Things Fall Apart...and do they ever.

Ok, I'm gonna be honest here. I read this book over a month ago and am just now getting around to reviewing it so...I'm sure this won't be as good as it could have been. This is the life of a grad student, I will not apologize.


Things Fall Apart is the story of a pre-colonial Ibo tribe in Nigeria. Its main character, Okonkwo, is the local strong man. He is sometimes proud, arrogant, and violent but is also hardworking, kind and sympathetic. He's a leader in his village, and successful head of a large family, but is still constantly afraid of appearing weak. This is ultimately his downfall. 'Things Fall Apart' is not really the story of colonialism that you might expect, those British bastards don't show up till the last 50ish pages, but instead is a view of African life from an African perspective, sadly a viewpoint we rarely see.

Readability: It's an easy read. I mean, this is something regularly given to high school students, and I hear they actually will read it, so it can't be too difficult. It will also only take you a few days to get through, especially if you're not a high school student.

Enjoyability (is that a word?): I enjoyed it, and I didn't expect to, so I guess that says something. It's not suspenseful or riveting by any means but has some other quality I can't quite describe. Besides being an almost anthropological account of precolonial life in Africa (which is interesting on its own. Twins are evil according to the tribe, for example, and are left in the forest to die), it's an intriguing account of human nature. Also, it has a bad ass cover (above).

Favorite quote(s): "Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospects, like the prospect of annihilation. He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days, and his children the while praying to the white man's god. If such a thing were ever to happen he, Okonkwo, would wipe them off the face of the earth." "It was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth like learning to become left-handed in old age." "He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger."


Favorite character: Okonkwo. This is partially because he is really the only character that is fully fleshed out in the novel. I liked some his wives, his children, some of the members of the tribe, but for the most part they feel one-dimensional. Okonkwo is a complex guy. I often didn't want to like him but, somehow, I did.

Least favorite character: The colonialists at the end. This is probably to be expected, as I am a bleeding-heart-liberal, but the last paragraph gave me chills. Seriously.

Social impact: This book was apparently written in response to 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad. These two books could not portray Africa in a more different light. 'Heart of Darkness,' which we will be reviewing next, is rambling, racist, and European-centered. The view we get of Africa in 'Things Fall Apart' could not be more different. While we would expect Achebe to romanticize pre-colonail tribal life in Africa he doesn't . Life is instead shown as it was, with no judgement of if that way of life was better than than any other. It just...was...and should be respected as such.



Recommended for: Anyone interested in African life, stories that seem deceptively simple but aren't, fast reads that make you seem more intelligent when mentioned in conversation, or finishing up that list of 'books you probably should have read in High School but didn't.'

Overall: Much better, and more enjoyable, than I expected. Not something I'm going to go back and reread over and over but I'm glad I've read it.