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Product Description: Things Fall Apart tells two intertwining stories, both centering on Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first, a powerful fable of the immemorial conflict between the individual and society, traces Okonkwo’s fall from grace with the tribal world. The second, as modern as the first is ancient, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world with the arrival of aggressive European missionaries.
These perfectly harmonized twin dramas are informed by an awareness capable of encompassing at once the life of nature, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul. Amazon.com: One of Chinua Achebe's many achievements in his acclaimed first novel, Things Fall Apart, is his relentlessly unsentimental rendering of Nigerian tribal life before and after the coming of colonialism. First published in 1958, just two years before Nigeria declared independence from Great Britain, the book eschews the obvious temptation of depicting pre-colonial life as a kind of Eden. Instead, Achebe sketches a world in which violence, war, and suffering exist, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. His Ibo protagonist, Okonkwo, is a self-made man. The son of a charming ne'er-do-well, he has worked all his life to overcome his father's weakness and has arrived, finally, at great prosperity and even greater reputation among his fellows in the village of Umuofia. Okonkwo is a champion wrestler, a prosperous farmer, husband to three wives and father to several children. He is also a man who exhibits flaws well-known in Greek tragedy: Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. And yet Achebe manages to make this cruel man deeply sympathetic. He is fond of his eldest daughter, and also of Ikemefuna, a young boy sent from another village as compensation for the wrongful death of a young woman from Umuofia. He even begins to feel pride in his eldest son, in whom he has too often seen his own father. Unfortunately, a series of tragic events tests the mettle of this strong man, and it is his fear of weakness that ultimately undoes him. Achebe does not introduce the theme of colonialism until the last 50 pages or so. By then, Okonkwo has lost everything and been driven into exile. And yet, within the traditions of his culture, he still has hope of redemption. The arrival of missionaries in Umuofia, however, followed by representatives of the colonial government, completely disrupts Ibo culture, and in the chasm between old ways and new, Okonkwo is lost forever. Deceptively simple in its prose, Things Fall Apart packs a powerful punch as Achebe holds up the ruin of one proud man to stand for the destruction of an entire culture. --Alix Wilber Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-15
This is a must-read book... if you want to learn how not to write.
When I taught English 9 Honors, I would ask my students what they thought of the books we read. _Things Fall Apart_ always won the "worst book" award. They were right. This is one of the most overrated novels of the English language.
If Achebe had a B.S. detector, he might have been able to chisel this text down to an almost-bearable short story. Alas, he didn't, and this is what we have.
Okonkwo, the protagonist, is supposed to be tragic, but he's not. He's pathetic. He's utterly revolting, from beginning to end. The other characters aren't much better.
The plot starts nowhere and ends in the same place. Sure, there's an obvious structure to the novel, but it doesn't matter. Not much happens. The characters are lifeless, the plot is lifeless, and the prose is lifeless. I know, Achebe crafted the prose to be what it is-- but that doesn't make it any good.
It amazes me that this book is placed alongside (or above, if you listen to some people) works such as _Moby Dick_, _The Great Gatsby_, _Ulysses_, _The Sun Also Rises_, and _The Sound and the Fury_. The truth is, last month's issue of _Bop_ has more value than _Things Fall Apart_. Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-04
Better for a historic understanding rather than it's literary aspect
I read this book in College in one of the courses I took to obtain my degree in his history. Each of us were required to read the book an write an essay. I don't think there were many people who liked the novel.
The book is an easy read. It's simply written. The book follows stories Okonkwo and some of his family members before and after British colonization. I would recommend it to help gain the understanding of customs, religious beliefs, etc. You can also see the direct effects of appearance of the British, something that such details are not usually spoken about. For its historic content I give it the three stars.
However, the book attempts to get the reader to sympathize with an extremely cruel man without a second thought. I personally do not like that. I understand it is supposed to be a different culture and it's not easy for an outsider to understand. It's stupid to pretend what he does is okay because it's part of his culture. Okonkwo is actually shown to be crossing the line in his own culture many times.
Also, the novel, in my opinion, ended too abruptly. There seemed to not be any sort of strong plot in the novel. All one seems to get from the novel is that the British seemed mess everything up. I personally thing there should have been more of a plot and perhaps more detail on the cultural since.
Rating: 
Date: 2008-05-13
A classic, with good reason
This is an extraordinary book in its ability to narrate both a story of cultural dissonance and an overarching tale about the human condition. Achebe's novel broaches the subject of morality, but demonstrates that even the concept of "evil" is subject to a cultural interpretive context.
Okonkwo, the book's tragic hero, is an emblem of tradition, but also represents how tradition can be subject to the inner turmoil of the human soul. While the Ibo people must face the threat of European missionaries, Okonkwo must confront the threat of his own misplaced hubris. Achebe is a sympathetic voice, but is unafraid to reveal the flaws of his characters as a commentary upon our own imperfect existence.
This is probably one of the best introductions to African fiction, precisely because the story does not limit itself to the African context. The author's investigation of tragedy is pragmatic, yet emotionally stimulating without being romanticized. It is a book that will help the western reader more easily understand not only Nigerian tribal culture, but the power of ideas and their institutions. Rating: 
Date: 2008-05-13
THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart is Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe's first novel. It deals with Nigerian tribal life before and during white colonialism, with particular attention to how tribal culture and white colonial culture come into conflict when white people move in and attempt to convert the natives to Christianity.
Things Fall Apart is slow-paced. There is no plot to speak of here beyond antihero Okonkwo's ambitions, and the cultural conflict does not begin until the last quarter of the book. In the meantime, Achebe explores tribal culture in depth, with attention to tradition, religion, ritual, and family structure.
Achebe's writing is rather simple (often praised as "deceptively simple"), and sometimes repetitive. Achebe is a better storyteller than he is a writer, as his protagonist is well-rounded and his supporting characters are sufficiently well-rounded, even though the novel drags at times
On the whole, Things Fall Apart is now overrated, but it is still a solid rebuttal to those who glorify white colonialism, as well as an exploration of Nigerian tribal culture.
RECOMMENDED
Rating:
Date: 2008-05-06
Impressively unbiased novel, for the most part
Ironically, I had picked up Things Fall Apart from the local library just before it happened to be assigned to me for a history class. I suppose I had good, if accidental, foresight. As others have said, Things Fall Apart is a relatively short novel told in a straightforward yet elegant manner. The voice works well for this particular narrative, much of which focuses on the customs and rites of the Ibo people in the village in which the protagonist, Okonkwo, lives.
What I find most impressive about Things Fall Apart is the way it renders all perspectives; the book doesn't seem to glorify or demonize any one culture, and it really doesn't pick sides. The book deals with an Ibo tribe as well as a group of European imperialists, and it would be easy to depict one faction as being pure and noble and the other as evil or backwards. However, Things Fall Apart takes the high road by illustrating the complex continuum of both: Yes, the Ibo people have some practices which might seem "savage" to our modern Western mindsets, but they also have strong senses of morality and righteousness and Achebe depicts this admirably. Likewise, yes, some of the European imperialists seem cruel and dismissive of the Ibo people, but others of them genuinely seem to be motivated by the interest of evangelizing and doing what they believe to be right and noble.
While the book itself may seem like a simplistic tale, there are deep, complex issues at work here--issues that lead to questions with no easy answers which Achebe, for his part, does not attempt to supply. That's just as well. Sometimes a book need only ask the questions and allow readers to come to their own conclusions. So what is Things Fall Apart about? Well, ostensibly, the book can be divided into two halves. The first half centres on the life of a man named Okonkwo, his wives, his children, and the practices of his tribe. Some readers will complain, and have complained, that the lack of focused, singular plot in the first half of the novel is a problem. I disagree. I don't believe that all works of fiction are required to have one singular, specific plot route and I believe it was Achebe's intent to set the stage for what happens in the second part of the novel. In the first half of the novel, the readers get acquainted with Okonkwo and the Ibo people.
Meanwhile, the second half of Things Fall Apart focuses on Okonkwo's exile and his return from exile. For seven years, he has to leave his village and return to his mother's village (I won't say why here, so as not to spoil the detail for prospective readers), and when he comes back, he finds that European imperialism has drastically altered his own village, Umuofia. This leads to the novel's main conflict. Achebe renders the culture clash in a very intriguing manner, one which left me unsure of how I felt about the various events that unfolded. Because the earlier chapters showed the Ibo culture in such detail, considerable sympathy is placed on them, but a Western reader will also be inclined to agree with some of the Western views (not all, I should hope). For example, in Ibo culture, twins are considered evil, so they're left out in the forest to die. However, when the Europeans arrive, they begin saving twins. Who is right? Is it right to trample on another culture if it means satisfying what your culture considers the greater good? Like I said, this novel asks some difficult questions, and there are no easy answers.
Okonkwo is not a typical protagonist. He does not show compassion to others. He can be downright cruel, and he beats his wives and sons when they displease him. Yet, Okonkwo has reasons for what he does (not that it necessarily makes him right, but it does make his perspective understandable); he is upholding what he believes to be an ideal of Strength. In his own mind, he's a hero. And Okonkwo is not totally a monster; indeed, there are times when a hint of human feeling seeps through. I found his wives and children similarly compelling, but painted in brush strokes, such that much of their lives and personalities are not shown. What is shown is enough to whet your appetite for more.
I docked this novel one star, and I made this decision for two reasons. The first is because I believe the transition between the book's two halves is somewhat unshaky. I understand the need for a transition, but I think Achebe could've handled it somewhat more gracefully. As it is, I feel he plowed through and forced Okonkwo to leave under fairly flimsy and dubious, abrupt circumstances. The second reason I took off a star is because towards the end, the book stops being so evenhanded, and some of the missionaries turn Evil. At least, this is how I perceived it. What one of the Europeans says at the end of the novel seems almost like a caricature; read it and you'll see what I mean. Before, I thought Achebe was doing such an admirable job of showing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, but in the end, "things fall apart".
Even so, the book is good and thought-provoking. I recommend it. It's a fast read. Although it is not a happy novel, I never at any point found it oppressingly, suffocatingly depressing. Perhaps the lovely yet simple prose helped to keep the events of the novel from being too overwhelmingly unhappy. Everything transpires as if in a song or a dream. I disagree with reviewers who say that Achebe portrayed the Ibo people as "savages". If you saw that in the novel, I think it's because you are analyzing them with your own values. I didn't see that Achebe intended that at all. I did not feel that Achebe passed value judgments on the Ibo people, and for the most part, he restrained his judgments of the European imperialists as well. |
