Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

13 reviews

grp101's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

I had to read this for a class and I really enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Murder

Minor: Torture

kubs's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

Okonkwo is interesting. The plot demands he change but he literally cannot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry

asterixmj's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I honestly think this is a very, very good book, and it got me thinking about my own culture before colonisation a lot. Its a curious thing, how Achebe depicts Christianity when not tied directly with colonialism, and I think you can tell that he grew up Christian. He doesn't describe the clan as a purely good clan, romanticising what once was before the arrival of the English, but instead he simply describes the Igbo culture from a neutral, outsider's perspectives. I would've loved to see more from Nwoye's perspective of things; it's really interesting to me how his struggles with his father reflected his struggles with the clan at large and let to him running away from them. Okonkwo is the personification of Umofia, I feel. When Okonkwo is great and strong (but stubborn, violent, and intimidating) so is Umofia, and when Okonkwo is weak, emancipated, and his previous strength turns into bash actions that lead nowhere, Umofia is about the same. His death makes a lot of sense to me; he's unable to cope with the death of his clan, with the death of "manliness" as he so calls it, I don't think its so much a stubbornness towards change, though that is definitely a factor, but more so an overwhelming grief of what he believes the White Man destroyed for him, although he, and by extent Umofia, by himself had shaky foundations that allowed the White Man to easily dismantle the community. A very good look to understand pre colonial Nigeria and the complexities that went into their colonisation

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, and Xenophobia

queenofodas's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Not my cup of tea, I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Murder

doiread's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Colonisation

Moderate: Suicide, Xenophobia, and Murder

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

jesus_wept's review against another edition

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: 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, and Deportation

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

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

tahsintries's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Xenophobia