Reviews with content warning for War - Things Fall Apart

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was pretty dark in a lot of places often in a pretty casual ways. Okonkwo was not a very sympathetic character, but I think that actually served the message of the book well. Even though I wasn't a fan of the main character, I still sympathized with him in the end.

Even though this was a book very much concerned with the clash of cultures, I think that the generational divide between Okonkwo and his father and then Okonkwo and his son is something we see everywhere. Both Okonkwo's strengths and weaknesses were in direct reaction to his father's life and likewise Nwoye's were a result of Okonkwo's.

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witchythey's review

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reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is an excellent narrative, beautifully woven. it tells the story of a man whose life is fueled by anger and power, but who is clearly tamping down some very tender emotions. his relationship with his daughter ezinma was one of my favorite dynamics in the book; the gender roles within their family are so interesting and complicated. achebe beautifully illustrates the village's rich cultural and religious traditions, as well as okonkwo's place within those systems. the book grapples with many serious topics and the elders often offer timeless wisdom. this was a very enjoyable and thought provoking read, if a bit dark

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allysllvn's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I found this book really interesting and intriguing. There’s many heavy topics, but how they were handled and seen in the community was interesting. The ending is as definitely… something. It was jarring and sudden, but I believe that was the point, even if it felt as if the ending had been broken off to me. Overall, I enjoyed reading it :).

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michaelion's review against another edition

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informative reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Through the entire first section of the book and the first chapter of the second section, I just kept thinking: Misogyny will be the death of men. At least I thought that's where the book was going. It should've went that way.

There's something I hate, or dislike, about classic books which is the tendency to have unnecessary filler pages. Like they were getting paid by the word or something. And I say filler specifically because I love me some slice of life stories. I'm the kind a girlie that absolutely lives to see people figuring out what food they're gonna put on their grocery list because they don't know what to make for dinner, okay? But most of this book is just filling the pages up. Now I haven't read enough classics to say all of them do this, but I hate it either way. Scenes and moments with almost or literally no importance to the rest of the story. Maybe I hate it so much because that's how I wrote stories when I was 13. But hey I'm over it now!

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