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maludee 's review for:
Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
I really liked how many layers this story had. This is a really good example of writing that does a lot of showing, not telling. As a reader you could pull apart each layer of the way a character was presented - for example, what the main character, Okonkwo thought about his own motivations, vs. what the author wrote about Okonkwo's motivations and choices, vs. how you as the reader view Okonkwo's motivations and choices. Besides that, the method of storytelling really worked for me. I liked the conversational style and the folktales, proverbs, and idioms that were inserted into the prose.
In terms of the overall plot, it did a good job of depicting the effect of white colonization on an existing society, which has of course happened many times in history in many different places. Pre-colonial Nigerian life was by no means depicted as a utopia by the author so I didn't feel like he was trying to argue that everything was perfect before the white people arrived, but ultimately this story was told from the perspective of the colonized people. The slow unraveling of Okonkwo, as well as his home, was riveting and complicated.
I never studied this book in school but after doing a little bit of research, this was one of the first stories told from that perspective (and in response to Euro-centric books like Heart of Darkness).
In terms of the overall plot, it did a good job of depicting the effect of white colonization on an existing society, which has of course happened many times in history in many different places. Pre-colonial Nigerian life was by no means depicted as a utopia by the author so I didn't feel like he was trying to argue that everything was perfect before the white people arrived, but ultimately this story was told from the perspective of the colonized people. The slow unraveling of Okonkwo, as well as his home, was riveting and complicated.
The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.
I never studied this book in school but after doing a little bit of research, this was one of the first stories told from that perspective (and in response to Euro-centric books like Heart of Darkness).