Customer Reviews

Things Fall Apart

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The first time I read this book, I hated it. Just flat hated it. That was my junior year of high school. Flash forward a few years to college, and it's on the reading list again. "Why, oh why?" I moan. Then I read the thing. And you know what I discover? It's a masterpiece.

Chinua Achebe describes "Things Fall Apart" as a response to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", which is, comparatively, a denser, perhaps less accessible read. The parallels are there: the ominous drumbeats Marlow describes as mingling with his heartbeat are here given a source and a context. We, as readers, are invited into the lives of the Ibo clan in Nigeria. We learn their customs, their beliefs, terms from their language. Okonkwo, the main character, is the perfect anti-hero. He is maybe Achebe's ultimate creation: flawed, angry, deeply afraid but outwardly fierce. To have given us a perfect hero would have been to sell the story of these people drastically short. Achebe's great achievement is in rendering them as humans, people we can identify with. So they don't dress like Americans, or share our religious beliefs. Who's to say which method is correct, or if there has to be a correct and incorrect way. Achebe provokes thoughtfulness and important questions. His narrative is easy to read structurally, but the story itself is painful and frustrating. It is worthy of its subject.

"Things Fall Apart" provoked some of the best classroom discussions I've ever experienced. As a reader, it has enriched my life. My thanks to Achebe for his marvelous contribution to literature. This book has a permanent place on my shelves.

The first two-thirds of "Things Fall Apart" is an affectionate description of the culture of an Ibo clan told from an insider's viewpoint, focusing on the life of Okonkwo, one of his tribe's most respected leaders. The customs and religion of the Ibo village are described with sympathy and simplicity, creating a sense of nostalgia for a way of life completely exotic to Western sensibilities, but making the reader feel the force and logic of a traditional culture seen from within. This idyllic description is clouded by the reader's awareness of the culture's fragility, a foreboding sense of pity and of looming disaster. Disaster comes, of course, in the shape of white missionaries. In the last part of the story, evangelizing Christians and English colonial administrators establish themselves in the Ibo village, and act to corrode and unravel the traditional life of the Ibo people. An escalating series of misunderstandings and conflicts between the whites and natives lead to the inevitable tragic ending. In the last paragraph of the novel, the perspective shifts suddenly to that of the English colonial adminstrator, and ends with one of the most powerful and affecting last lines of any novel I've read.

This book was thoroughly enjoyable, and I recommend it unreservedly.

The more the reader thinks about Things Fall Apart, the more he becomes aware that the heart of a story is about the struggles of an individual and less about what is a compelling and unsentimental survey of Nigeria's Ibo culture just before the arrival of white settlers.

The story's protagonist is Okonkwo, who at first appears to be a model warrior and self-made man who slowly discovers that the attributes he believed would serve him well as an adult instead breed a fear of failure and profound frustration. He is a complex and heavy-handed head of his household who is at once sympathetic and cruel.

Most of the story is told before the actual appearance of the first white settlers, but their pending arrival hangs over the middle part of the book like a rain cloud. By the time it actually happens in the last 50 or so pages of the book, Okonkwo has been driven into exile, his life a shambles. He has only a slim hope of redemption, and that is shattered by the arrival of the settlers.

Okonkwo's story is a relevant one even at a time when cultural and political imperialism has turned away from Africa toward the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. But more important than its relevance is its artistry: it is a deceptively simple epic tale somehow packed into just over 200 pages, and one of the most impressive first novels on record. Don't miss it.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
This novel was set in the Igbo homeland in what is now southeastern Nigeria in the late 1800s/early 1900s. I read about three-quarters of the book before I could begin to appreciate it.

Up to then I'd disliked the main character, Okonkwo, an important person in the village whose major traits were harsh anger, pride and inflexibility, finding him one-sided and uninteresting. I felt the description was plodding and little of importance was happening, and wasn't greatly interested in the village life. Much of the novel was concerned mainly with his point of view, and his interactions with the other, relatively minor characters were unexciting. When a dramatic event occurred, such as his accidental shooting of a villager that led to his exile, it was described in a flat, undramatic tone that seemed inappropriate and puzzled me.

I couldn't help comparing this novel unfavorably with another I happened to be reading, Palace Walk, by Naguib Mahfouz, with its complex, many-sided protagonist, the many other strongly developed people in his family, the dramatic interaction between them, and the rich world around them that was reasonably familiar.

It was only after reading some background material on the Internet that I could begin to understand how Achebe's novel aimed to recreate a vibrant culture that had existed before colonization on its own terms, with its oral tradition, rituals and taboos, and guardian spirits, and show what had been lost. The focus on a period before colonization and the depiction of the whites as interlopers has been called innovative for its time. Likewise the use of language in the words of the villagers, instead of pidgin.

A scholar of African lit, Bernth Lindfors, has described the book like this: "Instead of representing Africa as a barbarous wilderness where savages lived in a permanent state of anarchy until the white man came bringing peace, law, order, religion, and a 'higher' form of civilization, Achebe showed how Africans led decent, moral lives in well-regulated societies that placed strict legal and religious constraints on human behavior. Indeed, according to Achebe, things did not fall apart in Africa until Europe intruded and set everything off balance by introducing alien codes which Africans were then told to live by. Europe did not bring light and peace . . . it brought chaos and confusion" (from the preface to the Anchor Book of Modern African Short Stories).

At the same time, Achebe showed how some elements from outside the traditional culture, such as Christianity, weren't merely imposed from above but appealed strongly to some of the Igbo, especially those at the bottom of the society, and those who felt the new religion was more powerful. And he showed that the traditional society had its own internal problems and was ripe for change. Achebe himself has been quoted as saying, "My sympathies were not entirely with Okonkwo . . . . Life just has to go on and if you refuse to accept changes, then, tragic though it may be, you are swept aside" (from Under African Skies: Modern African Stories).

The conventional action came almost entirely in the last quarter of the novel, when the encroaching missionaries, together with the trading culture and the colonizers' threat of force, began to overwhelm the village. Although I can't say I identified with the main character even by the end, by then I could better appreciate the loss of the village culture.

Because it's easy to read but hard to interpret, Achebe's masterwork has become a fixture thoughout secondary and higher education. Unfortunately, its current status as a "classic text" as well as a multicultural icon threatens to make it merely another institutional artifact rather than the genuinely provocative text it is capable of being. Achebe does not gloss over the apparently savage, cruel, sexist practices of the Ibo people before the arrival of the white missionaries. Yet students are quick to overlook these tensions in the narrative, preferring to go for the "platitudes" about imperialism that they know are expected of them in the classroom devoted to assuring "diversity" is in the curriculum. The other "tension" that is often overlooked is one outside the text: respecting the autonomy and identity of an African country by staying out of its affairs vs. intervening to bring an end to mass genocide (Rwanda), starvation (Ethiopia), and enslavement of children (Sudan). Why is it a "moral imperative" for the West to interfere in Kosovo but not in Rwanda? If these tensions are not confronted, the novel is a well-crafted folk tale about a tragic hero, and also another occasion for student apathy. Achebe himself has invited strong moral judgements about his text by applying the same to Conrad's "Heart of Darkness."

Things Fall Apart is an excellent book that introduces the reader to both the African Ibo culture and the struggles of one individual. This novel opens with the despcription of simple daily life in the village of Umuofia educating the reader of the primitive daily life in Nigeria at the turn of the century. The novel describes the village life as it was before the white man at all times making the reader aware that their simple village life is about to change. The main chracter Okonkwo is a strong warrior whom possesses all of the villages most repsected attributes. However, he is man that struggles with the fear of failiure and uncontrollable anger. Throughout this novel we see how these qualities lead to self-destruction in the face of a changing world. The end of the novel most clearly shows how severe Okonkwo's destructive nature has become in an unexpected way. When I first began to read Things Fall Apart I did not understand the importance of the novel. As I easily read along I was not understanding many of the deeper messages that the book was communicating. I was simply enjoying the folklore and the simple stories that were told within the novel. However, this changed when the novel took a turn from describing less of the village life and more of Okonkwo's struggles. It was here that I began to see all the issues that an African villager might have been facing and understanding Achebe's message. Okonkwo was a man that was faced with the changes brought about with the white man. Okonkwo feared the impact that these men might have on future genrations and questioned whether village life would ever be the same again. I saw this message as valid for not only historical analysis but also present day analysis. We live in a world, and I live in a country that sees the need for further colonization and development in foreign countries to offer the natives a better way of life. However, this novel clearly presented that although a foreign country might have good intentions they are not always what it best for the country. The reason is that the outsiders are never truely understanding of the culture that existed prior to their arrival and therefore can never offer what is best for the culture. In this novel we see that although the Ibo life was imperfect, with the arrival of the white man, a war zone of ideologies was created in which neither culture lived peacefully. I thoroughly enjoyed my read of Things Fall Apart and would recommend it to any reader interested in the African culture and history. I recommend that, even if some of the descriptions seem rather dry, stick with it and you will find Achebe's messsage thought provoking and powerful.

I was required to read this book in a college literature class and actually dreaded reading it because I really had no interest in Africa. After reading this book by the amazingly talented Chinua Achebe, I became more interested in Africa than I would have ever thought possible! Achebe has masterful skill in portraying African culture to the readers. He colors Africa in a magnificent yet somewhat tragic shade.

I wrote an essay in college based on the Nigerian folktales in this book and received a 100% from my professor. This book has the power to touch lives and I recommend it to absolutely everybody on the planet. I have given my copy to my brother in hopes of educating one more person in this world on African culture. If you think this book is just for African Americans you're wrong... I am caucasian and this book has become my absolute favorite ever!

Please buy this book and when you've read it pass it along to someone else. This book really enlightens people and makes the world more aware of the great and slightly overlooked continent of Africa - and in particular, Nigeria. I will travel to Africa someday solely because of this book!

I read "Things Fall Apart" in my school days in the then Rhodesia. I immediately fell in love with the book because I could relate a lot with tribal life in my village and the various forces that were impacting on it. The customs, rituals and beliefs were very similar. The impact of white missionaries on the lives of people in my village was also very powerful and caused a lot of clashes with the local people's way of life. Things all around us were changing, exposing the fragility of our culture, resulting in inevitable conflicts.

The main character, Okonkwo, was a respected and powerful village hero. However, as we progress with reading the book, he is struck with tragedies which ultimately consume him because of his inability to cope with change. This book had a profound influence on me and made me appreciate the intellectual talent within the continent.

The book is a must read for people on the African continent where strong traditional beliefs still have a firm hold in a time of breathtaking changes wrought about by the unstoppable globalization process. The ability of African people to stop or significantly influence the pace, direction and extend of change is very limited. The tragedies that befell Okonkwo are continuing but in different forms on the continent. This is largely due to the failure to adapt to change and failure to appreciate that, however much we firmly hold and justify some of our beliefs, we cannot force others to agree with us and if we try, we will fail anyway.

An important lesson from this book is the echoing of Charles Darwin's conclusion that it is not the strongest of the species or the most intelligent that will survive in a changing environment, but those species that can best adapt to change.

I don't even feel worthy enough to write a review for this novel. It is the greatest work of literature to have come out of Nigeria and perhaps even the entire African continent and one of the most brilliant pieces of fiction in the world. It has somehow become staple reading English literature for all levels of Nigerian education and the unattainable standard by which subsequent indigenous literature is judged by.

The plot revolves around Okonkwo; a physically and materially powerful member of his village, his family, the entire village as a whole and how Okonkwo (representative of Iboland as a whole) reacts when forcibly faced with colonization.

This book deliciously tells the tale of a lost world and the way Chinua Achebe handles the psychological aspects of his tale is pure genius especially that breaking moment in time when the old is violently juxtaposed against the new and a mad, sad confusion sets in.

I like that this book affords me the opportunity of interacting with a culture I should be acclimated with but I am unfortunately too removed from.

A must read for any person who indulges in [socio-political] classic literature (Dickens, Orwell, Shakespeare etc) . Chinua Achebe is an undisputed master at this game.

I chose to read this book for a report in my High School World History class. From some of the reviews I read, they made it seem like the book was going to be a boring waste of my time, but it wasn't. It is an easy book to read, not long at all, and it helps you learn a lot about the Nigerian culture. The book is about a man named Okonkwo who is afraid to share his feelings for fear of being thought as weak and he had to protect his reputation. He is brave, but stands alone a lot with his decision to fight. He believes everyone in the tribe has turned into women when they do not want to fight, but deep down he is just like them, but afraid of how people will now view him. When he starts to become violent he accidentally kills a man and is forced to leave his tribe. When he is allowed to return his society has changed dramatically. Missionaries have come to teach the different African countries of the right ways, but the people of Okonkwo's tribe have different views on how to live their life. The missionaries do not understand their way of life and so this book show how communication can be a problem that can lead to the downfall of a once powerful society. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about previous African culture in a well written, interesting, book.