The African Trilogy guides the reader through an immersion in Igbo culture, an ethnic group native to the present-day southeastern Nigeria. Written by Achebe between 1958 and 1964, its subject is domination, both religious and political, and people's effort to resist it.
The first book, the awarded Things Fall Apart, tells us the story of Okonkwo, a member of an Igbo tribe in a struggle to resist christian domination, a theme seen again in Arrow of God. The second book, No Longer at Ease, tells the story of Obi, Okonkwo's grandson and the first one from his tribe sent to study in England.
Each book has its strengths and flaws, but overall the African Trilogy is a really good work which gives to the western world two absolutely relevant understandings: a better comprehension of the extent of the damage done by British colonization in Africa and the cultural richness and diversity of the continent.
As usual in countries where the authoritarianism is still an open wound, Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria, is absolutely dominated by a sick social system structured on bribes and abuse of power. No Longer at Ease present us Obi as a colonial civil servant and his fight against this well-established vicious public service. It's the farthest from the Igbo culture one could get from these three books, showing a society already colossally impacted by the aggressive British colonialism. Here, moral is a main character and the drama is the inside struggle to keep the path of honesty in spite of the advantages and pressure to abandon it.
Both Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God take place on the sacred ground of an Igbo tribe, the last one, when it comes to cultural immersion, looking pretty much a deepening of the first one. It's harder to read it, since there are a lot of Igbo expressions and some broken English (this also profusely present in No Longer at Ease). But the author's writing skills totally worth it.
It's interesting to notice how much the use of popular sayings turns the reader closer to the Igbo culture, especially in the last book. What was utterly accomplished by Achebe in The African Trilogy could not have been achieved by any foreign writer. This kind of approach is something only possible for a native to reach.
#1bookfornation #Nigeria #Igbo #Achebe
The first book, the awarded Things Fall Apart, tells us the story of Okonkwo, a member of an Igbo tribe in a struggle to resist christian domination, a theme seen again in Arrow of God. The second book, No Longer at Ease, tells the story of Obi, Okonkwo's grandson and the first one from his tribe sent to study in England.
Each book has its strengths and flaws, but overall the African Trilogy is a really good work which gives to the western world two absolutely relevant understandings: a better comprehension of the extent of the damage done by British colonization in Africa and the cultural richness and diversity of the continent.
As usual in countries where the authoritarianism is still an open wound, Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria, is absolutely dominated by a sick social system structured on bribes and abuse of power. No Longer at Ease present us Obi as a colonial civil servant and his fight against this well-established vicious public service. It's the farthest from the Igbo culture one could get from these three books, showing a society already colossally impacted by the aggressive British colonialism. Here, moral is a main character and the drama is the inside struggle to keep the path of honesty in spite of the advantages and pressure to abandon it.
Both Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God take place on the sacred ground of an Igbo tribe, the last one, when it comes to cultural immersion, looking pretty much a deepening of the first one. It's harder to read it, since there are a lot of Igbo expressions and some broken English (this also profusely present in No Longer at Ease). But the author's writing skills totally worth it.
It's interesting to notice how much the use of popular sayings turns the reader closer to the Igbo culture, especially in the last book. What was utterly accomplished by Achebe in The African Trilogy could not have been achieved by any foreign writer. This kind of approach is something only possible for a native to reach.
#1bookfornation #Nigeria #Igbo #Achebe
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