---
product_id: 1375417
title: "Things Fall Apart: A Novel"
price: "HK$162"
currency: HKD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.hk/products/1375417-things-fall-apart-a-novel
store_origin: HK
region: Hong Kong
---

# Things Fall Apart: A Novel

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## Description

Things Fall Apart: A Novel [Achebe, Chinua] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Things Fall Apart: A Novel

Review: Life was challenging but cohesive. And then the missionaries came! - This 1959 African novel is one of those small powerful books that held me captive until I finished reading it. It didn't take long. It is only 209 pages. But I was completely won over from the first page and surprised that I had never heard of it before. The author was born in Nigeria in 1930 and is currently a college professor at Bard College in upstate New York. This book is required reading in many college courses today and considered a classic. Most of the book deals with Nigerian tribal life both before and after the coming of the missionaries. We first meet Okonkwo, a well respected tribal member, in his prime. He has three wives and several children and his plot of land is well tended and produces many yams. The beliefs in their spirits are very real and I found myself seeing their world through their eyes. I related to each of the people, especially Okonkwo, whose life was shaped by the shame of his father, and also his wife who bore ten children and had only one child who lived. Some of the customs were indeed strange, and sometimes they were cruel. Life was certainly not idyllic. There was war. There was murder. And then, because of an accident, Okonkwo himself was banned from his tribe for seven years. But there was social cohesion and a worldview that suited the way of life of the people. The first three-quarters of the book were set in this very unique Nigerian community who had never seen a white man. And then the missionaries came. Things changed. And because the author had so fully created the tribal world, I personally felt the impact of the missionaries on the community through the eyes of the people, which was mostly that of confusion as their way of life was turned inside out. This is a fine book. I loved every page and was sorry to see it end.
Review: Good book but may be triggering to some - Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a foundational work in modern African literature, and for good reason. The novel captures precolonial Igbo society with rare authenticity, weaving local language and customs into English prose without erasing cultural identity. I appreciated the way Achebe chose to preserve Igbo words, rituals, and traditions within the text, offering readers not only a story but also a cultural immersion that resists the flattening lens of colonial narratives. The novel’s greatest strength lies in this cultural preservation, though at times the storytelling feels weighed down by repetition. Several passages repeat similar ideas about strength, masculinity, and tradition, making them redundant rather than reinforcing. This mirrors the protagonist, Okonkwo, a deeply flawed man. His harshness, pride, and violent tendencies make him difficult to sympathize with, yet his role as a symbol of resistance to change and fear of weakness is central to the novel’s moral tension. The arrival of the Christian missionaries and the colonial administration marks a critical turning point. Achebe portrays the disruption with nuance, neither vilifying nor idealizing the Christians, but showing how their presence fractured communities and redefined power. The ending, which contrasts the tragic collapse of Okonkwo with the cold dismissal of his life by a colonial official, is chilling. It strips the protagonist of dignity and reduces an entire culture’s upheaval to a footnote, exposing the violence of cultural erasure. Despite some narrative redundancy and a protagonist who is far from likable, Things Fall Apart remains powerful, layered, and important. Its final pages echo long after the book is closed, reminding readers of both the fragility of tradition and the arrogance of colonial judgment. For these reasons, I give it four stars.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #819 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1 in African Literature (Books) #10 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction #143 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Book 1 of 3  | African Trilogy |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (14,913) |
| Dimensions  | 5.17 x 0.63 x 7.98 inches |
| ISBN-10  | 0385474547 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0385474542 |
| Item Weight  | 7.2 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 224 pages |
| Publication date  | September 1, 1994 |
| Publisher  | Penguin Books |

## Images

![Things Fall Apart: A Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91NtvTU0xEL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Life was challenging but cohesive. And then the missionaries came!
*by L***C on April 25, 2009*

This 1959 African novel is one of those small powerful books that held me captive until I finished reading it. It didn't take long. It is only 209 pages. But I was completely won over from the first page and surprised that I had never heard of it before. The author was born in Nigeria in 1930 and is currently a college professor at Bard College in upstate New York. This book is required reading in many college courses today and considered a classic. Most of the book deals with Nigerian tribal life both before and after the coming of the missionaries. We first meet Okonkwo, a well respected tribal member, in his prime. He has three wives and several children and his plot of land is well tended and produces many yams. The beliefs in their spirits are very real and I found myself seeing their world through their eyes. I related to each of the people, especially Okonkwo, whose life was shaped by the shame of his father, and also his wife who bore ten children and had only one child who lived. Some of the customs were indeed strange, and sometimes they were cruel. Life was certainly not idyllic. There was war. There was murder. And then, because of an accident, Okonkwo himself was banned from his tribe for seven years. But there was social cohesion and a worldview that suited the way of life of the people. The first three-quarters of the book were set in this very unique Nigerian community who had never seen a white man. And then the missionaries came. Things changed. And because the author had so fully created the tribal world, I personally felt the impact of the missionaries on the community through the eyes of the people, which was mostly that of confusion as their way of life was turned inside out. This is a fine book. I loved every page and was sorry to see it end.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good book but may be triggering to some
*by T***T on October 27, 2025*

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a foundational work in modern African literature, and for good reason. The novel captures precolonial Igbo society with rare authenticity, weaving local language and customs into English prose without erasing cultural identity. I appreciated the way Achebe chose to preserve Igbo words, rituals, and traditions within the text, offering readers not only a story but also a cultural immersion that resists the flattening lens of colonial narratives. The novel’s greatest strength lies in this cultural preservation, though at times the storytelling feels weighed down by repetition. Several passages repeat similar ideas about strength, masculinity, and tradition, making them redundant rather than reinforcing. This mirrors the protagonist, Okonkwo, a deeply flawed man. His harshness, pride, and violent tendencies make him difficult to sympathize with, yet his role as a symbol of resistance to change and fear of weakness is central to the novel’s moral tension. The arrival of the Christian missionaries and the colonial administration marks a critical turning point. Achebe portrays the disruption with nuance, neither vilifying nor idealizing the Christians, but showing how their presence fractured communities and redefined power. The ending, which contrasts the tragic collapse of Okonkwo with the cold dismissal of his life by a colonial official, is chilling. It strips the protagonist of dignity and reduces an entire culture’s upheaval to a footnote, exposing the violence of cultural erasure. Despite some narrative redundancy and a protagonist who is far from likable, Things Fall Apart remains powerful, layered, and important. Its final pages echo long after the book is closed, reminding readers of both the fragility of tradition and the arrogance of colonial judgment. For these reasons, I give it four stars.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great book
*by M***E on November 29, 2025*

Great book. A must read

## Frequently Bought Together

- Things Fall Apart
- No Longer at Ease
- Arrow of God

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*Last updated: 2026-02-28*