Reviews

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Only show reviews with written explanations

deanoreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lyndamr's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I found this story of life in a community in Africa to be well outside anything I'd read about beforehand or knew about. As the story unfolds, you're not really told in what time period it takes place, so once that became clear, later in the story, a lot of what was happening fell into place. I was waiting for things to "fall apart" for a while and when they did, whew! They really did. I'm looking forward to my book club discussion of it and seeing what the rest of the group thought.

mrs_wheatfall's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This book is helping me to get a glimpse into the mindset of Africans. So much of their magical thinking and barbaric ways still doesn't make sense, but I can use all the help I can get to understand these people.
Update: This book is riveting and hard to put down. Fascinating and now I see why it's considered a classic. Love it.
Wow - what an ending. . great discussion book. Let me know if you read it.

jasondangelo's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

As always, there are spoilers ahead:

It is readily accepted that an ending can make or break a story. No matter how fantastic the characters or how moving their struggles, if the ending doesn’t satisfy us, we will leave the tale with a bad taste in our mouths. Conversely, a mediocre telling of a banal set of events can suddenly become great art if it all amounts to something magnificent at the end.

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a fantastic example of an ending being able to lift a story well above its station. At no point is the novel mediocre or banal, but I did not feel the magic of the story until the last two pages. Up to that moment, I thought Achebe had pulled together a collection of well-told and interesting stories about Okonkwo’s tribe and eventually their encounter with the white missionaries. But the vines of his narrative, which seemed to weave in and out of each other in beautiful but barren patterns, suddenly bore fruit in the final 30 pages, building up to an unexpected climax that brought color to the vines themselves.

I was interested in Okonkwo and why Achebe would choose to make his character the heart of his narrative. What was Achebe saying about Okonkwo’s overwrought masculinity? Why is it important to follow a character with such disdain for others who have failed? Why is it important that Okonkwo is a warrior? Why must he treat his wives and kids so rottenly? All these questions and more ran through my head as I read, but I found no good answers. I understood Okonkwo’s motivations and his history, his ambitions and his fear—I just didn’t know why Achebe wanted to tell his story. It wasn’t until I hit that ending and saw Okonkwo’s body hanging from the tree that I found myself catapulted back through the novel to re-evaluate and examine what I had already read.

Things Fall Apart is a huge success because it never idealizes the past or Okonkwo’s people. It is important that Okonkwo be an ugly person and that his people engage in appalling behavior, like the murder of twins and the seemingly unmotivated murder of Ikemefuna. These are not a herd of starry-eyed and loving wildlings who are beset upon by the greedy and vicious white man. These are people with a complex social order and a full set of recognizably human beings. They have fears and jealousies and ambitions and cruelties. Anyone can make us feel for the pains of an innocent, but only an artist can make us suffer for those whose hands are bloody. For all Okonkwo’s shortcomings, he was a man who faced a ton of adversity and came out on top. He is a warrior aching to prove his manliness. This is a man who will not lie down and die when the going gets rough. So to see him pushed to suicide—my God! I knew that I was feeling hopeless about the inevitable clash between the colonialists and the natives, but to know that he saw it too is heartbreaking. He knew his people would not fight. He knew that he could not fight them all. He knew there was nothing to be gained by going down swinging. His son was lost to him. His clansmen were lost to him. His world would soon be lost to him. And there was nothing he could do to change the tides that would batter his people. All that future is contained in the body hanging in the tree. That is powerful plotting, and it turns the ho-hum of the tales of Umuofia that open the novel into something purposeful and important

Those first two sections serve as a kind of immersion into the world of Umuofia. Achebe knew his readers would be most likely aligned with the colonist, for he wrote in English. This is a tale for people who did not grow up in Umuofia. The story takes place before the turn of the century, so even Nigerians reading the story would be reading it in a post-colonial world. It is important then, that we understand the culture, politics, and religious practices of Umuofia thoroughly, that we respect the logic and reasoning of the people. The true conflicts with the white colonists happen when the outsiders force their own practices on the Ibo without ever understanding even so much as their language, let alone their lives.

Mr. Brown cares to spread the word of the gospel as much as Mr. Smith, but Brown takes the time to talk to the people and understand their beliefs. He tries to alter those beliefs by cloaking religious education in the guise of scholarly education. It is Smith and the militaristic whites who care nothing for the people they walk among, and by the time they start wielding their might and government, we as readers do not share their ignorance. We reject their ignorance. I for one was hoping the Ibo would stand up against the whites in battle at least, hoping against my own knowledge that they would not go quietly into that not-so-good night. Both Brown and Smith are distressing to the reader, but Brown is distressing because he represents the inevitability of time and change. Smith represents something brutal and uncaring.

There is obviously a lot to say in discussing this novel about the relationship between the individual and his society, and between one society and another, but I will leave all that in the hands of someone who cares more about those things than I do. Instead, I will end with a few quotes in the novel that I love:

How wonderful is the phrase “fight of blame” to describe an unjust war?

How wonderfully ominous is the moment Achebe says that “the white man had not only brought religion but also a government”?

Again: “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.”

And as a final stray thought, I keep thinking how much more I would have liked Avatar had Cameron drawn his story from Things Fall Apart. Well, I would have loved it. Certainly the movie would have been a flop instead of a box-office hit, no matter how glorious the special effects and 3-D craziness. It’s much more palatable to have the Na’vi be starry-eyed wildlings who can repel their invaders, to have the Na’vi win the brothers of the white man so that the white man can no longer act as one. Palatable and easy with no messy aftertaste. That’s just not what I’m looking for in my narratives.

monitamohan's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Great read. I haven’t had the chance to read much African literature and I would love to read more. We need more perspectives from around the world about the impact of colonialism and imperialism.

The language is quintessentially lyrical and replete with fables and fairytales that echo or foreshadow plotlines.

Our protagonist, Okonkwo, is hardly a saint, but the author does not condone his actions. He paints it as is, which makes for uncomfortable reading. The arc of Okonkwo is similar - or reminiscent of - Michael Henchard’s in The Mayor of Casterbridge. He has had a tough life, pulling himself up from nothing. His steely determination lead him to be a harsh, emotionless man. His toxic masculinity is to the detriment of his family life and social standing. He is cruel to his wives and negligent of his children. But his arrogance also shakes the foundations of his status in the Igbo tribe.

But, as we chart his rise and fall, the hard-hitting third act is particularly poignant and unfortunately still relevant. Achebe incorporates the impact of Missionaries and Christianity on the native societies. He does not write the characters as black and white; there are plenty of grey areas which tip the balance for and against each person’s principles. Yet, there is no denying the brutality with which the Igbo tribe’s beliefs and systems are eroded by the British settlers. It is a disturbing read and should anger any reader. As aggravating as Okonkwo’s previous actions are, what becomes of him and his tribe is truly distressing, especially since it is all part of global history most people would rather not talk about.

Reading this book, you understand the importance of women writers from Nigeria and other West African countries who can bring the plight of women into the limelight. Achebe does not do this - there are several women characters but they are merely background characters, only ever entering the spotlight to develop Okonkwo’s story. They are treated poorly in this book, especially by Okonkwo, and while it may be representative of a different era, it also highlights why women’s perspectives need to take centre stage in modern writing by African women’s writers.

So, while this is an important book to read, go in with your eyes open.

coralie_laplante's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Un livre pertinent pour comprendre les bouleversements engendrés par la colonisation au Nigeria. Aujourd’hui la façon dont les femmes sont dépeintes dans le livre peut paraître choquante, mais disons qu’il s’agit d’un fait d’époque, et qu’il est intéressant de voir la progression de la place des femmes dans cette société africaine. Le fait qu’il s’agit d’un livre inspiré d’une culture de transmission orale mise sur papier est intéressante. J’estime que l’on voit bien les traces de l’oralité.