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Things Fall Apart
This movingly told story by Nigeria's foremost novelist has become a classic of African literature. Okonkwo is respected for his strength and honesty but his people are doomed by their own superstitions and the arrival of the white man.
85 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1974
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February 13, 2020This review is based on my very personal experience reading this book, it is not an objective truth!
I am probably not a part of any intended audience for this book, and would like to point out that my experience might differ from anyone else’s and of course is really personal. For the right reader this can be a great book – that’s why I chose to read it after all.
This book is about when “the white man” came to Africa, and simply made “Things fall apart”, and I do think it is an important point of view to understand the feelings and experience for the human beings that had to go through that. It is one of the many horrible stories in the human history. So I do not think this book is without importance.
But, something didn’t make it through to me. The impression I got from this book is that it is also written for people who are learning to read English, making the story appear more naivistic compared to my own experience in reading. To me this made the story itself underline the view on African people that "the white man" had – that they were uncivilised and stupid – which I do not think is true. I believe humans have different ways of living, which have meaning to them, and is not better or worse than anyone else’s. And even though the people in the story who is native to Africa was written with an inner life and emotions, and the story itself is horribly sad, to me it did not serve it’s purpose. The fact that it was written to be easy to understand made that inner life stand out less than it could’ve for me. And I know the reality was so much worse than what this reading-experience was able to show me.
Then again, had I been younger, and a less-experienced reader, it might have served it’s purpose on showing a different way of living than my own – and making me connect to people so different than myself – because I was showed how it felt and what it did to the people when the ways of “the white man” was forced on them. Comparing this to the history of my own country – it is actually closer to home than what one might think. Because my ancestors, in another part of the world, was also forced to forget their own Gods and ways of life, and to accept Christianity and someone else’s way of living.
I am probably not a part of any intended audience for this book, and would like to point out that my experience might differ from anyone else’s and of course is really personal. For the right reader this can be a great book – that’s why I chose to read it after all.
This book is about when “the white man” came to Africa, and simply made “Things fall apart”, and I do think it is an important point of view to understand the feelings and experience for the human beings that had to go through that. It is one of the many horrible stories in the human history. So I do not think this book is without importance.
But, something didn’t make it through to me. The impression I got from this book is that it is also written for people who are learning to read English, making the story appear more naivistic compared to my own experience in reading. To me this made the story itself underline the view on African people that "the white man" had – that they were uncivilised and stupid – which I do not think is true. I believe humans have different ways of living, which have meaning to them, and is not better or worse than anyone else’s. And even though the people in the story who is native to Africa was written with an inner life and emotions, and the story itself is horribly sad, to me it did not serve it’s purpose. The fact that it was written to be easy to understand made that inner life stand out less than it could’ve for me. And I know the reality was so much worse than what this reading-experience was able to show me.
Then again, had I been younger, and a less-experienced reader, it might have served it’s purpose on showing a different way of living than my own – and making me connect to people so different than myself – because I was showed how it felt and what it did to the people when the ways of “the white man” was forced on them. Comparing this to the history of my own country – it is actually closer to home than what one might think. Because my ancestors, in another part of the world, was also forced to forget their own Gods and ways of life, and to accept Christianity and someone else’s way of living.
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September 14, 2012I was shocked by the cruel customs of Okonkwo's village. The victims are always weak people, like children and women.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews