Title: Things Fall ApartAuthor: Chinua Achebe
Published: 1959
Pages: 209
Reading Time: January 4-January 8, 2010.
Plot Teaser:
A simple story of a "strong man" whose life is dominated by fear and anger, Things Fall Apart is written with remarkable economy and subtle irony. Uniquely and richly African, at the same time it reveals Achebe's keen awareness of the human qualities common to men of all times and places.
How I Got It:
A friend suggested I pick this up when she found it at a Value Village, somewhere in Southern Ontario, in 2007 or 2008. I was told it was an excellent book, and recently found out it was one of Time Magazine's Top 100 books from 1923 to 2005.
The Review:
Things Fall Apart tells the tale of an African tribesman in Nigeria named Okonkwo, during an unspecified time in the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The story follows the popular strong man's journey from being a model of work ethic and masculinity, to his downfall in the midst of changing ideas within his own community and the arrival of European colonizers. As someone who is largely ignorant of African literature, this book was a very eye opening experience.
While the book largely follows the successes and failures of Okonkwo, it depicts the day-to-day life and culture of an entire group of people in the process. Umuofia is a community of patriarchal laws and customs, with a focus on manhood and strength. Okonkwo conforms to these ideals, and is often found angry when thinking of past times when "men were men," as he sees the weakening of traditional ideals. As a popular wrestler in his village, he has worked incredibly hard to achieve his three wives and titles, as a way of breaking free from the ghost of his lazy father. Tradition, prestige, and hierarchy are all vital to the nine villages the book depicts, and Okonkwo is the picture of old world ideals fighting against the currents of change.
As a straight narrative, the book tracks the rise and fall of a single man, amidst changing cultural attitudes and outside civilizing intruders. It is the world that Achebe paints with such simple and vibrant strokes that really grabbed my attention in the book. With its unapologetic use of Ibo words and phrases throughout, thankfully made understandable through a tidy two page glossary, one of Things Fall Apart's greatest strengths is its ability to transport the reader to this stark-yet-rich time and place, illuminating the supernatural beliefs and practices of people who simply wish to continue existing. There are shocking rituals involving the killing of young children that are simply taken as an appropriate course of action in certain circumstances, and it is these instances that show the disconnect between the perceived civilized and savage opposites.
While the first part of the book does an excellent job of hilighting the culture of Nigeria's people, the second half deals with colonization and the influence of missionaries on this same culture. The classic irony is presented: Christianity is meant to unify people, but it tears sons from fathers and causes massive turmoil and a line of bodies in its wake. As a work of colonization literature, Things Fall Apart is masterful in the way it takes apart the relationship of colonizer and colonized from the frontlines. The elegance of the book is that it does not preach of the virtues of the savage, as it distinctly shows the good and bad of the people, nor does it preach about the evils of Christian influence. It simply gives an account of events and provides an epitaph for the colonized; a depiction of what many tribes went through.
It would be easy to say that the reason for the book's high praises over the past half-century has stemmed from white guilt. Yes, there should certainly be a feeling of contrition for the symbolic actions depicted here, but as a work of fiction, the book succeeds on its own merits. It offers wisdom that should be taken to heart in dealings with all people, and for that reason alone it deserves whatever praises have been lauded upon it.
The Verdict:
An elegant portrayal of the colonizer and the colonized, Things Fall Apart is a book that gets better the more you think about it. While it may feel slightly alien at first, patience and rumination reward the thoughtful reader. We all want to be left to live our lives in peace, thinking we are doing what is just and right in our own eyes and the eyes of those watching us.
4.5/5
Up Next:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
Published: 1959
Pages: 209
Reading Time: January 4-January 8, 2010.
Plot Teaser:
A simple story of a "strong man" whose life is dominated by fear and anger, Things Fall Apart is written with remarkable economy and subtle irony. Uniquely and richly African, at the same time it reveals Achebe's keen awareness of the human qualities common to men of all times and places.
How I Got It:
A friend suggested I pick this up when she found it at a Value Village, somewhere in Southern Ontario, in 2007 or 2008. I was told it was an excellent book, and recently found out it was one of Time Magazine's Top 100 books from 1923 to 2005.
The Review:
Things Fall Apart tells the tale of an African tribesman in Nigeria named Okonkwo, during an unspecified time in the nineteenth or early twentieth century. The story follows the popular strong man's journey from being a model of work ethic and masculinity, to his downfall in the midst of changing ideas within his own community and the arrival of European colonizers. As someone who is largely ignorant of African literature, this book was a very eye opening experience.
While the book largely follows the successes and failures of Okonkwo, it depicts the day-to-day life and culture of an entire group of people in the process. Umuofia is a community of patriarchal laws and customs, with a focus on manhood and strength. Okonkwo conforms to these ideals, and is often found angry when thinking of past times when "men were men," as he sees the weakening of traditional ideals. As a popular wrestler in his village, he has worked incredibly hard to achieve his three wives and titles, as a way of breaking free from the ghost of his lazy father. Tradition, prestige, and hierarchy are all vital to the nine villages the book depicts, and Okonkwo is the picture of old world ideals fighting against the currents of change.
As a straight narrative, the book tracks the rise and fall of a single man, amidst changing cultural attitudes and outside civilizing intruders. It is the world that Achebe paints with such simple and vibrant strokes that really grabbed my attention in the book. With its unapologetic use of Ibo words and phrases throughout, thankfully made understandable through a tidy two page glossary, one of Things Fall Apart's greatest strengths is its ability to transport the reader to this stark-yet-rich time and place, illuminating the supernatural beliefs and practices of people who simply wish to continue existing. There are shocking rituals involving the killing of young children that are simply taken as an appropriate course of action in certain circumstances, and it is these instances that show the disconnect between the perceived civilized and savage opposites.
While the first part of the book does an excellent job of hilighting the culture of Nigeria's people, the second half deals with colonization and the influence of missionaries on this same culture. The classic irony is presented: Christianity is meant to unify people, but it tears sons from fathers and causes massive turmoil and a line of bodies in its wake. As a work of colonization literature, Things Fall Apart is masterful in the way it takes apart the relationship of colonizer and colonized from the frontlines. The elegance of the book is that it does not preach of the virtues of the savage, as it distinctly shows the good and bad of the people, nor does it preach about the evils of Christian influence. It simply gives an account of events and provides an epitaph for the colonized; a depiction of what many tribes went through.
It would be easy to say that the reason for the book's high praises over the past half-century has stemmed from white guilt. Yes, there should certainly be a feeling of contrition for the symbolic actions depicted here, but as a work of fiction, the book succeeds on its own merits. It offers wisdom that should be taken to heart in dealings with all people, and for that reason alone it deserves whatever praises have been lauded upon it.
The Verdict:
An elegant portrayal of the colonizer and the colonized, Things Fall Apart is a book that gets better the more you think about it. While it may feel slightly alien at first, patience and rumination reward the thoughtful reader. We all want to be left to live our lives in peace, thinking we are doing what is just and right in our own eyes and the eyes of those watching us.
4.5/5
Up Next:
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
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