Okonkwo commands respect from his community, his three wives, and his children through both hard work and intimidation. He rises to prominence despite and perhaps due to his father’s laziness in [...]]]> “Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

Okonkwo commands respect from his community, his three wives, and his children through both hard work and intimidation. He rises to prominence despite and perhaps due to his father’s laziness in community and family matters. He stands firm to his culture and traditions. So he is outraged when some of his people start converting to Christianity. A power struggle ensues and ‘things fall apart.’

I’m intrigued by Achebe’s history and background.  I’d like to read the sequel to this book, No Longer at Ease, at some point.

1959, 209 pp
Rating: 4/5

They sat on wooden planks and the weak morning sun streamed into the roofless class as she unfurled Odenigbo’s cloth flag and told them what the symbols meant. Red was the blood [...]]]> A beautifully told story of a savage civil war, Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun definitely deserved the 2007 Orange Prize.

They sat on wooden planks and the weak morning sun streamed into the roofless class as she unfurled Odenigbo’s cloth flag and told them what the symbols meant. Red was the blood of the siblings massacred in the North, black was for mourning them, green was for the prosperity Biafra would have, and finally, the half of a yellow sun stood for the glorious future.

I resisted reading this book because I really just don’t like war stories at all. I wanted to give it a chance, though, because so many bloggers had said they appreciated it. They were right; it’s a very special book. Based on the conflict in Nigeria in the late 1960′s, it not only depicts the horrors of war, it also hauntingly and lovingly depicts the lives of the participants. Apparently many of the characters were based on real people in Adichie’s family history, and this authenticity very much shines through.There were some content issues for me in the book, but I’m very glad I read this story. I look forward to reading Purple Hibiscus and other books of hers to come. If you decide to read the book (and I highly encourage it), afterwards you might want to go to her website http://www.halfofayellowsun.com where you can find a lot more information about the true story.

2006, 541 pp.
2007 Orange Prize
Rating: 4.5