Things Fall Apart in 100+ Books in 2025

Nov 22, 2010 Dolly rated it liked it

Shelves: education-school, van-noy-book-club, historical-fiction, young-adult, read-but-not-finished-reviewing, africa, relationships, 2014, religion-philosophy, parenting

This book was selected for my local book club's June discussion. I didn't know much about the book (but later discovered that I had a copy of it on my bookshelves) and I was interested to see that it had been first published more than a decade before I was born.

The narrative is sometimes slow, but details the life of an Ibo man in Nigeria, presumably in the mid-1800s. The culture is so vastly different from my own experiences, but I can still appreciate the traditions, family bonds, and storyte This book was selected for my local book club's June discussion. I didn't know much about the book (but later discovered that I had a copy of it on my bookshelves) and I was interested to see that it had been first published more than a decade before I was born.

The narrative is sometimes slow, but details the life of an Ibo man in Nigeria, presumably in the mid-1800s. The culture is so vastly different from my own experiences, but I can still appreciate the traditions, family bonds, and storytelling. The misogynistic culture is a bit frustrating to me, but on the whole, it's a fascinating read. I doubt that I would have ever picked this one up to read on my own, so I'm glad it was a book club selection.

interesting quotes:

"Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten." (p. 4)

"The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did." (p. 18)

"Ekwefi had suffered a good deal in her life. She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy, usually before the age of three. As she buried one child after another her sorrow gave way to despair and then to grim resignation. The birth of her children, which should have been a woman's crowning glory, became for Ekwefi mere physical agony devoid of promise. The naming ceremony after seven market weeks became an empty ritual. Her deepening despair found expression in the names she gave her children. One of them was a pathetic cry, Onwumbiko - 'Death, I implore you.' But Death took no notice; Onwumbiko died in his fifteenth month. The next child was a girl, Oxoemena - 'May it not happen again.' She died in her eleventh month, and two others after her. Ekwefi then became defiant and called her next child Onwuma - 'Death may please himself.' And he did." (pp. 67-68)

"At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died. But they were still alive, building a new red-earth and thatch house for their teacher, Mr. Kiaga. That week they won a handful more converts. And for the first time they had a woman. Her name was Nneka, the wife of Amadi, who was a prosperous farmer. She was very heavy with child.
Nneka had had four previous pregnancies and childbirths. But each time she had borne twins, and they had been immediately thrown away. Her husband and his family were already becoming highly critical of such a woman and were not unduly perturbed when they found she had fled to join the Christians. It was a good riddance." (p. 131)

new words: harmattan, voluble
...more

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Jan 25, 2012 Lauren rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: foreign-books, historical, novels, fiction, 2012

Not a personal favorite, but I would reccomend it for people who want to read more World Literature. Achebe does a magnificent job telling this story.

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