Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe · 1930–2013 · Nigeria
Why it matters
Okonkwo's rise and ruin as the missionaries arrive: an Igbo world rendered whole from inside, in English bent to its proverbs. The founding text of modern African literature; twenty million copies and counting.
At a glance
colonial & postcolonialtragedy
Difficulty 4/10medium pace209 pagesPlain, controlled prose; the difficulty is thematic and cultural, not syntactic.
Deep dive
The single paragraph that reduces Okonkwo's entire life to an anthropological footnote, and what Achebe is doing by ending there.
Where to go next
Chinua Achebe · 1960No Longer at EaseLvl 4Medium pace
Chinua Achebe · 1964Arrow of GodLvl 5Medium pace
Chinua Achebe · 1966A Man of the PeopleLvl 4Fast paced
Chinua Achebe · 1987Anthills of the SavannahLvl 7Medium pace
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o · 1967A Grain of WheatLvl 6Slow burn
Buchi Emecheta · 1979The Joys of MotherhoodLvl 4Medium pace