Chinua Achebe

Born

in Ogidi, Anambra, Nigeria

November 16, 1930

Died

March 21, 2013

Genre

Chinua Achebe was 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 th Chinua Achebe was 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 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 became the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

Achebe died at age 82 following a brief illness. ...more

Combine Editions
Chinua Achebe’s books

Average rating: 3.71 · 333,036 ratings · 17,588 reviews · 90 distinct works • Similar authors

	Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1) 3.70 avg rating — 300,306 ratings — published 1958 — 224 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) 3.86 avg rating — 8,317 ratings — published 1960 — 68 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) 3.82 avg rating — 5,627 ratings — published 1964 — 57 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 3.88 avg rating — 3,990 ratings — published 1966 — 41 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 3.84 avg rating — 3,604 ratings — published 1987 — 37 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 3.97 avg rating — 1,915 ratings — published 2012 — 12 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
	Africa's Tarnished Name 4.41 avg rating — 1,108 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 3.73 avg rating — 1,205 ratings — published 1972 — 16 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
	Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe, Prue Theobalds (Illustrator) 3.79 avg rating — 903 ratings — published 1966 — 8 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 3.97 avg rating — 772 ratings — published 2009 — 27 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

3.70 avg rating — 314,910 ratings

Quotes by Chinua Achebe

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

3791 likes

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

1272 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

760 likes

See all Chinua Achebe's quotes »

Polls

May 2019 Revisit the Shelf Poll

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, 1959, 182 pages, Group read: 2017

80 votes, 23.4%

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, 1979, 216 pages, Group Read: 2014, 2016

76 votes, 22.2%

The Iliad by Homer, 720 BCE, 683 pages, Group read: 2012

56 votes, 16.4%

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, 1958, 209 pages, Group read: 2015

54 votes, 15.8%

Watership Down by Richard Adams, 1972, 478 pages, Group read: 2016

52 votes, 15.2%

Rob Roy by Walter Scott, 1817, 501 pages, Group read: 2012

24 votes, 7.0%

342 total votes

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