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Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Tout s'effondre: roman by Chinua Achebe

26 reviews

challenging informative sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is stunning writing. The more I think about this book the more my rating goes up. We follow a deeply unsympathetic man to his eventual undoing, which should feel deserved but that clean cut ending, that want to think each person is solely responsible for their own destruction, that this would not have happened if not for his own actions and unwavering ego, is ripped away by the pure evil that brought about that undoing. This happened to everyone regardless of how they lived their lives, it could not have been prevented so it can't feel deserved. You are left in deep mourning for all the characters surrounding him, instead of feeling justice for them. You feel the tragedy of all those he hurt happen along with him. There's triumph in most stories when the person who caused those around him pain is "defeated," but these characters are not safer or happier now in any way. They get the same, if not a worse fate. Nothing about this is fair. You feel the loss of control. You feel the fear of destruction. The loss of family. I do feel the author set up themes that were left largely unexplored, especially when it comes to sexism, which got briefly touched upon and then abandoned. I find myself wanting more, which is what keeps this from being a 5 star, but damn, incredible book. 

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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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challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

“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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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: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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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challenging dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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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dark reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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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challenging dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated

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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tense fast-paced

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