Reading 1001 discussion

I read this in 2008, I really enjoyed this classic. I didn't read it when I was in school. It is excellent book written about Africa by a African author. Very interesting things about culture. I enjoyed this book much more than Heart of Darkness.

Read Aug. 2019

This is a powerful story wrapped up in a deceptively simple and welcoming package. The first half of the book reads like a folk tale or fable, giving us a glimpse into Ibo village life focusing on one man (Okonkwo) and his family. Okonkwo has raised himself up in tribal society becoming prosperous and having a level of authority and respect in his clan. Then an unfortunate incident occurs and he is forced into exile.

The second half of the book is about his exile and eventual return to his clan. While he is in exile the European (British) missionaries begin their infiltration of Nigeria in general and Ibo villages in particular. It doesn’t take any stretching of the imagination to know that things go downhill fast under Colonial rule. This section is a very economical, yet powerful, telling of a clash of cultures where neither side has an understanding of the other. 5*

I rated this 3.5 stars. I generally like books about Africa or authors from Africa. I did enjoy this story but not as much as I hoped. Some of the tribal traditions were hard to read about but it was an interesting story.

A classic book from the Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, who starts his tale fully immersing the reader in the religious beliefs and spiritual and cultural practices of a Nigerian tribe. We learn their ways as we are introduced to Okonkwo, a powerful wrestler and warrior, who is somewhat of a self made man in his village. He has three wives and many children but he regrets that his favorite child was born a daughter rather than a son. In the first half of the book the story revolves around Okonkow's efforts to progress further in status, and his living through an enforced exile while always attempting to handle his temper. In the second part of the book the British missionaries arrive and the book does a wonderful job of drawing the clash of beliefs but even more strongly how the two sides could not understand each other's language, rules of proper human interaction and each other's complex system of moral and ethical rules. Each side saw the other as barbarians and assumed that they were mad. Lastly the book describes how the missionaries brought a government with them that aligned unilaterally with the missionaries and thereby judged the "correct" tribal behaviors as unethical and illegal.

Pre-2016 review:

*** 1/2

In this novel, we follow the Ibo clan life of Okonkwo and his subsequent struggles arising from his banishment from the clan and from the effects of British colonization and the introduction of Christianism in what is now Nigeria today. Very good eye-opened on traditional African way of life and on the tensions arising from colonialism in Africa. Achebe writing style is simple, quite objective and rich of his culture as well as that of his ancestors. No wonder this has become a classic of African literature.