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.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Readability/Enjoyability: I have conflicting feelings about this book. I really really wanted to like it - this is one of the few books widely read in high schools that was not written by an old white guy, it is about seriously important issues like colonialism, it is set in a fascinating time and place... and yet. If I'm being honest, I found it sort of repetitive and not that interesting. The style is very abrupt and descriptive - there are very few passages in which we find out the emotional impact of events or what the characters are feeling or thinking (although, I do like all the proverbs). It's like a documentary but without any voice-over. This book is interesting from a historical and anthropological perspective, but as a book just to read for fun... nope, I'm not going to tell my friends they should read it.

Best quote(s):

This is what Okonkwo (the main character) thinks about the world:

"No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man."

"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."

I just like this description:

"At last the rain came. It was sudden and tremendous. For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a fire on the earth. All the grass had long been scorched brown, and the sands felt like live coals to the feet. Evergreen trees wore a dusty coat of brown. The birds were silenced in the forests, and the world lay panting under the live, vibrating heat. And then came the clap of thunder. It was an angry, metallic and thirsty clap, unlike the deep and liquid rumbling of the rainy season. A mighty wind arose and filled the air with dust. Palm trees swayed as the wind combed their leaves into flying crests like strange and fantastic coiffure."

Favorite character: Ezinma, the daughter of one of Okwonkwo's wives (he has three). He says all the time that she should have been a boy because he basically likes her best. She's not a central character but I like that she was an Ogbanje, "one of those wicked children who, when they died, entered their mothers' wombs to be born again." She's precocious and touched by magic, and is as strong a woman as anyone is allowed to be in the Ibo culture.

Least favorite characters: Just personally, I'm not real fond of Okwonkwo. I can even pinpoint when it started: at the very beginning of the book, when he lets a kid named Ikemefuna, who was stolen from a rival village, stay with him for several years, and then helps kill him with machetes. Not cool.

Recommended for: People interested in Africa, colonialism, and other cultures. People who like proverbs. And yams.

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

Okay, so you've probably all seen the movie with Jack Nicholson... and if you haven't, you should, because it's excellent. But as good as it is, it must be said that the movie cannot, CANNOT compare to the book. Because here's the thing: the best part of the book is the voice of the narrator, the Chief, whom everyone assumes is deaf/mute but really sees and hears everything and is able to contribute insight and memories of his own that sharply contrast the events of the hospital. His voice is unique and un-reproducable, especially in a movie in which he has like two speaking lines. So... the book:

Readability: Very. The only complicated bits are the early ruminations of the Chief involving fog and the Combine and machines. Possibly a bit delusional, but on the other hand... one of the most clearheaded delusional people I've ever heard of. And relates it all in a way that makes you think maybe it's the world itself that's crazy, and the Chief is the sane one. As he says, "it's the truth even if it didn't happen."

Enjoyability: Very very. Intriguing, beautifully written, characters you get emotionally involved with... A book I will definitely read again.

Best quote(s):

"I can see all that, and be hurt by it, the way I was hurt by seeing things in the Army, in the war. The way I was hurt by seeing what happened to Papa and the tribe. I thought I'd get over seeing those things and fretting over them. There's no sense in it. There's nothing to be done."

"A successful Dismissal like this is a product brings joy to the Big Nurse's heart and speaks good of her craft and the whole industry in general. Everybody's happy with a Dismissal." (Oh lord, hope this has changed. Has it?)

"Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy."

Favorite character: I'm partial to Billy Bibbitt. Because he's so sweet and what happens to him is so tragic, and like so many of the men he is in the hospital because he was "never able to adjust to the outside world."

Least favorite characters: Um, duh. Nurse Ratched. Best example of abuse of power that I can think of. And also of someone who is in the mental health profession for all the wrong reasons. It feels funny to put such a weighty word on someone who is a nurse, who always smiles, etc., but... I think she is Evil.

Social impact: Well, it certainly says something about the state of mental health care, especially in state run hospitals.... something, as someone trained as a counselor, I cringe a little to think about. And also, of course, at the old practices like Shock therapy and Lobotomy. But also I think having the Chief set up as a reliable narrator and getting a glimpse inside his mind says something about the treatment Native Americans received in Oregon and elsewhere, and also about how veterans have been treated (that's where the Chief first started getting lost in the fog). A completely unique perspective.

I just realized I've written all I wanted to about this book without once mentioning McMurphy, the main character. But on second thought... no, nope. I don't really have much to say about him.

One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest...

We've all seen the movie, and it's a good one, but when the author of a book refuses to see the film version, as Ken Kesey did, it's probably worth looking into their reasons why. His reason apparently was that it does not show the story from the 1st person viewpoint of Chief Bromden and although I'm not sure how they could have done this on a movie I agree with him. McMurphy, the antihero of the story, is the main character in the movie and although he is certainly a fun character to follow part of the heart of the story is lost.

Readability: Very readable. Chief's narrations are easy to read and have a fantastic flow and the battle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratchet keep you reading because you want to know who will win, and it's not who you'd expect.

Enjoyability (is that a word?): Well, I enjoyed it.

Favorite quote(s): "Even when he isn't laughting, that laughint sound hovers around him, the way the sound hovers around a big bell just quit ringing-its in his eyes, in the why he smiles and swaggers, in the way he talks."

"Idiot, you just had a nightmare; things as cray as a big machine room down in the bowels of a dam where people get cut up by robot workers don't exist. But if they don't exist, how can a man see them?"

"You had a choice: you could either strain and look at things that appeared in front of you in the fog, painful as it might be, or you could relax and lose yourself."

"I'd think he was strong enough being his own self that he would never back down the way she was hoping he would. I'd think, maybe he truly is something extraordinary. He is what he is, that's it. Maybe that makes him strong enough."

I can't really quote any of the others I wanted to because I think they would give too much away.

Favorite character: Chief Bromden, the narrator of One Flew. Chief has been in the mental hospital for the last 20 years-the affect of his experience in the army during WWII (argument for providing better services to veterans anyone?) and the loss of his family's way of life with the destruction of Celilo Falls. He narrates the story and has an almost omnipotent view on what is going on because everyone assumes he is deaf and dumb since he doesn't speak. Although he is in a mental institution Chief's narration is sharp and observant and though some of his ramblings may seem insane at first he is just seeing a different truth.

Least favorite character: Nurse Ratchet. This woman is evil, pure and simple. Well, maybe not that simple. Chief sees her as being part of the combine, the machine that processes everyone and makes them, too, part of the machine. To Chief she is just part of the larger system that tries to make people conform and destroys those who don't. To McMurphy she is the symbol of that machine that must be destroyed.

Social impact: This book does a great job portraying the horrible conditions of many mental institutions. Kesey based it upon his own experience working at a mental institution and reading about the Oregon State Mental Institution, where Cuckoos Nest is set, leaves a grim image--including a room full of the forgotten cremated remains of patients. It also shows the lack of respect given to the Native American tribes who lived on the banks and fished Celilo Falls which were flooded in 1957 with the construction of the Dalles Dam. This was where Chief was from and their destruction, and most importantly what that did to his father, clearly haunts him, "the Combine. It worked o him for years. He was big enought to fight it for a while. It wanted us to live in inspected houses. It wanted to take the falls. It was even in the tribe, and they worked on him.

Greatest impact: I think the two major works of Ken Kesey, this and Sometimes a Great Notion, hold a special place for Oregonians, at least they do for me. I've been to these places. They're not just abstract visions but places I know and love which just makes it all the better.

Recommended for: Anyone who gets nerdy over the history of Oregon, mental institutions, native peoples etc. Anyone who likes a good story of an antihero up against the man or who is maybe, just a little, cracked up themselves.

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." -Scout Finch

One of my all time favorite books To Kill A Mockingbird turns 50 this year and, according to a recent New York Times article 'A Classic Turns 50, and Parties Are Planned', there are celebrations going on around the country this summer. We'll be reviewing this fantastic book at a later date (when I get around to rereading it for the gizillionth time, I'll probably cry again too) but until then if you haven't read it yet get out there and do it! This is the time, you won't regret it I swear. I'll even loan you a copy (I have three). And if anyone wants to head down to Alabama to read it on the steps of a courthouse, while we fan ourselves in the hot sun, I'm in.

The 100 Best Books: Movie Edition #1--The Quiet American

After reading The Quiet American by Graham Greene we decided to watch the 2002 movie based upon the book. Now, first of all, I love Michael Caine who plays Thomas Fowler and, second of all, I'm not a huuuuge fan of Brendan Frasier who plays Alden Pyle (for those of you who are lost refer to our reviews of The Quiet American below). Does this really pose a problem though? I liked the character of Fowler in the book and disliked Pyle so it should actually be beneficial that I felt the same about the actors playing them. Michael Caine rocked it (although I personally think he should have smoked more opium) and Brendan Frasier actually did a decent job, even though he didn't get across the naivety perfectly.

Overall, we felt that this was a decent adaptation of the book. It changed details here and there, like all adaptations must do, but with a few exceptions they were not harmful to the overall feel of the original content. One thing we did have a problem with was in the movie Fowler does not speak French. This cut down on the awkwardness of some key scenes. The combination of two characters from the book into one in the movie was also unsettling (for reasons I can't divulge, you'll just have to read the book to find out why...).

One way in which the movie actually improved upon the book was in the character of Phuong. She actually seemed to have a say in what happened to her in the movie, even if Pyle did try to turn her into an America. Some sort of affect of modern girl power? Maybe. It also had amazing scenery. Kinda makes you want to go to war torn Vietnam. Almost.

Finially, I would like to leave you with one of my favorite Michael Caine quotes:
"There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch."

Sons and Bummers

"Paul loved to sleep with his mother. Sleep is still most perfect, inspite of hygienists, when it is shared with a beloved."
Sons and Lovers; the story of one man's (Paul's) strangely possessive relationship with his mother and how that leads to the ruin of the lives around him. Since he cannot be with his mother he treats the other women in his life horribly because they are not her.

Readability: Prose wise this book is readable enough. It's a pretty quick read also, if the subject matter doesn't keep putting you to sleep like it did to me. It's long though, ooh god, so very long.

Enjoyability (is that a word?): I wanted to enjoy this book, I really did. I'd never read any D.H. Lawrence and this book had been sitting on my shelf for years (I believe the result of one of my frequent Goodwill book binges). It started out promising enough, seeming similar to many turn-of-the-century British novels about working, family, changing society etc. etc., and I was secretly hoping for a few Victorian style naughty passages, but alas this was not to be! Soon I became slightly concerned because nothing much seemed to be happening and eventually this concern turned into despair when I realized I still had hundreds of pages of this book left to read. Characters are introduced willy nilly and then are, just as suddenly, dropped, only to reappear hundreds of pages later, giving you no time to form an emotional attachment to them, the narrative just wanders with no sense of purpose, everything takes longer than it should and few of the characters have positive qualities. To sum it up...I did not enjoy this book.

Favorite quote(s): "To be rid of our individuality, which is our will, which is our effort-to live effortless, a kind of curious sleep-that is very beautiful, I think; that is our after-life-our immortality."--Not 100 % sure what that means but I kinda like it.

"Whatever spot he stood on, there he stood alone. From his breast, from his mouth, sprang the endless space, and it was there behind him, everywhere. The people hurrying along the streets offered no obstruction to the void in which he found himself. They were small shadows whose footsteps and voices could be heard, but in each of them the same night, the same silence. He got off the car. In the country all was dead still. Little stars shone high up; little stars spread far away in the flood-waters, a firmament below. Everywhere the vastness and terror of the immense night which is roused and stirred for a brief while by the day, but which returns, and will remain at last eternal holding everything in its silence and its living gloom. There was no Time, only Space."

Favorite character: No one. Seriously, all of the main characters are horrible.

Least favorite character: Paul, the main character, and Mariam, one of his love interests. They are horrible for/to each other, they know it and yet they keep torturing each other for years in a crazy love-hate relationship. Neither of them ends up with what they want (if they even knew) and neither of them ends up happy. It's just depressing.

Social impact: The back of my copy claims this book is, "the most widely-read English novel of the twentieth century." I don't know the accuracy of this statement, but I feel sorry for all those twentieth century readers if that's the case, because there are sooooo many better books out there. The greatest social impact I can see from this book is the way in which it deals with domestic abuse and the long lasting affects that can have on a family. All these characters are unlikeable and some of them can blame it on the way abuse manifests itself upon them. I suppose this is also a relatively confessional semi-autobiographical book. But what really happened and what was made up? And why do autobiographies often suck so very much?

Greatest impact: How much I disliked it. D.H. Lawrence wrote many 'classic' novels and this makes me question if I'll ever want to read any of them. Maybe Lady Chatterley's Lover is better eh? Anyone? Opinions?

Recommended for: People who enjoy well written narratives where nothing really ever happens and none of the characters are particularly likeable. It's like the movie Closer, on all accounts a well made movie with good acting, but I hated all of the characters and their actions and so I hated the movie.

Overall: This book is getting booted off of the list. I won't say I'm heartbroken because I'm sure there are far better contenders out there, bring 'em on!

PS. This picture of D.H. Lawrence looks creepily like I pictured Paul.