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A review by cseibs
The African Trilogy by Chinua Achebe
3.0
Things Fall Apart should be required reading everywhere. The book encapsulates the complexities of African colonization, without melodrama or moralizing. The story is so simply told, but Okonkwo and his clan bring to life an important and sad period in Africa's history. The title is perfect as it conveys both Okonkwo's story and Africa's - making the experience both ordinary and personal yet and extraordinary and far-reaching.
No Longer at Ease is a beautifully written, ordinary tragedy. Nothing extraordinary happens, but Achebe writes with such stark clarity about the struggles of an ordinary man that the book is very moving. As a counterpart to Things Fall Apart it is perfect, as the helplessness of Obi mirror the frustrations of Okonkwo. While the book is undoubtedly Nigerian, Obi's story is universal and transcends beyond the context of colonial Africa. Again, the moralizing is left behind, and what is given is the story of a simple man, trying to get by.
No Longer at Ease is a beautifully written, ordinary tragedy. Nothing extraordinary happens, but Achebe writes with such stark clarity about the struggles of an ordinary man that the book is very moving. As a counterpart to Things Fall Apart it is perfect, as the helplessness of Obi mirror the frustrations of Okonkwo. While the book is undoubtedly Nigerian, Obi's story is universal and transcends beyond the context of colonial Africa. Again, the moralizing is left behind, and what is given is the story of a simple man, trying to get by.