Review of “Things fall apart” by Chinua Achebe book #2 on the “Books of shite” list

“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.”

― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

This book could not be MORE DIFFERENT than any of the books I have read recently, Its a book by an African author set in Nigeria in the 1890s when Great Britain were taking over and so were the missionaries from the church, The book follows the life story of Okonkwo a fierce warrior and wrestler a manly man indeed – Okonkwo hates his father, he sees him as lazy and feckless, and doesn't want to be anything like him, he wants to be the fiercest manliest man in the world – and out of all his clans – but the world is changing, and although he is steadfast in his ambitions – things in the world are set to thwart him, I had no real love for our main protagonist – he is extremely traditional in his views and those are fairly diametrically opposed to the views of our modern society – but in the context of 1890's Nigeria you can see why he thinks as he does.

I have no idea how historically accurate this is, but it written by a Nigerian who clearly knows his stuff – It was a really interesting insight into Nigerian customs and it was a really great story to read – and I say nothing like any book I have read recently – well out of my comfort zone and it's all the better for it – It wasn't a massive book, and I think I read it from cover to cover in 3 sittings – I will definitely read the follow up book – and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I give “Things fall apart” a massive 9/10 – Well worth reading!