Rating: 
Summary: Best book I've read!
Review: This book caught my attention from the very first page. I was impressed how the author made sure to not resort to any stereotypes (even though he is from Nigeria himself), but made sure the reader knew this wasn't some "primitive tribe", as many other books may depict Africa. However, I wasn't really hit until the last chapter. Don't worry I won't give away the ending, but for those of you who have read it, it was the very last sentence that shocked me and really made me realize what the whole book was about, even though it wasn't revealed until the very end. I recommend this book to everybody.
Rating: 
Summary: Why me???
Review: This book is about a time in Africa right before the white people came and settled in Africa with their christianity,and other beliefs that wasn't coherent with the original inhabinents life style. this book takes a look at the african life-style and the changes it was forced to go through in its adjustments to white people and their beliefs. this book makes you look through the eyes of one man, that mans name is Okonkwo. Okonkwo was an abusive, violent, powerful, and vengeful. Okonkwo never knew love, compassion, and understanding. let's imagine a time when people act like savages and do what they want with no repercussions and you will have the same story line as this book. This book opened my eyes to what life could be like if we weren't civilized and had didn't have common sense. In my view and opinion this book is not for people with short attention spans or just have to do it for a class assinment.
Rating:
Summary: still solid after all these years
Review: The problem with most books dealing with contemporary issues is that they become dated when the issues are not contemporary anymore. Some become relics of the past, a quasi-documentation used only as references. There are those that are pulled out evey now and then to provide background to current events. And then there are the books that transcend dates and places, names and events. Things Fall Apart is one of those books, worthy to stand next to Tolstoy, Pasternak or Steinbeck; maybe not in scope and structure but much more so in volition. That Achebe focused on an individual and his immediate environment instead on a whole nation or continent only gives these issues more humane dimensions, the personal drama reflecting the political arena. Without resorting to the rethorics of post-colonialist theories or even romantic sentimentality about a disappearing culture, Achebe showed how a community in complete state of equilibrium can be ruined by intrusions of foreign influences - culture, religion, politics -- no matter how "nobly intended". That there was no explicit finger-pointing at the white men "civilizing" the community in this story even makes a more interesting reading. When is a culture left alone? When does a contact with another culture become an offensive intrusion? Who defines the might of one culture over another? At the dawn of the new millennium, these questions may not be as relevant to Africa's recent struggle to define itself instead of fighting colonialists. But echoes of the issues in the book still resound in other corners of the globe, only that they are in less recognizable forms. One only hopes that the books serves as a constant warning instead being seen as a document that has already fallen apart.
Rating:
Summary: Significant but dull
Review: Achebe is ambitious in his quest to undermine the African stereotypes that have been maintained by the media since the days of European slave trading. He does so and the reader is acutely aware of the "civilization" and complexity of tribal life. His goal of altering Western perception of tribal Africa is realized. However, it was as if I was reading a history book with someone interjecting with stories of tribal life, African vocabulary, and mined cliches, rather than a novel with strongly developed characters, dialogue, and plot structure. I teach this book in my 12th grade class and I must admit, I was as bored as the students. Pick up a documentary on tribal Africa instead.
Rating: 
Summary: become more convinced that these tribes are backwards
Review: Gnerally, I am extremely open-minded about other cultures, in fact learning about other people's countries is one of my favorite things today. No conversation is more interesting than one that opens your eyes to a different culture. So I read this book by Achebe hoping to dissolve any stereotype that I might have regarding tribal african societies. In the forward, it seemed like this was not too much to expect since that was exactly Achebe's purpose, but everything I had ever heard about the primitive nature of tribal society and the backward thinking was reinstated instead of eliminated. Perhaps I am more disappointed to find that these people truly are illogical and backward than I am in the book itself. But if you are reading this hoping to extinguish any prejudices about African tribes, this is not the book you are looking for.
Rating:
Summary: A great novel
Review: Chinua Achebe is a great story writer. In his novel, he tried to express the fear, feeling, and anger of the natives that were being colonized. What a wonderful job he has done, in telling the story through the native's eye by making the readers walk in the natives shoe. ***** Mefti
Rating:
Summary: Achebe is an Artist
Review: This book is wonderful in it's simplicity of prose. The plot isboth simple in the read and complicated in its implications. Living in America, we are unaware of the lives of people in other countries. Achebe's work is an eye opening introduction to the effect of colonialism from the eyes of those being colonized. We get to view through the eyes of someone of that culture and see what western society's 'changes' mean to them. Although the work is short (around 200 pages), Achebe was able to evoke a setting of an African tribe that should be unfamiliar to us, something that we can both understnad and place ourselves in. This book is definitely with great merit and makes us hesitate about our position to standby when unjustices are being meted out around the world. Enjoy, ponder, and take a stand!
Rating: 
Summary: READ THE OTHER REVIEWS-- THEY ARE MORE THOUGHTFUL
Review: I have read Things Fall Apart at three different times in my life, and I still don't love it. I probably never will love it, but I can appreciate and admire it for the fact that Achebe captures something of the essence and non-linear quality of living in an oral/verbal culture rather than one that is more focused on reading and writing. The stories of oral traditions are passed on by word of mouth and therefore change slightly with retelling. The stories essentially embody the same characteristics as the original story, but different twists certainly must come into play depending on the teller because memory and experience can also influence how one tells a story.
Rating:
Summary: shows colonialism well
Review: Having read the book twice, I can defentely say that Things Fall Apart is a book that can give a good account of what happened to native people as they were being colonialized. To often when people look at colonialism they focus on things like the green areas belong to France, the red areas to England and they brown ones to Spain. Things Fall Apart deals with colonialism differently. They tend to emphasis trade and look at the whold process in economic terms. There was a great deal of loss in terms of life, community and culture. This book will help give people a better understanding of the human side to colonialism in terms of what those being conquered went through.
Rating: 
Summary: Honest and fulfilling
Review: Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" is simply a good book. It is not spectacular, nor are its ideas earth-shattering; yet after reading it I felt quite satisfied. The story follows the life of Okwonkwo, an Ibo tribeman. A reknowned warrior in his youth, Okwonkwo strives to work his way out from the shadow of his listless father. Far from a model hero, Okwonkwo is tragically flawed with a quick temper and a rigid mindset. Okwonko serves as a metaphor for his tribe as a whole. Both are in some ways beautiful, some awful, and some tragic - and with the coming of the white man, both are doomed. Achebe does an excellent job of portraying the clash of two cultures. He skillfully avoids politicizing the events and demonizing one side or the other. Both the tribesmen and the white missionaries primarily consist of honest people. The conflict between the groups arises not out of evil, but out of ignorance. The near perfect ending to the story drives this point home with a subtle blow that will leave you thinking for quite some time. While not a perfect book - it was too short to develop the characters to my satisfaction, the language was simple and lacked grace, and the names were often confusing - Achebe's work is well worth the investment of a few hours.
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