A worldwide bestseller and the first part of Achebe's African Trilogy, Things Fall Apart is the compelling story of one man's battle to protect his community against the forces of change. Okonkwo is the greatest wrestler and warrior alive, and his fame spreads throughout West Africa like a bush-fire in the harmattan. But when he accidentally kills a clansman, things begin to fall apart. Then Okonkwo returns from exile to find missionaries and colonial governors have arrived in the village. With his world thrown radically off-balance he can only hurtle towards tragedy.
First published in 1958, Chinua Achebe's stark, coolly ironic novel reshaped both African and world literature, and has sold over ten million copies in forty-five languages. This arresting parable of a proud but powerless man witnessing the ruin of his people begins Achebe's landmark trilogy of works chronicling the fate of one African community, continued in Arrow of God and No Longer at Ease.
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Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. CHAPTER ONE
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(@PenguinUKBooks, 25 April 2013, first published 1958, ebook, 176 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs, # popsugarreadingchallenge, your favourite prompt from a past Popsugar Reading Challenge, a book that's under 200 pages)
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This is a new author for me. I knew nothing about the book before I read it, just chose it at random because it fit the Popsugar Category. I have read very little African fiction so I had no idea what to expect. I really enjoyed Things Fall Apart (love the title) and will read the other two books in the trilogy at some point. I loved the insight into a vastly different culture and way of life and how the author does a brilliant job of bringing the communities to life. The characters are all really well developed and I got to know so much about them despite how short the book is. I also loved the fact that some of the issues experienced in the book are very similar to issues in other parts of the world. Things Fall Apart is impressive.
