What stuck with me most from 'Things Fall Apart' was the treatment of women. It's seven or eight years since I read it, so I can't really criticise it intelligently or precisely at this stage, but I remember at the time wanting to throw the book across the room. Of course, it's always the injustice which affects you which you notice most, and that goes for me too. Snarl. Have you ever read anything by Wole Soyinka? I read 'Ake' last year, and next time I want to read something about Nigeria, I'll get another one of his.
I didn't like Things Fall Apart very much. Somehow the whole African culture infodump wasn't very appealing, and I guess the subject matter and the style of writing never engaged me. But I suppose it was revolutionary when it was written, so worth reading. I read Heart of Darkness about four years ago (I was 14! What a thought!) and I enjoyed it then but I suspect I kind of glossed over the racism and concentrated more on the story-telling and the statement on the general darkness within us all.
Your loss that you didnt like things fall apart. there's no 'african culure infodump' in it. In fact, there's no such thing as 'african culture'. Igboland is the setting and any potrayals of culture would be those of igboland. Achebe tells a story in which (as is inevitable in a great story) attention is paid to the little details of the characters' lives and society. i suspect that's what you refer to as 'infodump'. the more correct description is 'details that make a great story.'
I think the whole point of Heart of Darkness is a savage indictment of colonialism, specifically the presumption that there is a "civilized" world that carries light around. I think Conrad was convinced that the whole enterprise was just theft and robbery on a colossal scale and "civilization" was just a poor excuse. All the sentences about "light", "darkness", "savagery" and "civilization" are deeply sarcastic. "And this once too was once one of the dark places of the Earth", Marlow says at the beginning.
Conrad was not a great believer in the good heart of humankind.
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I read Heart of Darkness about four years ago (I was 14! What a thought!) and I enjoyed it then but I suspect I kind of glossed over the racism and concentrated more on the story-telling and the statement on the general darkness within us all.
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Conrad was not a great believer in the good heart of humankind.
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