Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

8 reviews

chloenrogers's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Child death, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Miscarriage, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

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

eleek0609's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and War

allieos's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Genocide, Child death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, War, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Domestic abuse

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

ajcanread's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Child abuse, Colonisation, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, and Hate crime

em_dill's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Infertility, Death, Colonisation, Murder, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Blood, Sexism, Physical abuse, Suicide, Genocide, War, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death

abigail_spencer's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I wanted to like this book but I just found it upsetting to read, the women are treated despicably and the central character is difficult to empathise with or like. What i did enjoy was the lovely insight into culture and the overarching themes but I detested the m/c being such a chauvinist and sexist person. In addition the end of the book made a wonderful point, i just wish i could have had this heart-wrenching story from the perspective of a character who wasn't so detestable that it distracted from the bigger  issues. The misogyny is so overwhelming without seeming to criticize anything or prompt you to question things, for example one of the women is not even given a name beyond 'Nwoye's mother'. It talked about terrible things without really seeming to care that they were terrible.

Overall, excellently written but I couldn't relate on any personal level due to how unpleasant the main character was. Not sure why Achebe chose to write about such a character, but then again im not a literature student or expert so decifering that is better left to someone else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Suicide