Things Fall Apart

Rating:
Summary: provides cultural understanding
Review: This novel tells a story of a burly tribesman in an African locale. The name Okonkwo, has been heard on the tip of many tongues throughout the tribe of Ib. They speak of the main character's reputation as a powerful wrestler, wealthy husband and farmer. Okonkwo's only inspiration is to overshadow his father's mockery and feeble attempts for success. This book contains exceptional insights into the African culture, before and during the slavery undertaking. Author Chinua Achebe, sheds no expense to guide the reader through various African customs, jargon and economy. Although younger readers may find some situations confusing, it is still interesting to follow the characters described in the book as they are entwined to the African way of life. One interesting aspect is when Chinua narrators the role of women in the tribe. To have more than one woman, signifies a man's wealth and power. Also defining his control over his household and property. The wives are expected to fulfill every household chore, along with caring for numerous children. This book is a good read for anyone that expresses an interest in history or culture, although the ending won't surprise you.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Story by A Great Author!
Review: I'm taking a geography class and we have to write a paper on a writer from a developing country. From the list of books I chose to read this book by Chinua Achebe. I've just finished this book and I loved it. It is a story about one man who starts out with nothing and gains everything but at the end loses it all. Basically like the title, things just fall apart for this one man.

Okonkwo is this man who is known as one of the greatest men who ever lived in the Umuofia clan. As a young man (18 years old) he started his great legacy by becoming the greatest Wrestler of the nine villages of Umuofia. In their culture, those who are strong were the most commended. For a boy who was born into a household, which had no title and no honor, he became a leader. Okonkwo hated his father for being a weak man who only went into debt and died poor. He wanted to set a good example to his sons and become a real man who can support his family and gain respect from others. While he was only becoming more and more powerful suddenly he is put into exile for accidentally killing a clansmen's daughter (a bullet from his gun accidentally goes off). For seven years he lives with his mother's clansmen with his family. During those seven years, the white men come and take over his clansmen of Umuofia. They come and try to break their traditions and convert them to the english ways. They force the people to praise their "god" and queen. When Okonkwo returns with his family, he is shocked at the incredible change Umuofia has undergone. He tries to lead others into fighting the white men and taking back their land and culture. When he sees that his warriors become nothing but weak "women" (he considers any man who is weak as a woman) he tries to go on fighting them on his own. But his broken heart is what kills him at the end. Such a strong willed person with many achievements yet dominated with fear and anger of becoming weak drives him to his death.

I personally love reading african literature (I think they are very interesting than other literature i've read). You learn folklore, cultures, social interactions, and other interesting stuff. This book is one of the most creative literatures i've ever read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting look at collonialism...if you have the time
Review: Achebe wrote this book following the release of 'Heart of Darkness', though this meant nothing to me as I had to read this following a piece of due AS level coursework!

When I started it, I deplored Achebe's use of language, and the entire 'story-telling' kind of writing he was aiming for.

However, when I came to analyse the book in closer detail, I learned how cleverly he actually has used cultural metaphors, an interesting turn of phrase when writing, and a style which sets it apart from many of its contemporaries.

When I learnt this, I decided to re-read the book, and found it far more enjoyable, being able to appreciate what made it such a good book without having such a closed mind.

This book is good...as I've said, if you have the time. Time to study and time to try and understand what direction and perspective he is writing from. If you do indeed undertake this task, it is a very worthwhile read and well worth your time. If however, you are looking for a book which you need not think too hard about, merely enjoy, I think you would be better looking off elsewhere

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Summary: Clashing of Cultures: An Individual's Rise and Fall
Review: While this novel is not a "page turner", the latter part of the book and the significance of the ending are both testaments to the cherished beliefs of cultures.

Okonkwo, the book's main protagonist, is determined to stray from the lifestyle and eventual degradation that his fathered suffered in life due to laziness and debt. He is an African tribe man who is hard-hearted and stern towards his family because he wants to become something great in life (although some may view him as a chavanist). The tribe's rituals are followed with grave tradition, and Okonkwo seeks for ways to better his personal status (although not a literal translation, one's fate is referred to as "chi", meaning "personal God.")

The story is divided into 3 major sections. The first section deals with mainly Okonkwo's family and tribal background; we get a first hand look at their beliefs in marriage and status of tribal leaders. The 2nd part shifts into Okonkwo's removal from his village, and his eventual progression back into his society. Finally, the most compelling part of the tale, the third section highlights Okonkwo's orientation back into his village as well as his and other tribes' encounters with the new community which has brought Christianity into the region; subsequently, there is a clash of power between African religion and culture and the Christian believers.

Several points may make this book less than appealing.
One of the more exasperating aspects of reading this type of novel is getting acclimated to the Ibo vocabulary and expressions (although in this version, there is a glossary included in the back index). There are relatively trite topics included, such as a chapter on the process of harvesting yams, but my belief is that these chapters are mainly to get the reader accustomed to the values and background of African tribal life. It is necessary to read this book with a certain degree of respect for different cultures and the rituals they share.

Although it moved a little too slow at the beginning, the eventual story of Okonkwo's rise and fall becomes more intriguing as the reader moves on. Not only is Achebe's novel a commentary on the ills of clashing religions and cultures, but the reverence placed on position and status in individual tribal communities. This is an excellent read for those who want to get a sense of tribal life or religion in African cultures. For those who just want a leisurely read, it may take some patience getting into this novel.

Rating:
Summary: A World Classic
Review: In this compact novel, Chinua Achebe has packed a story on the level of Greek tragedy, of the tipping point in African tribal life when the white man comes, from the perspective of Okonkwo, a man for whom tribal life has worked seamlessly. Achebe devotes the extended first part of the book to episodic accounts of village life, portraying a very complex agrarian culture with remarkably integrated economic, social, religious and political systems. Okonkwo is the ambitious son of an unambitious man. He overcame his inauspicious birthright and lives prosperously with three wives and several children. Their daily life is rendered vividly in Achebe's rhythmic, economic style. Misfortune befalls Okonkwo in a moment's accident at the end of part one, but tribal custom has a way of taking care of him, sending him and his family in exile to his mother's village for seven years. He spends the years anxiously awaiting the time to return to the life he enjoyed, ignoring the harbingers of change that arrive in the person of the first missionary. When he at last returns to the life he left behind, it is no what he had remembered, understood and cherished.

For this contemporary reader, THINGS FALL APART served as a fine contemplation of character and conflict, of an international historical phenomenon from the individual's experience, of the problems of change and chance. It also offered a fresh reading of Yeat's poem, "The Second Coming," from which the title is taken. I regret this was not assigned in my education; I hope educators are encouraging high school and college students to read it today. It's the type of book that makes you love literature and reading.

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: Chinua Achebe delivered the goods with this one. This ought to be read by everyone. Highly recommended

Rating:
Summary: Things Did Fall Apart
Review: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was a wonderfully as well as enlightening novel. It was well composed and deeply compelling. The story of the Igbo Village and the main character Okonkow and his family presents a sweet yet chilling interpretation of the European Colonization of Africa. The in depth details within the novel of the Igbo beliefs and rituals draws the reader into a world that he or she has never experienced. The story of the life of this particular ethnic group is presented in the context of the idea of things falling apart. The title is an omen within the story the keeps the reader reading and helps create a deep sense of loss at the end of the story. This is a marvelously written novel that evokes joy, tears, and deep contemplation on the apart of the reader. It may just be the best book I have ever read and I would venture to call myself well-read.

Rating:
Summary: Heinemann edition doesn't add much to the novel
Review: While the story of Okonkwo is a powerful one, and reading "Things Fall Apart" certainly enlarged my perspective, Achebe's writing style is poor indeed. He must have assumed an audience of dumb white people who needed to have things explained to them to such an extent that they needed to be hit over the head with it. Achebe writes in the opening lines of the novel that "proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten." It's too bad he didn't write more in this manner for the extent of the novel. As a result, we are subjected to such wasted sentences as, "Unoka was a failure" and "Okonkwo was choked with hate." Obviously, Achebe never learned the adage, "Show, don't tell." The only reason he can get away with this style of writing, I imagine, is that there is such a dearth of African literature to begin with. He pales miserably in comparison with the writer whom he loathes, Joseph Conrad.

This Heinemann edition adds little to the text. The so-called glossary explains to you that a harmattan is "a cold, dry wind that blows from the North," even though the text reads that a "cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down from the north." Gee, that's a helpful gloss, not to mention the poor editing that capitalizes the N in the glossary but not in the text. Much more valuable than useless definitions such as these would have been a guide to pronunciation and the meanings of the names, such as those provided in Austin Shelton's Modern Language Quarterly essay, "The 'Palm-Oil' of Language: Proverbs in Chinua Achebe's Novels."

The Suggestions for Further Reading includes only one reference to criticism, C. L. Innes' and Bernth Lindors' "Critical Perspectives on Chinua Achebe." It doesn't even make reference to Achebe's famous essay on "Heart of Darkness" or the criticism in response to it.

Overall, this is a book you rather have to read as a literate person, but the potential remains strong for much more rigorous writing in this field. In addition, this particular Heinemann edition adds little to the novel itself.

Rating:
Summary: CAPTIVATING NOVEL ABOUT A MAN'S STRUGGLES AMID COLONIALISM
Review: In Things Fall Apart, Achebe writes a masterpiece that depicts pre-Colonial Africa not as a romanticized place, but rather as a strongly traditional land with certain violent customs. He then proceeds to introduce the beginning of colonialism, which disrupts the fine balance that had been achieved previously. Such story is told through the life of Okonkwo.

Okonkwo is depicted as a violent man with a strong temper. However, the readers can help sympathizing with him as we follow his life's story and his deep fear of failure, which he gained from seeing his father fail his entire life. Okonkwo became a strong leader in his tribe Umuofia (in Ibo, Nigeria). His fear of failure and weakness extend to his son, who he considers similar to his father. He begins his undoing when, afraid to seem weak, he is forced to slaughter a boy that lived in his house, Ikemefuna. He then proceeds, through bad luck, to be banned from the tribe. As he is returning 7 years later and looking forward to his old life, colonial life appears.

The changes that occur between old and new, especially those related to religion, lead to his downfall. Through his downfall, Achebe represents the downfall of an entire society. It is a deeply moving work, one that will leave you wanting to read more of Achebe's books. I recommend following the series with No Longer at Ease next, it is very interesting as well.

Rating:
Summary: things fall apart
Review: Things fall apart is book I recomman for people who would like to travel to Nigeria and learn the culture of the Nigerian people .It potrays the culture and practices of the people of Nigeria during the colonial rule.It also teaches that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.It talks about Okonkwo who was great and wealthy man in his village.As a result of this Okonkwo thought the whole world was his.After returning from exil to his village after five years at his mothers village,Okonkwo comes to find out that the "white man" had come to occupy his village with his rules and western culture.Out of his pride okonkwo with his wealth vowed to fight the white man to the end.Unfortunatelty the white man was more powerful than okonkwo.Finally okonkwo had to commit suicide by hanging himself to avoid tne embarrassment he was to go through in the hands of the white man after taking the law into his own hand y killing one of the white man's messengers.