Things Fall Apart: A Novel

Product Details

• Environment: NEW
• ISBN13: 9780385474542
• Notes: Label New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Description

This is Chinua Achebe's classic novel, with more than two million copies sold since its first U.S. publication in 1969. Combining a richly African story with the author's keen awareness of the qualities common to all humanity, Achebe here shows that he is "gloriously gifted, with the magic of an ebullient, generous, great talent." -- Nadine Gordimer

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One of Chinua Achebe's many achievements in his acclaimed first novel, Things Fall Apart, is his relentlessly unsentimental rendering of Nigerian tribal life before and after the coming of colonialism. First published in 1958, just two years before Nigeria declared independence from Great Britain, the book eschews the obvious temptation of depicting pre-colonial life as a kind of Eden. Instead, Achebe sketches a world in which violence, war, and suffering exist, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. His Ibo protagonist, Okonkwo, is a self-made man. The son of a charming ne'er-do-well, he has worked all his life to overcome his father's weakness and has arrived, finally, at great prosperity and even greater reputation among his fellows in the village of Umuofia. Okonkwo is a champion wrestler, a prosperous farmer, husband to three wives and father to several children. He is also a man who exhibits flaws well-known in Greek tragedy:

Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo's fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.

And yet Achebe manages to make this cruel man deeply sympathetic. He is fond of his eldest daughter, and also of Ikemefuna, a young boy sent from another village as compensation for the wrongful death of a young woman from Umuofia. He even begins to feel pride in his eldest son, in whom he has too often seen his own father. Unfortunately, a series of tragic events tests the mettle of this strong man, and it is his fear of weakness that ultimately undoes him.

Achebe does not introduce the theme of colonialism until the last 50 pages or so. By then, Okonkwo has lost everything and been driven into exile. And yet, within the traditions of his culture, he still has hope of redemption. The arrival of missionaries in Umuofia, however, followed by representatives of the colonial government, completely disrupts Ibo culture, and in the chasm between old ways and new, Okonkwo is lost forever. Deceptively simple in its prose, Things Fall Apart packs a powerful punch as Achebe holds up the ruin of one proud man to stand for the destruction of an entire culture. --Alix Wilber

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Customer Reviews

Thanks
Dear,
First of all,I would like to thank the managers of this site for the enormous effort and help they introduce to their customers. The item I have purchased is in a good shape. It is almost new.However, it is a great pleasure to continue dealing with you in my future purchases.
All the best,
Mohammad

2010-03-10 | Mohammad (PA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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A strong novel despite a highly unlikeable main character
Things Fall Apart is a remarkably simple straight forward told story about a hard and rough man living in a remote village in Africa. The story begins years before missionaries enter the landscape and begin to change the culture and customs of the land. The novel tells us of life before and after the missionaries came.

Although the novel is mostly about rituals, beliefs and history around this important period in Africa, it chooses to follow a very strong and unlikable character as its main focus. His name is Okonkwo. He came from a lazy father who he hated and is spite of that laziness and hatred of his father, Okonkwo becomes a hard working and ambitious leader in the clan of his village.

Okonkwo is not a good man. He beats his wife and kids regularly. He is a beast with a fierce temper but he is also a very respected throughout the village.

On a night of grieving Okonkwo accidentally shoots another clan member and is cast out for seven years with his family to his mother's homeland. Then the missionaries begin coming into the village during his absence. Okonkwo later disowns his son when he becomes friendly with the missionaries, who Okonkwo despises.

He returns back to his old village to find nothing is the same. The white man and his religion have changed everything. This isn't a book about flowery description and at times is very skeletal in its description but it moves along briskly with its story. There is never any emotional attachment that we develop with any of these characters. The characters seem to be mere vessels to carry the ideas and themes of the novel which really is about the vast differences between cultures and the connections that can unite or divide us.

I found the novel very good because it made me think about these ideas. At times I wondered how anyone could believe such things and there are some odd cultural practices, but then I realized that these people might also think my beliefs just as strange as theirs. The book is simple and interesting.

It is no masterpiece though. I believe the main problem with the book lies with the main character Okonkwo himself. I felt no pity in his demise even if some understanding remained for his firm beliefs and his fight to hold on to what he felt sacred.

Even with great ideas and cultural beliefs, I can't think a book is great unless I feel some connection to the characters and with Things Fall Apart I just couldn't. I just couldn't stand Okonkwo.

Don't get me wrong, I still highly recommend the book for the interesting ideas that one can dissect and discuss. I felt it would have had a stronger main character it could have been much stronger and might even have lifted it to a level of greatness.

Grade : B+

2010-03-04 | lightning (Salt Lake City, UT) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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maybe I am missing something?
Heard masses about this author and the book seemed to be exactly the sort of thing I like (different cultures, Africa, talented black author, good yarn etc.)

I was very disappointed. Maybe I am simply not sufficiently intelligent? or maybe it is 'Emperor's New Clothes' syndrome? Maybe the structure of the story itself follows some ancient format?

I found nothing to engage me with the characters, I found the frequent breaks for fable-telling a bit annoying, and the story had an alien 'shape' for me.

One passage I did enjoy was the White man discussing Christianity with the Elder near the end of the book. The Elder made some convincing arguments that reverence for a stick was a good model for Christianity - that was food for thought.

Otherwise, went right over my head.

2010-03-01 | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 3

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A Tale of an Angry Soul
This book started out slow for me and it did not pick up until part two. I found all the different African names confusing and hard to keep up with. Overall the main character, Okonkwo, was quite depressing. I wish Okonkwo's daughter, Enzinma, character would have been developed more. Enzima was my favorite character throughout the entire story.

Even though the beginning was a somewhat rough to get through, I like how the story developed. Okonkwo was such a complex character. His childhood demons followed him all his life. It was like a dark cloud hovered over his emotions. Personally, I believe that Okonkwo's broken spirit led to his horrible death. The ending really pierced me.

2010-02-25 (Jackson, MS) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Very authentic
*contains spoilers*

I loved this book. Chinua Achebe writes a sad and melancholic tale about a man called Okonkwo in a small African tribal village called Umuofia. Okonkwo is a man feared and respected by everyone in his village and beyond. He is a wrestling champion and man who enjoys fame and respect because of his hard work. He is a self made man. His father was considered a looser because he did not work very hard to sustain his crops and did nothing else but play music and laze around. He died as an outcast.

The only thing Okonkwo fears is failure and being compared to his father. So he works hard, becomes prosperous and lives comfortably with his 3 wives and children.

But life is not fair to him. After working hard in his village to gain a title and a good life, he is exiled from his fatherland because he kills a boy by mistake. When European colonists come to his village and build a church and start converting the villagers into Christians, Okonkwo wants to take action, he wants to fight the Europeans and preserve his culture and religion and his gods. But no one else wants to fight. Okonkwo watches his son join the Europeans and turn into a Christian and he is in utter despair because he cannot do anything about it.

This book has a sad and tragic end.
What I liked about the book was the simple descriptions of the day to day life of the people in a tribal village. I enjoyed reading about how their lives revolved around the growing and harvesting of Yams, how their beliefs in their gods affected the men and women in the village and their unease and anger when Europeans come and build a church in the village.
I enjoyed reading about folk tales passed down from generation to generation.

Even though I like the book I would like to mention a few points here as I have heard a lot of criticism and bad reviews for this book.

`Things fall apart' has been termed as a literary masterpiece. But if you looking for outstanding language, this book is not for you. The language is as simple as it can get, which I think is the beauty of it. If you want to clear your prejudice that African villages are backward and primitive and you think reading this book will give you an insight into why they what they do, do NOT read this book. I thought the tribal customs and beliefs were down right against humanity and whatever way the author would have put it, I wouldn't have believed otherwise. Would you approve of leaving new born twins in a jungle because twins are considered evil? Mutilating a dead infant's body so that it isn't born again? Out casting a man from his village and his loved ones because he has a disease?

If you are looking for a good plot and well rounded and lovable characters, again this book is not for you. I hated Okonkwo. He was a tyrant and he repeatedly beat his wives and kids. I couldn't sympathize with him no matter what.

I couldn't take sides with the European colonists either. Though they brought good things in the village, they brought law and order, I hated the fact that they thought their God was the greatest. Trying to undermine any religion is always wrong. Every religion has its good and bad points, what you can do is point out the bad points or the bad interpretations of it. Sorry, but I am against statements like, `There is no God except our God'. I believe God is one, whether he is in the form of Christ or Allah or Krishna, everyone is the same, there are just different names given by humans. I don't want this to turn into a religious discussion, so I'll stop.

All I can say is I loved this book. Read it if you want to live and experience a culture very different from your own. `Things fall apart' is distinctively African.

2010-02-20 | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 5

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The Education of a British-Protected Child: Essays

Product Details

• ISBN13: 9780307272553
• Circumstances: NEW
• Notes: Identify New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Description

From the celebrated author of Things Fall Apart and winner of the Man Booker International Prize comes a new collection of autobiographical essays—his first new book in more than twenty years.

Chinua Achebe’s characteristically measured and nuanced voice is everywhere present in these seventeen beautifully written pieces. In a preface, he discusses his historic visit to his Nigerian homeland on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart, the story of his tragic car accident nearly twenty years ago, and the potent symbolism of President Obama’s election. In “The Education of a British-Protected Child,” Achebe gives us a vivid portrait of growing up in colonial Nigeria and inhabiting its “middle ground,” recalling both his happy memories of reading novels in secondary school and the harsher truths of colonial rule. In “Spelling Our Proper Name,” Achebe considers the African-American diaspora, meeting and reading Langston Hughes and James Baldwin, and learning what it means not to know “from whence he came.” The complex politics and history of Africa figure in “What Is Nigeria to Me?,” “Africa’s Tarnished Name,” and “Politics and Politicians of Language in African Literature.” And Achebe’s extraordinary family life comes into view in “My Dad and Me” and “My Daughters,” where we observe the effect of Christian missionaries on his father and witness the culture shock of raising “brown” children in America.

Charmingly personal, intellectually disciplined, and steadfastly wise, The Education of a British-Protected Child is an indispensable addition to the remarkable Achebe oeuvre.

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Customer Reviews

What makes us human
"Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu" should be repeated every hour on the hour by every school child all over the world until it becomes the mantra of all societies. It is Bantu for "A human is human because of other humans."

The simple but profound adage is the theme of Chinua Achebe's collection of essays, The Education of a British-Protected Child: Essays. It may also be the theme of his life's work, judging by the simple message it conveys about the importance of the communal aspirations of the peoples of Africa. He uses it several times in various essays in the book, but really drives the point home in the concluding paragraph of the last one, titled "Africa Is People."

"Our humanity is contingent on the humanity of our fellows. No person or group can be human alone. We rise above the animal together, or not at all. If we learned that lesson even this late in the day, we would have taken a truly millennial step forward."

Achebe, winner of the Man Booker International Prize and best known as the author of Things Fall Apart, one of the seminal works of African fiction, has a subtle, dry voice that makes each of these seventeen essays something to savor and linger over. He makes his points about racial stereotypes, African development, history, and politics, and the African-American diaspora, sometimes with humor, sometimes with biting directness, but always graciously and without rancor. You sense Achebe knows that to rail against injustice is futile; change must come through education achieved one cogent argument at a time.

While Achebe is a scholar, he is also a master storyteller. More often than not, he makes his points not with dry logical argument but with an exegetical tale about someone he's met or something that's happened to him. Those little narratives are much more illustrative than pure cant. In "Spelling Our Proper Name," he tells the story of Dom Afonso of Bukongo, for example, who negotiated with King John III of Portugal in 1526 as an equal. He then writes:

"Such stories as Dom Alfonso's encounter with Europe are not found in the history books we read in schools. If we knew them....young James Baldwin would not have felt a necessity to compare himself so adversely with peasants in a Swiss village. He would have known that his African ancestors did not sit through the millennia idly gazing into the horizon, waiting for European slavers to come and get them."

I found his exploration of the complex politics and history of Africa in "Africa's Tarnished Name" to be particularly thought-provoking. He also talks frequently about Joseph Conrad's purported racism, which has become an important theme in the deconstruction of Heart of Darkness. Some of these essays have been presented elsewhere, although they have been revised and updated since they were first published. Nothing in them is dated, however, and Achebe's insightful discussions with Langston Hughes and James Baldwin ring as true as his observations about the potent symbolism of Barack Obama's election as President of the United States.

2010-02-20 | Author of Heart of Diamonds | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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The Education of a British-Protected Child
I am honored to review Chinua Achebe's collection of essays, //The Education of a British-Protected Child//. Reading Achebe's book, I felt like I was meeting him in person. His 1958 novel, //Things Fall Apart//, made him a pioneer in the nascent world of African literature. Achebe is clear about history and literature. We live in a world tainted with imperialism, whose historical legacy is persistent poverty for many. Africa does not have a monopoly on suffering or the ills of colonialism but is a screen that reflects whatever the West wishes to see. The narrative of Africa, created to justify colonization and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, constructed Africans as problems. Today, the narrative remains: Africa is troubled and none of the solutions are working. Africans are in positions to write their own histories, but how can they escape centuries of being subjected to pervasive stereotypes? By giving back to the African her humanity and individual agency, African writers/poets can begin the urgent task of recuperation. Also, the West is now more willing to listen to African voices. Achebe's essays seamlessly weave together biography and history, and his own life story offers hope that Africans will not be eclipsed by history--and they never were!


Reviewed by Viola Allo

2010-02-08 | SacramentoBookReview.com (Sacramento, CA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Read his Novels Instead
I very rarely find essays satisfying, but since this was Achebe and it was a library check out, I went for it. I was hoping to learn more about this author and something of Nigeria. There were a few interesting moments such as Achebe's meeting Richard Wright and Langston Hughes, his views on Conrad, travel in Africa in the early 1960's and his impressions on high level literary or policy gatherings, but on the whole this book validates my feeling.

Achebe is a master in developing themes. The essay forces a point and doesn't have the space for layering ideas. Essays work for news events, but there is not enough space to develop a theme.

These pieces cover colonialism, images of Africans in print and the historical record, the rape of Africa after "independence", etc. The book is OK, but Achebe's views are better expressed in his books.

Later - The 5 star rating does not match my review. I meant to give this 3 stars. My finger must have slipped. It does not appear that this can be edited.

2010-01-12 | Louise (Hawaii) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Here He Goes Again on Conrad!
Over my lengthy teaching career, I taught Chinua Achebe's novels THINGS FALL APART (1959) and NO LONGER AT EASE (1960) more often than I taught any other works of imaginative literature of comparable length. Consequently, when I read that Achebe had published a new short collection of essays, I hastened to order a copy of THE EDUCATION OF A BRITISH-PROTECTED CHILD: ESSAYS. As you might expect, I found some of the essays more interesting than others.

But I am writing this customer review to protest against Achebe's continuing charge against Conrad over alleged racist views in Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS. Achebe himself gives no evidence in the essays in this new collection - or anywhere else that I know of -- of having considered any counterarguments to his well-publicized arguments. So I propose to set forth here counterarguments for prospective readers of Achebe's new collection of essays to consider.

With respect to the passages in Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS that Achebe has selected to object to, I agree with him that the views expressed in the selected passages in the text can be characterized as racist. But I can think of less harsh terms to use to register the same criticism about the limited range of humanity expressed in certain statements.

But in the frame narrative in Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS, the views that Achebe has selected as expressing racist views are imputed in the text to Marlow. But Achebe imputes them to Conrad! But the views in question are not necessarily Conrad's!

Moreover, nowhere in the text is Marlow presented as an apotheosis of all that is good in human nature, as Beatrice is presented in Dante's PARADISO. Furthermore, nowhere does Conrad tell us to take everything Marlow says at face value. Thus if there are no explicit hints about exactly how we are to be circumspect about what Marlow says, there are no explicit injunctions to regard him as an entirely reliable narrator either. In short, we are free to question Marlow's judgment, as Achebe does.

But what about the title? The title of Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS does not lead me to expect that I will be reading about an imaginary paradise, as the title of Dante's PARADISO leads me to expect. On the contrary, the title of Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS leads me to expect that I will be reading about the heart of darkness, but the title does not tell me exactly wherein I may find the heart of darkness in the novella.

If Achebe understands that Marlow is expressing racist views, isn't Achebe thereby examining the heart of darkness in Marlow? In short, can't Achebe understand Marlow's racist views to be one form of darkness, although perhaps not the only form of darkness to be found in Conrad's novella?

Moreover, when Achebe himself spells out the problem that he finds in the text by saying that Marlow does not recognize that the Africans are people, aren't we coming pretty close to the heart of darkness? In plain English, Marlow distances himself from and de-humanizes the Africans.

As Achebe notes, when we read novels, we tend to identify with the dominant cultural conditioning that is expressed in the novel. In plain English, we tend to say "we" and "us" to the dominant cultural conditioning expressed in the novel. As a result, when we first read Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS, we may tend to say "we" and "us" to the limited views expressed by Marlow. But we are free to reflect on and question his views, as Achebe does. This process of reflection involves critical reading - in plain English, not being taken in uncritically by the novel.

After I have removed Conrad the author as the target of Achebe's criticism about racist views and have substituted Marlow as the appropriate target for Achebe's criticism about racist views, I can thank Achebe for deepening my critical understanding of Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS.

Next, I want to discuss an analogy based on Achebe's THINGS FALL APART. In this novel the author uses the narrative device known as the omniscient narrator. This is a far more straightforward narrative device than the tricky narrative device of the frame narrative that the author of HEART OF DARKNESS uses. At times, the omniscient narrator in THINGS FALL APART comments in no uncertain terms about something portrayed in the novel, most notably at the very end of the novel.

The main character is Okonkwo. He is presented sympathetically but not uncritically. He is a strong man whose father was weak and unsuccessful. Okonkwo worked hard and overcame adversity to become a successful farmer. As a young man, he became a champion wrestler. Subsequently, he was an outstanding warrior, and he was recognized and rewarded for his warrior services to his village by being given certain public responsibilities within the village. Nevertheless, he is at times a rash man. In the course of the novel we learn enough about Okonkwo that we can classify him as a round character, not a flat character.

Compared to all the things that we learn about Okonkwo in the course of the novel, we learn relatively little about Agamemnon and Achilles in the Homeric epic the ILIAD. So compared to Okonkwo, Agamemnon and even Achilles are flat characters, not round characters. However, in the opening episode, we learn that both Agamemnon and Achilles are rash men, just as we learn that Okonkwo is at times a rash man.

But we should pause and note certain things that we do not learn a lot about in the novel. Even though we learn that Okonkwo is a successful warrior, we are not given detailed battle scenes, as we are in the three big battle scenes of the successful warrior Beowulf in the medieval heroic epic BEOWULF. (When the British slaughter the people in a neighboring village, that event also takes place off-stage and is merely reported to us in the novel.)

But Beowulf is not portrayed as a rash man, as are Agamemnon and Achilles in the opening episode of the ILIAD and as is Okonkwo.

Conversely, apart from battle scenes, we learn a lot more about Okonkwo than we do learn about Beowulf. Compared to Okonkwo, Beowulf is not a round character but a flat character, just as Agamemnon and Achilles are flat characters.

However, despite his flaws and limitations, Okonkwo is arguably a great man in his cultural context, as Beowulf is in his, and as Achilles and Hector are in their cultural contexts in the Homeric epic the ILIAD. But to understand Okonkwo's greatness, we will probably have to consider him carefully as a warrior and compare him to Beowulf -- and to Achilles and Hector. The cultural conditions in Africa that gave rise to the warrior Okonkwo are roughly comparable to the cultural conditions in antiquity that gave rise to the warriors Achilles and Hector, and in medieval culture to Beowulf.

Moreover, symbolically, Okonkwo symbolizes all of us who find ourselves mid-life in emerging cultural conditions that are significantly different from the cultural conditioning in which we grew up.

But what can we say about the two episodes in the novel concerning wife-beating, where the omniscient narrator does not comment in no uncertain terms about wife-beating? Should we charge the author with endorsing wife-beating because the omniscient narrators fails to criticize the practice in no uncertain terms?

As each episode stands, it appears that the practice of wife-beating is accepted by the Ibo people, but with the understanding that there is a limit beyond which it is not acceptable to go.

From those two episodes, should we charge that the author condones limited wife-beating? After all, the author uses the narrative device of the omniscient narrator, and the omniscient narrator does not criticize the practice of wife-beating in no uncertain terms. In this way, limited wife-beating appears to be an accepted practice not only among the Ibo people but also for the omniscient narrator. But can we go beyond pointing out these obvious points and charge the author with condoning limited wife-beating because the authors does not portray any explicit criticism of this practice in the text of the novel, just criticism of carrying the wife-beating too far?

For the sake of discussion, I will assume that the author would want to object to having me make such a charge against him.

But if he were to object to the charge of condoning wife-beating against him because the omniscient narrators does not criticize the practice in no uncertain terms, then he should join me in objecting to his charge against the author Joseph Conrad.

We do not need to have the omniscient narrator tell us what exactly we should think about wife-beating, just as we do not need to have explicit hints about how we are to think about Marlow's racist views.

And what should we say about the cultural conditions in Nigeria that gave rise to the author Chinua Achebe and conspired to enable him to write the novels THINGS FALL APART and NO LONGER AT EASE - two sensitive creative achievements? If Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS grated against Achebe's sensibility so strongly that he was moved to write those two novels, then I say glory be to God for Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS -- and glory be to God for Achebe's novels.

As Achebe intimates in places in this collection of essays, the supposed darkness of Africa (the so-called dark continent) and Africans involved projections of the European and Western psyche. But if we are going to give credit where credit is due, then Conrad deserves a certain share of credit for plumbing the depths of that projection.

If you ask me, Achebe understood and understands what Conrad's novella is all about - it is about the heart of darkness that Achebe chooses to sum up as racist, although that is not all that it is about or all of the heart of darkness portrayed in the novella. In effect, Conrad was Achebe's muse. Thus it is sad that Achebe cannot be more respectful of Conrad's achievement as a European in plumbing the depths of the European and Western heart of darkness.

But the European and Western heart of darkness may be more than just racist - it may also be sexist, as may the heart of darkness in other cultures (just as the heart of darkness in other cultures may be racist - or ethnocentric).

Thomas J. Farrell, author of Walter Ong's Contributions to Cultural Studies: The Phenomenology of the Word and I-Thou Communication (The Hampton Press Communication Series (Media Ecology).)

2009-12-29 (Duluth, MN USA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 4

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Dose the rest of the world truly understand the people of Africa
I am starting to read Mr. Achebe's latest book for the second time. I think Mr. Achebe, like other passionate writers who's life is intertwined with the continent of Africa, e.g. Chinweizu, continues the old saga of attempting to help the rest of the world understand the heart beat of the most valuable resource on the continent of Africa, the people.

2009-11-09 | World is one (Rockford, Ill USA) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 4

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Things Fall Apart

Description

Richly African.

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Customer Reviews

a rich history
For the story's main character things change and then they change again and, sadly,each time for the worse. A convincing account.

2009-09-13 | Mary Ann Orr (Okemos, MI) | Helpful Votes: 0 | Rating: 5

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Arrow of God

Product Details

• Notes: Label New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Form: NEW
• ISBN13: 9780385014809

Description

Set in the Ibo heartland of eastern Nigeria, one of Africa's best-known writers describes the conflict between old and new in its most poignant aspect: the personal struggle between father and son.

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Customer Reviews

Great writer.
I first read is book many years ago in college, I am just reading them again.

2009-05-20 (New York City) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Another Chinua Masterpiece
"Arrow of God" is another excellent novel by the world renowned Chinua Achebe. I have read this novel perhaps five times, having first read it decades ago. I still get thrilled and marvel at the ability of Chinua Achebe to tell a good story that keeps the reader wanting to read more. I have also read "Things Fall Apart" and "Man of the People", which are all excellent reading for those interested in African literature.

The story is set in a traditional Igbo village in Western Nigeria where the author traces how the age old traditions that had stood the test of time were systematically eroded by colonial rule. An important lesson we learn is that we need to change with the times and be adaptive to the constant changes, otherwise we perish.

This is a well written book by a remarkable author that is very interesting to read as well as enlightening.

2006-04-20 | Dr Elijah Chingosho (Nairobi, Kenya) | Helpful Votes: 15 | Rating: 5

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Falls just short of greatness
After reading the great "Things Fall Apart" by Achebe, I had high expectations of this book. I came away befuddled. I guess we were supposed to learn that a man cannot overcome his village, but still..I didn't get how it could have ended like that.

2004-05-07 (worcester ma) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 3

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The Best Achebe Novel
I know that many people have read Things Fall Apart, but that is not his greatest novel. I was not forced to read any of his books. I was just curious. It exposed me to some of the greatest literature I could ever have known. Arrow of God is by far my favorite Achebe book. So if you think Things Fall Apart is good, Arrow of God is so much deeper. You get to know the characters so much better. You feel like you are part of the scene. It is more personal. You see more into different people's lives. I read a lot of books. This one is one of my favorite.

2004-03-28 | Helpful Votes: 20 | Rating: 5

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IRRESISTIBLE! READ THIS BOOK, AND KNOW THAT IT'S CUTE
The entertaining prowess of Professor Achebe makes me wonder how he gets his inspiration.
This well-written, well-edited "Arrow of God" is by every means fantastic. It is a masterpiece whose only functional gear is forward. The novel is so interesting that you will never put it down once you've started reading it.
Having read most of Professor Achebe's works, I acknowledge that his Nobel Prize (in literature) is long overdue.

2003-01-28 (Zurich, Switzerland.) | Helpful Votes: 9 | Rating: 5

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Home and Exile

Product Details

• Fit out: NEW
• <a title='Condition Guide' href='/content/Condition_and_S hipping_Guide.htm' target='_blank'>Click here to object our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices</a>
• Notes: Identify New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• ISBN13: 9780385721332

Description

More personally revealing than anything Achebe has written, Home and Exile-the great Nigerian novelist's first book in more than ten years-is a major statement on the importance of stories as real sources of power, especially for those whose stories have traditionally been told by outsiders.

In three elegant essays, Achebe seeks to rescue African culture from narratives written about it by Europeans. Looking through the prism of his experiences as a student in English schools in Nigeria, he provides devastating examples of European cultural imperialism. He examines the impact that his novel Things Fall Apart had on efforts to reclaim Africa's story. And he argues for the importance of writing and living the African experience because, he believes, Africa needs stories told by Africans.

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Based on three lectures distinguished Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe gave at Harvard University in 1998, this short but trenchant work does not pretend to be a full-fledged autobiography. Instead, Achebe makes forceful use of his personal experiences to examine the political nature of culture. Born in 1930, the son of a Christian convert, young Achebe received a privileged colonial education and "was entranced by the far-away and long-ago worlds of the stories [in English books like Treasure Island and Ivanhoe], so different from the stories of my home and childhood." Yet he and fellow university students indignantly rejected Anglo-Irishman Joyce Cary's highly praised novel Mister Johnson, which bore no resemblance to their knowledge of Nigerian life. This encounter "call[ed] into question my childhood assumption of the innocence of stories," Achebe comments, using scathing assessments of white Kenyan writer Elspeth Huxley and Indian/Caribbean expatriate V.S. Naipaul to remind us that all literature reflects its creators' beliefs and prejudices. Achebe is not an enemy of Western culture; he merely asserts Africans' right to their own perspective and their own art, as exemplified in works like his groundbreaking 1958 novel, Things Fall Apart. Though blunt, his argument is tempered by humor and a passionate belief in "the curative power of stories." --Wendy Smith

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Customer Reviews

If you like Achebe, or care about indigenous literature
Since the book is already well-summarized above, I'll just give my own reaction.

I've read a number of Achebe's novels and one essay (the excellent critique of Heart of Darkness) and really enjoyed the "backstage" feeling of hearing the author's first person voice - an insightful and kindly voice. For me, the effect of Achebe's strong positions is heightened by the dignified presentation, and of course by the poignant and funny stories from his own life that he uses to illustrate those positions. As compared to one of my other favorite authors, James Baldwin, Achebe's writing includes less calls to action, and more explanation. For instance, even in his sharp critique of Vidiadhar Naipaul's novels, Achebe's first priority is to shine light on the processes that led to Naipul's failures of vision. I think people who have read Achebe's fiction or essays and liked it, or generally care about literature from an indigenous or "Third World" perspective will really enjoy this short text. Definitely worth the cost, and may be available from the library.

2004-10-05 (Brooklyn, NY U$A) | Helpful Votes: 7 | Rating: 4

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Long Live our blessed Statesman and elder
Long live the proud son of Africa and our respected statesman.
Achebe the honest and truthful dispenser of both sides of the story. Colonial griots (to borrow Achebe's words) such as Elspeth Huxley and other apologists have for too long been left alone to justify the dispossession of precious lands and cultures. Until the proud son of Africa made them eat their own words and exposed them for what they are. Dishonest griots deftly laying the groundwork for self-enrichment at the expense of peace loving and decent Human Beings.
Chinua Achebe as exemplified by his few but precious books writes not to make money but only when he must say something useful. Unlike modern day "authors" who are more about money than substance. I have no doubt Achebe can write profound and moving accounts of African and world issues at the rate of one book a day but he chose only to spend his time teaching.
It is obvious why the Nobel Prize went to Wole Soyinka instead of Chinua Achebe. Achebe refuses to write for a "foreign" audience and does not take his marching orders from anybody. He is his own man. Africans and honest people all over the world have in their own ways given Achebe the best prize in the world.
Continuous interest in his worthwhile classics such as Things Fall Apart,The Man of the People,No longer at Ease,Anthills of the Savannah, Morning Yet on Creation Day,Hopes and Impediments and many others.

Home and Exile may be a small book but has enough three pence (from Achebes "somebody knock me down and have three pence!") to liberate nations and individuals from the grip and stench of colonial and racist apologia masquerading as literature.

Long live Achebe, proud son of Africa and citizen of the world.
To know Achebe (by reading his books) is to know how to be an unassuming and proud Human Being who quitely and calmly states his truth for the benefit of us all.

2001-10-31 | xirsi (Ohio) | Helpful Votes: 19 | Rating: 5

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A Great Peice of Compact History
Achebe's work was informative, thought provocing, and at times amusing. His work is another example of how important it is for all people to tell their own story/history, especially people who were once disposessed. This little book inspired me to write a few ideas to prevent my experiences from being misinterpreted.

2001-01-20 (Mount Vernon, New York USA) | Helpful Votes: 1 | Rating: 5

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Insightful ramblings from the ascetic, Achebe
The physical brevity of Achebe's "autobiography" truly belies the intrisic wisdom he so effortlessly spews upon his listeners. Mr. Achebe sets out to deconstruct the manifold, post-colonial ills (endemic to the dispossessed of African diasopora) with the assistance of historical literature, creation fables, and his own personal memories. Indeed, a thought provoking manifesto for any fan of the great Achebe; one which will aid the reader to pursue further literature with a new sense of enlightenment.

2000-08-19 | Helpful Votes: 8 | Rating: 5

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Home and Exile
Excellent! Achebe has done it again. This is a must read!

2000-07-25 | Helpful Votes: 3 | Rating: 5

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Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: A Routledge Study Guide (Routledge Guides to Literature)

Product Details

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Description

Offering an insight into African culture that had not been portrayed before, Things Fall Apart is both a tragic and moving story of an individual set in the wider context of the coming of colonialism, as well as a powerful and complex political statement of cross-cultural encounters.

This guide to Chinua Achebe’s compelling novel offers:

• an accessible introduction to the text and contexts of Things Fall Apart
• a critical history, surveying the many interpretations of the text from publication to the present
• a selection of critical writing on Things Fall Apart, by Abiola Irele, Abdul JanMohamed, Biodun Jeyifo, Florence Stratton and Ato Quayson, providing a variety of perspectives on the novel and extending the coverage of key critical approaches identified in the survey section
• cross-references between sections of the guide, in order to suggest links between texts, contexts and criticism
• suggestions for further reading.

Part of the Routledge Guides to Literature series, this volume is essential reading for all those beginning detailed study of Things Fall Apart and seeking not only a guide to the novel, but a way through the wealth of contextual and critical material that surrounds Achebe’s text.

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Customer Reviews

Chinua Achebe-s: Things Fall Apart by Mpalive-Hangson Msiska
I almost bought this book thinking it was the original "Things Fall Apart", had I not read the reviews. I am disappointed that the book itself is not available on Kindle. I hope it would eventually appear on Kindle, and we would be able to download it. Please mention that it is a discussion to the works of Achebe.

2009-10-18 | baj2009 (Seattle, WA USA) | Helpful Votes: 2 | Rating: 1

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chinua achebes things fall apart
I too was very disappointed in finding out only after purchasing that this was not the actual book. Being my very first purchase I felt that this description was very misleading. I certanly hope that kindle recognizes this as a problem as I find it hard to believe that I just happened upon the one and only misrepresented book description. Now back to the users guide to find out how and even if I can receive a refund for the purchase of this book. Buyers beware.

2009-09-19 | Helpful Votes: 5 | Rating: 1

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Not the actual story
I bought this in an attempt to help my sister with an English project, but it is not the actual novel and instead was a discussion of the original work and other works seen to be related to Achebe's, "Things Fall Apart." I was very disappointed in that there was no indication of it not being the real story, as translations and edited versions of books often have another person's name tacked on it. Hopefully the actual version of the book will make it to Kindle, but for now only the printed edition is available.

2009-04-06 | Helpful Votes: 36 | Rating: 1

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