Chinua Achebe: A Man Of The People

[mimi]

A MAN OF THE PEOPLE
My favorite novel by Achebe is his least celebrated. Achebe is a master in portraying Nigerian (can also read as African and sometimes black) society in transition, amid corruption, violence all within the emotional crescendo and parlaying tensions of ethnic hatred, political ineptitude and greed. Written in first person, it is a satirical account of Odili and the corruption of power in a newly emerging African State (read Nigeria). Often comical and amusing, it has periods that leave you spell bound in deep thought. This book begins the second stage of Achebe's writing (now brilliantly viewed through the lens of historical prognostication) devoted to the meltdown of his nation Nigeria, now forty years on, at the precipice of collapse, and considered a likely candidate as a so called "failed state."
Just brilliant

[promtbr]

A MAN OF THE PEOPLE
My favorite novel by Achebe is his least celebrated. Achebe is a master in portraying Nigerian (can also read as African and sometimes black) society in transition, amid corruption, violence all within the emotional crescendo and parlaying tensions of ethnic hatred, political ineptitude and greed. Written in first person, it is a satirical account of Odili and the corruption of power in a newly emerging African State (read Nigeria). Often comical and amusing, it has periods that leave you spell bound in deep thought. This book begins the second stage of Achebe's writing (now brilliantly viewed through the lens of historical prognostication) devoted to the meltdown of his nation Nigeria, now forty years on, at the precipice of collapse, and considered a likely candidate as a so called "failed state."
Just brilliant

So it sounds like I must get this one. Do you like it better than No Longer At Ease? ...It started a whole new appreciatieon of Achebe for me. It was (too me) a superior novel than TFA. Where do you rank Anthills of the Savanah then?

[mimi]

I will not rank Things Fall Apart because its seminal position must first be fully appreciated:

It may not appear as earth shaking now, fifty years on, post civil rights, post Robert Kennedy, in the Obama era... but nothing approaching what Achebe achieved with Things Fall Apart in 1958 had happened before - an African novel exploding from its shores and smashing into the world wide literary cannon! It has been translated into over 50 world languages!

The literary critic and professor Ode Ogede explains: "with Things Fall Apart, Achebe sought to reclaim the power of self definition from previous literary craftsmen that preoccupied themselves with Africa; to recast the image of Africa - a recurring theme in his writing -demonstrating the existence of complex cultures, warts and all, on a continent thought to "be savage, devoid of culture and civilization, or without any semblance of beauty."

In many ways Achebe is the most Anglophile of African writers because his aim is to engage the politics of representation to "bring Africa to the West, while teaching Africans about their own culture."

In 2009, Newsweek ranked Things Fall Apart #14 on its list Top 100 Books: The Meta-List.

That is why that novel stands often alone, not because it is his best!

My favorite books by Achebe are:
A) A man of the people - I am biased here because, I found it more engaging, perhaps because of its "more modern, often urban setting."
But, less superficially, it captures, over forty years after it was written, the very same pathologies that plague post-colonial African states brilliantly - corruption, bribery, political ineptitude, ruling class greed, ethnic bigotry, election rigging, military coups etc - witness the once very promising nations of Kenya, Nigeria in particular.

B) No longer at Ease - For much of the same reasons.
C) Pick the non fiction work The Trouble with Nigeria. Short about 83 pages - it has become the most influential political treatise about politics on the African continent (note I didn't say in Nigeria or West Africa - when I was in South Africa last year several editorials were quoting it); it masterfully discusses all the ills of the continent and its ruling elite wonderfully. Just brilliant!
D) Anthills of the Savannah - A more difficult read, that becomes a fast paced page turner after about page 40. Here Achebe, like in A man of the people returns to the first person and weaves a far more complex tale of post independence West Africa, where the pathologies are all home grown and can no longer be claimed to be caused by foreign powers. A tour-de-force. My advice here is to slow down a bit, because like a lot or Achebe's writing, there are several layers to be devoured.
E) Arrow of God: This novel is believed to be Achebe's true Magnum Opus. It is a far more complex TFA, but better.

[Daniel del Real]

Mimi, you should be the right person to ask this.
I've been willing to start reading Wole Soyinka a long time ago, but I don't know where to start. Some say his plays are the most important concept of his production, some say novels or short stories.
The question, is where do I start or what's the best thing.
Please help me with that!
Thanks

[mimi]

Daniel Del Real:

Wole Soyinka is Africa's foremost playright and one of the world?s leading lights in this genre. He ranks right up there with Pinter in the complexity of the developed narrative and plot; and the breadth of the subject matter tackled. From intellectual alienation of African intellectuals, to corruption in newly emerging African nation states, to re-writes of Greek-inspired classic restorying of ancient Yoruba myths, Soyinka demonstrates a rare, deep and rich versatility of talent.
In my opion his best work can be found among his plays- some of the most magnificent are: Death and The King's Horseman ? this is considered his magnum opus? and played in London recently for months.Also pick up The Lion and the Jewel', 'The Trial of Brother Jero,' 'The Bachae of Euripides', 'Camwood on the Leaves', and 'Jero's Metamorphosis?.
Soyinka is best known as a playright although he has written everything from novels ? The interpreters (be ready for a jaw-breaking challenge here) - to poems - the telephone conversation is a classic. Good luck

[Daniel del Real]

I?ve heard great things about The Lion and the Jewell so I'll start with it.
Thanks a lot Mimi.