Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”
And just like that things did fall apart.
Things Fall Apart
By Chinua Achebe
Review
There’s a tremendous subtlety in this novel. A tremendous amount of restraint with details, and a thorough understanding of which details to share. Ultimately culminating with a line drenched with irony that summed up the way the intruders really felt about the natives of the land.
I’ve heard a lot about this book, but I was honestly a little intimidated to pick it up. Like I’ve said before about other books, why? Why didn’t I read this sooner? This isn’t the first novel I’ve read written from the perspective of the people who’d been oppressed. But it’s somehow the most impactful. It was, as was the whole book, a very subtle shift, but it was a shift nonetheless.
I’m no stranger to the effects of colonialism and the reasons driving it, but there was something about this book that really drove it home.
Rating
Writing 5 out of 5 stars
Tight, subtle…Wonderful!
Character Development 4 out of 5 stars
Okonkwo was slowly but carefully developed.
Storytelling 5 out of 5 stars
So many stories mixed into the main story in a wonderful way.
Cultural Impact 5 out of 5 stars
As the most widely read book of modern African literature, the cultural impact of this book is undeniable.
Total 4.75 out of 5 stars
Have you read Things Fall Apart? What did you think?
The 1000th Voice 