Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe • 1958
Devastation Rating
Nigeria colonialism identity tradition
Our Take
Okonkwo's story is the story of Igbo civilization's last generation of self-determination. Achebe does not make it simple — Okonkwo is a man worth knowing and a man capable of violence — and the British arrival is rendered as exactly what it was: the end of a world. The District Commissioner's proposed book title, in the final paragraph, is the sharpest sentence in African literature.
Appears In
This page contains affiliate links. If you buy a book through one of these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure →