Last week, I finished 'Things Fall Apart' by Nigerian Author Chinua Achebe. I was drawn into reading the book by various accolades and references to the book as a milestone in African literature. I was also drawn by the status of Achebe as a prominent African writer.
For me, it was a first book by African writer. And reading it was a pleasant surprise. Firstly because the book was short and I could finish the ebook within a few days. It was specifically so because I read it immediately after finishing 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand (she was of South African origin but the book was written as an American about American life). The Fountainhead was very long, more than 700 pages of small, high-density typeface. Hence, it was a pleasant surprise to read a short, sweet and acclaimed book just after finishing a long, intense and thought provoking tome.
The story is not that special. A tribal community in Africa with their own unique lifestyle, traditions, goods, religious beliefs, superstitions and sometimes very striking and barbaric customs (such as human sacrifice to please gods, abandonment of twins in harsh forest etc). It revealed quite a bit about the customs of the times it deals with. It also touches upon how colonialists (British) gradually got hold of the communities and country by their strategic, clever and coordinated moves. Those are typical in every work of literature. They reflect the ways of societies and times they are dealing. Not much speciality there.
The most striking thing about this creation of Achebe is that he includes so many adages, proverbs and anecdotes from the community that I was reminded of the stories of Panchatantra and Hitopadesh of the orient. Very apt adages, sayings and proverbs that express a profound idea in a single line. That, I think, is the biggest lure of 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe.
11:39 AM 27 January 2019
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