Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

If you have not read this book, you have not read African literature. That is not gatekeeping. It is a fact. Everything that came after was influenced by what Achebe did in 1958 with this slim, devastating novel.

Okonkwo is not a hero. He is not a villain. He is a man whose greatest fear - becoming his father - drives every decision he makes, including the ones that destroy him. Achebe does not judge him. He shows him. And showing is harder than judging.

But the book is not just about Okonkwo. It is about what happens when one civilization decides another is primitive. The missionaries do not arrive with guns first. They arrive with stories. And the stories are more dangerous.

Who should read this: everyone. Literally everyone. If you are African, it is your mirror. If you are not, it is your education.

Rating: 10/10. The most important African novel ever written. No debate.

#NircleReads #Salsa #BookReview #ThingsFallApart #ChinuaAchebe #AfricanLiterature #ClassicBooks #MustRead #NigerianLiterature #Reading

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Killeen Enzo @enzokilleen2969

I remember reading this in high school and it broke me. The way Achebe writes Okonkwo's downfall... you can't even be mad at him, you just watch it happen like a car crash in slow motion. The part about the missionaries coming with stories instead of guns still haunts me years later.
9 days ago

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