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Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy #1)

by Chinua Achebe

3.61 · Rating details · 214,256 Ratings · 9,946 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

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Paperback, 209 pages

Published September 1st 1994 by Anchor Books (first published 1958)

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Apr 06, 2009 Madeline rated it did not like it

Shelves: the-list, assigned-reading, 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 flaws, and is a dev ...more

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Jan 21, 2014 Rowena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: african-lit

“The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village. It was like the pulsation of its heart. It throbbed in the air, in the sunshine, and even in the trees, and filled the village with excitement.” - Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

This is a book of many contrasts; colonialism and traditional culture, animism and Christianity, the masculine and the feminine, and the ignorant and the aware (although who is who depends on who “The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village. It was like the pulsation of its heart. It throbbed in the air, in the sunshine, and even in the trees, and filled the village with excitement.” - Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

This is a book of many contrasts; colonialism and traditional culture, animism and Christianity, the masculine and the feminine, and the ignorant and the aware (although who is who depends on who’s speaking).

Okonkwo is one of the most intriguing characters in African fiction. He epitomizes so much I dislike; he’s abusive, misogynist, has very little patience or tolerance for the weak, and is perhaps he’s even over-ambitious. Despite all his faults, it’s impossible not to pity him a little because, after all, the life he knows, the life of his ancestors, is being taken from him quite cruelly by the British settlers.

This book really takes the reader into the Igbo culture. Achebe shows the traditional culture very well, a culture which is rife with superstition but rich in context. I loved the inclusion of the African proverbs and folk tales, and the details of the Igbo clan system. Achebe also shows how tightknit precolonial African culture was and how, despite not having the so-called civilized institutions, things went pretty smoothly because of the community spirit and also the societal rules. The importance of ancestors in society is a part of this:

“The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. There was coming and going between them.”

Achebe managed to inject some humour into such bleak subject matter, although I think this feat is quite common among African writers:

”You grew your ears for decoration, not for hearing.”

What I found difficult to come to terms with, as an African Christian myself, is the horrific way Christianity was introduced to the African continent. However, despite the lack of respect the colonialists showed to the people, it’s hard to deny that there were some aspects of African tradition that were outdated and people had the option of leaving such tradition behind, especially if it was harmful. For example, in this book the outcasts and the parents of twin babies (who had to kill their babies to prevent evil from entering the village) obviously found it easier to abandon tradition.

I think this book was the first one that made me realize the terrible impact of colonialism. I’ve always been curious about how Chinese women with bound feet must have felt after that fashion was seen as barbaric and unfashionable, and in the same vein I’ve also wondered about how those in African cultures who had lots of power and were accorded lots of respect might have felt when new values undermined everything they had worked towards.

This book reminds me a lot of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s “The River Between” which focuses on similar subject matter, albeit on the other side of the continent (Kenya). I would highly recommend both of them. ...more

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Dec 24, 2007 Skylar Burris rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics

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." Yet Things Fall Apart 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." 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. ...more

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Feb 24, 2016 Bookdragon Sean rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-star-reads, contemporary-lit, postcolonial

Achebe’s protagonist isn’t a very nice man. In reality he is an asshole. I don’t like him. I don’t think anyone really does. He is ruthless and unsympathetic to his fellow man. He grew up in a warrior’s culture; the only way to be successful was to be completely uncompromising and remorseless. His father was weak and worthless, according to him, so he approached life with an unshakable will to conquer it with his overbearing masculinity.

”When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was h ...more

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Jun 25, 2014 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, so-good-it-hurts, unforgettable

My son and I had a long talk about this novel the other day, after he finished reading it for an English class.

Over the course of the study unit, we had been talking about Chinua Achebe's fabulous juxtaposition of different layers of society, both within Okonkwo's tribe, and within the colonialist community. We had been reflecting on aspects of the tribe that we found hard to understand, being foreign and against certain human rights we take for granted, most notably parts of the strict hierarc ...more

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Jun 05, 2007 J.G. Keely rated it it was ok

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, novel, reviewed, africa

The act of writing is strangely powerful, almost magical: to take ideas and put them into a lasting, physical form that can persist outside of the mind. For a culture without a written tradition, a libraries are not great structures of stone full of objects--instead, stories are curated within flesh, locked up in a cage of bone. To know the story, you must go to the storyteller. In order for that story to persist through time, it must be retold and rememorized by successive generations.

A book, s ...more

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Nov 29, 2013 فهد الفهد rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 0-favorites, fiction-africa

الأشياء تتداعى

يبدو أنني لا أتعلم من الدروس!! أجلت الكتابة عن هذا الكتاب كثيراً، انتهيت من قراءته في نوفمبر الماضي، وها قد مرت سبعة أشهر وهو ينتظر على مكتبي بإذعان!! قرأت كثيراً وكتبت كثيراً، ولكنه رغم جماله وقوته بقي مؤجلاً، فقط لأنني ويا للحمق كنت أرغب في أن أكتب عنه أفضل، وهو ليس لوحده في هذا المصير!! هناك كتب أخرى أجلت الكتابة عنها أيضاً، حتى فقدت الرغبة في ذلك وأعدتها إلى مكانها الدافئ في مكتبتي، ولكن قصة أوكونكوو لن تعيش هذا المصير، لن أفقد الرغبة في الكتابة عنها.

أول ما فتنني في رواية غين الأشياء تتداعى

يبدو أنني لا أتعلم من الدروس!! أجلت الكتابة عن هذا الكتاب كثيراً، انتهيت من قراءته في نوفمبر الماضي، وها قد مرت سبعة أشهر وهو ينتظر على مكتبي بإذعان!! قرأت كثيراً وكتبت كثيراً، ولكنه رغم جماله وقوته بقي مؤجلاً، فقط لأنني ويا للحمق كنت أرغب في أن أكتب عنه أفضل، وهو ليس لوحده في هذا المصير!! هناك كتب أخرى أجلت الكتابة عنها أيضاً، حتى فقدت الرغبة في ذلك وأعدتها إلى مكانها الدافئ في مكتبتي، ولكن قصة أوكونكوو لن تعيش هذا المصير، لن أفقد الرغبة في الكتابة عنها.

أول ما فتنني في رواية غينوا أتشيبي هو عنوانها الملهم (الأشياء تتداعى) والذي استقاه من قصيدة لييتس، يا له من وصف حقيقي لسقوط وانتهاء عالم ما، عشنا فيه وظننا أنه دائم لا يزول، ولكن ها هو يتداعى وينتهي مخلفاً أنقاضاً هنا وهناك في ثقافتنا.

نشر غينوا أتشيبي الروائي النيجيري روايته هذه سنة 1958 م، باللغة الإنجليزية وسرعان ما صارت من أشهر الروايات الأفريقية، كما قررت كمنهج دراسي في كثير من الدول الأفريقية.

في هذه الرواية نعيش مع أوكونكوو الرجل القوي الذي بنى نفسه من الصفر وصار أقوى رجل في قريته، نعيش في عالم القرية الأفريقية ما قبل الاستعمار، دينها وعاداتها وخرافاتها، ثم تبدأ التحولات في الظهور، وهو ما يقلق أوكونكوو فيقف في وجهها، ويقاتل للحفاظ على عالمه كما عرفه، ولكن تتغير العادات، ويتغير الدين بازدياد المعتنقين للمسيحية، وعندما يقتل أوكونكوو مبعوثاً من الحكومة الاستعمارية تكون مغامرته قد انتهت.

نهاية الرواية من أجمل النهايات والتي ذكرتني بنهاية (كل شيء هادئ على الجبهة الغربية) لإريك ماريا ريماك، فعلاً كل شيء يتداعى يا أوكونكوو.
...more

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Oct 05, 2008 Will Byrnes rated it really liked it

In this classic tale Okonkwo is a strong man in his village, and in his region of nine villages. At age 18 he beat the reigning wrestling champion and has been an industrious worker all his life, a reaction to his lazy, drunkard father. He lives his life within the cultural confines of his limited world, following the laws that govern his society, accepting the religious faith of his surroundings, acting on both, even when those actions would seem, to us in the modern west, an abomination. While In this classic tale Okonkwo is a strong man in his village, and in his region of nine villages. At age 18 he beat the reigning wrestling champion and has been an industrious worker all his life, a reaction to his lazy, drunkard father. He lives his life within the cultural confines of his limited world, following the laws that govern his society, accepting the religious faith of his surroundings, acting on both, even when those actions would seem, to us in the modern west, an abomination. While he may succeed and fail within the confines of his society’s laws, what he cannot do is adapt himself to the world when it goes through a dramatic transformation. In this case, his home town is revolutionized when white missionaries set up a base and bring along with them the firepower of western weapons. Unable to cope, unable to channel his justifiable rage into constructive actions, he is led inexorably to his doom.

description

Chinua Achebe - from the Salon article noted below

What is this book about? It is a simple tale. The details of Okonkwo’s experiences accumulate to give us a picture of his times, his culture, so we have a sense of what is at stake when change arrives. Is this a warning to us of our own inability to see beyond the confines of our culture? How will we cope with change when it comes, in whatever form?

I found it difficult keeping track of the characters. This is a case in which a diagram of a family tree would probably come in handy. Yet, ultimately, this is not so important. What matters is that we get a sense of Okonkowo‘s world. And the impact of the West arriving in an African society. This book is considered a classic,and for good reason.

=============================EXTRA STUFF

There is a wonderful video of John Green talking about the book. Must-see. In fact you could do worse than skipping the above review entirely and checking out Green's vid. And there is a second episode of his vid on the book as well. Have at it.

In 2013, Salon republished a wonderful 2010 essay, Chinua Achebe: The man who rediscovered Africa, on news of his passing.

...more

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Apr 30, 2012 M.L. Rudolph rated it really liked it

1959. Love it or hate it, Achebe's tale of a flawed tribal patriarch is a powerful and important contribution to twentieth century literature.

Think back to 1959. Liberation from colonial masters had not yet swept the African continent when this book appeared, but the pressures were building. The US civil rights movement had not yet erupted, but the forces were in motion. Communism and capitalism were fighting a pitched battle for control of hearts and minds, for bodies and land, around the world ...more

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Sep 10, 2014 Barry Pierce rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, read-in-2014

Y'know when you read a novel that is just so stark and bare and depraved that you know it's going to stay with you for a very long time? Yep, it's happened guys. It's happened. This novel ruined me. Ugh it's so great and so horrible. It's what Yeats would describe as a "terrible beauty". Read it, let it wreck you, and bathe in its importance.

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Sep 05, 2016 Whitney Atkinson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2016, for-class

I really enjoyed this book! It was the first book we read in my contemporary world literature class and it stirred some really good discussion. I'm all about any conversation in which I can discuss dismantling the patriarchy, and this book definitely dealt a lot with sexism, which is a topic I find infuriating yet interesting. The writing style was simple and quick to read, and although there wasn't an abundance of imagery, some of the similes/comparisons were really pretty! I thought this was a ...more

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Sep 20, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, african-lit, nigerian-20th-c, novels

Achebe's classic is a quick and interesting read albeit with a depressingly realistic end. My curiosity will most likely lead me to more of his work and I enjoyed the narrative style. The ambiguities of cultural clash with an obvious misbalance of power and the two different kinda of brutality in the conflict were thought-provoking and painful to read because they were surely even worse in real life.

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Sep 29, 2014 Sherif Metwaly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: أدب-مترجم

أفريقيا الساحرة

القارة السمراء ، المهضوم حقها فنياً وأدبياً
يخرج منها عمل أدبى من أجمل ماقرأت

لعل أجمل ما ميّز نجيب محفوظ ، وجعله على قمة الكُتّاب المصريين والعرب أجمعين، وجعله واحد من أعلام الكتابة فى العالم ،
هو قدرته الساحرة على رسم صورة المجتمع المصرى والحارة المصرية بكل تفاصيلها
وهذا مافعله الكاتب هنا
الكاتب نجح ببراعة فى استغلال موهبته الأدبية لرسم صورة كاملة للحياة فى أفريقيا وبالتحديد فى نيجيريا .
فيتخذ من قرية " أوموفيا " نموذجاً يوضح من خلاله الإطار العام للحياة فى ظلال هذا المجتمع تما
أفريقيا الساحرة

القارة السمراء ، المهضوم حقها فنياً وأدبياً
يخرج منها عمل أدبى من أجمل ماقرأت

لعل أجمل ما ميّز نجيب محفوظ ، وجعله على قمة الكُتّاب المصريين والعرب أجمعين، وجعله واحد من أعلام الكتابة فى العالم ،
هو قدرته الساحرة على رسم صورة المجتمع المصرى والحارة المصرية بكل تفاصيلها
وهذا مافعله الكاتب هنا
الكاتب نجح ببراعة فى استغلال موهبته الأدبية لرسم صورة كاملة للحياة فى أفريقيا وبالتحديد فى نيجيريا .
فيتخذ من قرية " أوموفيا " نموذجاً يوضح من خلاله الإطار العام للحياة فى ظلال هذا المجتمع تماماً كما فعل محفوظ مع الحارة المصرية حينما اتخدها نموذجاً لتوضيح معالم المجتمع المصرى

وماجعل الصورة كاملة بحق ، هو انه تعرض لأدق التفاصيل فى حياة أهل القرية
من أسلوب حياتهم ومسكنهم ، إلى مراسم دفنهم لموتاهم
وعقائدهم الدينيه ، وأكلهم وشربهم ، عملهم وتجارتهم
حياة كاملة تنبض بين الصفحات فى هذه الرواية

تحكى الرواية قصة مأساة " أوكونكو" أحد أقطاب قبيلة " أوبى " فى قرية " أوموفيا "
فيسرد الكاتب بأسلوبه الممتع سيرة أوكونكو منذ نشأته الأولى ، وجهاده ، وعمله المتصل ليصل إلى مركز مرموق فى القبيلة

وتتوالى الأحداث متعرضة لحياة أوكنوكو مع أبنائه وزوجاته الثلاث ، موضحاً الكاتب من خلالها الأبعاد الكاملة لشخصية أوكونكو .
فهو المصارع البطل ، والزوج العادل ، والأب العطوف.. بالرغم مما يبديه دائماً من الشدة والقسوة لأبنائه وزوجاته

وتمر الأيام ،ويتورط أوكونكو فى جريمة تقضى عليه بالنفى لمدة سبع سنوات خارج القبيلة
ثم تمر فترة العقوبة التى حدث فيها الكثير من الأحداث لاداعى لحرقها ، ويعود لقبيلته فيكتشف أن الدين المسيحىّ يتوغل فى قبيلته، وينصدم بانقلاب الحال فى القبيلة التى انقسمت مابين مؤيد ومعارض للدين المنافى لتقاليد الآلهة القديمة
وتتوالى الأحداث تباعاً فى صراع مابين التقاليد والدين الجديد ومابين كهنة الآلهة القديمة ودعاة الدين المسيحى .. حتى تأتى النهاية

تقول المترجمة فى مقدمة الرواية ، واتفق معها بشدة فى هذا الكلام
أن من أسرار جمال الرواية ، الحيادية التامة من الكاتب تجاه الأحداث
ستتسائل كثيراً وأنت تقرأ ، مالموقف الذى يتخذه الكاتب من كل هذه الأحداث ؟
وهذا يعنى بالطبع أن الصورة وحدها هى التى تتحدث إلى القارئ ، بما فى هذه الحياة من قسوة وقيم خاطئة ، ومن بساطة وجمال وشاعرية

ذكرت سابقاً أن أجمل مالمسته فى الرواية ، التفاصيل .
واذا تحدثت عن بعض هذه التفاصيل
فأقول أن الكاتب تعرض لكل شئ يمكن تخيله فى الحياة الاجتماعية تقريباً
طقوس الزواج ، وطقوس الزراعة
الأطعمة المتمثلة فى ثمار معدودة كثمار" اليام "التى هى أهم الأطعمة
وثمار "الكولا " التى تقدم فى مراسم الترحيب بالضيوف

ومراسم الترحيب بالضيوف لها قصة وحدها
وخمر النخيل ، وحساء الفوفو ،وحساء الورقة المرة

ثم يتعرض للعقيدة والدين
والآلهة المتعددة التى يؤمنون بها ، فهناك اله للأرض والزراعة ، وهنالك اله للمطر ، وهناك اله للتلال والجبال
، وفوق كل هذا ، لكل شخص الهه الخاص به المسؤول عن حظه فى الحياة

نترك أمور الدين ونتكلم فى القضاء
فالقبيلة تلجأ فى حكمها إلى جماعة يزعمون أنهم اشخاص تلبستهم أرواح الأسلاف الحكيمة ويدعونهم " جماعة الأوجوجو "

وهى تتكون من تسعة اشخاص تخرج بزى مهيب فى ساحات القضاء للفصل بين الناس
ويتميزون عن باقى الناس بزيهم الذى يبعث رهبة فى نفوس كل من يراهم

والرسوم على الوجه ، والريش على الرأس ، والعصا التى تدق الأرض بحساب

ثم يتحدث عن العادات الغريبة التى يناقشها بحيادية تامة
مثل ولادة التوائم، وأن التوائم لعنة فى نظر الكهنة ،فكلما تلد امرأة توأم يتركونهم فى غابة موحشة لإرضاء الآلهة .
وأن من يقتل أحداً بالخطأ يُنفى من القبيلة لسنوات
إلى آخره من من التفاصيل والتفاصيل التى ترسم المجتمع بصورة كاملة تجعلك تشعر أنك تعيش فى الرواية أثناء القراءة
أنا عن نفسى شعرت أنى فى أفريقيا بكامل إدراكى وانا أقرأ الرواية . وهذا دليل على سحر الرواية وتمكن الكاتب

حتى الجمال والحب الأفريقى .. رسمه الكاتب بطريقة من اجمل مايكون

الرجال ربما يتزوجون تسع زوجات فى وقت واحد ومع ذلك تُكِنّ له كل منهن حباً ووفاءً لا مثيل له
كل زوجة تحب ضُرّتها ، وتحب أبناء زوجها من زوجاته الأخريات
والزوج يبادلهن هذا الحب ، فتجده يحرص على أن تطهى له كل زوجة منهن وجبة كاملة فى كل موعد للطعام ، ولايردّ طعام أى منهن ، بل يأكل من كل الأطباق ومن أيدى كل الزوجات باعثاً فى أنفسهن الرضا والسرور ومقدراً لحب كل واحدة ، مطبقاً العدل والمساواة بينهن

ترجمة الرواية من أجمل مايكون ، رغم أن المترجمة ذكرت فى المقدمة أن السبب فى قلة اهتمام العالم بالأدب الأفريقى هو أن معظم مايكتبه الأفريقيون يكتبوه باللغات المحلية ، وهى لغات كثيرة جداً ومختلفة عن بعضها ومعقدة للغاية .
وأن مانجح فى الانتشار من الأدب الافريقى لايتعدى الأعمال التى تُكتب باللغة الانجليزية لأفارقة مهاجرين أو غيرها من اللغات الأجنبيه المعروفة ، ومهما كان .. فهم قليلون مقارنةً بالكتاب الأفارقة المتأصّلين فى افريقيا ذاتها

ختاماً
هذه الرواية ساحرة ، مفعمة بالتفاصيل والحكايات الممتعة
تكشف عن عالم ربما لم تقرأ عنه من قبل ،وربما لن تقرأ عنه فيما بعد كثيراً
رواية نجحت فى الوصول لشمس الشهرة إلى حد ما ، وسط آلاف الأعمال الأفريقية الأخرى التى تعثرت فى الوصول للعالمية
ولكنها مع ذلك كانت كفيلة لـ لفت انتباه العالم إلى أن افريقيا موجودة على خريطة الأدب
وأن افريقيا تستحق اهتماماً من القُرّاء وعالم الأدب بشكل عام أكثر من ذلك بكثير

تمت
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Jun 24, 2014 Duane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rated-books, reviewed-books, historical-fiction, guardian-1000, 2016-book-challenge, africa

Maybe the best thing about Achebe's, Things Fall Apart, is that it give us a look at African culture from the inside, from their perspective, how they viewed the world around them and their place in it. Most of the African novels I've read give the outside view, the colonial or Christian view, which unfairly judges a people and a culture they couldn't possibly understand.

The story is set in the Nigerian village of Umuofia in the late 1800's. Since their culture is based on history and tradition, ...more

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Apr 01, 2017 Frona rated it liked it

I wondered for a while why this book felt more like a fieldwork than a guided mind tour, but the answer is obvious. It lays in the fact that the novel has little of that character building I'm used from reading mainly Western literature. The surroundings are not put in the background to serve only as a reflection of one's thought process, but form an organism of its own. Here, in the middle of an African village on the verge of white people's arrival, the rhythm of living is dictated by weather, ...more

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Jun 20, 2015 Ahmed rated it really liked it · review of another edition

إفريقيا الجميلة الساحرة المهملة , تلك القارة النابضة بالحياة , المليئة بالأحداث , القارة السمراء منبع الإنسان وأصل حضارته , والمحافظة على عاداتها وتقاليدها بصورة مثيرة للاهتمام , منبع مهم للغاية للإنسان الأصلي , بطبيعته وسليقته المخلوق عليها.

الأدب الإفريقي من أهم الآداب (المهملة) في العالم , لأسباب كثيرة للغاية , فهي قارة لم تتحرر إلا قريبًا فظلت حبيسة الظلم والاحتلال والطغيان , ولكن مجرد أن تطالع نوعية ذلك الأدب تجد فيه سحر خالص.

المهم : نحن أمام رواية نيجيرية (وتجربتي السابقة مع هذا الأدب مثمرة
إفريقيا الجميلة الساحرة المهملة , تلك القارة النابضة بالحياة , المليئة بالأحداث , القارة السمراء منبع الإنسان وأصل حضارته , والمحافظة على عاداتها وتقاليدها بصورة مثيرة للاهتمام , منبع مهم للغاية للإنسان الأصلي , بطبيعته وسليقته المخلوق عليها.

الأدب الإفريقي من أهم الآداب (المهملة) في العالم , لأسباب كثيرة للغاية , فهي قارة لم تتحرر إلا قريبًا فظلت حبيسة الظلم والاحتلال والطغيان , ولكن مجرد أن تطالع نوعية ذلك الأدب تجد فيه سحر خالص.

المهم : نحن أمام رواية نيجيرية (وتجربتي السابقة مع هذا الأدب مثمرة للغاية وكانت مع رواية نصف شمس صفراء) , هذه الرواية كانت المفضلة للزعيم نيلسون مانديلا وله كل الحق بصراحة , ففيها حس إنساني رفيع الطراز, ذلك الحس الأصلي , ففيه تقابل الإنسان النقي بلا أي تلويث من طرف الحضارة أو افتعال بفعل المدنية الحديثة.

رواية عن القبائل و عن العادات , عن الحروب البدائية, وقبل كل ذلك رواية عن مجتمع الطبيعة الأم , ذلك المجتمع الذي لابد لك من حماية نفسك وبناء نفسك بكل ما تملكه من مواهب وقوة.

الرواية عن قبيلة تدعى (أوبي) وبطلها شخصية اسمها (أوكونكو) : المصارع البطل والمحارب الشجاع , والزوج العادل القاسي, أي أنه تصوير لحياة بدائية كاملة . يصور الكاتب تطور حياة بطله متخذًا منها إسقاط على حياة شعب بأكمله.

من وجهة نظري : رواية مهمة جدا , تستحق مكانتها في تاريخ الأدب العالمي بكل جدارة , فيها تصوير مبهر و حس وطني عال , الكاتب لم يقدم فقط أحداث روائية معينة , بل قدّم مجتمعه بكل ما يحمله من بريق ونجح في توصيل بريقه بصورة كاملة وبطريقة يُحسد عليها.

الترجمة كانت جيدة من وجهة نظري دلالة على عظمة النص الأصلي , وبراعة الكاتب واضحة في تقديم الإنسان وكل ما يفتعل بداخله من مشاعر وعواطف داخلية.
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Feb 21, 2015 Matthew rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, historical-fiction, library, read-more-than-once, required-reading-high-school, completist-book-club, 2017

4 Stars from what I remembered from reading this in high school
3 Stars from rereading it now

This book is a classic that is on a lot of required reading lists. I can understand that as it gives a fictional glimpse into the Westernization of Africa. A topic like this is very heavy, controversial, and important – because of this, a tale in this genre is going to have a big impact and will easily make its way to must read status.

When I read it in high school, I think I enjoyed it more than now becau ...more

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Apr 23, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: classics, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, popular-fiction, fiction, novels, 2012-around-the-world, ebooks, before-i-die

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 along with Conrad an 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 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. ...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Praj rated it liked it

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 wither 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.
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Jun 30, 2013 Paul rated it it was amazing

Shelves: african-novels

A real tour de force; but a plain tale simply told. Achebe illustrates and explains rather than judges and provides a moving and very human story of change and disintegration. Set in Nigeria in the nineteenth century it tells the story of Okonkwo and his family and community. He is a man tied to his culture and tradition and fighting to be different to his father. He is strong and proud and unable to show his feelings. His courage and rashness get him into trouble with his community and traditio ...more

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Jan 19, 2017 Elyse rated it it was amazing

I 'finally' read this book - the 50th Anniversary Edition- THANK YOU for the book Loretta!!! I'm sorry it took me so long to read it!!!!
Interesting timing for me, too, having just read "NW" by Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie- and a couple of
James Baldwin books recently---plus, yesterday was Martin Luther King's day.
African identity, nationalism, decolonization, racism, sexism, competing cultural systems, languages -and dialogue, social political issues have been in my space!!

I didn't kn ...more

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Sep 15, 2008 booklady rated it it was amazing

Recommended to booklady by: Skylar

Shelves: 2008, classic, literature, historical-fiction, adventure, 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-do-well father. Although Oko "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-do-well father. Although Okonkwo can easily defeat enemies he can wrestle, chop or kill; his stubborn pride and anger collide with and fail to overcome those aspects of life which he cannot so readily tackle: providence, family and tribal laws.

So much of the appeal of Things -- for me at least -- is watching Okonkwo encounter a traditional village. I was fascinated (and repulsed) by its customs, mores, and overall precarious harmony. The appropriateness of the title is in the extreme delicacy of that tribal balance which is rocked to the core by the arrival of the English missionaries. All that was as Okonkwo understood the world to be, changes with the introduction of Christianity and Western civilization. It is both a clash of one individual against his own society and a foreign power, as well as the collision of two diametrically opposed cultures. You don't often find so much carefully-contained conflict in a book of this size. Truly incredible!

Chinua Achebe wrote this masterpiece before most of the African nations had declared their independence. Since that time, the Dark Continent has been washed in rivers of blood. One wonders when, and prays for an end to, all the suffering. Such a sacred place and beautiful people; in many ways so like the Garden of Eden. Long live Africa!

Thanks to Ginnie for this link from The Economist about A Golden Jubilee of Things Fall Apart.

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23 November 2008: I'm almost finished and I so want to start writing my review on this incredible book but at the same time I know I need to let it 'gel'. I want to write about Things Fall Apart because it awakens and stirs up so many thoughts and feelings inside; it reminds me of every other book I've ever read about Africa and yet it is like none of them.

Ah well . . . self-control booklady! ...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Darwin8u rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012, 1001-ante-mortem

“There is no story that is not true.”
― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

description

Achebe's Magnum Opus is one of those 'essential novels' where one can see its greatness while at the same moment understand that part of its strength lies not in anything the novel itself ever does, but in the place the novel holds in time and place. If 'Things Fall Apart' were written 40 years earlier it would have probably been ignored both in Africa and the West.

If it had been written 40 years later, it would have been s ...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Mark rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Mark by: Book-club

Shelves: bookclub-reads, books-to-unsettle, good-grief-of-course-i-must-have-r

Whenever I buy a book for someone as a gift I always include a bookmark, its one of those things I inherited from my parents. As a result of which, whenever I see some nice or quirky or unusual bookmarks I buy them.

A few years ago I bought about ten long metal markers on which were engraved the 50 books one 'ought to have read'. Looking down the list I saw this one and ticked it off as one I had read, though I didn't remember it very well. Then a few months ago my book-club opted to read it. As ...more

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Jul 27, 2015 Ahmed Oraby rated it really liked it · review of another edition

رواية ليست بالعادية، أبدًا، وعلى الإطلاق.
هي ملحمة إنسانية بحق، بكل ما فيها من صراعات وحروب وإنهيارات، من ازدهار واندحار، من قيام عشائر وقبائل، وانهيار أخرى، بأديان وآلهة تسقط وتموت، وأخرى تقف وتحارب
تاريخ بطل، ممتزج مع تاريخ قبيلة ودولة وأمة، بكل ما فيها من عادات وخرافات وشعوذات وأسحار سوداء، بكل ما تعبق به تلك الحضارة السوداء من أديان وآلهة
قصة حياة بطل، تداعت حياته، كما تداعى عصره وتداعت أسطورته
قصة حياة جميلة تستحق التأمل، ورواية تحمل كل ما في النفس البشرية من آمال وأحلام، وحتى خرافات، تاريخ صرا ...more

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Apr 26, 2017 Khashayar Mohammadi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, faith-spirituality, african-lit

I gotta admit I did not enjoy the book at first, but a few chapters in it got me. I'm still on the fence with Achebe, since the few books I have read by him have left me with bittersweet memories of Objective innocence towards atrocities committed in the name of colonialism. I feel narrative objectivity was a crucial aspect of Achebe's storytelling, but I can't say I enjoy how he writes. I loved his thorough yet simplistic introduction to Ibo culture and language, as well as the juxtaposition of ...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Mercutio rated it really liked it

This is my new favorite book because within five minutes, a person's reaction will tell me how defensive they are about being considered racist, whether or not they've been accused that minute.
This is an excellent way to identify racists, for fun and profit.

Seriously, covering it in class has been like, "Fielding Racists 101" and "How to Sound Over-Defensive When Talking About How African People Are Actually More Violent, No Totally" class.

One guy actually said there was literally no parallel or ...more

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Feb 17, 2015 محمد سيد رشوان rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ورقى

لا أدري ماذا أقول..

هل أقول كلام نمطي من نوعية : أن ثمرة الرواية تعريف الشعوب ببعضها وانفتاح الثقافات على بعضها البعض؟

هل أقول أن الرواية من تلك النوعية التي تنعي أزمنة انقضت وأشياء تداعت(كما هو واضح من عنوانها).. وخصوصًا في ظل العولمة التي أسس لها الاستعمار.. والتي استطاعت محو الثقافات.. وإزالة أثر الشعوب.. وحولت الناس لمسوخ حداثية؟

لا أدري مايمكنني قوله..

إلا أن العنوان وحده.. كفيل بشرح الرواية بكاملها..

قراءة هذه الرواية مغامرة عظيمة.. وأعتقد انها مغامرة تستحق أن يخوضها المرء

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Sep 21, 2011 Nidhi Singh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: africa, 2015

What Achebe accomplishes with ‘Things Fall Apart’ is exemplary. He renders the ‘wild and passionate uproar’ of the ‘savages’, as described by Marlow, with meaning. He assimilates their rites into the realm of orderly complexity, strong tradition, a vibrant culture which gives a beautiful recognition to humanity’s relationship with nature. He tells us of the unremitting hard work invested by these people in agriculture and their proud self-sufficiency, of the fascinating mix of folklore, dance an What Achebe accomplishes with ‘Things Fall Apart’ is exemplary. He renders the ‘wild and passionate uproar’ of the ‘savages’, as described by Marlow, with meaning. He assimilates their rites into the realm of orderly complexity, strong tradition, a vibrant culture which gives a beautiful recognition to humanity’s relationship with nature. He tells us of the unremitting hard work invested by these people in agriculture and their proud self-sufficiency, of the fascinating mix of folklore, dance and music which breathes an imaginative vigor in the everyday life and celebrations of Igbo society. Hegel’s declaration of the characteristic point of Negro life as being devoid of that realization ‘in which the interest of man's volition is involved and in which he realizes his own being’ seems preposterous as Achebe documents the organization of life in a society in which ‘a man was judged according to his and not according to the worth of his father’; a principle only the most sophisticated societies can hold to. The other important aspect of Achebe’s documentation is that it is honest and neutral, it doesn’t glorify and it doesn’t diminish. This is the strength of his narrative which humanizes the ‘dehumanized’; he never simplifies the complicated or complicates the simplicity of it, he never looks away from the degeneration that festers within, he never fails to spot the weak linings that threaten to turn into fissures which would split wide open the whole structure. Achebe’s portrayal of the Igbo society is hard-hitting because it is intensely human; there are societal forces shaping the individual, there are imperfections in the hero it idolizes, there is violence and injustice that is normalized and overlooked. Achebe never looks past the imperfections and never offers any deliverance. Because these are things which are not within his bounds; Igbo society bristles with life and decomposes as any society would, which battles the invasion of colonialism while harboring sinister limitations.

One of the major limitations of the Igbo society, according to me, is its flawed idea of masculinity which defines the life of Okonkwo who, perhaps unconsciously but perpetually exerts to align himself with the socially sanctioned concept of ‘heroism’ and ‘masculinity’. Okonkwo’s life is dominated primarily by two things: ‘the fear of failure and of weakness’, and his quest to establish himself as one of the greatest men of his clan. What is posited against this idea of weakness is the idea of strength that constructs itself only with the negation of sensitivity:

‘To show affection was a sign of weakness, - the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else – with a heavy hand.’

Such construction of strength and masculinity, thus, is in opposition with the values of love, kindness, compassion and it invalidates an environment in which these values could mature and develop. It puts a huge limitation on the individual and his self-exploration because the end of any such journey has been pre-decided. Okonkwo, as a small boy, has already settled on what he wants to and what he doesn’t want to become. There are no alternatives considered, no mutability allowed. Okonkwo, perhaps ‘is not a cruel man’, but what propels most of his actions is not the presence of an unapologetic cruelty, but the readiness with which he overcomes each of these emotions; the potency of his desire to ‘tremble and subdue’ puts down his kindness and compassion. A man’s life so constituted by ruthless masculinity and a desire for success in his society, calls into question the dictatorial values of the whole society; because his manhood is the function of the latter.

Igbo society seems to believe in the ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’ of people, things and actions. The latter is considered extremely undesirable in context of the former and there is a constant attempt to distance the two. The idea of bravery and heroism emanates from an accomplishment attained by overcoming of the ‘feminine’ by the ‘masculine’, the ‘passive’ by the ‘active’, ‘demonstration of affection’ by ‘apathy’, ‘domestic folklore' by ‘the stories of war'. This is how masculinity in Igbo society is understood and defined; in a constant opposition with femininity, by keeping maleness in a domain separate from all things apprehended as female. The only realm in which the feminine is respected, its power recognized, and its voice heard is the realm of divinity - the earth goddess of fertility, the motherland which protects its warrior son in adverse times, the prophetic priestess of Agbala. In ordinary life, the priestess of Agbala, is ‘a widow with two children’ who puts everyone into disbelief that she could be someone deific and prophetic in another realm. In ordinary life and in the local space, the woman loses the voice and agency she has in the orbit of divinity. This is in stark contrast, with men functioning as ‘egwugwu’, the spirits of the ancestors. If it is suspected that Okonkwo could be one of the egwugwu behind the mask, it is never expressed because, ‘if they thought these things they kept them within themselves.’ The contradiction in the idea of a man’s participation in the realm of divinity and his ordinariness in life isn’t questioned but the same circumstances when applied to a woman are met with disbelief.

The rigid separation of ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’ in the Igbo society produces a constant duality which is never resolved and it weakens its strength from within. Storytelling has a central place in Igbo society. It is an integral part of everyday Igbo life, of everyone’s experience of childhood and growing up. Nwoye has a great love for the stories of his mother and Ikemefuna. They tell him of the quarrel between the earth and sky, the disagreement between ‘a man and a mosquito’, ‘of the tortoise and his wily ways’. He is also introduced to Okonkwo’s stories which are ‘masculine stories of violence and bloodshed.’ His mother’s stories are gradually discarded in favour of his father’s masculine stories because he is made to understand that it is a part of growing up, his initiation into manhood; this successful relegation of the feminine. But it has also been stated how ‘he feigned that he no longer cared for women’s stories.’ I think, this leads to a perpetual duality, a chasm in self and its wholesome flourishing. The feminine stories more beautifully and harmoniously integrate humanity with nature. They are more in line with the communitarian values of the Igbo society and the animism of its religion; a reminder of how life exists not just inside the territory of man and his associations, a gentle acceptance of difference and discord that is inherent in such a framework. This is contradictory to the masculine stories which are based on tales of brute force and decimation. The exclusion of Nwoye from this world of stories, takes away from him the power of language and expression, the ability to articulate the ‘vague chill’ that descends on him when he ‘heard the voice of an infant crying in the thick forest.’ It takes away from him the power to express pain and fear, the power to identify and speak against evil and injustice. It is an ailment that plagues not just Nwoye but the whole Igbo society; it handicaps language and expression. It deforms personalities.

One of the major reasons why Igbo society was unable to protect its culture, traditions and religion from missionaries and colonialism was this rigid conception of masculinity. Christianity assimilated everything that was considered odious, cancerous, throw way by the Igbos; the outcast osus, women who had been the most compromising victims of patriarchy, and tortured souls like Nwoye who finally found a space which gave voice for the criticism of its sinister practices. Everything that was broken, battered and overridden by its obsessive exaltation of masculinity, found a space to accumulate and build up; something that was always denied within their existence in Igbo society. Its major failure was that it failed to recognize these cracks within. It failed to remedy this condition and reinvent. It never relented its grasp on individuals like Okonkwo who grew, lived and distorted in this calcified cell.
...more

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Sep 12, 2014 Douglas rated it really liked it

This is a powerful and poetic novel. I'm not sure it belongs in a category. It really seems incomparable to anything I've read before.

There were some difficult things. For one, I don't think the sense of place was well established, which is insane when you think that it's often described as a novel about a place (Africa). I know it's Africa, but where in Africa? This was not established. I know the author is Nigerian, so I assumed it was in Nigeria, but this wasn't clear to me in the reading. P This is a powerful and poetic novel. I'm not sure it belongs in a category. It really seems incomparable to anything I've read before.

There were some difficult things. For one, I don't think the sense of place was well established, which is insane when you think that it's often described as a novel about a place (Africa). I know it's Africa, but where in Africa? This was not established. I know the author is Nigerian, so I assumed it was in Nigeria, but this wasn't clear to me in the reading. Perhaps there's a reason for that and it was missed on me. This was my first reading, so I may have completely missed the obvious and need a re-reading.

Besides that minor critique, Things Fall Apart is a beautiful story written by a masterful poet. Achebe's voice is not only unique, but it's beautifully raw and alive. There were two passages that nearly jumped off the page.

One of them was the description of locusts descending. Sometimes writers are forced to write about experiences that are foreign to them. Sometimes their accounts succeed, sometimes they don't. When Okonkwo's village is attacked by locusts, it's very clear that Achebe knows first hand what this feels and looks like:

"At first, a fairly small swarm came. They were the harbingers sent to survey the land. And then appeared on the horizon a slowly-moving mass like a boundless sheet of black cloud drifting towards Umuofia. Soon it covered half the sky, and the solid mass was now broken by tiny eyes of light like the shining star dust. It was a tremendous sight, full of power and beauty."

This is a short sample passage, but to me the entire description was breathtaking. I recommend this novel for that alone. It's also breathtaking to go back and read this passage and realize that it's a metaphor for what's to come.

Achebe also knows what it's like to have a first rain after a dry season:

"At last the rain came. It was sudden and tremendous. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth. All the grass had long been scorched brown, and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. Evergreen trees wore a dusty coat of brown. The birds were silenced in the forests, and the world lay panting under the live, vibrating heat. And then came the clap of thunder. It was an angry, metallic and thirsty clap, unlike the deep liquid rumbling of the rainy season. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure."

This passage is so alive and real that it could only be described by a master poet that experienced it first hand.

Things Fall Apart is important, but not only as a novel of African experience, but also as a work of art. ...more

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About Chinua Achebe

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 religion 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

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Other Books in the Series

The African Trilogy (3 books)

Books by Chinua Achebe

No Longer at Ease (The African Trilogy, #2)

There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra

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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.” — 288 likes

“There is no story that is not true, [...] The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.” — 195 likes

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