Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

43 reviews

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

Moderate: Violence and Religious bigotry

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

kyra_joy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

Though some of things that happen in this book are quite terrible it is an amazing read. and even though it is fictional the story tells from a perspective that I haven’t read before and it was enjoyable. The use of Ibo words throughout the story really helped to bring the world alive. And the description of tribal life, culture and belief was probably my favourite part. I also think that this story shares a piece of the history of colonization that is hunting and makes you reflective. Definitely will be reading more of his work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, War, and Classism

angela_iseli's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Colonisation

colittle's review against another edition

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: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Colonisation

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

yasmiiine's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death and Misogyny

mmiirrpp's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative

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

5.0

I recommend also reading Achebe's essay "Africa's Tarnished Name" to get more context on his motivations behind writing this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Miscarriage and Grief

kshy's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder

maithaalfalasi's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Misogyny

Minor: Religious bigotry

afion's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide and Murder

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

I read this for a post-colonial literature class, and I'm glad I read it. It was refreshing to read this after reading Heart of Darkness. It's consumable in its vocabulary and narrative form. 
Split into three parts, Things Fall Apart tells the life story of Okonkwo. It starts with his rise of Okonkwo, from being the son of a disgraced, effeminate, untitled man to being one of the strongest and most respected me of Umuofia. Parts II and III track a the stagnation of that rising trajectory as the novel confronts the disgrace and stagnation of Okonkwo’s life and legacy, and finally the fall of Okonkwo in his inability to adapt to the changes brought about by colonial occupation. Telling the story of colonization as one of atrocities committed against a community working to preserve their heritage, Achebe inverts the false narrative often taught in Western schools about colonization as progress towards enlightenment. The characters are not always likable, but they portray a reality that has been suppressed by the dominant narrative for the better part of two centuries.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Colonisation