Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Things Fall Apart Chapter 1
So far, this book is ok. It is a little bit slow, but then again every book is slow during the beginning. I found it hard to distinguish between the names because I am not so used to those types of names. What I didn't like about the very beginning was that Achebe just sort of threw you into the think of things without explaining where exactly the story was taking place. It did give background on the characters, but not on the place and the history of the tribe. I also didn't find the things about the debt that Unoka had to be all that relevant to the whole story. It is nice to have that background, but I also think it was rather too much description. I did like how the author described the little ceremony and prayer thing that went down when Okoye visited Unoka. It's too early to make any assumptions about the book, but so far this book could be better or could be worse.
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6 comments:
Joe i agree a lot with you. At first I didn't like the book either, because there was a lot of description, and the names confused me too. The book does start to get a little bit better. It's just mainly about different like ceremonies that the village has, and i guess different customs. It ok right now, but i hope it gets a little bit more interesting. Wait till you start seeing what Onkonkwo does to his wives. He's mean!
The book is written by an African author. You are used to reading things written by Western authors, so there is going to be a disconnect. It is also about life in the 1800's which compared to the 21st century is quite different. Keep those things in mind.
We are never told the exact time of when the story happens, but being as they do have muskets and later in the story you will see other things that date the story, then we can assume it was about 150-200 years ago.
Weakness is what drives Oknonkwo through out the story. So you'll see they are very important, because Okonkwo is a very driven/angry character whose scared he may turn into his failure of a father. This fear of weakness drives him, and makes him into a monster.
The book is NOT something that should be taken and judged by one chapter, but more on the whole. I won't lie, I hated the ending of the book. That said, as Sara points out, each chapter is more a look inside the tribe's ceremonies and culture, which is why we are reading it.
You'll learn more about west African tribal culture through reading this book, than any lecture I could give you. Think of each chapter as being a "short story" and I think you'll get more from each passage.
Oh, sorry, Irish is my screen name.
Mr. Farrell
Ya i agree with you he should have made the names a little easier to pronounce i keep getting confused on who is who. I really didn't think the book was that bad from the beginning, I have read books that started out a lot worse.
I didn't find it that hard to tell the names apart. I found later in the book that it was really good having the background about his father. It plays a very important role in distinguishing who Okonkwo is. Just keep reading, and it'll get better.
A lot of the questions that you have asked in your summary Joe, will become more clear and relevant as you continue to read the novel. I also believe that the story will begin to pick up some more pace. In the beginning of the novel I was pretty good at remembering the names of the people, but where I am at now in the novel, it is definitely getting more confusing lol. I also agree with that fact that the novel could use a little bit less description, its ok at first but after that it starts to become annoying.
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