"Pick one side and stick with it, Chinua."
"The book was not bad, it was actually very interesting, but you really need to like this genre to truthfully enjoy it, I am more of a fantasy reader.
So what I did is pull this book apart and tell my teacher to shove it. In a very intellect way of writing I compared the story to some Native American stories and Asian (pre and after British colonization) and BANG got an A. Sometimes teacher like to be challenged I hate been part of the pack. :) For that i got an A. :)"
"Chinua Achebe had better not quit her(?) day job, 'cause finger painting and exotic dancing are looking up now. STOP WRITING ALREADY!"
"My my, this book is downright awful. I can't believe that I was forced to read this book. The language in this book was too confusing, and I can't even believe that anyone could enjoy reading a book like this. You need a translator for every single page. This book is way too confusing for the average reader (I am an honors student) and even the more advanced reader would find difficulty reading this book. If I could rate this book with no stars, I certainly would."
"I had to read this my sophomore year of high school. And of course, I had one of those teachers that was obsessed with analyzation and symbolism to the point where I even got to hate it, even though I'm a poet and a writer. The main character had a lot of mental problems, including violence, chauvinism, and overambition to become the 'model citizen' of his tribe. I had no sympathy for him, neither should you. Overall this book was very slow-moving, very dull, very boring, and as a result some of my most sardonic and thoughtful essays in that class were based upon this book. Thanks a lot!!!! Even if I was just reading this for my own personal leisure, I'd give it a relatively low grade."
"I completely disagree with missionaries coming in and slaughtering cultures in the name of 'salvation' so, it's not a fun read for me."
"Last year, I read Things Fall Apart from cover to cover. I would not advise anyone else to make this deplorable mistake. Labelled as 'great literature' by many imbecilic pundits who think calling something 'great literature' will automatically make them connoisseurs of some sort, thus elevating them to the highest levels of society, Things Fall Apart appeared to me as more of a juvenile attempt at a sixth grader's first novel. The author seems to have some sort of infatuation with yams, because the entire book revolves around idiotic descriptions of yams and characters struggling with their declining yam output."
"I'm not much of a reader but I know a good book when I read one. Sorry Achebe but this one was well...BLAN!"
"I read this book once in high school and then again for a college class in freshman year. I graduated college 2 years ago, but this book is so awful that I felt obligated to come back and review it.
...
Sorry folks- the imperialists are the good guys in this book. Things fall apart in Okonkwo's culture, but good riddance to such barbarism anyways! All this book shows is a detailed explanation of how imperialists brought progress and humanity to Nigerian savages. "
"If you think it is a good book because it talk about white guy colonize black African.The reaction of those Africans are stupid too.
I am from Hong Kong when white guys colonize our city, everyone was happy and keep making more money."
"become more convinced that these tribes are backwards
Gnerally, I am extremely open-minded about other cultures, in fact learning about other people's countries is one of my favorite things today. No conversation is more interesting than one that opens your eyes to a different culture. So I read this book by Achebe hoping to dissolve any stereotype that I might have regarding tribal african societies. In the forward, it seemed like this was not too much to expect since that was exactly Achebe's purpose, but everything I had ever heard about the primitive nature of tribal society and the backward thinking was reinstated instead of eliminated. Perhaps I am more disappointed to find that these people truly are illogical and backward than I am in the book itself. But if you are reading this hoping to extinguish any prejudices about African tribes, this is not the book you are looking for."
"If this story is representative of Nigerian culture, I have no empathy for them. I found this story went no where, there were no real accomplishments done by the main character, his could have check in to an asylum for a year, dealt with his tribal issues, what he missed out on as a kid, came back to his tribe and really made a difference with his people. Instead, we just see some ones life that just gets worse."
"Eyes have this odd tendency to skim across words without any comprehension when reading dull pages."
"He shows the killing of other people as an honorable act in Ibo culture, even though he later changes his mind and attempts to claim murder can also be dishonorable. Rather than stressing the more peaceful aspect of their culture, Achebe paints an image distasteful to most Western readers. Drinking palm-wine out of heads? Certainly not a good way to destroy the stereotype of the bloodthirsty African savage.
But not only does he reinforce the stereotype, but Achebe also manages to show Africans as heathens. In the egwugwu ceremony (yet another ceremony), Achebe portrays the villagers as disbelieving in this own gods. At times Achebe gives examples to prove that the Ibo believe in their gods, but with much contradicting evidence, such as the fact the women recognize that their 'god' is Okonkwo in disguise but say nothing), the claim is not very convincing. Instead, he shows how they cling to gods they know are false and thus insults the Ibo culture by portraying the people as disbelievers in their own gods.
He describes all their cruel practices. For example, Nwoye has heard that twins are put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest, a practice not only repugnant to Western readers, but also mentioned in the context of faults with the Ibo culture. Leaving innocent babies to die in a forest has no excuses in Western culture; it is wrong. They not only would die a slow, painful death of starvation, but also face the risk of being eaten alive or brutally attacked by wild animals."
"I don't get why Cornell recommended this 1956 book. It leaves one with the strong impression that native Africans are mysoginistic, anti-intellectual and savage. If it was trying to get Cornellians to better appreciate how those in the Third World think, it failed. If Africans still think the way the book discusses, than al Queda will have a never ending supply of recruits."
"Book sucked...the only thing you'll enjoy is saying Okwonko over and over again"
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