Chinua Achebe
1964
Around 290 pages
This is the third part of Chinua Achebe's African Trilogy, and for whatever reason, The Powers That Be excluded the second novel, No Longer at Ease. I trust that the second segment was the weakest part of the trilogy, although I wish the Architects showed similar discretion with cutting out white authors' superfluous works.
We are back with the Igbo people, this time with Ezeulu, who is the chief priest of the god Ulu. The story begins with Ezeulu's conflict with a nearby village, but this is brought to an abrupt halt when T.K. Winterbottom (I might steal that as a pen name), a British overseer, steps in. Just like Things Fall Apart, the plot deals with the downfall of a male leader at the hands of the colonists.
Authors tend to write the same book over and over again, and this seems to be the case here. Luckily Achebe has a lot to work with, and plenty of interesting material on the Igbo culture. I enjoyed Ezeulu as a protagonist more than Okonkwo, even if both characters get essentially the same treatment.
Too bad Achebe is only on this List twice.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
Included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
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