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suspendedinair's review against another edition
4.0
He took a parcel to the post office for dispatch to his people in Nigeria. A lady at the counter took it from him and weighed it. To do the calculation for postage she looked again at the address and said: "Nigeria... Is Nigeria ours or French?" To which Solarin, a very austere man, replied: "Nigeria is yours, madam."
misspalah's review against another edition
5.0
In the end I began to understand. There is such a thing as absolute power over narrative. Those who secure this privilege for themselves can arrange stories about others pretty much where, and as, they like. Just as in corrupt, totalitarian regimes, those who exercise power over others can do anything.
- Chinua Achebe, Home and Exile
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Have you read something that made you feel so enlightened because the author wrote about post colonial literature subject in such an impeccable manner and at the same time you felt so enraged because the audacity of majority of classics authors captured Africa in their deluded and outdated perspective despite never visited the continent itself? I know i did. Dont let me start at these colonizers and white settlers whose not only felt superior but kept referring Africans as Savages and wild beast. It is so infuriating. I dont know whether i should have read his fiction books before reading this but ultimately this book made me want to read his books even more. There are only 3 chapters in this book and it can be considered a pretty short book because it is based on Chinua Achebe’s series of lecture about the reasons why he decided to write , the discourse of African literature and the problematic white gaze towards African in it and how to get a balance writing from these 2 colliding sides and why reclaiming back the narratives is important. It is important to point out that i don’t really read classics and i am glad i decided to maintain it. Few names has been pointed by Achebe in his second chapter “The empire fights back” which i believe i should have shared just in case anyone wanted to know. If you have these books, maybe just throw it away
- Chinua Achebe, Home and Exile
.
.
Have you read something that made you feel so enlightened because the author wrote about post colonial literature subject in such an impeccable manner and at the same time you felt so enraged because the audacity of majority of classics authors captured Africa in their deluded and outdated perspective despite never visited the continent itself? I know i did. Dont let me start at these colonizers and white settlers whose not only felt superior but kept referring Africans as Savages and wild beast. It is so infuriating. I dont know whether i should have read his fiction books before reading this but ultimately this book made me want to read his books even more. There are only 3 chapters in this book and it can be considered a pretty short book because it is based on Chinua Achebe’s series of lecture about the reasons why he decided to write , the discourse of African literature and the problematic white gaze towards African in it and how to get a balance writing from these 2 colliding sides and why reclaiming back the narratives is important. It is important to point out that i don’t really read classics and i am glad i decided to maintain it. Few names has been pointed by Achebe in his second chapter “The empire fights back” which i believe i should have shared just in case anyone wanted to know. If you have these books, maybe just throw it away
jaclyn_youngblood's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very good intro to the author, whose voice comes across so clearly and beautifully in discussions of land, home, language, permission, and stories. It also contained great recommendations for other early works of fiction coming out of Africa (aside from his Things Fall Apart) in the 1950s, amidst many struggles for self-determination and self-rule. I can imagine Achebe giving these lectures at a bookstore (though I know it was part of a Harvard series), and that delights me.
archytas's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
"To any writer who is working in the remote provinces of the world and may now be contemplating giving up his room or selling his house and packing his baggage for London or New York I will say: Don’t trouble to bring your message in person. Write it where you are, take it down that little dusty road to the village post office and send it!"
This is a handy little volume, written in Achebe's gently acerbic prose, discussing the role of literature in rebuilding from colonialism. He discusses the ways that language can shape and challenge colonialism, and how it is systematically undermined through ex-patriate cultures, and Western literature set in continents it views through a conquerors lens.
crazytourists_books's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book, it is quite interesting and through it I realised how much "literature" helped slavery bloom.
I quote, from the back page of the book, a comment by the Observer, which totally reflects how I feel "Delves deep into the psyche of oppressed peoples and concludes that its vital for them to take back their own stories"
I quote, from the back page of the book, a comment by the Observer, which totally reflects how I feel "Delves deep into the psyche of oppressed peoples and concludes that its vital for them to take back their own stories"
jain's review
3.0
Three lectures Achebe delivered on colonialism, culture, and identity. Brief yet interesting.