Chinua Achebe Popular Books
Chinua Achebe Biography & Facts
Chinua Achebe ( ; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe;16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. Along with Things Fall Apart, his No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) complete the "African Trilogy". Later novels include A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). In the West, Achebe is often referred to as the "father of African literature", although he vigorously rejected the characterization. Born in Ogidi, Colonial Nigeria, Achebe's childhood was influenced by both Igbo traditional culture and postcolonial Christianity. He excelled in school and attended what is now the University of Ibadan, where he became fiercely critical of how Western literature depicted Africa. Moving to Lagos after graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and garnered international attention for his 1958 novel Things Fall Apart. In less than 10 years he would publish four further novels through the publisher Heinemann, with whom he began the Heinemann African Writers Series and galvanized the careers of African writers, such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Flora Nwapa. Achebe sought to escape the colonial perspective that framed African literature at the time, and drew from the traditions of the Igbo people, Christian influences, and the clash of Western and African values to create a uniquely African voice. He wrote in and defended the use of English, describing it as a means to reach a broad audience, particularly readers of colonial nations. In 1975 he gave a controversial lecture, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness", which was a landmark in postcolonial discourse. Published in The Massachusetts Review, it featured criticism of Albert Schweitzer and Joseph Conrad, whom Achebe described as "a thoroughgoing racist." When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe supported Biafran independence and acted as ambassador for the people of the movement. The subsequent Nigerian Civil War ravaged the populace, and he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved himself in political parties but soon became disillusioned by his frustration over the continuous corruption and elitism he witnessed. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and returned to the US in 1990 after a car crash left him partially paralyzed. He stayed in the US in a nineteen-year tenure at Bard College as a professor of languages and literature. Winning the 2007 Man Booker International Prize, from 2009 until his death he was Professor of African Studies at Brown University. Achebe's work has been extensively analyzed and a vast body of scholarly work discussing it has arisen. In addition to his seminal novels, Achebe's oeuvre includes numerous short stories, poetry, essays and children's books. A titled Igbo chief himself, his style relies heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. Among the many themes his works cover are culture and colonialism, masculinity and femininity, politics, and history. His legacy is celebrated annually at the Chinua Achebe Literary Festival. Life and career Youth and background (1930–1947) Chinua Achebe was born on 16 November 1930 and baptised Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe. His father, Isaiah Okafo Achebe, was a teacher and evangelist, and his mother, Janet Anaenechi Iloegbunam, was the daughter of a blacksmith from Awka, a leader among church women, and a vegetable farmer. His birthplace was Saint Simon's Church, Nneobi, which was near the Igbo village of Ogidi; the area was part of the British colony of Nigeria at the time. Isaiah was the nephew of Udoh Osinyi, a leader in Ogidi with a "reputation for tolerance"; orphaned as a young man, Isaiah was an early Ogidi convert to Christianity. Both Isaiah and Janet stood at a crossroads of traditional culture and Christian influence, which made a significant impact on the children, especially Chinua. His parents were converts to the Protestant Church Mission Society (CMS) in Nigeria. As such, Isaiah stopped practising Odinani, the religious practices of his ancestors, but continued to respect its traditions. The Achebe family had five other surviving children, named in a fusion of traditional words relating to their new religion: Frank Okwuofu, John Chukwuemeka Ifeanyichukwu, Zinobia Uzoma, Augustine Ndubisi, and Grace Nwanneka. After the youngest daughter was born, the family moved to Isaiah Achebe's ancestral town of Ogidi, in what is now the state of Anambra. Storytelling was a mainstay of the Igbo tradition and an integral part of the community. Achebe's mother and his sister Zinobia told him many stories as a child, which he repeatedly requested. His education was furthered by the collages his father hung on the walls of their home, as well as almanacs and numerous books—including a prose adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (c. 1590) and an Igbo version of Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678). Achebe eagerly anticipated traditional village events, like the frequent masquerade ceremonies, which he would later recreate in his novels and stories. In 1936, Achebe entered St Philips' Central School in the Akpakaogwe region of Ogidi for his primary education. Despite his protests, he spent a week in the religious class for young children, but was quickly moved to a higher class when the school's chaplain took note of his intelligence. One teacher described him as the student with the best handwriting and the best reading skills in his class. Achebe had his secondary education at the prestigious Government College Umuahia, in Nigeria's present-day Abia State. He attended Sunday school every week and the special services held monthly, often carrying his father's bag. A controversy erupted at one such session, when apostates from the new church challenged the catechist about the tenets of Christianity. Achebe enrolled in Nekede Central School, outside of Owerri, in 1942; he was particularly studious and passed the entrance examinations for two colleges. University (1948–1953) In 1948, Nigeria's first university opened in preparation for the country's independence. Known as University College (now the University of Ibadan), it was an associate college of the University of London. Achebe was admitted as the university's first intake and given a bursary to study medicine. During his studies, Achebe became critical of Western literature about Africa, particularly Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. He decided to become a writer after reading Mister Johnson by Joyce Cary because of .... Discover the Chinua Achebe popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Chinua Achebe books.
Best Seller Chinua Achebe Books of 2024
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The Life and Times of Chinua Achebe
Kalu OgbaaThe Life and Times of Chinua Achebe introduces readers to the life, literary works, and times of arguably the most widelyread African novelist of recent times, an icon, both in con...
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An African Quilt
Barbara H. Solomon & W. Reginald Rampone, Jr.Encompassing many different visions of Africa, the stories in this comprehensive collection feature characters struggling to survive grinding poverty, tyrannical governments, cultu...
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Chinua Achebe and the Politics of Narration
Thomas Jay LynnThis book examines vital intersections of narration, linguistic innovation, and political insight that distinguish Chinua Achebe’s fiction as well as his nonfiction commentaries. E...
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Night Walks
Charles DickensCharles Dickens describes in Night Walks his time as an insomniac, when he decided to cure himself by walking through London in the small hours, and discovered homelessness, drunke...
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Collected Poems
Chinua AchebeA collection of poetry spanning the full range of the Africanborn author's acclaimed career has been updated to include seven neverbeforepublished works, as well as much of his ear...
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I Am Still With You
Emmanuel IdumaIn this “epic and intimate” memoir (Margo Jefferson, author of Constructing a Nervous System), acclaimed writer Emmanuel Iduma returns to Nigeria to investigate the disappearance o...
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Little Brother
Ibrahima Balde, Amets Arzallus Antia & Timberlake Wertenbaker“I recommend a book, Little Brother. . . . It makes us understand what the desert crossing is like: the trafficking of migrants, imprisonment, torture, the sea journey" (Pope ...
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The Problematics of Writing Back to the Imperial Centre
Nabil BaaziziIn the wake of decolonization, colonialist narratives have systematically been rewritten from indigenous perspectives. This phenomenon is referred to as "the Empire writes back to ...
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The Lonely Londoners
Sam SelvonBoth devastating and funny, The Lonely Londoners is an unforgettable account of immigrant experience and one of the great twentiethcentury London novelsAt Waterloo Station, hopefu...
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The African Trilogy
Chinua AchebeChinua Achebe is considered the father of modern African literature, the writer who "opened the magic casements of African fiction." The African Trilogycomprised of Things Fall Apa...
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Chinua Achebe and the Igbo-African World
Chima J. KoriehChinua Achebe and the IgboAfrican World: Between Fiction, Fact, and Historical Representation explores Chinua Achebe’s literary works and how they communicated the IgboAfrican worl...
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Theory of War
Joan Brady'A modern work of genius' Spectator Winner of the Costa/Whitbread Book of the Year Award 1993 Forced into slavery as a child, Jonathan Carrick escapes to a new life but within him ...
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Chike and the River
Chinua AchebeThe more Chike saw the ferryboats the more he wanted to make the trip to Asaba. But where would he get the money? He did not know. Still, he hoped.Elevenyearold Chike longs to cros...
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Arrow of God
Chinua Achebe"My favorite novel." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie“A magical writerone of the greatest of the twentieth century.” Margaret Atwood “African literature is incomplete and un...
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An Orchestra of Minorities
Chigozie ObiomaA heartbreaking story about a Nigerian poultry farmer who sacrifices everything to win the woman he loves, by Man Booker Finalist and author of The Fishermen, Chigozie Obioma. "It ...
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Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - Summary and Analysis
Summary LifeUnlock the more straightforward side of Things Fall Apart with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of Things Fall Apart by...
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Things Fall Apart
Chinua AchebeThings Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa's cataclysmic encounter with Europe a...
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The Novels of Chinua Achebe
Dr. Jai Ram JhaThis book is a full length study of the novels of Chinua Achebe. It has been prepared in the light of Achebe's perception of the colonialism which he and the people of the world en...
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The Fiction of Chinua Achebe
Jago MorrisonSince the emergence of Things Fall Apart in 1958, Chinua Achebe has come to be regarded by many as the 'Godfather' of modern African writing. Over 150 full length studies ...
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Love and Marriage in Africa in the Novels of Elechi Amadi, Buchi Emecheta and Chinua Achebe
Dr. Richa JhaThe theme of love and marriage in literature is perhaps as old as literature itself. Works of literature across borders and genres have worked around these twin themes to give us s...
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The Modern Library
Carmen Callil & Colm TóibínFor Colm Toíbín and Carmen Callil there is no difference between literary and commercial writing there is only the good novel: engrossing, inspirational, compelling. In their sele...
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Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad, Owen Knowles & Robert HampsonA haunting Modernist masterpiece and the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's Oscarwinning film Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness explores the limits of human experience and the ...
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The Painter of Modern Life
Charles-Pierre Baudelaire & P E CharvetPoet, aesthete and hedonist, Baudelaire was also one of the most groundbreaking art critics of his time. Here he explores beauty, fashion, dandyism, the purpose of art and the role...
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Don Juan
Lord Byron, E. Steffan, T.G. Steffan & W.W. PrattByron's exuberant masterpiece tells of the adventures of Don Juan, beginning with his illicit love affair at the age of sixteen in his native Spain and his subsequent exile to Ital...
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Chinua Achebe ou la pragmatique du discours postcolonial
Anatole Koffi MolleyCet ouvrage propose une "relecture" qui exalte trois catégories discursives où s'expriment des valeurs : d'abord, le discours critique qui permet d'analyser ce qui est dit sur l'Af...
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Celebrating Chinua Achebe
Chukwuemeka BosahIn essays, verse and questions, twenty two contributors representing a plethora of endeavors discuss Chinua Achebe’s life, works and legacy. These contributors who were Achebe’s fr...
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Study Guide to Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Intelligent EducationA comprehensive study guide offering indepth explanation, essay, and test prep for Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, regarded as one of literature’s first counter narratives. As a...
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A Man of the People
Chinua AchebeFrom the renowned author of The African Trilogy, a political satire about an unnamed African country navigating a path between violence and corruption As Minister for Cultur...