Things Fall Apart

Rating:
Summary: not great, not awful
Review: now, i see where achebe was going with "things fall apart." i understand that it is an answer to "heart of darkness" and it was good for what it was.
here's the thing though...i didn't like either book. "heart of darkness" was an awfully dense and boring 80 pages that took me forever to struggle through, and while "things fall apart" was an easier read, it was no more interesting or exciting.
i read "things fall apart" in AP literature after having read "heart of darkness" and i think that that is most likely the only situation in which i can imagine reading "things fall apart" or "heart of darkness" for that matter. neither are good books to sit down and read for fun or enjoyment, but as books to discuss in a class setting, they are fine.

Rating:
Summary: Not even worthy of being called a 'novel'
Review: I was forced to read this novel for my high school honors English class and was bored from beginning to end. The language of this book is hardly worthy of being read in middle school, let alone high school. It flows as if a fifth-grader had written it. The plot? Nothing more than a collection of rigid, cardboard figures who can't seem to care about anything but growing yams and beating their wives. Toward the middle of the book, we see the emergence of the 'evil' white men who brought that horrid religion, Christianity, into tribal life. Oh, the horror! I am always perplexed as to why public schools always find it necessary to force the students to read works that only make whites sound as if they were an incarnation of Satan.

Bottom line: This book is a complete waste of time. Hopefully you won't be forced to read this dribble as I was. Try something that will actually expand your vocabulary and open your mind.

Rating:
Summary: Educational
Review: If I was looking for a book to read and saw this one I probably would not have picked it up to read. I was assigned Things Fall Apart as a reading assignment in my English/Social Studies class. In the begining of Things Fall Apart it starts off slow and talks about culture and nothing really happens. It also talks about the main characters. Towards the end of Things Fall Apart most interesting aspects of the story start to happen. Though I would have not chosen Things Fall Apart to read, it ended up being educational and interesting. You learn about African Culture and certain ways of living. How you work, what you eat, and even what you belive. I would definitly recomend Things Fall Apart to anyone that is interested in learning about a different culture than their own.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Read-Thought provoking
Review: Things Fall Apart is an amazing book that lets the reading form and keep their opinions about colonization in Nigeria. This book requires the reader to have a fairly open vocabulary, as well as an open mind. The book gives an inside view of the Umofia(village)'s society and customs. The people who disliked this novel obviously are not open to customs outside of the United States.

Rating:
Summary: A stultifyingly stagnant excuse for a novel
Review: Last year, I read Things Fall Apart from cover to cover. I would not advise anyone else to make this deplorable mistake. Labelled as 'great literature' by many imbecilic pundits who think calling something 'great literature' will automatically make them connoisseurs of some sort, thus elevating them to the highest levels of society, Things Fall Apart appeared to me as more of a juvenile attempt at a sixth grader's first novel. The author seems to have some sort of infatuation with yams, because the entire book revolves around idiotic descriptions of yams and characters struggling with their declining yam output. As for the characters, they are developed poorly and not very likeable, thus, when the tragic downfall of the protagonist happens at the climax of the book, instead of experiencing the catharsis that the author probably intended I would, I felt nothing but sheer joy because the book was over.

Rating:
Summary: Starts a Little Slow
Review: This book was a required reading for one of my college history classes. It does start a little slow, but once it picks up, it is almost impossible to put down. As with "The Clockwork Orange", I wrote a little reference card on a notecard, just in case I forgot what one of the words the book used meant, I had my bookmark/notecard to look it up on.

Rating:
Summary: The Entire World is not American
Review: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart examines an entirely different culture and lifestyle from that which we are accusomted to read about, giving us a break from the plethora of novels which do not escape the fifty states. Achebe investigates the Ibo culture along with us, and tries to overcome our American ignorance.

Things Fall Apart takes place in a very interesting Nigerian tribe, Umoufia, which clearly holds both good and bad qualities. The way in which women are treated in the tribe is very interesting, along with a religion which has manipulated the people of the tribe and hurt them, but they still stay loyal to it. However, united by this common religion and fraternity, the villiages of Umoufia are very tight-knit, and everyone watches out for each other.

Achebe demonstrates the manipulation and injustice of the tribe's religion when Okonkwo, a strong self-made man who held many titles in the villiage is exiled for a tragic event, losing everything because the religion which he had contributed to immensely ordered this exile.

During Okonkwo's seven years in exile, Christian missionaries slowly begin tearing apart the tribe when they challenge the native's religion. Okonkwo watches in frustration as Umoufia is hesitant to fight back.

Watch as the tribe's religion, the glue holding the people together, is slowly destroyed resulting in a tragic ending.

Although Things Fall Apart must be approached with an open and unprejudiced mind to be appreciated, which proves extremely challenging to us conceited Americans, it is an amazing novel that introduces us to what seems to be a strange and unusual culture, and how everything, from tribes in Umoufia to the great world powers of today will eventually fall apart.

Rating:
Summary: Opposite views
Review: When we began to read this book in my 10th grade history class, I was bored with the book and looked at it only from a literary point of view. However, I soon realized that Achebe did not write the book to be full of symbolism and thematic elemants with the caliber of a classic novel. He wrote it to show others about the customs of the Ibo people of West Africa and the effect of Europeans on their society. It is written from the perspective of Black Africa and gives the reader new insight into religion, government, customs and general culture. It also gives the reader a new view on the Chrstianization of Africa and the "savages" missionaries went to go save with God. Of course, no history book is 100% correct because it only has information from one point of view: the authors. However, this book is a very important supplement that offers the other side of the story we have been hearing for years.

Rating:
Summary: Tribal life and human tragedy
Review: The story of a 'strong man', a prominent and fierce member of a West African tribe, the Ibo. Okonkwo is a self-made man and highly respected. He does not tolerate weakness and fear, ruling his household with a heavy hand. Tragic events test his endurance to the breaking point.

I do not recall having ever been so deeply affected by a single book (with a possible exception of To Kill a Mockingbird). This is one to really get you into a contemplative mood. I loved Achebe's writing style and his descriptions of Nigerian tribal life. You really get to know the culture and Okonkwo through the book and though you may dislike the main character because of his temper, I guarantee the ending will have you pensive for at least a little while.

Rating:
Summary: African Atmosphere
Review: I enjoyed this book, although I don't have the knowledge and experience of African culture or colonial matters that other reviewers have. And so I shall leave the political element to those who know it better and concentrate on the book more aesthetically.

The plot concerns one Okonkwo, a "big wheel" in a Nigerian tribe. He is the son of an under-achieving father, and is easily aroused to violence. This is tied in with the gradual loss of the old tribal ways as Christian missionaries invade the territory.

Structually, three parts of the novel deal with the progatonist Okonkwo's environment, his exile, and his return. The narrative writing is simple and direct, with resonant descriptions of tribal life: the smells, sounds, activities. Among wives, children and family members, there is a strong element of anecdote and story-telling. You get an almost mythical sense, as in "Watership Down", of oral tradition. The use of African foods, instruments, clothing, all adds to the atmosphere.

It would have been easy, given the last third of the story, for Achebe to portray the encroaching Christians as unremittingly villainous. But he resists this temptation and the book is all the more powerful and plangent for it.