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Achebe Discusses Africa 50 Years After 'Things Fall Apart'

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Things Fall Apart, Part 2: Crash Course Literature 209

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Chinua Achebe

Born

in Ogidi, Anambra, Nigeria

November 16, 1930

Died

March 21, 2013

Genre

Fiction, History, Short Stories

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Works, including the novel Things Fall Apart (1958), of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe describe traditional African life in conflict with colonial rule and westernization.

This poet and critic served as professor at Brown University. People best know and most widely read his first book in modern African literature.

Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria reared Achebe, who excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. World religions and traditional African cultures fascinated him, who began stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian broadcasting service and quickly moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention in the late 1950s; his la Works, including the novel Things Fall Apart (1958), of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe describe traditional African life in conflict with colonial rule and westernization.

This poet and critic served as professor at Brown University. People best know and most widely read his first book in modern African literature.

Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria reared Achebe, who excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. World religions and traditional African cultures fascinated him, who began stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian broadcasting service and quickly moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention 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 defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers," in African literature. In 1975, controversy focused on his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" for its criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a bloody racist."

When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe, a devoted supporter of independence, 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 in political parties but witnessed the corruption and elitism that duly frustration him, who quickly resigned. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and after a car accident left him partially disabled, he returned to the United States in 1990.

Novels of Achebe 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 relied heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He also published a number of short stories, children's books, and essay collections. He served as the David and Marianna Fisher university professor of Africana studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

ollowing a brief illness, Achebe died. ...more

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Chinua Achebe’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 391,202 ratings · 21,983 reviews · 135 distinct works • Similar authors

	Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1) 3.72 avg rating — 350,483 ratings — published 1958 — 330 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	No Longer at Ease (The African Trilogy, #2) 3.87 avg rating — 10,412 ratings — published 1960 — 104 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Arrow of God (The African Trilogy, #3) 3.81 avg rating — 7,237 ratings — published 1964 — 97 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Man of the People 3.89 avg rating — 4,760 ratings — published 1966 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Anthills of the Savannah 3.85 avg rating — 4,059 ratings — published 1987 — 72 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2,313 ratings — published 2012 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Africas Tarnished Name 4.42 avg rating — 1,768 ratings — published 1997	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Girls at War and Other Stories 3.75 avg rating — 1,406 ratings — published 1972 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The African Trilogy. Things Fall Apart. No Longer at Ease. Arrow of God (Picador) (Picador Books) 4.28 avg rating — 972 ratings — published 1964 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Education of a British-Protected Child: Essays really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 870 ratings — published 2009 — 50 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Chinua Achebe…

Series by Chinua Achebe

The African Trilogy (3 books)
by

Chinua Achebe

3.73 avg rating — 369,076 ratings

Quotes by Chinua Achebe (?)

“If you don't like someone's story, write your own.”
― Chinua Achebe

3753 likes

“The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place.”
― Chinua Achebe

1264 likes

“While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.”
― Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah

tags: agape, brotherly-love, charity, compassion

771 likes

See all Chinua Achebe's quotes »

Polls

June 2021 Revisit the Shelf Poll

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro pub. 1989, 258 pp., last read Sept 2018

54 votes, 21.3%

Tess of The D'ubervilles by Thomas Hardy pub. 1891, 518 pp., last read June 2018

52 votes, 20.5%

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson pub. 1883, 311 pp., last read 2011

41 votes, 16.1%

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera 320 pages, pub. 1984, last read Dec. 2012

38 votes, 15.0%

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe last read 2/2015, 209 pp., pub 1958

25 votes, 9.8%

Shirley by Charlotte Brontë 624 pp., pub. 1849, last read Dec. 2018

23 votes, 9.1%

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury pub 1950, 182 pp. last read March 2016

21 votes, 8.3%

254 total votes

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