Anthills of the Savannah

by Chinua Achebe, Joe Baker

In the fictional West African nation Kangan, newly independent of British rule, the hopes and dreams of democracy have been quashed by a fierce military dictatorship. Chris Oriko is a member of the cabinet of the president for life, one of his oldest friends. When the president is charged with censoring the oppositionist editor of the state-run newspaper—another childhood friend—Chris's loyalty and ideology are put to the test. The fate of Kangan hangs in the balance as tensions rise and a devious plot is set in motion to silence the firebrand critic.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, African Literature, Nigeria, Historical Fiction, Classics, Novels

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Works, including the novel Things Fall Apart (1958), of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe describe traditional African life in conflict with colonial rule and westernization.

This poet and critic served as professor at Brown University. People best know and most widely read his first book in modern African literature.

Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria reared Achebe, who excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. World religions and traditional African cultures fascinated him, who began stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian broadcasting service and quickly moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Achebe defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers," in African literature. In 1975, controversy focused on his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" for its criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a bloody racist."

When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe, a devoted supporter of independence, served as ambassador for the people of the new nation. The war ravaged the populace, and as starvation and violence took its toll, he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved in political parties but witnessed the corruption and elitism that duly frustration him, who quickly resigned. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and after a car accident left him partially disabled, he returned to the United States in 1990.

Novels of Achebe focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of values during and after the colonial era. His style relied heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He also published a number of short stories, children's books, and essay collections. He served as the David and Marianna Fisher university professor of Africana studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

ollowing a brief illness, Achebe died.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthills is a perfectly fine satirical look at political corruption in an Unnamed African Country, set several years after independence. Perhaps it's a result of Achebe's influence on other writers, but this just felt flat to me, like I've read a version of this story many times before. It has the feel of a book that's assigned in school so that everyone knows what the template is and can appreciate when new writers come along and transcend the template by tackling its themes in fresh and more interesting ways.

[Dagio_maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Cosa deve fare un popolo per placare una storia incancrenita nell’amarezza?”

Pubblicato nel 1987, "Viandanti della storia" è un romanzo politico del nigeriano Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, che si rinominò con Chinua Achebe -nome indigeno-come a spezzare quell'imposizione voluta dal padre che andava ad onorare il principe consorte della regina Vittoria.

"Anthills of the Savannah"- ossia, "Formicai della savana"- è il titolo originale che va a riferirsi a "ciò che resiste all'arsura terribile del clima equatoriale".

La traduzione italiana del titolo ("Viandanti della storia"), invece, sottolinea il nervo principale di quest'opera facendo riferimento agli eventi che la Storia ed i suoi protagonisti mettono in atto; consci o meno dell'essere portatori di cambiamento.


In un'immaginaria nazione chiamata Kangania si dipana la storia di Chris, Beatrice, Ikem ed Elewa.
All'indomani di un colpo di stato l'insediamento del nuovo potere non ci mette molto a palesare le falle proprie di ogni autorità che si eleva su parole d'ordine populiste per poi rivelarsi sul medesimo piano dei precedenti oppressori.

E poi c'è Sam, amico d'infanzia e dittatore per caso...

Vite appese ad un filo perchè niente è per sempre.

"Noi? Chi siamo noi?
La trinità che credeva di avere in mano l’intera Kangania, come aveva osservato una volta Bb, in tono sarcastico? Tre bottiglie verdi. Una è caduta accidentalmente; un’altra è pericolante. Eccola che cade anche quella, bang! E poi il noi diventa Io, diventa l’imperiale Noi."

Una riflessione sulla questione del potere ma anche la celebrazione di "cerimonie di amore, amicizia, tradimento e morte"

La Kangania, dunque, come la Nigeria post-coloniale degli anni '80.

La fotografia del momento in cui le speranze rivoluzionarie si sono già affievolite e che offre l'occasione ad Achebe di manifestare l'importanza che politicamente deve assumersi l'intellettuale ed in particolare lo scrittore.
Se scrivere non è mai facile, meno ancora lo è per lo scrittore africano che deve utilizzare strumenti non suoi: il romanzo, genere nato in Europa; la lingua, retaggio coloniale...

Lo scrittore africano è , pertanto, come un esule che vaga (il viandante non è equiparabile al viaggiatore proprio perchè vaga senza mappe) nei meandri delle storie (stories) e della Storia (History) e che deve colmare i vuoti dell'identità formulando nuove forme di appartenenza (che riavvicinino alla memoria ancestrale che si va perdendo) e nuovi linguaggi.

Chinua è stato riconosciuto il più grande scrittore africano della riscrittura post-coloniale.
Un importante esercizio di decentramento per il lettore occidentale che può- e deve- cogliere questa occasione di crescita.
Conoscere per conoscersi è un'occasione preziosa.


"Non posso dare il via alla vostra rivoluzione addomesticata, programmata sui libri. Voglio invece stimolare la gente perchè diventi più illuminata, costringendola ad analizzare le condizioni della propria vita poichè, come insegna un antico detto popolare, una vita che non sia stata analizzata non vale la pena di essere vissuta… Come scrittore io aspiro solo ad allargare la portata di questa autoanalisi "

[Ben Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthills of the Savannah see Achebe returning to similar territory as his last novel, A Man of the People – politics of post-colonial Africa. Whereas A Man of the People saw events leading up to a coup, Anthills of the Savannah is post-coup. A charismatic young Sandhurst trainer army officer, known only in the novel as Sam or His Excellency, has been swept into power in the troubled state of Kangan. After he is defeated in a vital referendum, his role as dictator becomes unsteady, and there can be no other response but more violence.

The novel follows three characters through this maelstrom. Chris Oriko, the Minister of Information and Ikem Osodi, a poet and editor of a newspaper, and Beatrice Okoh, a Minister of Finance and Chris’s girlfriend. These characters, drawn together under His Excellency’s web, have to fight for their very survival as the state of Kangan is plunged into chaos.

Whereas A Man of the People allowed us to witness the build-up to a coup through the eyes of just one figure, the naive Odili, Anthills of the Savannah’s greatest strength is its disparate view points and experimental style. As I noted in a previous review, A Man of the People was Achebe’s first attempt at a first person narration. Anthills of the Savannah takes this one step further – three first person narrations that fill the first half of the novel and then a switch to third person. This experimental form proves a great advantage for Achebe, as it allows him the power to oscillate between contrasting viewpoints, and proves a great tool for heightening this already tense novel. At one point we are inside Chris’s head, desperate to know what it is Beatrice is really thinking. It is this mastery of the form that earned Anthills of the Savannah a Booker Prize nomination in 1987 (beaten by Penelope Lively for Moon Tiger).

Achebe concerns himself with the questions of how such situations are allowed to arise in Africa. Chris Oriko poses at the opening of the novel:

“…looking back on the last two years it should be possible to point to a decisive event and say: it was at such and such a point that everything went wrong and the rules were suspended. But I have not found such a moment or such a cause…” (P.2)

If Chris Oriko has not found it, the rest of the novel is an exposition that would seem to indicate that it is not there to be found. Events are caused by a confluence of other events, many times simply trivial, sometimes even apparently unconnected. And yet the characters in this novel strive to find a meaning. Ikem Osodi, the poet, seeks his meaning in words.

“Chris keeps lecturing me on the futility of my crusading editorials. They achieve nothing. They antagonise everybody. They are essays in overkill. They’re counter-productive. Poor Chris. By now he probably believes the crap too… The line I have taken with him is perhaps too subtle: But supposing my crusading editorials were indeed futile would I not be obliged to keep on writing them? To think that Chris no longer seems to understand such logic! …Perhaps I should learn to deal with him along his own lines and jog his short memory with the many successes my militant editorials have had.” (P.38)

But Ikem is silenced; the newspaper is taken away from him. Words do not explain or justify the actions committed in and against Kangan and its people. Beatrice opens his eyes by telling Ikem that his politics and his knowledge:

“I tell him he has no clear role for women in his political thinking; and he doesn’t seem able to understand it.” (P.91)

This accusation shakes Ikem’s world view to its very foundations, though he does admit:

“I can’t tell you what the new role for Woman will be. I don’t know. I should never have presumed to know. You have to tell us.” (P.98)

This is important. When the words and actions of Ikem and Chris have failed, it is the words and actions of Beatrice that will alter civilisation in Kangan. Ikem’s girlfriend gives birth to their child, and Beatrice organises the naming ceremony. Ordinary the naming of a child would be a man’s task, but with their men dead or still fighting the women name the child. A male guest responds:

“Do you know why I am laughing like this? I am laughing because in you young people our world has met its match. Yes! You have put the world where it should sit…” (P.227)

The men of Kangan have fought and died, but it is the women that shall inherit this earth and have to rise upon it. Here we see the role of woman in the world, something Ikem could not see or express with words, and what Chris, the man of action, would never have fought for.

In the middle of Achebe’s novel there is an extract from David Diop’s poem Africa:

“Africa tell me Africa

Is this you this back that is bent

This back that breaks under the weight of humiliation

This back trembling with red scars

And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun” (P.134)

We are bought full circle, back to the arguments Achebe has been making since Things Fall Apart. That Africans accepted the subjugation from the west too readily, that they did not put up a fight. And now, with a back still trembling with red stars, they allow this to continue, under dictators and tin-pot rulers. They are complicit in their own shame. Achebe at the end of this novel seems to be saying that African society needs to be integrated, with women as important as men, as the poor as level as the rich. It is an idealist view that brings about “The bitter taste of liberty” David Diop’s poem concludes with.

Anthills of the Savannah still remains Achebe’s last novel, twenty-one years after its first publication. It took him twenty-one years to write (though he wrote poetry, essays and children’s stories in that time), and so by this reckoning we should be about due his next novel. Last year in the Guardian newspaper he admitted to writing one, but following a car crash that left him paralysed in 1990 he stated that it was difficult to write for very long each day. The five novels Chinua Achebe has published so far have been deep, intelligent novels, engaged with Africa’s history and political life, and one wishes to hear his view on the way that country, and particularly Nigeria, has lived in the past twenty years. It is a safe bet to say that it will be damning, political, and relevant. Chinua Achebe is a writer of immense standing, and reading his five novels I have been struck again and again at the depth and poetry of his language, and the insight he provides into, for me, an otherwise unknown culture. He is fully deserving of the title of “The Father of Modern African Writing” which was bestowed upon him when he was awarded the 2007 Man Booker International Prize.

[A SLOW READER · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is really hard to write a review of Such a Brilliant book mostly bcoz the writing is so perfect that I don't know what to say... 😅😅
This is one of the most unique pieces of literature I've ever come across.
The book talks about a Dictator who came into power after a coup d'état in an imaginary African country of Kangan. The story revolves around the political elite in the capital Bassa and is told from multiple perspectives.
The country was a British colony and was late to gain Independence. Most of the powerful and rich people are British-educated, some of them even went abroad for higher education.
The highly educated Dictator acts like a king and has given the highest positions of power to his close circle of friends, even to a foreigner.
Four of them are extremely close to one another. 3 guys and a woman. Three guys are referred to as three Green bottles as seen on the cover of the book.
Shit hits the fan when one of them realizes that the Political elite doesn't think about the ordinary folks and that there is a vast wealth gap that is hurting the economy, especially during a drought situation ongoing in the dry North.
He starts to act against the Dictator and in the process influences a huge portion of the population... Rich and poor alike.
The unique aspect of the book comes from the writing alone.
The educated people talk and think in 'Pure' English but when the less privileged people enter the story the writing/conversations turn into Pidgin / Pegion English / Dialect format to distinguish between them and the book becomes super thrilling to read.
This story reminded me of 'The Feast of the Goat' by Mario Vargas Llosa but, that one has a pretty straightforward narration.
The writing of Achebe is one in a million. It is engrossing and unforgettable.
One the best books I've ever read and can't wait to read more of his works. 😍😍😍😍😍

[William2]

Enjoying this. Only problem is the dialect, incomprehensible to this non-African. Thankfully not much of it, so far. The story is set around a new African dictator, an ostensibly enlightened one, and the men of his cabinet.

The humor is not registering with me. There's an ostensibly madcap scene with a white Englishman, Mad Medico, and it just falls flat. Character development, but the newcomers feel one dimensional. What am I missing? I just want to get back to the dictator and his cabinet.

I'm going to try this again some other day. No rating for now.

[Jan-Maat]

Lord Acton's Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely plus life as intrinsically optimistic, closing with childbirth and the naming of a child suggests a brighter future in which tradition doesn't have to loose out to modernity and that community can survive despite the main action of the novel in which we learn that three friends have since decolonialisation grown apart and power requires them to become enemies. A short little west African novel.

[Araz Goran · Rating 3 out of 5]

تشنوا آشيبي - كثبان النمل في السافانا


رواية لابد أن تُصيب القارئ بالتخمة.. دسمة، صعبة، شائكة مكتوبة بقلم أديب يجيد رسم أفكاره وأحداث روايته بصورة متناسقة، لا تخلو من صعوبة بالتأكيد ليست من الروايات التقليدية ، تختزل الواقع الأفريقي في رواية واحدة .. أفريقيا بعد الإحتلال حيث ينكمش الوضع السياسي ليتحول حكم الدولة والأرض إلى فئة محدودة، وضعت الحجر الأساس لـ دكتاتوريات وجدت بيئة خصبة لها بعد مغادرة الرجل الأبيض..


رواية تحكي عن الصراع السياسي والتقلبات المفاجئة في هرم السلطة والعلاقة بين الشعب والزعماء ، مع مزيج من الأساطير الافريقية والعلاقات الفردية والعاطفية في المجتمع ذاك..


رواية جيدة و نقطة هامة للأنتقال إلى مستوى جديد من الروايات الغنية ذات الطابع الأدبي الخلاب..

[Steven R. Kraaijeveld · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anthills of the Savannah is set in the fictitious West African country of Kangan, which is marked by social unrest and political intrigue. While it is Achebe's fifth novel, it is the fourth novel of his that I've read—after the African Trilogy, the first of which (Things Fall Apart) was one of my favorite books in high school. Anthills is definitely the weakest of the bunch. The beginning is rough—you are thrown into an unclear situation which, at least for me, rather than generating interest more frequently annoys—and, while the story does become better and more interesting as the novel progresses, it still feels rather flat overall. Not just flat in terms of failing to evoke an emotional response, but some parts also come across as artificial—the bits of social and political criticism which, though fascinating at times, appear to be thrown into the story rather than organically emerging from it.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three childhood friends ascend to leadership within their country and the book centers around greed and power lust, showcasing socio-economic issues and governmental corruption in some part of Africa (though the country is fictionalized), as well as what exiles must go through (or rather how hard it is to speak out against a not-so-democratic government and then attempt an escape from your homeland).

Somehow I feel as if I've committed a crime by rating an Achebe book like this--big Chinua Achebe fan. While I liked the romance shared by Chris and Beatrice ("Sometimes when I thought of her what came most readily to my mind was not roses or music but a good and tastefully produced book, easy on the eye. No pretentious distractions. Absolutely sound."), and how both seriousness and satire were captured masterfully within the dialogue, the book started a little late for me and most of the story took place within the dialogue, losing me at times.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book a low rating because 1) it was a bit of a let down after Things Fall Apart, and 2)it was way over my head. This book was surprisingly hard to read. I'm ashamed to say that I need someone to walk me through this book, our high school English teachers used to do. There was a message there, I know, but whatever it was I didn't fully grasp it. I felt that I might have been missing some vital clues in the pidgin dialogue that was oftentimes too hard to follow. The lack of chronology left me spinning in circles and his philosophical arguments were beyond my reach.

It's a book that needs to be re-read and read slowly, methodically. The reader needs some background information on the cultural and political history of Nigeria during this time (of which I am woefully ignorant).

[Lupna Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Achebe at his best, at the peak of his career as an imaginative, creative writer. The language is more dense than his earlier novels, and at last women given more prominence!

[Roger B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Achebe writing at the peak of his powers. Powerfully evocative.

[Samy seddiq · Rating 3 out of 5]

صاحب أشياء تتداعي الروائي النيجيري الكبير تشينوا أتشيبي أعود إليه في تلك الرواية الدسمة عن سيرة مكررة لحكم الجنرالات فى أفريقيا ، وكيف يتحول الحاكم بمجرد أن ينزع بذته العسكرية من مجرد ظابط طموح ومنفتح الي ديكتاتور يضيق بالجميع حتي الذين ناصروة ووواوصلوه الي الحكم ، يكتب تشينوا اتشيبي عن بذرة التماهي التي تنمو فى عقل الحاكم حتي يصبح هو الوطن ذاته وهو الشعب ذاته وهو القانون والدستور ذاته .

رواية عظيمة بلا شك من روائي قدير

[Alistair Mackay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only other Achebe I’ve read being Things Fall Apart, I wasn’t expecting this to be funny! Achebe really lets his sense of humour run free in this novel - both in the narration, and in the characters’ own sense of the absurd, and ability to laugh at themselves. It’s a semi-satirical book, but it’s also heartbreakingly beautiful and tragic.

Centering on a handful of characters very close to the “president for life” in a military government in West Africa (fictional, but clearly Nigeria) in the months leading to a coup, Anthills of the Savannah is an astute exploration of power, idealism and instability in post-colonial Africa. It’s told in a strange, non-linear way, and has some very memorable characters who I loved and wished I could be friends with. Profound and gorgeous. Absolutely loved it.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Painfully boring story of politics in Africa. If it had not been written like a newspaper article, if there had been some effort toward characterization or coherent plot, or explanation of the history of the circumstances described, I still would probably have disliked this book. Much time passed before I could make myself knock off the final 20 pages, not a good sign.
Story of friends who become entrenched in politics, end up double-crossing each other and fleeing from the one of them who gained power. Sounds like an interesting premise, but don't be fooled.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, sometimes humorous, tragic political novel focussing on three characters in the fictional state of Kangan, West Africa. Chris Orito, Minister of Information, and Ikem Osodi, poet and editor, are forced to take action when their old friend, His Excellency, the current dictator of Kangan, starts becoming reactionary. People are arrested, murders happen, and peaceful protests are violently dealt with by the police.

A thought provoking, serious novel about the problems besetting independent African countries after colonialists have been kicked out.

This book was shortlisted for the 1987 Booker Prize.

[Pradeep E · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the fictional African country of Kangan, after lots of political upheavals, a military officer Sam comes to power in a coup. Like all leaders, he promises a new revolutionary world but absolute power corrupts and the decline starts to happen quickly enough.

Through the lives of Sam and his two friends - an idealistic newspaper editor (Ikem) and a pragmatic Information Commissioner, Chris - the entire drama plays out. The euphoria of the coup evaporates with time and friends no longer remain friends.

There is so much more that the novel could have packed within it, but Chinua does not go full throttle. All the big events seem to happen in the background and we do not really see the collapse of the regime and the people. It has an epic in the making with its powerful thoughts and combustible situations, but without going the full blast, the book ends quickly.

[Devathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can there be greater praise than Nelson Mandela having said, “The writer in whose company the prison walls fell down”? Through his writing, Achebe, who could see the world so clearly, also helped open our eyes — an act of immense generosity.

[Kurt Neumaier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holden Jones sent me here

[Curtis Westman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The landscape of Abazon is dry -- a parched, sun-bleached Kangan desert pockmarked by anthills. After two years without rain or aid from Bassa, the seat of power, six elders have come to the city to petition the President for help.

In his fictional African nation, Chinua Achebe presents a notion of faltering government from within and without. From the perspectives of a government Commissioner (Chris), the Editor in Chief of the national newspaper (Ikem) and the woman important to them both (Beatrice), we are shown a crumbling regime from both a humorous and a tragic point of view.

The anthills of the title, an image re-used throughout the novel, are manyfold. They represent the indecision and hesitation of government officials to question their leader, burying themselves like ants in the dry soil of the savannah. They represent cracks in the landscape brought to light by the death of vegetation because of the oppressive sun -- a metaphorical parallel to the fractures in a government exposed by incompetence from above. As in other African literature, however, as physical features of the land they also stand on their own merits -- blisters on the earth itself, a punishment from above.

Achebe's novel is difficult in that there is no moral absolute. No character is flawless and though there is a clear desire on the part of the reader for the government to fall, it is unclear what it would achieve and what would replace it. What is clear is the distinction made between the educated characters and the 'peasants' as they are known in an integral speech given by the Editor, Ikem. Not only in terms of the comparisons between how they live, but also in their speech itself.

The central group of characters around which the novel revolves speak in a formal, perfect English. The divide between class manifests itself in a dense pidgin dialect that almost makes those characters too difficult to understand. Ironically, some of the most profound statements are made by these characters, and the novel is concluded on a question phrased to an English-educated Beatrice from Ikem's girlfriend in this dialect.

In a way, it causes the reader to question the truly important characters in the novel. Chris often talks about how he, the President, and Ikem are the three most important people in Kangan, but in a way he is incorrect. Ikem's fundamentally communist ideals would argue that it is the 'peasants' and workers that are the important citizens, and indeed it is these proletariat that end up moving the plot and the fall of the government forward.

Achebe's writing often has a very distinct agenda -- a quality that his characters defend in Anthills of the Savannah as an admirable trait in itself, because everyone has an agenda; it is up to them whether or not it is advertised. In this case, forcing the reader to decipher the dialect that is in many ways completely divorced from English is paramount: at first, the dialog is so incomprehensible it feels almost natural to dismiss it, ignore it, and focus instead on what we readily understand. But, throughout reading the novel, we learn how important those characters and their words are, and sympathize with them more effectively. Though manipulative, it is a manipulation that teaches us to question our very instincts, and stays with us beyond just the reading of the novel.

[Madhuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthills of Savannah is a story of a nation facing the political conundrum of a new found independence. After years of ruling, it is expected that a country finds itself unable to take charge of a freedom, which it severely struggled to obtain. It is almost like you wait for exams to get over and when they are finally over you do not know how to manage the free time since you have been so focused on seeing them through that your head is heavily blocked up with that.
Achebe describes this confusion through the lives of three political leaders and through alternation of narration tries to give a wholesome picture. However at times, the different narrators do not seem too different but appear as one. In that he has failed to give multitude to his thought.
The book is dark, almost inadvertently it appears, because it starts off with satire and winds up being a serious story.very serious indeed. There appears to be a lot of confusion in the book -not just in the story, but in the writing style also.
In the end, it is a political work, and describes the aftermath of colonialism. Many countries witnessed such destabilization after they freed themselves. Some more than others. Even India sometimes appears to be in similar clutches at time when the Government looks unsteady like a house of cards, ready to tumble down with the merest flicker. But hopefully that is the turbulence of a mature nation rather than a stumbling one.

[Tilahun Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was first exposed to Chinua Achebe through "Things Fall Apart", as I am sure most were. But after reading this I feel that 'Things Fall Apart" may not necessarily be his masterpiece, rather the portrayal of Africa that is most digestible for a western audience. Therefore it garners the most exposure to a Western Literary audience.

I found this story to be a much more gripping and highly realistic rendition of African politics, society, and diaspora culture. Despite being written in 1987, many things are unfortunately the same. And despite being set in Kangan (a fictional stand-in for Nigeria) I noticed a startling amount of similarities with Ethiopia, where I grew up. It was concerning to realize that the destructive patterns in Ethiopian politics today, are the same as those Achebe noticed more than 30 years ago.

I highly highly recommend this book to all those with an interest in modern-day Africa.
This is a very different book from "Things Fall Apart," there are no tribal villages or witch doctors. It is modern and relevant. However if you have not read "Things Fall Apart," I believe it would be rewarding to read subsequently after or before "Anthills of the Savannah", as it might explain the roots for some of the toxic patterns in which the society travels.

[Ebrim]

while reading The Anthills of the Savannah, i so often see myself in tears. Chinua Achebe is really good at portraying the coups and counter coups that have been and continuing to occur in Africa.
it is too treble to see that Sam, the head of state is a good listener to liars and he use their information to butcher the best minister he has in his government.
i cannot stand to hear the brutal killing of Ikem, a renown editor of the national gazette. the killers do not believe that elimination of the role of an editor in any nation is a perfect step to cause a total darkness.

[Erinayo Adediwura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay guys , this is my 7th book by Chinua Achebe that I have read. I truly admire this man as a story-teller , he is actually so phenomenal, like very very VERY phenomenal. Chinua Achebe is just…… EXQUISITE!

Edit: The way i have not read any book in a longgggggggggggg time is depressing to me and my reading goals. Now that I am done with that demonic undergraduate thesis, back to reading and rekindling my love for African literature and all the stories it seeks to reveal to me. Next stop? How beautiful we were by Imbolo Mbue!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing I like about this novel is Achebe's use of creole forms. It's probably the first novel I read with extensive use of "non-standard" English, and I remember finding it a little difficult at first. I also found it intriguing, though, and that interest persists. Standards in language are overrated.

[Lindsey Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Achebe proves yet again that traditional tribal beliefs have a place in African modernity. A tragic, yet beautiful story of the effects of power in postcolonial Africa.

[Hanan Al_Jbaili · Rating 4 out of 5]

أجمل ما في هذه الرواية هو الكم الهائل من التراث والحكم والأمثال التي يصفها أشيبي بأنها الزيت الذي تغمس به الكلمات ليسهل هضمها وأكلها.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb portrayal of the pitfalls of power-corruption within a confined political system, told via a small number of people near the top of the pyramid, but touching on all levels of society. Depressingly universal in a lot of its themes, but with various distinctive African complications, and remaining as hopeful/humane as possible, and amazingly coming in at only 216 pages(!), this is about as good as a book of this remit is ever likely to get.

[Sorin Hadârcă · Rating 4 out of 5]

The "Anthills of the Savannah" starts as a satire and unfolds as a political thriller towards a theatrical ending. All in brilliant prose, which is typical of Chinua Achebe.

The satire bit didn't work quite well for me. Distant in time and geography, it felt like an inside joke which I didn't quite get. Yet I bet it feels different to a Nigerian who lived through the times. All I got is that in a totalitarian state (USSR in my case) satire was often the only lightning rod available to divert the absurdist drama of daily life.

It was serendipitous to read this novel next to "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Adichie for it captures the atmosphere leading to the coup d'etat in the post-independence Nigeria, which in turn leads to the civil war in Biafra region.

Now, Adichie and Achebe's literary styles are worlds apart, yet both Nigerian authors (and both Igbo by ethnicity) dig into the same past and extract meaning that shapes the present. What can I say: literature works in mysterious ways!

[EuGrace · Rating 2 out of 5]

"What must a people do to appease an embittered history?"

I know I would have enjoyed this book more if I was given more context and historical background, but unfortunately the copy I had just threw me right into the fray with zero introduction. I knew about Achebe from his brilliant short stories and, of course, from Things Fall Apart, which is a masterpiece, so I thought I wouldn't need the added context to appreciate this work that's been hailed as "tremendous" and "brave" and shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I was very wrong! Right from the get-go I realized that I needed more information to even understand what was going on, so I found myself scrambling very last-minute as I was reading the book to look up the history or anything that'd help me make sense of just what the heck is happening. My two-star review is mostly a reflection of what my edition's lacking; I feel like if I had a more scholarly version with supplementary readings and a proper introduction, I wouldn't have disliked this story as much as I did. In that same vein, there are also sections where Achebe uses local phonetic ("pidgin") dialect, which is totally incomprehensible to me as a non-African. I know I'm not the priority at all, so I'm not essentially complaining about it, but it would've improved my reading experience greatly if there were some footnotes or a sideways translation explaining what's being said because I genuinely couldn't figure out half of the dialogue, and that's coming from someone who is relatively used to reading that kind of alternative language speech in books. Sounding the words out didn't help either. Again, as a non-African I know Achebe didn't have me in mind when writing this, which is completely fair, but language is such a vital part of any text, so it was a bit of a let-down to not understand most of what was being said, especially when it came to the parts where Achebe is obviously trying to explore an important theme or is being satirical but the humor just went way over my head. (Like what was that part about Mad Medico? Was I supposed to laugh or roll my eyes? Which is it?!) To me, those instances that switch to the dialect contrast heavily with the white man's English that Achebe draws attention to, which I suppose is the desired effect (class disparity and all), but from a reader's perspective, it was dicey and awkward.

Anthills of the Savannah had an interesting premise and sociopolitical themes, especially revolving around the relationship between a country's regimented government and its intelligista: “It is amazing how the intellectual envies the man of action.” The fictitious postcolonial West African state of Kangan and its political elites is led by "His Excellency," a the dictator (perhaps a reversal of the democratic "Uncle Sam" since he is only referred to as either Sam or honorable mentions) who, like they all do, claims to be enlightened and wants what's best for Africa now that the British/white man have "left." The book happens about two years after a successful coup d'état and opens with a cabinet meeting between His Excellency and his board members, who also just so happen to be made up of some of his childhood friends. The childhood friends to political elite dynamic was very fascinating, especially once you got to know a little more about Ikem and Chris. Achebe didn't give us much insight into His Excellency/Sam as a character -- what was he like as a little boy or a young man in college with them? -- which was effective in making me feel distanced from him as his corruption increased throughout the novel, but it made me quite bored of him in general despite being the plot's "antagonist." In general, I appreciated Achebe's commentary on dictatorship:

“[T]he most awful thing about power is not that it corrupts absolutely but that it makes people so utterly boring, so predictable and … just plain uninteresting.”

Over the course of history, especially colonial and African history, several dictators have taken control of their nations with apparently good intentions -- tale as old as time. But with the passage of this unavoidable and penultimate time, their greed for absolute power always rears its ugly head, causing them to betray the people they said they would protect, as well as themselves. Achebe's portrayal of the Kangan dictator was sound, especially the parts when he talks himself into thinking it'd be best if he established himself as a president until his death after all or when it's revealed he pretty much had zero idea of how to control a nation when he first took power. His friends mention how he was set to be a doctor but then he suddenly transferred to the military and now they ended up running an entire government. The tongue-in-cheek irony and cynical bemusement at how the most unexpected things end up happening wasn't lost on me, at least. There's that part where Achebe "reveals" Sam's been an egotistical asshole all along (shocker) who, on top of being incompetent, was also more interested in staying popular among the upper echelons of society than actually doing any of the reforms he promised he'd do, which cost a lot of lives and triggered much unnecessary suffering that he rightfully gets called out on. It was witty and a perfectly fine, albeit satirical, look at political corruption in a supposedly independent postcolonial Africa, but none of it was enthralling enough to keep me interested. Some of it was also quite confusing to follow; I still don't totally understand why the people of Abazon rejected Sam's leadership other than to add to the plot once the drought came and ravaged everything. It all felt cut and paste, like I've read a version of this story many times before -- and Achebe most probably wrote it, making this book feel like a cliché of its own genre. I saw a Goodreads review say, "It has the feel of a book that's assigned in school so that everyone knows what the template is and can appreciate when new writers come along and transcend the template by tackling its themes in fresh and more interesting ways." Yeah, exactly that.

As I also mentioned before, the beginning of the book itself is rough on the clueless reader— you're thrust in medias res during a political meeting you are not the least invested in and, while the story does become more engaging once you get to know some of the characters and main players, it still feels rather flat overall. Maybe it's because I knew Kangan was fictitious, but everything felt so surface-level in terms of world building. I didn't feel like any of it was real; it was more like a shadowy imitation of reality that utterly lacked emotional depth or a sense of believable groundwork. For example, it felt a little too on-the-nose and caricature-like that Chris is the Minister of Information (what exactly does that mean?) and Ikem was the editor-in-chief of the National Gazette. Achebe barely portrays them enacting these supposedly officious and big deal roles throughout the book, but you had people saying everyone knew them and what they did without actually showing us what that exactly is. Their power felt made up and unsupported, which is not good when you're writing about dictatorial cabinet members. Most of Ikem and Chris' scenes even show them as like regular everyday citizens who occasionally talk about the political climate, but in a way that makes you think they're just casual observers rather than literal major players. (Chris especially spent more time having sex and talking about how attracted he was to his English major girlfriend rather than doing anything "official" or even remotely resembling governmental policy). Achebe didn't even give us many scenes where Sam, Chris, and Ikem interacted all that much either, so even though I was curious as to how they worked together as characters, (so much angst potential there!) Achebe didn't really give them a chance to develop before everything went to shit. (In such an underwhelming way too, considering all the historically dramatic routes Achebe could've gone with in portraying just how corrupt a dictator-led government can get). The multiple betrayals and double-crossing in the book fell totally flat because of this; I didn't care at all when Ikem, who was always the more volatile and outspoken of the trio, became increasingly more vocal with his criticisms of Sam’s actions, started going off the rails and playing with political fire (not much detail on how he goes about doing that though). On the other hand, Chris tries to be like a mediator and clings onto his initial hope that Kangan still has the chance for better future under Sam’s continued rule, but Achebe quickly undercuts that when Ikem loses his position at the publication and Chris as a result has to go on the run. We don't get much time or introspection into how the characters feel -- their government's in ruins, their lives are upended, and their oldest friendship is severed, can you blame me for wanting a bit more emotional reflection? -- before Achebe kills all three of them off-screen ignobly. (Not that I would've been satisfied if Achebe showed me Sam getting executed; I cared so little for him). So much drag-worthy build-up for basically no emotional output. AotS has no sense of drama or organic exhilaration. I liked the university "lecture" scene and how, as the speech progressed you could feel it fanning the flames of a rising tension, but that was about it. (I knew it wouldn't really amount to much and I was right).

The "world" of Kangan felt flat and superficial. You can safely make the assumption that Achebe based it on his own native homeland of Nigeria, but aside from a few good descriptions of the cultural life, cuisine, and Kangan natural environment, none of it ever felt authentic. True, there were some good bits of social, political, intellectual, and even psychological criticism that Achebe sprinkles in here and there, but that's exactly what they felt like: sprinkles and frosting over an otherwise bland landscape. Yes, there were a few good lines that made you remember what Achebe's trying to achieve overall like, “Free people may be alike everywhere in their freedom but the oppressed inhabit each their own peculiar hell.” (That reminded me of Anna Karenina's iconic opening line talking about the difference between unhappy and happy families). But I genuinely found myself falling asleep for most of the book. The big profound lines felt scattered and forced.

That being said, I was surprised at how AotS had concrete feminist themes, which were best represented by Beatrice (Elewa and the other female characters, not so much). Beatrice was easily the most interesting character. I was only able to keep my eyes consistently open when Achebe was writing from her perspective. I could talk a bit more about why I found her so compelling, but I think I'll leave it at that.