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A review by yolie
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Sexism, Child death, Slavery, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Violence
Although slow paced, as the book goes on you begin to see why ‘Things Fall Apart’.