Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
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Book Reviews of Things Fall Apart
Book Review: Half the story, and not the best half...
Summary: 3 Stars
Things Fall Apart, by noted author Chinua Achebe, is the fictional story of a family living in a small village, weathering and tolerating clan and religious traditions, until the coming of the British, who bring their own set of "clan" and religious traditions.
It's also a misogynistic tale full of anger and violence.
Achebe develops a story that has, as its key insult, to be called a woman. The reader is reminded of this over and over:
"That was why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man's spirit" (p. 26).
"No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man" (p. 53).
"If any one of you prefers to be a woman, let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse him" (p. 172).
"He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women" (p. 183).
There is an interesting story here, but the stories of the women are not just hidden and untold, but they are ground into kola nut paste. Frankly, Achebe is either not interested, or not able, to incorporate a female perspective in this tale. It is an ancient male fantasy of control and dominion. Beat the wife who is late with dinner. But she still exists 24/7. How can she be invisible?
The answer, I believe, lies in the location (Africa) and Achebe's creative period for this book (it was first published in 1959). If written today, it would be a different story. But the misogyny is still key. This is a story written by one who didn't understand women, even in 1959.
I wonder about its attraction today. Are we to pity the poor, "uncivilized" Africans? Are we to accept the deletion of women as significant in a community?
So... interesting, but irritating. Well-written, but brutal enough to lack "classic" status. This is not Africa, and even in the past, Africa was a big enough place that this tale didn't "speak" for all clans, tribes, and nations.
On the back cover, the promotional material states "Uniquely and richly African, at the same time it reveals Achebe's keen awareness of the human qualities common to men of all times and places." I don't think so.
Book Review: Okonkwo is cool
Summary: 4 Stars
Derek DeGennaro March 2, 2000 Things Fall ApartPart I This book begins talking about Unoka. Unoka was known to be lazy and improvident. Unoka's was the father of Okonkwo. As Okonkow grew older he realized how much he did not want to take after his father. When Unoka died, Okonkwo didn't inherit anything because Okonkwo was poor. He didn't have farmland as others did. As Okonkwo grew older, in time he gained high rankings in his tribal clan. He was gifted with three wives and many children. Okonkwo had a very bad agricultural life. The first year he planted his yams the blazing sun scorched everything green on his farmland. The second year Okonkwo planted seeds the rains pored so heavily that the city almost floated away. Okonkwo kept telling himself that he is not a failure. With his persistence he was able to grow yams and other crops for his family. After the harvest Okonkwo received a message from the Oracle saying the child named Ikemefuna had to be sacrificed. The child was very close to Okonkwo. This was a horrendous tragedy and caused Okonkwo many sleepless nights. During a major feast Okonkwo suffers yet another terrible mishap, for a ceremony Okonkwo fired a gun and it exploded ending up killing a sixteen year old boy. For this reason Okonkwo and his family were exiled to his Motherland for seven years. After the seven-year period, Okonkwo came home to a conflict of his people and white men that were trying to take over Umuofia. When Okonkwo finds this out he decides to fight back... You must read this book if you want to find out how Okonkwo and his family survive.
Part II There were many exciting events in "Things Fall Apart". One exciting event was when Okonkwo was sent to his Motherland for seven years. I think this event was very surprising to see how foreign cultures adapt to different situations. One circumstance that I didn't care for in this novel was when Okonkwo let Ikemefuna be killed as a sacrifice for the gods. I think if he stopped this from happening it would have giving me a better understanding of protecting your own people.
Part III My evaluation of this book is three and ½ stars. I especially liked this book because Chinua Achebe brings the reader through one mans life and death. Even though this book had a few loose ends I thought it was a great book for all ages.
Book Review: Okonkwo
Summary: 3 Stars
Derek March 2, 2000 Things Fall ApartPart I This book begins talking about Unoka. Unoka was known to be lazy and improvident. Unoka's was the father of Okonkwo. As Okonkow grew older he realized how much he did not want to take after his father. When Unoka died, Okonkwo didn't inherit anything because Okonkwo was poor. He didn't have farmland as others did. As Okonkwo grew older, in time he gained high rankings in his tribal clan. He was gifted with three wives and many children. Okonkwo had a very bad agricultural life. The first year he planted his yams the blazing sun scorched everything green on his farmland. The second year Okonkwo planted seeds the rains pored so heavily that the city almost floated away. Okonkwo kept telling himself that he is not a failure. With his persistence he was able to grow yams and other crops for his family. After the harvest Okonkwo received a message from the Oracle saying the child named Ikemefuna had to be sacrificed. The child was very close to Okonkwo. This was a horrendous tragedy and caused Okonkwo many sleepless nights. During a major feast Okonkwo suffers yet another terrible mishap, for a ceremony Okonkwo fired a gun and it exploded ending up killing a sixteen year old boy. For this reason Okonkwo and his family were exiled to his Motherland for seven years. After the seven-year period, Okonkwo came home to a conflict of his people and white men that were trying to take over Umuofia. When Okonkwo finds this out he decides to fight back... You must read this book if you want to find out how Okonkwo and his family survive.
Part II There were many exciting events in "Things Fall Apart". One exciting event was when Okonkwo was sent to his Motherland for seven years. I think this event was very surprising to see how foreign cultures adapt to different situations. One circumstance that I didn't care for in this novel was when Okonkwo let Ikemefuna be killed as a sacrifice for the gods. I think if he stopped this from happening it would have giving me a better understanding of protecting your own people.
Part III My evaluation of this book is three and ½ stars. I especially liked this book because Chinua Achebe brings the reader through one mans life and death. Even though this book had a few loose ends I thought it was a great book for all ages.
Book Review: THINGS FALL APART
Summary: 3 Stars
THINGS FALL APARTSUMMARY:
Chinua Achebe's book, Things Fall Apart reveals the unique life of a Nigerian man, which is dominated by fear and anger. The main character Okonkwo is a traditional man who is opposed to change. He adheres to the old ways of going about daily activities, fighting wars, to practicing faith. Throughout the book, Okonkwo experiences many tragic losses such as losing the child, Ikemefuna, and being banished from his home, Umuofia.This book not only shows the positive aspects but it reveals the hardships of life and eventually ends with Okonkwo committing suicide. I believe that Chinua Achebe wrote this book to share his knowlege about Nigerian life, that not many people know about or are familiar with. I think Achebe felt it was important for everybody to learn about African cultureand foreign customs before they can begin to appreciate them.
EXCITING EVENTS:
1.) I thought that the time when Okonkwo was removed from Umuofia was an exciting event. I looked forward to find out how he would react to this problem and the change in his surroundings.
2.) I also thought that the part when Ikemefuna was sent to live with Okokwo was exciting and interesting. I enjoyed reading about how Ikemefuna and Okonkwo's family bonded, matured, and developed relationships and how the family was affected when Ikemefuna had to be killed.
3.) The wrestling matches and festivals around it also caught my attention. It was interesting to learn what cultures do for fun and what they take pride in. In Okonkwo's culture, wrestling is one way to put yourself on the map and make a decent name for yourself.
EVALUATION:
Things Fall Apart was a decent book, but especially if you are interested in African culture It should be recommended for this purpose. The book used a few too many foreign words that became hard to understand. There could have been a little more action, tension, or war scenes involved, but life isn't always dramatic and exciting. I did like it because I find it helpful and useful to read different kinds of literature coming from different view points and perspectives. A little change once and a while can really open up the mind. Overall Things Fall Apart wasn't my favorite book but I appreciated what it had to say. I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
Book Review: good story if you are into reading this kind of genre ....
Summary: 1 Stars
I found it a bit weird reading this for a class I would never think my teacher could give me such a slow developing story, (teachers are supposed to keep you interested in reading, not drive you away from literature (or bore you to death). Nonetheless, it was for my world history class, so I HAD TO READ IT. There was (no choice of reading something else, it was either that or get an F). Which comes to another point in our education system but is a point entirely off in a tangentº.
So back to the book review ¡K.
I think it is a solid 2 stars in the writing style. Achebe has an ingenious talent in exposing African culture to readers, but his slow writing structure, poor story development, and other bad technical writing techniques I am not going to go in-depth, turned me off from recommending this book to anyone. I consider, that was done on purpose by the author to make this atmosphere of a world that runs very slow, life is stagnant, and one can feel the book all of the sudden develops in the last couple of chapters. If you read this book and liked it then kudos for you, but I like gratification when I read a story, this one did not do it for me :(.
The book does have a scholarly teaching. As I read it, I did not understand many of the deeper messages that the book was conveying but I blame the way the author wrote this. Then again I can blame the teacher for not going in depth in the book, I had to figure this out the SLOW and PAINFULL WAY.
I truly believe there are other GOOD books that can make reading FUN, INTELLIGENT, and more enjoyable to students, THIS IS NOT IT. I consider there are better examples of African tales, to me; this is NOT one of them. The book was solid written and well thought out for a more mature and well versed (read) audience, :)
The book was not bad, it was actually very interesting, but you really need to like this genre to truthfully enjoy it, I am more of a fantasy reader.
So what I did is pull this book apart and tell my teacher to shove it. In a very intellect way of writing I compared the story to some Native American stories and Asian (pre and after British colonization) and BANG got an A. Sometimes teacher like to be challenged I hate been part of the pack. :) For that i got an A. :)