Things Fall Apart

The titan of African literature, Chinua Achebe, has died at the age of 82. We know him as the writer of Things Fall Apart (although that was only his first book).

I read Things Fall Apart as part of my 501 Project / Goal.

But then I didn't write about it. I have no idea why. I remember reading it, I remember typing about it... I even remember a few turns of phrase that I used... but I can't seem to find a blog post about it anywhere... so let's blame internet gnomes and move on.

I really liked Things Fall Apart. It was a relatively quick read but it packed a wallop of an emotional punch. Published in the late 50s (and thus at the end of British colonial expansion) it tells the story of British colonial expansion in Nigeria through the eyes of not the colonist, but the African people who get colonized, namely a tribal leader named Okonkwo.

Not only is it a gripping foray into a part of history and a population that is often overlooked in both literature and politcs, but the story itself is well told and full of fascinating characters. 

Yes the book is significant because it humanizes the plight of the African people, but it is more than that... this glimps into the lives of the tribal people is at once a history lesson and a reminder that there are such things as universal human emotions: love, fear, greed, hope.

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Read it for its cultural significance, read it for its well crafted pose, read it for the history lesson... but read it.

Surfacing

This title comes to me courtesy of The 501 Book.




Book Review of Surfacing by Margaret Atwood




Many people will recognize Margaret Atwood as the author of The Handmaid’s Tale. This book is quite different, in fact, except for the author being one and the same, there is nothing else that ties these two together.

Surfacing is the story of a woman’s search of self as she searches for signs of her father on her family’s island home. Is he dead? Has he simply faded away in the untamed wilderness? She must know... but it isn’t just him she is looking for, it is a way to connect to him and to herself. She returns to the remote island she grew up on accompanied by two friends who are strangers and her lover and Atwood does a beautiful job of showcasing the difference between the “city” and the “country”, the ‘civilized’ versus the ‘uncivilized. The distance between the two is closer than you might expect, and when she at last taps into the wild, the reader cannot help but be lost in the woods as well.

This book is not for the faint of heart… this is not a book that can travel to the beach in a summer bag next to the sunscreen and the bottles of water. This is a book that cries out to be read in near silence, preferably near a serene lake. Not to say that you could read it anywhere… just that it begs for the completeness of your attention.

The characters are sometimes difficult to connect to, but the beauty of the description and the stillness of the action cannot be glossed over. Like a deep long dip in silent black water after the harshness of a day spent in direct sunlight, this novel will pull you under its spell and leave you transfixed, hypnotized by the desire of the heroine and craving your own wild pats… an animalistic desire for the uncivilized that lurks under the surface in each and every one of us.

A Plan For A Tale

Not only is today Thursday, but it is also the day in which in 1859 the Charles Dickens novel “A Tale of Two Cities” was first published. Its original format was 31 weekly installments in the literary magazine All the Year Round (owned by Dickens).



One of the most recognizable lines of literature and one of the most widely quoted first lines of a novel, the story begins:

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

This, some would say, is a sentiment that is still true today.

So let me ask you, readers of mine… have you read it?

Some of you might have back in high school. But for a lot of people this book is one of the many literary works that is part of the “literary canon” yet the actual plot remains a mystery.

I’ll admit it. I read it in high school but like so many things I read in high school I don’t really remember it.

Time to remedy this!

A connected thought. Several people have asked me how I decide what to read. Well except for the books that I am asked to read for reviewing reasons, the books I read are usually whatever catches my eye while shopping or what is recommended to me by people’s who have opinions I value.

A while ago I decided to pick my reading material with a bit more of a focused agenda. I consider myself fairly intelligent and fairly well read… and yet I know my knowledge of some of the “classic” works of literature is woefully hit and miss.

So I bought myself this book.



Now, I don’t plan on agreeing with every entry that is listed… and I am sure I will feel the need to add to it, but I thought it was a good jumping off point.

Anyway, to make a long post a tad shorter, I am going to be reading “A Tale of Two Cities” in the month of May.



I cordially invite you to read it along with me. I will blog about it when I am done and again you are cordially invited to do the same… or at the very least comment on my future post.

Also, look for more posts having to do with the “literary canon” and the “501” book in the coming months.



(And just in case you do want to join me in this literary adventure, feel free to buy from Amazon using these links and share the love.)