Things Fall Apart :: A Book Review

This is the book I read - a borrowed photocopied version from the
streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone.

This is the original cover from 1958.

"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe
with Introduction and Notes by Aigboje Higo.

Genre: Historical fiction, based on true events.

First Publishing Date: 1958

Country of Origin: Nigeria

“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.” 

- Chapter 20

This book is an absolute African classic. Chinua Achebe is one of the most popular novelist to come out of Africa and his work is world renown. Things Fall Apart take place in lower Nigeria in the 1890s and sketches a picture of the historic clash between Nigeria’s white colonial government and the traditional culture of the indigenous Igbo people. Achebe has become renowned throughout the world as a father of modern African literature and had the aims of giving the reader fuller understanding of the Igbo people and, in so doing, giving voice to an underrepresented and exploited since the story was only told from the whiteman's prespective.

The main character in the book, Okonkwo, is introduced to the reader immediately as a very respected and rich warrior of the Umuofia clan. This clan is part of alower Nigerian tribe that is part of a group of nine  separate yet connected villages. His father, Unoka, who has passed away was the total opposite and it kills him inside. He was a coward and very poor – this drove Okonkwo to never settle for anything other than the very best. His eldest is a boy of 12 years named Nwoye. Okonkwo is worried his son will be lazy and end up like his father, thoughts like this consume his conscious at times and it drives him to  be an extremely strict and heartless father. Okonkwo has three wives and several children. 

The story goes on rapidly, moving from one thing to another as Achebe dives deeper into the main characters and the plot of the story. The way this man writes is unreal. For someone like myself, who loves to learn about the way other people thinks, live, beliefs, culture, traditions, worship etc, I find this book extraordinarily descriptive. He says so much in so few words. You almost feel like at times it’s a anthropological historical book. I loved that part! There is one time, where a man has brought Okonkwo several pots of palm wine for some sort of celebration or just a nice jester. As tradition Okonkwo calls in his wives to try the wine. In the order that each of them were married (the first wife then second and lastly third), they all received just one drink of wine from Okonkwo’s calabash. Each wife knelt as she accepted and left the room immediately after trying it. He also describes the   importance of giving thanks to their ancestors and their different gods and goddesses. Like Ani for example, the earth goddess. To give thanks to Ani there is an annual “Feast of the New Yam” before every harvest. It’s believe that this must be preformed otherwise the harvest will not be good.  

Suddenly, the story takes 180 and Okonkwo has been kicked out of his clan due to serious traditional rules. No one wanted to see him go, but it was the way of the land. He started from scratch in his Mother’s homeland. This is when the first rumors of Whiteman was spread throughout the land. People were not concerned at this point. But, sooner or later, after they allowed them to build churches on their land and live amongst them – all the clans realized their were in grave danger. Soon, clans start falling apart as the Whiteman gains more and more control. Soon they bring in their own government from Britain which prosecutes the Igbo people for things the whiteman has deemed ‘unlawful’ but things they have done their entire lives. Okonkwo is finally allowed back in his village after 7 years of exile. He is shocked at bitter about the changes he sees and mostly the passivity of his brothers. Being who he is, he stood up to one of the whitemen and ended up killing him believing that his brothers would join in and they would go to war to defend their land. No one joined him. When the  British District Attorney of that area came to sentence Okonkwo to death………. You will just have to read it to find out the rest!!

I recommend this book for several reasons: 

1. How many of you guys have read a book about Africa BY and African? 

2. Achebe writes eloquently and brings to life the way these people lives. Its always healthy for people to step outside of their own life and their own habits to see the way others see things. You know, walk a mile in their shoes. 

3. It’s short. Like not a couple pages short, but seriously short for such an epic story. You can finish it in one day. Or if you are busy, like seriously busy, a week. 

Buy it here!! 

Starting at only ONE PENNY for a used copy!