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lbrandes's review against another edition
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
charlottexx1234123's review against another edition
4.0
My teacher, who assigned this book, quit so she could work at the UW humanities building and stop teaching. I was gagged.
usefulgadfly's review against another edition
challenging
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
A tragedy of the realities of the modern world
daveparry67's review against another edition
4.0
Last year I read ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe, mentioned in Don McCullin’s autobiography; he’d met Achebe who seemed hardened by the conflicts around him... The book left me feeling quite pessimistic, that no human society is capable of demonstrating any compassion to another or of breaking away from violence & oppression... This is the 2nd in the classic series of 3 & is only short...
As the book opens, Obi Okonkwo is on trial for corruption in Lagos; then we go back & see him sent at great expense by his village to university in England & then return, wanting to reform the country... Everyone else takes bribes, sees it as just the way things work, mutually beneficial...
Obi resists but spends all his money before he’s earned it (I know how easy that is to do!) & ends up in financial trouble... There’s an absurd sequence of events in which he keeps running up further expenses & even loses a vast sum of money in an instant, all made worse by relationships strained by expectation & tradition...
In the end he gives up, takes money where he’s offered it & when he’s paid his debts decides to stop... only it’s just too late & he’s caught... So it’s a critique of 50s Nigeria (& relevant to today) where corruption is self perpetuating & no-one can progress without it, but perversely, if you don’t play the game you get made an example of...
This was better than the first book, for me... I’m looking forward to ‘Arrow of God’ now...
As the book opens, Obi Okonkwo is on trial for corruption in Lagos; then we go back & see him sent at great expense by his village to university in England & then return, wanting to reform the country... Everyone else takes bribes, sees it as just the way things work, mutually beneficial...
Obi resists but spends all his money before he’s earned it (I know how easy that is to do!) & ends up in financial trouble... There’s an absurd sequence of events in which he keeps running up further expenses & even loses a vast sum of money in an instant, all made worse by relationships strained by expectation & tradition...
In the end he gives up, takes money where he’s offered it & when he’s paid his debts decides to stop... only it’s just too late & he’s caught... So it’s a critique of 50s Nigeria (& relevant to today) where corruption is self perpetuating & no-one can progress without it, but perversely, if you don’t play the game you get made an example of...
This was better than the first book, for me... I’m looking forward to ‘Arrow of God’ now...
erinkrum's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ashleighjadereads's review against another edition
4.0
In this second part of the African trilogy we follow the story of Okonkwo’s grandson Obi, who at the beginning of the novel sets off to acquire a prestigious education in England. He represents the hope and pride of his humble village, but when he returns to colonial Nigeria to take up a civil service job he finds that his education has not made his life easier. If anything, it’s done the opposite, and with it comes the pressure of being a man who is expected to have money, a certain degree of power and to conduct himself with ease amongst the ruling elite. For all his good intentions he is tempted by corruption at work, and faces great challenges at home with his girlfriend Clara (who has a dark secret of her own), his beloved, ailing mother and his strained relationship with his father.
Achebe explores the effects of colonialism in the lives of all strata of society: from the peasantry and working class to the tribe leaders and high-powered officials. He indictes the settlers for the nonchalant way in which they dismiss the native culture and underestimate the capability of the Nigerian people to decide what is right for themselves.
Though I enjoyed Things Fall Apart more, this is an important book and a brilliant follow-up to the first novel.
Achebe explores the effects of colonialism in the lives of all strata of society: from the peasantry and working class to the tribe leaders and high-powered officials. He indictes the settlers for the nonchalant way in which they dismiss the native culture and underestimate the capability of the Nigerian people to decide what is right for themselves.
Though I enjoyed Things Fall Apart more, this is an important book and a brilliant follow-up to the first novel.
willowbiblio's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
"She was a very devout woman, but Obi used to wonder whether, left to herself, she would not have preferred telling her children the folk stories that her mother had told her. In fact, she used to tell her eldest daughters stories. But that was before Obi was born. She stopped because her husband forbade her to do so."
----------------------------
This was such a powerful and heartbreaking way to close a story that spanned three generations. We open with the understanding that Obi Okonkwo has gotten caught taking bribes, and the novel helps answer the question asked at the beginning and end: Why?
The celebrations in Umuofia were wholesome, community affairs. We see this juxtaposed against celebrations in Laos as sort of sad, rundown, with neon signs, and artifice. We know from the first two books that Nigerian culture prior to colonization was based on honesty, loyalty, family, community, and spirituality. The idea that Nigerians (and Africans in general) are corrupt is propaganda that even the 3rd post-colonial generation believes.
Telling and singing stories together was how the clan learned history, values, morals, identity, etc. Forbidding this is one of the best ways to further eradicate culture, bonds, and identity. The whites successfully convinced the Nigerians to censor themselves, as shown with Obi's mother and father. Additionally, the Nigerians began to mimic and adopt the ever-present racism.
Despite being paid so much more and being "better educated", Obi's financial struggles fulfilled the warning from the President of the Umuofia club. Really good use of foreshadowing with that.
I thought it was interesting that Achebe was sort of self-referential when he talked about the suicide ending as not true tragedy- regarding Okonkwo senior's end.
It was also clear throughout that for the Europeans/English any system of self-governance basically didn't exist prior to them. This intentional ignorance helped them to justify a continued presence and subjugation.
Excellent trilogy, so glad I read it in it's entirety!
----------------------------
This was such a powerful and heartbreaking way to close a story that spanned three generations. We open with the understanding that Obi Okonkwo has gotten caught taking bribes, and the novel helps answer the question asked at the beginning and end: Why?
The celebrations in Umuofia were wholesome, community affairs. We see this juxtaposed against celebrations in Laos as sort of sad, rundown, with neon signs, and artifice. We know from the first two books that Nigerian culture prior to colonization was based on honesty, loyalty, family, community, and spirituality. The idea that Nigerians (and Africans in general) are corrupt is propaganda that even the 3rd post-colonial generation believes.
Telling and singing stories together was how the clan learned history, values, morals, identity, etc. Forbidding this is one of the best ways to further eradicate culture, bonds, and identity. The whites successfully convinced the Nigerians to censor themselves, as shown with Obi's mother and father. Additionally, the Nigerians began to mimic and adopt the ever-present racism.
Despite being paid so much more and being "better educated", Obi's financial struggles fulfilled the warning from the President of the Umuofia club. Really good use of foreshadowing with that.
I thought it was interesting that Achebe was sort of self-referential when he talked about the suicide ending as not true tragedy- regarding Okonkwo senior's end.
It was also clear throughout that for the Europeans/English any system of self-governance basically didn't exist prior to them. This intentional ignorance helped them to justify a continued presence and subjugation.
Excellent trilogy, so glad I read it in it's entirety!
daladala's review against another edition
4.0
The African Trilogyn toisessa osassa ollaan hypätty yli 50 vuotta ajassa eteenpäin, aikaan jolloin Nigeriassa puhututti valtion mahdollinen itsenäisyys ja paikalliset alkoivat kivuta korkeampiin asemiin työelämän hierarkioissa. 50-luvun Lagoksen syke ei ole miljööltään yhtä vetävä kuin 1800-luvun lopun syrjäinen kyläyhteisö, mutta traagisen sankarin viittaa kantava Okonkwo säväyttää jälleen.
cmbohn's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really a tragic story. It starts at the end, then jumps back to the beginning.
I was really rooting for Oko even though I knew how it ended.
I was really rooting for Oko even though I knew how it ended.