Author: Chinua Achebe
Country: Nigeria
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Place of publication: United kingdom
Year of publication: 1958
Number of Pages: 130 pages
Chinua Achebe, born in 1930 was brought up in a Christian evangelical family in the large village of Ogidi, one of the first centres of Anglican missionary work in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria. After studying Medicine and Literature at the University of Ibadan, he went to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company in Lagos. His career in radio ended abruptly in 1966 when he left his position as Director of External Broadcasting, Lagos, during the national upheaval and massacre that lead to the Biafran war. His career as a University academician began in 1967 with his appointment as Senior Research Follow at the University of Nigeria. He was made Emeritus Professor in 1985. In 1987, he received Nigeria's highest award for intellectual achievement, the Nigerian National Merit Award. In 2002, he was awarded the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. In 2007, he was named the winner of the Man Booker International Prize, in honour of his literary career.
Achebe is the author of many novels, short stories, essays and childrensc books. Things Fall Apart, his first novel was published in 1958. It was followed by No longer at Ease(1964), which won the first New Statesman Jock Campbell Prize and A man of the people (1966). Anthills of the Savannah was shortlisted for the Booker McConnell Prize in 1987. His book of poetry, Beware Soul Brother, won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1972.
The novel is set in the late 19th century when colonalism was at it end in Africa. It is one of the first African novel in English to receive public recognition and criticism. It is a literature text used in Schools and is widely read and studied in Africa and English speaking countries. The novel focuses on the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo man and local wrestling champion of Umuofia. The hero Okonkwo embodies in a magnified form the strength and weaknesses of the society. He couldn't adapt to the changes brought by the British colonial rule and this led to his downfall at the end of the novel ( See page 142-165 of the text).
The novel centres on these themes; colonialism, colonial encounter and conflict, cultural reaffirmation and reconstruction. . The characters in the novel are; Okonkwo, Unoka( Okonkwo's father), Ikemefuna( The boy they got during the war), Ezinma, Okoye, Nwakibie, Ogbuefi Ezeudo( The oldest man in Umuofia village) etc.
Even though Okonkwo was a brave man, his life was dominated by fears, the fear of failure and weakness, the fear of being like his father, Unoka. Chapter one of the novel introduces and describes Unoka vividly. Okonkwo commits suicide when he could no longer face the changes the colonialist brought into his village. Though in his lifetime he was a brave man but he died a shameful death just like his father Unoka.
The literary text is interesting, the language used is simple and it portrays the real African society. I recommend the book to literature students and all lovers of literature.
Country: Nigeria
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Place of publication: United kingdom
Year of publication: 1958
Number of Pages: 130 pages
Chinua Achebe, born in 1930 was brought up in a Christian evangelical family in the large village of Ogidi, one of the first centres of Anglican missionary work in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria. After studying Medicine and Literature at the University of Ibadan, he went to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company in Lagos. His career in radio ended abruptly in 1966 when he left his position as Director of External Broadcasting, Lagos, during the national upheaval and massacre that lead to the Biafran war. His career as a University academician began in 1967 with his appointment as Senior Research Follow at the University of Nigeria. He was made Emeritus Professor in 1985. In 1987, he received Nigeria's highest award for intellectual achievement, the Nigerian National Merit Award. In 2002, he was awarded the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. In 2007, he was named the winner of the Man Booker International Prize, in honour of his literary career.
Achebe is the author of many novels, short stories, essays and childrensc books. Things Fall Apart, his first novel was published in 1958. It was followed by No longer at Ease(1964), which won the first New Statesman Jock Campbell Prize and A man of the people (1966). Anthills of the Savannah was shortlisted for the Booker McConnell Prize in 1987. His book of poetry, Beware Soul Brother, won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1972.
The novel is set in the late 19th century when colonalism was at it end in Africa. It is one of the first African novel in English to receive public recognition and criticism. It is a literature text used in Schools and is widely read and studied in Africa and English speaking countries. The novel focuses on the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo man and local wrestling champion of Umuofia. The hero Okonkwo embodies in a magnified form the strength and weaknesses of the society. He couldn't adapt to the changes brought by the British colonial rule and this led to his downfall at the end of the novel ( See page 142-165 of the text).
The novel centres on these themes; colonialism, colonial encounter and conflict, cultural reaffirmation and reconstruction. . The characters in the novel are; Okonkwo, Unoka( Okonkwo's father), Ikemefuna( The boy they got during the war), Ezinma, Okoye, Nwakibie, Ogbuefi Ezeudo( The oldest man in Umuofia village) etc.
Even though Okonkwo was a brave man, his life was dominated by fears, the fear of failure and weakness, the fear of being like his father, Unoka. Chapter one of the novel introduces and describes Unoka vividly. Okonkwo commits suicide when he could no longer face the changes the colonialist brought into his village. Though in his lifetime he was a brave man but he died a shameful death just like his father Unoka.
The literary text is interesting, the language used is simple and it portrays the real African society. I recommend the book to literature students and all lovers of literature.
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