This is a disappointing thread!!

What is the use of this argument?? Its like saying one painting is better than another or one colour is better than another. Its simply a matter of preference. Its fine to say you prefer Wole Soyinka to Chinua Achebe or vice versa but to say one is better than the other suggests you have missed the point of what either writer is trying to get across.

Also I can't believe tribalism can get in the way of appreciating what each writer is trying to say to us. I thought this forum was for highly educated Nigerians!!

I love both writers and have recently had the privilege of seeing both in person and even getting an autographed book from Wole Soyinka but I would never compare them. I loved Soyinka's Ake and recently saw his play the Lion and the Jewel which astounded me cos even though I read it in school I don't think I ever really appreciated the genius of the man. As for Achebe aside from Things Fall Apart I've also read Arrow of God and Anthills of the Savannah!! Anthills of the Savannah is a remarkable book which resounds long in the memory and I think its one of the most amazing books I've ever read. Another giant of African literature I would place alongside both of them is James Ngugi (Kenyan) but brilliant writer with Weep Not Child and A Grain of wheat.

Let us have conversations about what we appreciate about our favourite writers and the individual ways in which they speak to us rather than these childish debates about who is better than the other!!

well said soulful

[color=#770077][/color]
buchi emechate

I just red 5 books of this woman and i found them very interesting. I think she is one of those african writters that have vision towards life

Our opinion is based on our perspective. Opinons are free, facts are not. The simple truth is that these two great Nigerians have contributed immensely not only to Literature but also to the socio-politics of our Country. Our opinion does not take anything away from either of them. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Shakespare and Dicken did not win any Nobel Prize, yet we acknowlege that their writings are first-class.

Achebe and Soyinka are great. Your choice does not determine thier greatness, it is only a reflection of YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE.

Read Achebe's Home and Exile and Soyinka's Penkelemesi Years and get my drift year. Happy New Year.....

And hope we are not going start comparing Soyinka's Abiku with that of J.P Clark-Bekeredemo

Goto that topic "who are you igbo,hausa,yoruba or whatever" there u find the out that Youruba people here are choosing Wole,igbos go for chinua.thats just it.

Small minds discuss people; great minds discuss ideas!

diaso:

Small minds discuss people; great minds discuss ideas!

You couldn't have put it any better!

If I were to choose between both authors, Chinua would be my choice, bearing in mind i'm not igbo!

But that's besides the point, the best African author should be chosen from an exhaustive list, but why would you want to embark on a journey of making such a choice in the first place? Maybe the most influential African author would have been a more appropriate question.

We need to stop thinking in a box & learn to discuss sensible issues!

Chinua Achebe.

Dear Ajisafe,

It beats my imaginations that, some of you are still tribalistic to the extent that your sense of unbiased judgment is missing. You are so quick to point out that Prof. Wole Soyinka was the inventor of the Road Safety Corps, but you did not remind us that he is also the inventor of Pirate confraternity in Nigeria Universities.
The extent of your tribalism did not permit you an understanding of what the meaning of the word 'Communication' is- I think communication is effective when there is a feedback. So, my conclusion is that, I perfer to read books that are written in the simplest languages that I can understand rather than reading books written by someone who lives in an artificial atmosphere- so the issue of writting for Kids is not a logical reasoning.

Thanks

Pls, can someone tell Seun to close this thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is getting irritating

Why? I personally find it interesting.

It beats my imaginations that, some of you are still tribalistic to the extent that your sense of unbiased judgment is missing. You are so quick to point out that Prof. Wole Soyinka was the inventor of the Road Safety Corps, but you did not remind us that he is also the inventor of Pirate confraternity in Nigeria Universities.

Soyinka is a well rounded genius -- a poet, dramatist, playwright, writer, author, producer, director, inventor (invented the Oyo state of Nigeria's Road Safety Corps that later became a national sceme), human rights activist and so on.

Olivictor,
Please, look well before you leap! I know you're probably an ibo. So what? Don't bite me -- it's my opinion. If you like you can say your "igwe" writes better than my dear 'Wole Soyinka -- a genius. "Na ya wahala be dat," that's your own problem.

i guess the question is who do u prefer not wat 've they achieved. i prefer Achebe because his books are cool and easier to read.

I've read all the post - it's incredible how we still are a divided people. Why can't we just enjoy both men for their creativity and leave it at that? There is no best, creativity is something that cannot be judge as being better than another because works of literature are a matter of opinion, and as such, cannot be put under the judging eye of competition. May Africa and its people be great.

thank you

This is an idiotic post. Nigerians are pathetic!

, , CAPONE WOLE SOYINKA ALL THE WAY, AHOY,
ON A SERIOUS NOTE WOLE S WORK ARE FOR DEEP MINDS, iconoclastic in nature,
chinua s works are more for students, GREAT WORKS THO, GOD SPARING HIS LIFE, HE STANDS TO GET THE NOBEL IN THE NEXT 2/3 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!

hollywood:

This is an idiotic post. Nigerians are pathetic!

hollywood why should you call yourself pathetic? your email id has "nnena" in it. with an Igbo name like that,

Ajisafe was the first to mention that some "nincompoos" would choose on tribal sentiments. I think he is the first nincompoo.I have read "and the man died"( the book that gave him the nobel prize and dont think it as so fantastic (ma opinion:dont kill me)as well achebe books and i agree with the fellow that says writing for a wider audience is better than writing for a select few.They are both good but my vote goes to achebe.

A very interesting topic. It ended up being reduced to a emotional tussle between die-hard hero-worshippers of both writers.

Can we start this topic all over again, with a firm rule that "personal jabs are not allowed"?
I will suggest the topic reads: who is the Oluaye/Ogbuefi of African Literature?

Peace.

Between WS and CA

May I draw our attention to the triviality which some members of this portal have accorded a topic I consider rather too significant and weighty to be reduced to some purulent leanings in a bid to market some ethnic cum personal pride.

Going through all the rejoinders, I was most embarrassed , at least my sensibilities, to discover how ‘intellectuals’ (or aren’t we?), suddenly garbed themselves in such subjective cloaks as their ethnicity and personal stances to discuss a topic that begs for a high sense of objectivity. When will we unblind ourselves to this nauseating Nigerian factor that gauges every issue of national/literary importance through ethnic goggles? Or what has a topic that simply borders on the literary ingenuity of Nigeria’s foremost writers got to do with their fan-base (such that they exploit any available avenue to demonstrate their discipleship?

The damage was already done from the outset by the initiator of the discourse. Why, in the interest of rational consideration, could he not make the topic plain devoid of his own idiosyncratic stance? Why couldn’t he be a part of the discourse only in the capacity of a moderator? If he so wishes to be part of it, he could have delayed his comments, at least towards the middle of the discourse.

While I lay no claim to have read the complete works of both authors, I’d like to categorically state that to appraise their individual creativity will require a spelling out of certain criteria against which the appraisal should be made.

Aloofaa

Go on, Aloofaa. You make this sound interesting.

Let the Debate Rage on.

I have been here before.

If you have read 80% of both writers, you should know that our Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has left Pa Chinua Achebe behind since 1986.

Wole Soyinka's literary corpus covered poetry, drama, prose, essays, screenplays, directing, radio lectures, TV, Cinema, etc.

Chinua Achebe only covered some poetry, some novels, some essays and lectures.

Soyinka is still very much active in writing plays and essays. But Achebe prefers to live on his past glories. But as we all know that one swallow seen flying across the sky does not mean summer is here.

Achebe wrote only two great novels, Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God. The other novels are good, but not great works.

Soyinka's forte is both drama and poetry and that was why he won the Nobel Prize.

Achebe's corpus is prose and he has lost the genius of his youth.
Achebe wrote his best novels before age 30. And he did not increase in the mastery of his literature. His last major novel, Anthills of the Savannah is not even as good as his earlier novels.

When Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, Chinua Achebe felt that he deserved it more than Soyinka and he still feeling bitter about it.

Between 1957 and 1987, compare Achebe's literary works to Soyinka's literary works and the distinction is very clear. Soyinka excelled.

Anyone who has not read 80% of the writings of both great African writers cannot do justice to this discussion.

Achebe is actually wishing for the Nobel Prize as a parting gift to him. But the next Nigerian writer of genius who is most likely to win the Nobel Prize for Literature is Ben Okri.

We fought a tragic civil war and none of them could write a great novel on it.
Have you read the great American novels of the American Civil War and the Great Depression?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will excel Chinua Achebe.
But I don't know any young Nigerian writer who can excel Wole Soyinka until the unpublished works of our unsung masters come to light.

Orikinla,

Does this mean you are retracting your earlier assertions that Ben Okri will be the youngest winner or the Nobel Prize in Literature? I need to remind you and Karen King that Soyinka won the Nobel prize while he was 52 and Ben Okri is already 48 (so that leaves him 4 years within which he can accomplish this feat). I personally do not think he will beat Soyinka though I may be wrong. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen. Let us continue to watch.

SMC,
Ben will win the Nobel Prize before he turns 52.

The Nobel Prize committee on Literature plays some politics with their nominations.
They may give it to Salman Rushdie before Ben Okri.

I see Okri winning it before 2012.

The arguement here is simply easy to decipher,i have read several books by both authors even recent ones from soyinka like his intervention series, and one he called we the people,what i personally discovered is that both authors are accomplished writers,and professors in their field of literature.Mr soyinka's books are great but he is usually too verbose and employs complex verbiages in trying to express his views. Meanwhile mr.Achebe carries the reader along and his quite moderate in his use of words,he writes more constructively for the masses and employs simple analogies that explains his message,yes mr soyinka won the noble price but does that take anything away from the genius of mr achebe? No! They are both superb authors but i'd prefer achebe,i am yoruba.

Orikinla:

SMC,
Ben will win the Nobel Prize before he turns 52.
The Nobel Prize committee on Literature plays some politics with their nominations.
They may give it to Salman Rushdie before Ben Okri.
I see Okri winning it before 2012.

For him to prove your (and Karen King's) prediction right (i.e. of being the youngest Nigerian Nobel Literature prize winner), Ben Okri must win the Nobel prize by 2010. Though this is a possibility, I do not think it is likely. If he wins it in 2011, he will merely equal Soyinka's feat. A prize in any year after 2011 will mean he has not even managed to match Soyinka.

I think Okri is good, but in the face of numerous fantastic literary works by different authors, I honestly do not think he has a snowball's chance in hell of achieving what you say by 2010 (this is my personal opinion and I may be proven wrong. In fact, I'd be chuffed if I am proved to be wrong because that will mean another feather in the cap of our motherland ).

There is really no basis for comparism. They are both great

in their own ways. Yes the are.

SMC:

For him to prove your (and Karen King's) prediction right (i.e. of being the youngest Nigerian Nobel Literature prize winner), Ben Okri must win the Nobel prize by 2010. Though this is a possibility, I do not think it is likely. If he wins it in 2011, he will merely equal Soyinka's feat. A prize in any year after 2011 will mean he has not even managed to match Soyinka.

I think Okri is good, but in the face of numerous fantastic literary works by different authors, I honestly do not think he has a snowball's chance in hell of achieving what you say by 2010 (this is my personal opinion and I may be proven wrong. In fact, I'd be chuffed if I am proved to be wrong because that will mean another feather in the cap of our motherland ).

SMC,
Ben Okri is ripe for the Nobel Prize in Literature. So, he can win it before 2010.
Because as Alfred Nobel said, den som inom litteraturen har producerat det utmärktaste i idealisk riktning, Ben Okri has indeed achieved "the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency."

Nobody needs a Nobel prize to prove that they are literary geniuses.

Ndipe:

Nobody needs a Nobel prize to prove that they are literary geniuses.

I agree. However, a million bucks will go a long way to assist a winner and there is a lot of prestige attached to the prize, as well as the fact that winning the prize opens many doors for winners.

SMC:

I agree. However, a million bucks will go a long way to assist a winner and there is a lot of prestige attached to the prize, as well as the fact that winning the prize opens many doors for winners.

True! It would be quite remarkable if he wins.

Back to the topic. I enjoy Achebe's works. But I also like Soyinka, despite the fact that he makes you work, for the pleasure of reading him. Having said that though, not all his works are complex. His plays like The Trials of Brother Jero and The Lion & the Jewel are fun to read. So is his book, You must set forth at dawn. I read excerpts of it, when it was serialised in a newspaper in Lagos.

Both writers are good in their own different ways. Trying to compare them or saying one is better than the other, would be like comparing apples to oranges. Or saying that a pineapple is better than a pawpaw.