wove in folk tales and sayings and Ibo customs into the narrative. Things Fall Apart is considered a classic in African literature, and according to the introduction, Achebe wrote it to rehabilitate and counter what he called "the tarnished image of Africa," to give human dimension to the colonized.

The first part gives us a nuanced and detailed picture of life in a pre-colonial Ibo village during the late Victorian era. To Achebe's credit, he doesn't present that life as idyllic and his central character, Okonkwu, who embodies the tribal values, is deeply flawed. Okonkwu equates manliness with violence, and has used violence on his own family. In an interview after the text, Achebe said his "sympathies were not entirely with Okonkwu." Achebe presents the ills that the colonists brought to the traditional village society--the division between families, the imposition of foreign rule, the corruption and brutality endemic in the system which even destroys an entire village in reprisal for the death of one white missionary.

But Achebe also depicts what attracted people to the Christian missionaries beyond the schools and the hospitals, the trade. Among the first and most fervent converts are Oknokwu's own son Nwoye, bitter that his father killed his childhood friend who had tried to flee his fate as a human sacrifice, a pregnant woman who had lost several children because of the practice of twin infanticide, and two people from a taboo caste who find their first respect and equal treatment among the Christians. Frankly--and I know this is as un-PC as un-PC can be--but given Achebe's depiction of the brutal, superstitious, misogynist tribal culture, I was finding it very hard to see its destruction as tragic. Although, given all the different iterations I've seen and read of the "Dances With Wolves" motif, I did appreciate Achebe's willingness to show the unattractive side of a traditional culture.

At the same time Oknokwu's friend Obierika says "the white man... has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart." And just as Oknokwu upheld that old center, when it falls apart he does too. And whatever ambivalence I might have felt for his fate and the values he stood for, few contemporary readers can read that last paragraph from the point of view of the white colonizing District Commissioner without disquiet or miss Achebe's sharp and bitter irony.(less)

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Nov 24, 2008

booklady rated it

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Recommended to booklady by: Skylar

Shelves: 2008, adventure, classic, fiction, literature, historical-fiction, worth-reading-over-and-over

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” is from Yeats's poem "The Second Coming". Fifty years after Chinua Achebe wrote this deceptively simple Nigerian tragedy, Things Fall Apart has never been out of print. It's hailed as Africa's best known work of literature and I can easily see why.

At the heart of the story is a strong man, Okonkwo, with an overwhelming need to prove himself--to himself and his tribe; he must overcome the bad reputation of his drunkard ne'er...more

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Feb 04, 2011

Malak Alrashed rated it

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This book absolutely falls under the category of "For Nigerians Only" because the writer takes you to a whole new world, a world of its own customs and I like that I love to read about other cultures and customs, but here in this book the writer doesn't introduce these customs properly before telling the story. for example: there's something mentioned in the book called the holy week which is clearly a sacred time when Nigerians are no longer allowed to fight or argue, but when exactly...more

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Feb 03, 2012

Mr. Brammer rated it

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Recommends it for: Everyone

The first three-quarters of Things Fall Apart is immersed in the clan culture of eastern Nigeria (we don't actually learn the specific setting - the events of the novel can presumably be transferred to any sub-Saharan pre- and post-colonial setting). The society that Achebe describes can be brutally violent and superstitious, and the protagonist, or anti-hero, Okonkwo is so single-minded and angry that it's difficult to sympathize with him. I think that Achebe chose to show the clan society wi...more

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Jun 20, 2010

marie rated it

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Recommends it for: all

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book has a lot of local color. It shows an Africa (Nigeria) before the colonizers arrived.

Achebe's style is episodic, and there is almost no introspection in the main character, Okonkwo. It's like an English movie with a lot of African expressions thrown in. The narrative has many folk tales and proverbs and uses many African words. There's a literary term when you use the exact sound of something ---a bird call, an animal howling ---there's a lot of that here.

It's ...moreThis book has a lot of local color. It shows an Africa (Nigeria) before the colonizers arrived.

Achebe's style is episodic, and there is almost no introspection in the main character, Okonkwo. It's like an English movie with a lot of African expressions thrown in. The narrative has many folk tales and proverbs and uses many African words. There's a literary term when you use the exact sound of something ---a bird call, an animal howling ---there's a lot of that here.

It's a fascinating glimpse of another culture that I suspect is all but gone.

Okonkwo strives to be as different as he can from his lazy, debt-ridden father, and he succeeds. He works extremely hard to be wealthy and to be a respected elder of his village. However, in the struggle to show that he was tough and macho, he makes mistakes, the biggest one a horrific fratricide. Another tragedy then strikes his whole family, and when he overcomes it life as he knows it has changed forever.

When I read a good book, it stays with me for days, and this one made me think sadly of what the Philippines could have been like before the Spaniards came and condemned the way of life of our ancestors. So it is a book that awakens and opens eyes.

It is not great writing for me because it's effect on me is mostly visual (which gives you an idea of the critic that I am) , but it is an important book nevertheless. It tackles an issue more earthshaking than say, Portnoy's complaint, and so I'm approaching it not from an art for art's sake point of view, but from a marxist one (I guess).

Who is to say which culture is better, which God the authentic one? Are Muslims and Hindus destined for hell simply because they do not worship the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary? Is religion merely a tool for colonization? Is there really no true God and life ends as we know it here, and the only reason we worship a god still is because the thought that life ends here on earth and injustice can never be corrected (among others) and there is no use being good is just too horrible to contemplate?

(Note: But what about confirmed miracles?)

And if the kingdom of jesus is near at hand, why is it that 2000 years later, there is still so much evil and suffering on earth? How near is "near'?(less)

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May 29, 2011

Melisa Mariani rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, award-winner, 1001-books, cultural, koleksiku-ind, wanna-read-again

Dapet pinjeman dari dosen sastra. Penasaran karena belum pernah baca sastra Afrika sebelumnya... ;)

Update 30 Mei 2011:

Buku itu ajaib! Kalau saya pernah menyebut buku sebagai mesin waktu yang bisa membawa pembaca ke masa lalu maupun masa depan, buku yang saya review saat ini mempunyai fungsi seperti “pintu ajaib” nya Doraemon. Ya, jika sebelumnya saya jalan-jalan ke Venezia, kali ini saya dibawa ke Benua Hitam, Afrika. Tepatnya Nigeria yang menjadi setting cerita novel Thi...more

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Mar 23, 2008

Chin rated it

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Shelves: advisory-10-2007-2008

During the time period of 1967 to 1970 the Nigerian Civil War when Nigeria gain its independence, Achebe reflected back on his personal disappointment of this event. Although, this time should be a proud moment, his friend, Christopher Okigbo was killed during the Nigerian Civil War.
While this issue, this inspires him to write his first novel, Things Fall Apart in 1958. He portrayed the protagonist Okonkwo as a powerful leader in the Igbo society. He doesn’t have much trouble...more

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Feb 20, 2008

Pa rated it

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I bought “Things Fall Apart” and was excited and eager to read it knowing that (1) it has sold millions and millions of copies since its debut in 1958, (2) has since stood as a symbol of a crown achievement of African literature, and (3) has sort of turned Chinua Achebe into a Hemingway of Africa. But as life has taught us many times before: great expectations come with greater disappointments. While “Things Fall Apart” never quite fell apart it never really took off either. But I should be ...more

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Feb 11, 2008

Robert Beveridge rated it

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Shelves: finished, owned-and-gave-away

This is another classic example of "what in the world are you thinking assigning this to high school kids?" It's a pretty durned fine book, and there is much therein upon which to reflect, but I'm guessing the adolescent and recently-postadolescent crowd is going to feel a book like this is being rammed down their throats. And they're probably right.

Thankfully, I'm a year or so too old to have been assigned this in school, and I picked up a copy vaguely remembering classmates...moreThis is another classic example of "what in the world are you thinking assigning this to high school kids?" It's a pretty durned fine book, and there is much therein upon which to reflect, but I'm guessing the adolescent and recently-postadolescent crowd is going to feel a book like this is being rammed down their throats. And they're probably right.

Thankfully, I'm a year or so too old to have been assigned this in school, and I picked up a copy vaguely remembering classmates below me had had to read it. Perhaps my lack of memory about much of my high school and college days is a good thing, because I went into this novel without any preconceptions. I also went into it having read a few books from Heinemann's African Writers Series over the past few months, so I have something of a grasp on what African novelists were doing in the late fifties. (Not a bad idea, actually, since the "storytelling" nature of such tales can be jarring to someone who's used to modern American lit-- for example, your typical high school student.) All this being the case, Things Fall Apart, considered by many western critics to be the premier work of African literature of this century, may be quite deserving of its laurels.

Okonkwo is a tribal elder in Umuofia, a large village in southern Nigeria. He's the very essence of a self-made man, having inherited nothing from his father. Of course, events can't just go on day to day as we want them to, and a series of stumbling blocks face Okonkwo after he is given the care of a teenager the village has taken as a spoil of war.

The book is compared to classical Greek tragedy, and there are certainly elements of it here. However (remembering recent reading in Abel), to cast this as a true Greek tragedy would force a reading that says the tribal gods sent Christian missionaries to Umuofia in order to punish Okonkwo for various transgressions. I'm about halfway to accepting that this is what Achebe was after, actually. Otherwise, one is forced to read this in kind of the same way as the old joke whose punchine is "Job, something about you just sporks me off."

One way or the other, the writing is fluid, easy, and captivating, and the storytelling style is one I've always been drawn to (as opposed to the missionaries-- one white person, at the very end of the book, thinks to himself that one of the most annoying things about the tribe is their "superfluity"). I liked this one, surely more than my schoolmates who were assigned it. Those of you who were, and hated it, might want to try cleansing your palates with something by, say, Cyprian Ekwensi, or a different, lesser-known book by Achebe (A Man of the People would be a good start). Then tackle this one again. It's worth it. (less)

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Jan 27, 2008

Deborah rated it

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Achebe's acclaimed novel explores what happens when two cultures collide. In this case, western colonialism under the veil of Christianity confronting an animistic tribal system in a rural village in Nigeria. The result is a fascinating exploration of how one man, Okonkwo, who has invested his whole life into attaining a position of authority within the tribe, finds his whole world forever altered and his quest for achievement meaningless in this new Africa.

Okonkwo is not a man wh...moreAchebe's acclaimed novel explores what happens when two cultures collide. In this case, western colonialism under the veil of Christianity confronting an animistic tribal system in a rural village in Nigeria. The result is a fascinating exploration of how one man, Okonkwo, who has invested his whole life into attaining a position of authority within the tribe, finds his whole world forever altered and his quest for achievement meaningless in this new Africa.

Okonkwo is not a man who embraces change. His whole life he has struggled against a legacy of failure and shame left to him by his father. Unoka, his father, was a lazy man known for the "weakness of his machete" throughout the tribe. Okonkwo in contrast, clings to hard work and almost an obsessive drive to achieve success that is fueled by his hatred for his father. As a result, he lacks compassion and shows little joy or pleasure revealed in the "manly" expectations he forces on his sensitive son, Nwoye and the beatings he inflicts on his three dutiful wives. There is nothing worse in Okonkwo's world than being called a "woman".

Achebe's talent reveals itself in his ability to create complex, multi-dimensional characters. Okonkwo is hard and brutal. He even participates in the murder of a young boy, Ikemefuna, in spite of the fact that he has grown fond of the boy. But Okonkwo must be admired for rising from nothing and the wisdom he shows in his farming of his yams. In spite of his gruff appearance he waits all night by the cave, waiting for Chielo to return his daughter, whom he loves.

Achebe's treatment of the church and of the the animistic religion practiced by the tribe also shows a complexity that forces the reader to acknowledge good qualities in both cultures, while also seeing the atrocities and injustices that both systems seem to promote. The tribe is more than willing to mutilate the bodies of infants and leave healthy twins in the Evil Forest to die. Those who are sick are often seen as having offended the earth goddess and are therefore tied to trees and left to slowly die, painful miserable deaths. Yet the tribe also strives to avoid bloodshed with other tribes. Ikemefuna is sacrificed only to reduce the likelihood of a more violent war with Mbaino where many other lives might be lost.

Christianity under the first missionary is compassionate. It seeks to destroy the superstitious beliefs that led to the needless deaths of infants, the cruel treatment toward outcasts, and the embracing of women. But under Christianity, we also see the arrival of a brutal colonialism that puts one tribe member against the other, fuels the injust enslavement and humiliation of tribal leaders and the corruption of government officials.

Okonkwo struggles with the adjustment to this new world. His struggle represents the struggle of Africa under colonialism and the inability of the tribal system to survive in the "New Africa".(less)

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Jul 16, 2007

Jane rated it

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This has been on my list for a while. I enjoyed the economy of style and Achebe's choice of a decidedly unlikable protagonist, which was brave and made for a powerful rendering of a fascinating period of history. Chinua made a clever decision not to fall prey to the temptation to embrace a phony dichotomy - Africa good - Europe bad. He tells the story of the missionary and colonial movement in Nigeria in an unflinchingly dispassionate way. Okonkwo is an anti-hero, proud, cruel, misanthrope, ...more

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Nov 18, 2008

Sabrina rated it

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This book was incredible and a great page-turner. It has relevance to a real tribe in Nigeria. Okonkwo, the protagonist of this novel, really brought the defintion of standing up for what you believe in. No matter how much his own people embraced the white man's culture, he stook to his beleifs. Okonkwo refused to show fear, for he feared becoming his father. I definitely recommend this book to anyone to anyone who enjoys history and controversy.

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Jul 05, 2011

Elspeth rated it

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Actually, this book made me miserable, which was partially the intent, so to characterize it as something "I really like" feels a bit odd. But the story has really stuck with me for over a decade, even small details resurface, which can only lead me to the trite conclusion that the story was "powerful" because I'm certainly not recalling it as a pleasant memory, nor was it shockingly scarring. (Although, it obviously upset a variety of cultural norms that I'd previously tak...moreActually, this book made me miserable, which was partially the intent, so to characterize it as something "I really like" feels a bit odd. But the story has really stuck with me for over a decade, even small details resurface, which can only lead me to the trite conclusion that the story was "powerful" because I'm certainly not recalling it as a pleasant memory, nor was it shockingly scarring. (Although, it obviously upset a variety of cultural norms that I'd previously taken for granted.) Whether or not it was the intent of the author, what became clear to me from the juxtaposition of British Imperialism and the native culture (and my tolerance mixed with occasional horror at both) is that changing any culture will not change the number of problems a given society has, only the type. This is because the "problem" is not law or custom but people being individuals, which is actually one of the greatest strengths of any species. By virtue of enabling one set of values to thrive, a society will always have problems finding an acceptable outlet for people endowed with a proclivity for the opposite set; switch the values and you only switch the problems. I know this seems glaringly obvious, but at the time I read this story, it gave me a much higher tolerance for governmental foibles and "backwards" cultural norms in my own backyard, and an understanding of why even really great ideas won't work out right when it comes to governing humans--although, not so great a tolerance that I've stopped voting , writing disgruntled letters, or making ill-considered generalizations in public.

Also, for some reason I've measured my net worth in yams ever since. I regularly consider how many yams I could conceivably buy if I liquidated my assets, settled my debts, and found a yam silo (do they even make yam silos?) advertising a reasonable price per pound even though I have no intention whatsoever of converting my worldly possessions to yams. These pointless mental calisthenics make me feel better--go figure. *That* should really be the selling point: "Read this book and the next time you're feeling poor, purchasing $3 of yams at the grocery store will drastically increase your sense of well-being and perceived financial stability." Any trained accountant could attain horror and despair by tallying the number of yams on my grocery bills versus the number of yams I actually eat. This was probably the author's truest intent and most cherished hope for readers of this novel: liberation from the soul-less and unsleeping machinations of a traditional diversified fiat-currency investment by conversion to a portfolio dominated by sweet-potato fries.

At least, that's what I got from it.(less)

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May 06, 2011

rachel rated it

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Shelves: do-not-own, 2011, from-library, nice-surprise, love-the-cover

I remember this book from high school English as the one my classmates would all pick from selected reading lists because it was short, then whine about that choice a few weeks later because it was "boring."

I'm just going to say it: this book should not be taught in schools.

Not because it's not worthy of being taught, but because the story is "slow," in that there are big stretches where not a lot happens. You don't appreciate idleness as a teena...moreI remember this book from high school English as the one my classmates would all pick from selected reading lists because it was short, then whine about that choice a few weeks later because it was "boring."

I'm just going to say it: this book should not be taught in schools.

Not because it's not worthy of being taught, but because the story is "slow," in that there are big stretches where not a lot happens. You don't appreciate idleness as a teenager, in the same way that you don't appreciate roasted broccoli as compared to delivery pizza, or the would-be paramour who is not physically your ideal but is a good person. Both the broccoli and the boy will seem amazing to you one day, but not yet. That is how I feel about Things Fall Apart. And I am so glad it was not ruined for me with a surly attempt at reading ten years ago to color my view.

The book, for those who haven't read it, is basically a fable set in the modern Nigerian village of Umuofia. Achebe's main character, Okonkwo, is both straight hero and anti-hero. He beats his wives, has too much pride, and is disgusted by men, including his father, who don't share his ambition. Come the end of the book, he also stands ground against the Christian missionaries who come into his village to "civilize" its people. He is a man with deep flaws, but also a man who can give heroics when necessary. He is an interesting character, but not a likeable one.

As you can see -- with the missionaries and the beating of wives -- this is a book that is very easily politicized. It is Food for Discussion for an intro liberal arts sort of education, and I can only imagine the discussion in those classes now: the possible ascription of Okonkwo's character/beliefs/actions to African culture in general, the insipidly worded moral relativism and lack thereof. This is why people get bored with studying this book! I am not conservative, but I don't want to dissect why the mission of these Christians is wrong or why Okonkwo's treatment of his wives is bad. (Duh, of course they are.) I just want the primary function of my reading this book to be discovering the texture of its humanity and reveling in Achebe's storytelling, not necessarily anthropological judgment.

Things Fall Apart lends itself to political conversation, but for me, it's best read for the experience of this one man Okonkwo's life as it is without discussion buzzwords in mind. When you read it this way, the rich detail of the story makes it tough to put down. And Achebe's messages come across clearly -- if not loudly. (less)

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Dec 14, 2010

Alyssa rated it

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 03, 2009

Jocelyn Lee rated it

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It was good, but some things felt strange and inserted just for the author's purposes. Like inserting a rant; well, not exactly that since Chinua obviously doesn't rant besides about racism and ethnocentricism. It really did teach me about Ibo culture 'no hands barred,' at least, I think that's what you'd say. The characters were great. There were only two truly dislikeable characters, the later preist and the man who wanted to kill the snake. Perhaps it's because Chinua is part of both cultures...more

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Joje I think of cowboys as a certain hero that is put forth to be both sensitive to the culture he belongs to and following that culture's honor code, but ...more
Mar 05, 2009 11:20pm

Jocelyn Lee I guess I just view Okonkwo differently than you, that, and cowboys. Though that 'jumping steps' thing does sound like Okonkwo a bit.
Did Claude ...more
Mar 06, 2009 11:03pm

Jan 28, 2009

Chase rated it

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Very sad...that's about it. It's just a sad book.

I always wonder why authors have to write these types of books. I mean, after No Country for Old Men I had to lie down and take a breather. There are section of Blood Meridian that make me put the book down because it feels as though someone has been dragging me butt naked, at a snails pace, behind a gasy horse over sand in the scorching heat of the afternoon. I mean, yeah it's sand, it's soft, not to jaggedy, and it couldn't be ...more

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Apr 02, 2009

Shelley rated it

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Shelves: novels

I really love this book. It never gets old, even though I've taught it a few times now. The teens, however, are so resistant to it at first because the characters' names are difficult to pronounce, and they find it challenging to keep track of Okonkwo's many wives and children. The other day, though, I was reading an excerpt from it aloud in class, and I caught a teen boy loving it.

This particular teen, who is not such a fan of reading, made a comment under his breath about how h...more

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Dec 30, 2008

H rated it

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I don't know if it is my western requirements or the book that is flawed, but I found this book sometimes maddening in the way it would introduce a story and then just abandon it. The most irritating to me was the story of Ezinma going to see the god in the cave. WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CAVE????? It just drives me crazy that we never got to hear what the girl saw/felt/heard on that night. Why was that story introduced and then never resolved? Like I said, maybe to people from a less western cul...more

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Dec 05, 2011

Ann Al-Bahish rated it

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Shelves: around-the-world-in-52-books

This is one of those books that simultaneously appears on a list of the best books of the 20th century and a list of the worst books ever written. I really enjoyed the book -- especially after I got past the middle -- but I can understand the frustration too. Not a lot seems to happen until about page 50 and the family patriarch is difficult to like (to put it mildly).

This is a book about how the customs that hold a Nigerian village together disappear when Christian missionaries ...more

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Oct 23, 2009

Joe rated it

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Excellent book for a lot more reasons than people give it credit for. This book is written in three parts with a lot of amazing moments in each. Most criticism I've read treats Parts I and II as mere set ups for the all important Part III. Granted, based on his career and outspokenness, particularly on Joseph Conrad, it's hard to notice anything else. But the counter-European history is not just about countering the impression of colonization but of pre-colonial Africa. That's what this book is ...more

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Aug 11, 2011

Violet Crush rated it

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Shelves: i-own, fav-s

I loved this book. Chinua Achebe writes a sad and melancholic tale about a man called Okonkwo in a small African tribal village called Umuofia. Okonkwo is a man feared and respected by everyone in his village and beyond. He is a wrestling champion and man who enjoys fame and respect because of his hard work. He is a self made man. His father was considered a looser because he did not work very hard to sustain his crops and did nothing else but play music and laze around. He died as an outcast.
...moreI loved this book. Chinua Achebe writes a sad and melancholic tale about a man called Okonkwo in a small African tribal village called Umuofia. Okonkwo is a man feared and respected by everyone in his village and beyond. He is a wrestling champion and man who enjoys fame and respect because of his hard work. He is a self made man. His father was considered a looser because he did not work very hard to sustain his crops and did nothing else but play music and laze around. He died as an outcast.

The only thing Okonkwo fears is failure and being compared to his father. So he works hard, becomes prosperous and lives comfortably with his 3 wives and children.

But life is not fair to him. After working hard in his village to gain a title and a good life, he is exiled from his fatherland because he kills a boy by mistake. When European colonists come to his village and build a church and start converting the villagers into Christians, Okonkwo wants to take action, he wants to fight the Europeans and preserve his culture and religion and his gods. But no one else wants to fight. Okonkwo watches his son join the Europeans and turn into a Christian and he is in utter despair because he cannot do anything about it.

This book has a sad and tragic end.
What I liked about the book was the simple descriptions of the day to day life of the people in a tribal village. I enjoyed reading about how their lives revolved around the growing and harvesting of Yams, how their beliefs in their gods affected the men and women in the village and their unease and anger when Europeans come and build a church in the village.
I enjoyed reading about folk tales passed down from generation to generation.

Even though I like the book I would like to mention a few points here as I have heard a lot of criticism and bad reviews for this book.

‘Things fall apart’ has been termed as a literary masterpiece. But if you looking for outstanding language, this book is not for you. The language is as simple as it can get, which I think is the beauty of it. If you want to clear your prejudice that African villages are backward and primitive and you think reading this book will give you an insight into why they what they do, do NOT read this book. I thought the tribal customs and beliefs were down right against humanity and whatever way the author would have put it, I wouldn’t have believed otherwise. Would you approve of leaving new born twins in a jungle because twins are considered evil? Mutilating a dead infant’s body so that it isn’t born again? Out casting a man from his village and his loved ones because he has a disease?

If you are looking for a good plot and well rounded and lovable characters, again this book is not for you. I hated Okonkwo. He was a tyrant and he repeatedly beat his wives and kids. I couldn’t sympathize with him no matter what.

I couldn’t take sides with the European colonists either. Though they brought good things in the village, they brought law and order, I hated the fact that they thought their God was the greatest. Trying to undermine any religion is always wrong. Every religion has its good and bad points, what you can do is point out the bad points or the bad interpretations of it. Sorry, but I am against statements like, ‘There is no God except our God’. I believe God is one, whether he is in the form of Christ or Allah or Krishna, everyone is the same, there are just different names given by humans. I don’t want this to turn into a religious discussion, so I’ll stop.

All I can say is I loved this book. Read it if you want to live and experience a culture very different from your own. ‘Things fall apart’ is distinctively African.
(less)

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Oct 18, 2008

Dorothea rated it

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What you're supposed to get out of this book is how Christian missionaries from Britain essentially destroyed dozens of small villages in Nigeria with their white Jesus teachings. But instead I came away from this book with a new understanding of why Christianity can be so appealing.

In these Nigerian villages there was a custom of regarding as evil, women who had given birth to twins. Any twins who were born were immediately taken out into the woods by the villagers and left to die...more

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Feb 18, 2008

Stephanie rated it

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Recommends it for: missionaries

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. First half tells story of Okonkwo and his village Umuofia, his fall from grace, exile, and return. The reader is introduced to various tribal customs and their rational. The patriarchal village has a clear code of moral conduct, but it’s clouded by superstition and pagan beliefs. Ancestors are held in high regard—elders dress in masks and impersonate ancestors in court proceedings. Children are valuable, but boys are better. Twins are thought to be evil and are cast into the evil forest to ...moreFirst half tells story of Okonkwo and his village Umuofia, his fall from grace, exile, and return. The reader is introduced to various tribal customs and their rational. The patriarchal village has a clear code of moral conduct, but it’s clouded by superstition and pagan beliefs. Ancestors are held in high regard—elders dress in masks and impersonate ancestors in court proceedings. Children are valuable, but boys are better. Twins are thought to be evil and are cast into the evil forest to die. If a woman repeatedly loses her babies—the baby is believed to be an evil spirit which reincarnates itself again and again. Men own their many wives and children—but cannot beat them on holy days. Women leave their motherland to live among their husband’s village.

Okonkwo is a warrior, known for strength in wrestling and harsh control of his wives and children. He see his son Nwoye as weak.

After a neighbouring village rapes a daughter, the village Umuofia obtains a prisoner. The boy, Ikemefuna, is assigned to Okonkwo’s house and is raised as a son. Years later the elders decide to kill him. Even though Okonkwo is advised to have no hand in the death of a boy who calls him “father”, he is afraid to show weakness. When the injured child runs to him for help, he finishes him off with his machete.

Last half tells story of English missionaries who proseletize and trample on the people’s ancient customs. Mr. Brown is a rare man among them, respected even among the villagers because he values restraint among the converts. He does not aim to offend the people and their customs. He is known for having dialogue with men—learning about their religion as well.

After Mr. Brown leaves, Mr. Smith takes his place. Smith is heavy handed. He does not seek to understand the people’s customs or accommodate them in any way. Under his watch a convert desecrates an ancestor, during a sacred ceremony. The village leaders respond by burning down the church. Men from the “white government” come to sort this out, ask to meet with the village leaders. The white men come peaceably, but turn on the elders, shaving their heads, withholding food, and humiliating them. They fine the village and ask for payment in village food/currency. After the six elders are released, they hold meeting to decide whether to go to war. Okonkwo wants war, even if he must fight alone. When white court messengers come to break up the meeting, Okonkwo decapitates one.

The court messengers return for Okonkwo the next day. The elders lead the white men to Okonkwo’s body which hangs from a tree—driven by the white men to kill himself. They ask for help bringing the body down because it is against their custom to touch a man who has killed himself. The people’s great anguish at losing Okonkwo is lost on the main messenger who thinks only of the book he will write—how to “pacify” the “primitive” tribes. He orders the people and the body to be brought to court.

(less)

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Feb 07, 2008

Tara rated it

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I love the simplicity of this book. It so simply describes the pangs of being human, and that in experiencing these pangs it is part of what makes us human. The truth is that things DO fall apart, or, in plain American-English, "shit happens".

It shows over a period of time a cycle in the exchange of good and bad.

There's also a snippet dealing with Christian missionaries coming upon Ibo communities in Nigeria. Achebe is of Ibo descent and offers some interesting...more

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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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Quotes from Things Fall Apart

“The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” — 29 people liked it

“Mr. Brown had thought of nothing but numbers. He should have known that the kingdom of God did not depend on large crowds. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of fewness. Narrow is the way and few the number. To fill the Lord's holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamoring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence. Our Lord used the whip only once in His life - to drive the crowd away from His church.” — 8 people liked it

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