Author: Chinua Achebe
Length: 209 pages
Year Written: 1959
Why I chose this book: This was the latest selection for my awesome book club! Thanks, Kiara!
I have always meant to read this book. Most people were required to read it at some point, but somehow I evaded that assignment in my life. Last year, when Chinua Achebe died, I added Things Fall Apart to my to-read list. Luckily, it seemed the majority of my book club had not read it either, and wanted to.
This book is written like a long Aesop's fable, from the POV of some storyteller that is privy to many personal details—though not all of them. The book follows Okonkwo, his three wives, their children, and their journey from well-respected to completely disjointed. It isn't hard to learn who Okonkwo is as a man. He is strong-willed and often violent. He makes it clear that men fight, and women talk. My favorite line from Okonkwo (that nicely sums up his general demeanor)—"If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head. That is what a man does."
Things Fall Apart raises questions about colonization, cultural and family values, and religion. In the end, things really fell apart for Okonkwo and his family. I'm not exactly sure, however, of who we can reasonably blame for the fall.
Rating: 9.2/10
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