Monday, October 10, 2016

Book 82: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

I have no idea which class I bought this book for, or why I never read it in high school or college. It has been one of those books that I've moved from apartment to apartment for all of my adult life and yet had never gotten around to reading until now. 

This book is about a man named Okonkwo, a leader in a Nigeria village during the period of British colonization in the late 19th century. I found it to be a really hard book to read, both because of the depiction of the missionaries taking over and dividing the people of his village, and also because the treatment of women within the community really upset me as well. It felt completely devoid of hope, and was very much one of those books that I came out of understanding its importance and significance without having enjoyed the experience of reading it very much. I know that not all literature is intended to leave the reader feeling good, but this isn't the kind of novel I'm particularly interested in reading at the moment, given the state of things. Another book I think I read too late, or at least at the wrong time. 

Grade: B  

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