Member Reviews

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  1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

  • Rated 4 stars

  “Virgaux78 said: The book is about a man named Okonkwo who is a leader in his clan the Umuofia. The story centers on his relationship with his three wives, children, and the effects of the Christian missionaries that come to "save the savages" as well as the effects of British colonialism.
  It's not my usual topic choice, and while I felt at first that it just started in medias res, it came together, moved quickly and I consider it a worthwhile read.
  
  Julie said: The story of life in an African village, one gruff man in particular, and what happens when white missionaries try to bring Christianity to the village.
  
  Nicole R said: As the first time, this book made me think about missionary work in a completely new light. I really enjoyed the story of the traditional African life and the complications brought about by the missionaries. I am very interested in reading some other books by Chinua Achebe.”

  Play Book Tag Shelf wrote this review Tuesday, June 3 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 4 stars

  “I found this to be a really good novel, especially considering that I had to read it for school, and let's face it, those books usually suck. I actually enjoyed reading this partly because of the cultural and historical content. I found it to be very well written. The storyline also flowed very smoothly. There were no rough patches in the writing. Really good book, but not something I would read more than once.”

  Charmed Forever wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 3 stars

  “I thought that the cultural referances were really interesting and the first half of the book was really entertaining. But the second half was a bit depressing and the end, even though it had some good points and morals, was very sad.
  
  Overall a good book, but I wont read it again. ”

  Book widget wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 0 stars

  “Chinua Achebe's style in story-telling is quite lengthy..to the extent of being boring. It took me a long while to establish what he was getting at with the story. The characters were all given justice but there were some characters that were mentioned in the story though I think, should never have been mentioned at all.
  
  The story, after some chapters, turned out to be a story about a tribe that's been forced to embrace a new religion - Christianity. So much so, it reminded me of the history of our people, the Philippines and the Spanish colonization.
  
  ”

  Beng G wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 0 stars

  “I've known Chinua Achebe in our lit subject in school with his "marriage is a private affair",..so i picked this up in the shelf when I found it,.the story is great,it reminds me of our great heroes in the past and made me proud of them.”

  aNDrei wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 5 stars

  “This book offers many readers an opportunity to read about a culture different from their own. It's not often that you read a book where Christians are the antagonists. This incongruity worked in Achebe's novel because we were able to sympathize with the Ibo people. There's a lot to discuss after reading this book which is testament to its greatness.”

  jazzpatsytoo wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 4 stars

  “This book was much better the second time around for me. And it was much better after I read it having lived in Africa. It reads much like a long fable, and after getting passed the difficult to pronounce names, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. The father/son dynamics in the book are gut wrenching, and beautifully rendered. ”

  Lisa R wrote this review Sunday, August 3 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 5 stars

  “Sad, but wise in it's story.”

  Marisol E wrote this review Friday, August 1 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 3 stars

  “This is a classic of neo-colonial African literature. I think it is a must-read for cultural literacy, and best used in book-club where discussions could be had (and further research done).”

  Layli L wrote this review Thursday, July 31 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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  • Rated 5 stars

  “The story is an illustration of how one culture and belief were wiped out, replaced, by another. It is really a tragic story, that another's religion and government is regarded superior, better or the real one compared to the other hence duty bound to enlighten others to convert them.
  The use of education and religion in this story to convert the people in the village reminded me of how the spanish colonized the Philippines. It indeed slowly creeped and permeate in the community that it was already too late for them to prevent it. Hence, things began to fall apart. Tragic.
  
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  maydayeve wrote this review Thursday, July 31 2008. ( reply | permalink )