Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

15 reviews

syd_reads_occasionally's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Really provocative portrayal of a tragic hero story. The world building is detailed and interesting.  The last chapter was a work of genius.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Physical abuse, Death, Slavery, Colonisation, and Blood

abmochapman's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

“A man's life from birth to death, was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors.”

Things Fall Apart remains a literary masterpiece almost three decades since its release. At first slow and meandering, offering a survey of Igbo culture prior to the devastation of British forces, this novel shows just how quickly and suddenly a people can be made to fall apart when faced with colonial rule and violence. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Murder, Animal death, Colonisation, Racism, War, Slavery, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Child death, and Violence

nkmustdie's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Xenophobia, War, Deportation, Gun violence, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Rape, Suicide, Bullying, Confinement, Pregnancy, Racism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Violence

amayastar05's review

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, War, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Murder, and Child death

nick13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book gets a three star simply because it is a story that needs to be read. Other than that,

I liked how slow the first part is to contrast how fast colonialism took over Africa

and how amazing complicated the main character is. This is all to say that this story has the groundwork to be absolutely astounding, yet at no point was my interest peaked. This is due to instead of engrossing rge reader into the story, it instead keeps this standoffish narration akin to a nonfiction. And if this were a nonfiction it would've been amazing for what it is, but it's not which lead this story to just not have the same impact it should.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Child death, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Miscarriage, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Infidelity

Minor: Slavery

sas_lk's review

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I don't even know where to start. The way Achebe wrote this novel was so clever, I get why it has become a classic.
First, the character of Okonkwo is so well written - you can truly feel his desperate need to prove himself, and you can truly feel the trauma that causes him to act and think the way he does.
The way Achebe slowly built up the dread, until it is all you feel, was so well done. And then, knowing Africa's history, you feel the pain of what happens next so powerfully. 

I could write a booklong review about it, but I don't think I could do it justice. Incredible novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Miscarriage, Grief, Racism, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Child death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual content and Slavery

yolie's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A commanding book, and completely understandable why it is seen as a pioneer of the African literary scene.

Things Fall Apart - whether through inaction or due to the actions of others. This book albeit slow paced, introduces you to a Nigerian community not yet influenced by Christianity and this it follows strict traditional African spirituality and practises. It chronicles a society so rich in culture and identity and its eventual collapse due to the arrival of evangelists.

The book takes a really long time to hit its stride, and despite it being a short novel, it often feels longer than it was.

While newer fiction and writers can be praised for their (better) command of language and storytelling, Chinua Achebe achieved a feat no other African writer had done at the time and this book - in the context that it came out in - is remarkable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Sexism, Child death, Slavery, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Violence

Although slow paced, as the book goes on you begin to see why ‘Things Fall Apart’.

bealmg's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

This novel tells the story of Okonkwo, a respected warrior in his village ofr his strength and tenacity. The best parts of the novel were the last two (the last third of the book), where we see colonialism starting to seep into the nearby villages and, eventually, in Okonkwo's own village. It was such a harrowing and subtle portrayal, because the reader knows, at some level, what will happen to the village and its people. Although the ending surprised me, I thought it made sense in the story. I just wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style (although I liked how Achebe used local proverbs to tell the story) and the few instances of violence against women, which made me feel quite detached from the story and its characters for the majority of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Violence, Child death, Death, and Sexism

Minor: Slavery

suicide

mpbookreviews's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Child death, Colonisation, Suicide, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Abandonment, Violence, and Child abuse

colittle's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, War, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Suicide, Ableism, Slavery, Racism, Animal death, and Blood