"To start off, the book was not relatable at all. As I started reading the book, I was forced to immediately try to understand their culture and beliefs ... The book gave me no motivation to continue reading it at all."
"History really bores me."
"I don't care about the stuff that happens in Africa!"
"Well, this started to look like a good promising book, but the names of the characters are African and it's very hard to keep track of who's who, you forget because the character's names are so hard to remember, they're African names"
"You know how when you're at a buffet, and you see a type of dish that you either can't eat or don't like, and you avoid it altogether? Yeah. That's how I felt."
"I'm sorry... I'm western, I sympathise with Africa's colonization. But this book is serving one purpose - to give Africans a voice."
"Just plain terrible. I did not understand the point of this story. Was there even a central idea? I don't know. The writting style did not captivate my and the use of african words made it difficult for me to read and follow."
"Nothing unique was brought to the table, and the book ends on a disappointing and unfullfilling note. The same story could have been applied to any other oppressed culture, such as Native Americans, and the results would be exactly the same."
"Pure anti-American and anti-Western propaganda!
Do you hate the West? Just fill your head with crap from this book and you will hate the West even more.
This is Poison. I was forced to read this in college by some dumb-ass liberal professor who had a grudge against the West."
"What really amazes me, looking back, is how the author accepted the 'great men' and their casual and consistent brutality for much of the book... and then, when more powerful (European) forces came in and made THEM knuckle under, well, THAT was tragic."
"This book made me disrespect a culture I knew little about before reading it."
"Though an easy read, Things Fall Apart is overly simplistic and irrelevant. Its only value to me is as a way to get to know African culture and the historical context of Colonial Africa. Besides that, it fails to address anything universal or significant."
"I did not like this book at all. Its brutality and weird culture definitely made me disgusted."
"I get it...it's an African culture that is different from my own. But that in itself doesn't make it a good book! I don't need multiple stories about beating women to see how misogynistic and violent that culture is. And the Christian missionaries came in and tried to convert them and change their culutre? Big freakin surprise...not. Zzz. Boring."
"This book did an amazing job of showing how the missionaries came to a place that wasn't progressing as fast as where they came form"
"The portrayal of African natives is not flattering enough to generate real sympathy for their culture. If Achebe thought that this would produce positive reactions to native culture, he went about it in a very strange way. Wife-beating, infanticide, and primitive superstitious beliefs are easy to throw away for the peace and harmony found in Christianity."
"The climax seemed to be the author taking out his personal dislike of white people and Christians, which, as a white Christian, I didn't appreciate. I'm tired of hearing about how horrible white people are all the time. If we were a society that was truly about promoting equality, we would stop constantly slamming the whites."
"If there was a point to this book, I missed it. I didn't find the style particularly outstanding; the character development was limited; the extensive use of non-English words was a distraction. I don't know what I was supposed to get out of it, but I didn't get it."
Showing posts with label achebe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label achebe. Show all posts
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Monday, April 11, 2011
Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart IV
MAN, PEOPLE REALLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS BOOK. LAST DAY OF ACHEBE, I PROMISE
"What I think. I think his book was very boring. I really did not understand it. It had humongous words in it, that were very hard to understand. If I were to tell someone my opinion about thisi book I would say to read a different book."
"When I read a book I want to be told a good story. And a good story is written with words."
"Achebe should be lauded for finishing a book, as should anyone- the writing of a book is a daunting task. As far as content goes, however, Things Fall Apart leaves much to be desired. It very well may be that critics compare Achebe's masterpiece to the great Greek epics, but the distinguishing scholar would hardly equate them with Things Fall Apart. The Iliad and The Odyssey are eloquent and powerful, while Things Fall Apart is contrived and lacks any lasting impact. You will notice that the majority of reviews rating Things Fall Apart as 4 or 5 stars are written by high school students; one has to wonder about their credentials."
"Two things I liked about this book was that Okonkwo was a brave and fearce man, and I like that Okonkwo was a pimp in his on way."
"Getting angry at the evildoers is a story as human existence, and its getting really, really trite. People kill people in Yugoslavia too, white people. Am I excited about reading the next book about that? Are you?"
"Okonkwo is an agressive, sexest and disgustingly manish man"
"An interesting look into tribal life. From what I learned here, I feel that for once, the missionaries were on the mark in trying to elevate this hopeless crew of superstitious, murderous, misogynists. Good riddance to their culture."
"my review
i liked how it was a book on a type of tribe. i liked the names in the book too. i didn't like how the book was. it was confusing. it was too long. i think it should or should not be read in class depending on the type of students in the class."
"What I think. I think his book was very boring. I really did not understand it. It had humongous words in it, that were very hard to understand. If I were to tell someone my opinion about thisi book I would say to read a different book."
"When I read a book I want to be told a good story. And a good story is written with words."
"Achebe should be lauded for finishing a book, as should anyone- the writing of a book is a daunting task. As far as content goes, however, Things Fall Apart leaves much to be desired. It very well may be that critics compare Achebe's masterpiece to the great Greek epics, but the distinguishing scholar would hardly equate them with Things Fall Apart. The Iliad and The Odyssey are eloquent and powerful, while Things Fall Apart is contrived and lacks any lasting impact. You will notice that the majority of reviews rating Things Fall Apart as 4 or 5 stars are written by high school students; one has to wonder about their credentials."
"Two things I liked about this book was that Okonkwo was a brave and fearce man, and I like that Okonkwo was a pimp in his on way."
"Getting angry at the evildoers is a story as human existence, and its getting really, really trite. People kill people in Yugoslavia too, white people. Am I excited about reading the next book about that? Are you?"
"Okonkwo is an agressive, sexest and disgustingly manish man"
"An interesting look into tribal life. From what I learned here, I feel that for once, the missionaries were on the mark in trying to elevate this hopeless crew of superstitious, murderous, misogynists. Good riddance to their culture."
"my review
i liked how it was a book on a type of tribe. i liked the names in the book too. i didn't like how the book was. it was confusing. it was too long. i think it should or should not be read in class depending on the type of students in the class."
Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart III
"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"
"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"
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart II
"we get it, things fall apart"
"This book was left laying about by my daughter, who had to read it for AP English in high school. Among my fellow readers I am by far the most enthusiastic about world lit so I thought I should read it. I read it. I can't say I got much from it. At best I can describe it as a digest-version of 'Gone With The Wind' from an Native African point of view, and that's a huge stretch"
"The manner of telling (vocab, styles of speech, etc.) lacked an 'African' flavor that i was hoping for."
"I love Africa and stories about Africa, so I figured this would be right up my ally!
...I was very wrong.
I felt like the author was someone who had never written before in his life. When I found out that he was actually a very accomplished author and had taught at universities and colleges all over the world I was FLOORED"
"As an atheist, i can't relate to the numerous occassions that religon is mentioned."
"I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone. Sorry. Racial and religious tentions played a big role in this book. Also, it kind of toches and tochy subject for women. Women hardly had any status in this book. I didn't like that all. It was a lso a insult if a man was called a women! What is that? i gave this 2 stars. I felt generious."
"The ending was quite a surprise, though. I didn’t expect for Okonkwo to kill himself. I thought it was a bit extreme when I read it. I was like, 'dude things aren’t that bad!' But now that I look back on it, it makes sense."
"I'm still not sure why this is such a popular read. Maybe I should have finished it and then would have known."
"The problem with this novel is that the names of the characters bear close similarity to each other. Although these names may keep the story interesting, its important as a writer not to go overboard with it. The names cause great confusion and will cause a reader not to want to read it at all."
"And then I go, oh. That makes sense. I get that. I would feel stupid for not seeing that while reading it, except that I was too busy trying to follow the story Achebe was telling, and not the one he was implying, which is unfortunate. I guess if I had known in advance that the written story was merely a vehicle for a bigger statement, I would have liked it better. As it stands, I am just confused and disappointed."
"I tried so hard to sympathize with Okonkwo, I really did. After all, he was a hard working man who had to break away from his father's uselessness and earn his wealth the hard way."
"Chinua Achebe is a very creative person when it comes to words and the literary devices he includes in this story are alliteration, simalie, metaphors, and many others. I honestly wouldnt read this book if i ever had a chance because it constantly got boring."
"This book was not....well....my favorite. It was interesting at times, but I just finished reading it today, and I did NOT like the ending. It just...ends."
"I was forced to read this in school - 1 stars
It's about some dudes in Afrika - 1 star
the main guy dies i think - 1 star"
"This book talks about religion & I am not really into learning about other religion."
"This book was left laying about by my daughter, who had to read it for AP English in high school. Among my fellow readers I am by far the most enthusiastic about world lit so I thought I should read it. I read it. I can't say I got much from it. At best I can describe it as a digest-version of 'Gone With The Wind' from an Native African point of view, and that's a huge stretch"
"The manner of telling (vocab, styles of speech, etc.) lacked an 'African' flavor that i was hoping for."
"I love Africa and stories about Africa, so I figured this would be right up my ally!
...I was very wrong.
I felt like the author was someone who had never written before in his life. When I found out that he was actually a very accomplished author and had taught at universities and colleges all over the world I was FLOORED"
"As an atheist, i can't relate to the numerous occassions that religon is mentioned."
"I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone. Sorry. Racial and religious tentions played a big role in this book. Also, it kind of toches and tochy subject for women. Women hardly had any status in this book. I didn't like that all. It was a lso a insult if a man was called a women! What is that? i gave this 2 stars. I felt generious."
"The ending was quite a surprise, though. I didn’t expect for Okonkwo to kill himself. I thought it was a bit extreme when I read it. I was like, 'dude things aren’t that bad!' But now that I look back on it, it makes sense."
"I'm still not sure why this is such a popular read. Maybe I should have finished it and then would have known."
"The problem with this novel is that the names of the characters bear close similarity to each other. Although these names may keep the story interesting, its important as a writer not to go overboard with it. The names cause great confusion and will cause a reader not to want to read it at all."
"And then I go, oh. That makes sense. I get that. I would feel stupid for not seeing that while reading it, except that I was too busy trying to follow the story Achebe was telling, and not the one he was implying, which is unfortunate. I guess if I had known in advance that the written story was merely a vehicle for a bigger statement, I would have liked it better. As it stands, I am just confused and disappointed."
"I tried so hard to sympathize with Okonkwo, I really did. After all, he was a hard working man who had to break away from his father's uselessness and earn his wealth the hard way."
"Chinua Achebe is a very creative person when it comes to words and the literary devices he includes in this story are alliteration, simalie, metaphors, and many others. I honestly wouldnt read this book if i ever had a chance because it constantly got boring."
"This book was not....well....my favorite. It was interesting at times, but I just finished reading it today, and I did NOT like the ending. It just...ends."
"I was forced to read this in school - 1 stars
It's about some dudes in Afrika - 1 star
the main guy dies i think - 1 star"
"This book talks about religion & I am not really into learning about other religion."
Friday, April 8, 2011
Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart
"I do not think that this book could by any means be thought of as a book worth reading."
"I mean I get the point. Native culture=good. New culture=bad."
I - I DON'T THINK YOU DO
"This book is just a big fail. I read the first couple of chapters and I swear to god to let me finish this somehow in two weeks. The plot was very slow and it appears almost during the middle of the book. I couldn't kept myself from staying put on this book because it was boring. The main character whines about too much things but I will only give him props. for working his way up. Everything about him, ticks me off. He whines so much about being 'weak' while he is weak. He has no right to talk about anything. I don't care that he is a respected man, he can't even do something right. Overall, if I didn't had to read this book, I would be happier."
"An alleged classic of how white man takes over Nigeria in the late 1800's. The low rating is not because I do not believe the story or agree that white man should have taken over Nigeria"
"This book absolutely falls under the category of 'For Nigerians Only' because the writer takes you to a whole new world, a world of its own customs ... for example: there's something mentioned in the book called the holy week which is clearly a sacred time when Nigerians are no longer allowed to fight or argue, but when exactly this week is? every year? every month? and why they do it? is it a part of the culture or of the religion there? these information are important to me! Or why it is so normal to the women of Nigeria to get beaten by their husbands?"
"I really wanted to like this book because my friend Janet liked it. I still like Janet but I don't like this book. In fact, it is only Janet's friendship that keeps me from writing what I really think about it."
"I could not say the names of the characters or the towns. I was frustrated."
"The author tries to introduce us to a culture with likable characters and then watch it be destroyed before our eyes while continuing a vivid story but fails miserably. How miserably you ask? Let me put it this way, Avatar (a movie about a FICTIONAL CULTURE,) did a better job.
Don't get me wrong I love Avatar but I think a book based on actually historic event should do a better job making us care about the characters and evens, no?
Let me lay it out for you. The main character is a war mongering bully who is haunted by the ghost of his father. That's all.
...
I think the author was trying to write a text book on Ibo culture but sent it to the wrong publisher on accident. I am not kidding.
Though this is my opinion, I think anyone who analyzes this book will find both the story and writing style atrocious, here is a segment from the second to last chapter:
'It was open and sandy. Footpaths were open and sandy in the dry season. But when the rains came the bush grew thick on either side and closed in on the path. It was now the dry season.'
If you didn't notice the author says the same thing three time! Granted he uses different wording, but he tells us it's the dry season essentially three times! That is a huge no no in the writing world. I am an aspiring author and when I read this I quite literally wanted to rip that page out of the book and throw it at the wall. That segment right there is the WORST bit of published work I've seen in any book . If you know of something worse please comment on this with what ever is worse.
For me the only consolation in this book is when the white man finally reigns victorious. (Okay, I know that sounds racist but let me explain.)Though the did a horrid job creating the culture the fact that it's real made it real in my mind, plus I begrudgingly admit that the author did offer some small details that helped. Just the thoughts of Mr. Smith as he walked away left me with chills.
So here is my advice to you. Read the last chapter of this book but imagine the character Okonkwo as Jake Sully and Mr. Smith as the army guy from avatar. If you do that, you will receive much more from this book than anyone who's actually read it."
"i had to read this for a class that was about society and how we judge others and history..... not good , it didn't keep my interest at all.. and i dropped the class lol"
LOL INDEED
"Yet another book bashing imperialism and colonialism and white people and European people and humanity and... why do we read this and force our students/children to read this, again? ... Instead, we should know the One with the power to victory: the Creator of the Universe! But that's not allowed in schools, and so I suppose the only things left to force children to read are things like these."
"I really did not enjoy reading this book. I did not like the descriptions because they did not paint a very interesting picture in my mind. I did not like the resolution of the book because I wanted it to end a different way."
"I really hated this book it was very boring and for advice to others, dont read this Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"what can i say? i dont think he deserved a nobel peace prize...i dont know... thats just me ;)"
NOT JUST YOU, AS CHINUA ACHEBE NEVER RECEIVED EVEN THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
"i get it. i'm supposed to love it. it's the greek tragedy of african literature. and really, i'm not bothered by the cups made of human skulls or the savage murder of one of the characters. it's the same problem i have with oedipus or agamemnon - hubris! too much stupid hubris making the main character COMPLETELY unlikeable and unsympathetic. and unlike a greek tragedy that at least proffers a chorus to side with, here we get christian missionaries...and that's about it."
"Killing yourself is the most honorable thing to do?"
ALL I'M SAYING IS THAT YOU COULD AT LEAST TAKE IT INTO CONSIDERATION
"I mean I get the point. Native culture=good. New culture=bad."
I - I DON'T THINK YOU DO
"This book is just a big fail. I read the first couple of chapters and I swear to god to let me finish this somehow in two weeks. The plot was very slow and it appears almost during the middle of the book. I couldn't kept myself from staying put on this book because it was boring. The main character whines about too much things but I will only give him props. for working his way up. Everything about him, ticks me off. He whines so much about being 'weak' while he is weak. He has no right to talk about anything. I don't care that he is a respected man, he can't even do something right. Overall, if I didn't had to read this book, I would be happier."
"An alleged classic of how white man takes over Nigeria in the late 1800's. The low rating is not because I do not believe the story or agree that white man should have taken over Nigeria"
"This book absolutely falls under the category of 'For Nigerians Only' because the writer takes you to a whole new world, a world of its own customs ... for example: there's something mentioned in the book called the holy week which is clearly a sacred time when Nigerians are no longer allowed to fight or argue, but when exactly this week is? every year? every month? and why they do it? is it a part of the culture or of the religion there? these information are important to me! Or why it is so normal to the women of Nigeria to get beaten by their husbands?"
"I really wanted to like this book because my friend Janet liked it. I still like Janet but I don't like this book. In fact, it is only Janet's friendship that keeps me from writing what I really think about it."
"I could not say the names of the characters or the towns. I was frustrated."
"The author tries to introduce us to a culture with likable characters and then watch it be destroyed before our eyes while continuing a vivid story but fails miserably. How miserably you ask? Let me put it this way, Avatar (a movie about a FICTIONAL CULTURE,) did a better job.
Don't get me wrong I love Avatar but I think a book based on actually historic event should do a better job making us care about the characters and evens, no?
Let me lay it out for you. The main character is a war mongering bully who is haunted by the ghost of his father. That's all.
...
I think the author was trying to write a text book on Ibo culture but sent it to the wrong publisher on accident. I am not kidding.
Though this is my opinion, I think anyone who analyzes this book will find both the story and writing style atrocious, here is a segment from the second to last chapter:
'It was open and sandy. Footpaths were open and sandy in the dry season. But when the rains came the bush grew thick on either side and closed in on the path. It was now the dry season.'
If you didn't notice the author says the same thing three time! Granted he uses different wording, but he tells us it's the dry season essentially three times! That is a huge no no in the writing world. I am an aspiring author and when I read this I quite literally wanted to rip that page out of the book and throw it at the wall. That segment right there is the WORST bit of published work I've seen in any book . If you know of something worse please comment on this with what ever is worse.
For me the only consolation in this book is when the white man finally reigns victorious. (Okay, I know that sounds racist but let me explain.)Though the did a horrid job creating the culture the fact that it's real made it real in my mind, plus I begrudgingly admit that the author did offer some small details that helped. Just the thoughts of Mr. Smith as he walked away left me with chills.
So here is my advice to you. Read the last chapter of this book but imagine the character Okonkwo as Jake Sully and Mr. Smith as the army guy from avatar. If you do that, you will receive much more from this book than anyone who's actually read it."
"i had to read this for a class that was about society and how we judge others and history..... not good , it didn't keep my interest at all.. and i dropped the class lol"
LOL INDEED
"Yet another book bashing imperialism and colonialism and white people and European people and humanity and... why do we read this and force our students/children to read this, again? ... Instead, we should know the One with the power to victory: the Creator of the Universe! But that's not allowed in schools, and so I suppose the only things left to force children to read are things like these."
"I really did not enjoy reading this book. I did not like the descriptions because they did not paint a very interesting picture in my mind. I did not like the resolution of the book because I wanted it to end a different way."
"I really hated this book it was very boring and for advice to others, dont read this Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"what can i say? i dont think he deserved a nobel peace prize...i dont know... thats just me ;)"
NOT JUST YOU, AS CHINUA ACHEBE NEVER RECEIVED EVEN THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
"i get it. i'm supposed to love it. it's the greek tragedy of african literature. and really, i'm not bothered by the cups made of human skulls or the savage murder of one of the characters. it's the same problem i have with oedipus or agamemnon - hubris! too much stupid hubris making the main character COMPLETELY unlikeable and unsympathetic. and unlike a greek tragedy that at least proffers a chorus to side with, here we get christian missionaries...and that's about it."
"Killing yourself is the most honorable thing to do?"
ALL I'M SAYING IS THAT YOU COULD AT LEAST TAKE IT INTO CONSIDERATION
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