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Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, War
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.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Colonisation
Minor: Sexual content, Slavery
Graphic: Death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Murder
Moderate: Sexism, War
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.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Colonisation
Moderate: Violence, Religious bigotry
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Suicide
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexism, Violence
Minor: Slavery
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Colonisation
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, War
Even though this was a book very much concerned with the clash of cultures, I think that the generational divide between Okonkwo and his father and then Okonkwo and his son is something we see everywhere. Both Okonkwo's strengths and weaknesses were in direct reaction to his father's life and likewise Nwoye's were a result of Okonkwo's.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Animal death, Torture, Blood