Things Fall Apart: A Novel

Chinua Achebe

Oct 2010 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

“A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama 

“African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man's futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.

With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.

Ratings and reviews

Read this a few years ago, and it remains a book that I very much enjoy and appreciate. It's a look into the dynamic between cultures from the perspective of the people involved. As humans, we only know the world we grow up with, but we're all human with human reasoning and thinking. One worldview is no less real than another, in the minds of those who believe it. People believe their own religions. Culture isn't genetic, and it's shared through communities and families and *people.* Things Fall Apart is a very powerful and enjoyable look into the life and community of Okonkwo, and how things change when cultures interact. If you at all enjoyed that old blog post, "Shakespeare in the Bush," I think you'll enjoy reading this. Everyone sees things through their own lens, and this is a different lens from what most people are used to. Similar, and very human, but shifted and seen from a different society with a different set of fundamental assumptions.

The book is okay. I don't like the portrayal of most of the Christians. Many of the cultural practices of the Igbo are also demonic because of calling on gods other than Yahweh. I don't really suggest reading this book other than to gain an understanding of Igbo culture unless you are being forced to read it for school. If you choose to read it, be careful about what you take into your heart. Other than that, the book is still interesting about learning about Igbo society and the downfall of one man. Okonkwo's downfall was based on his feelings of hatred toward his father to the point where he wouldn't even take traits like showing affection to others. In the end, I do not suggest this book.

One of the few pieces that captures your imagination from the first chapter and never lets go. Easy to read, and loaded with social commentary. RIP Achebe a literary genius.

About the author

Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) was born in Nigeria. Widely considered to be the father of modern African literature, he is best known for his masterful African Trilogy, consisting of Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and No Longer at Ease. The trilogy tells the story of a single Nigerian community over three generations from first colonial contact to urban migration and the breakdown of traditional cultures. He is also the author of Anthills of the Savannah, A Man of the People, Girls at War and Other Stories, Home and Exile, Hopes and Impediments, Collected Poems, The Education of a British-Protected Child, Chike and the River, and There Was a Country. He was the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University and, for more than fifteen years, was the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College. Achebe was the recipient of the Nigerian National Merit Award, Nigeria’s highest award for intellectual achievement. In 2007, Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement.