Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It’s always good to reread “classic” novels. Achebe’s most renown work, originally assigned during a freshman World Literature class, certainly reads better the second time around without the lens of academia and political correctness to distort reactions. Things Fall Apart keeps a fairly smooth pace, as the realities of African tribe life and the early encroachment of colonialism are exposed through Achebe’s stark yet vivid language.
The novel reads as essentially as two separate tracks, despite the book being divided into three parts by the author. The first track follows the life of Okonkwo and his family, as he distinguishes himself with the clan. Brutal violence and the tribes adherence to their own dogma sets the stage for the second track where the novel’s title begins take on more clarity.
The struggle with a new, unforeseen colonial presence in the village, and the inability of the tribesman to effectively resist is played out through clear affective prose. Rarely is colonialism, especially early African colonialism, portrayed so well and stripped bare of its historical ramifications. This is African village life meets Western colonialism, plain and simple. Very little analysis is needed to understand the emotion and confusion of the villagers as their world crumbles in the wake of the missionary influence – Achebe forces us to watch everything that really matters.