Achebe Discusses Africa 50 Years After 'Things Fall Apart'

[Edited 4/1/22] Wiki calls the book the most widely read book in modern African literature. Written in 1958, this is the classic African novel about how colonialism impacted and undermined traditional African culture. It’s set among the Igbo people of Nigeria (aka Ibos). A key phrase is found late in......more

Achebe’s protagonist isn’t a very nice man. In reality he is an asshole. I don’t like him. I don’t think anyone really does. He is ruthless and unsympathetic to his fellow man. He grew up in a warrior’s culture; the only way to be successful was to be completely uncompromising and remorseless. His f......more

In this classic tale Okonkwo is a strong man in his village, and in his region of nine villages. At age 18 he beat the reigning wrestling champion and has been an industrious worker all his life, a reaction to his lazy, drunkard father. He lives his life within the cultural confines of his limited w......more

The act of writing is strangely powerful, almost magical: to take ideas and put them into a lasting, physical form that can persist outside of the mind. For a culture without a written tradition, a libraries are not great structures of stone full of objects--instead, stories are curated within flesh......more

How to attempt a balanced review of Things Fall Apart: 1. The book is serious. Themes and issues dealt in the book are far more serious than many other books written by the contemporary authors of Achebe. 2. The colonial abstract takes an altogether different turn as Achebe explores that colonisers......more