Why was this topic started at all. only when this is known will one be able to effectively contribute; otherwise there would be lots of back and forth talk back. May be in the process we would know the origin of the discussion. Who said there is just one road to Dugbe. I will respond  only to response with potential

Those who compare Achebe and Soyinka make a very big mistake. It's like trying to know between the ear and the mouth which is better. They are two different essential organs of the body that serve two different purposes. You can only compare like with like. Achebe is a great novelist while Soyinka is a great dramatist/poet. You cannot compare Jonathan Swift with John Dryden neither can you compare Alexander Pope with Charles Dickens.

One thing people should ask is why is it that most great novelists don't usually write great plays/poems and great playwrights/poets don't usually write great novels. Soyinka wrote great plays and poems but not great novels (forget about the claim that his novels are for the highly learned - are his poems like Abiku and plays like Lion and the Jewel and Jero Plays not read in secondary schools?). In the same vein, Achebe wrote great novels but his poems are unpopular.

Another question we should ask is why are Nigerian and African writers lazy. John Keats died at only 26 and left so many poems; Christopher Marlowe died at 29 and left so many works; Shakespeare died at 52 with 38 plays and over one hundred sonnets and other long poems. But Achebe is 77 this November and Soyinka was 73 in July, yet they have produced very few works compared to other great writers of the world.

What is your contribution to the literary field in Africa@jprospero, before heaping insults on Africans?

achebe and soyinka are masters in their area of specialisatn,the former is a great novelist while the latter is a great poet,dramatist,actor and critic so they are both men of writing.i believe they respect each other because wole soyinka in his speech in abk recently quotes achebe as he says 'my colleague'.i envy and admire their achievements

@Jprospero.;;;;shut up.how many books have you written yourself

I thought the essence of  sharing ideas and thoughts here is for people to learn, not to insult contributors. I praised the literary genius of  Achebe and Soyinka but stated that Nigerians and Africans produce few literary works compared to other writers on other continents. It has nothing to do with how many books I have written. I don't need to be a writer to ask why are African writers not writing many books. And when I criticized Nigerians and Africans, I didn't exclude myself.

So could we leave out the person and focus on the issues please?

I still repeat that there is no justifiable basis to compare two great writers like Soyinka and Achebe because they occupy different literary niches. It's like asking a reasonable man to say whom he loves better between his wife and mother. I am captivated by Achebe's picturesque storytelling prowess and thrilled by Soyinka's dramatic/poetic artistry. Thank God the two greatest African writers are Nigerians.

Gwazah your English sucks.

Sometimes, I wonder why we do the way we Africans do, mostly Nigerians. Wole Soyinka is a great writer and so also is Chinue Achebe. They are great. And Wole won the the Nobel Laurel prize in 1986 which is 21 years ago. Winning that prize is not easy, and there are many new developments things now that those two writers have not included in their books. Modern fiction requires a sense of immediacy, of being IN the scene. In some of these two writers books, they have bad habit in telling us their reaction to the scene, instead of showing us the scene and letting us, reader draw the conclusion. Want to argue with me? I have some points for you all :

Has any of this writer reach the status of the following Authors in the world?

William Shakespares,
Jefferey Archer,
Stephen King,
Sydney Sheldon, and many more others that I can't mention because I might have forgotten their names. But yet, I compare them to be the best in the world. Instead of comparing those two, why can't we compare, Wole Soyinka Vs Jeffrey Archer? Or Chinue Achebe Vs Sydney Sheldon

I'm an African man who appreciates Africans, We shouldn't condemn them, but say the facts about them. I render my case but any argument is highly welcomed.

In Writing,
Cisse

achebe is my man he is the best
dont even compare him with any ok?

georgen2u,
I laugh after reading your post, in fact, I'm still laughing, You sound very much funny as if Chinue Achebe is only created to only be yours. I love him, I love every writers in the world. But we Africans still have that 'black' mentalities. You said I shouldn't compare him with anyone in the world, not even WILLIAM SHAKESPARES? I think you may be wrong. Comparing those two writers will let us see what we do not see from different angles when arguments start popping in. Mind you, I do not condemn him, but I won't say Africans' writers are what they are not. So, Chinue Achebe is a very great writer to have come out of Africa, yet, we can't compare him with William Shakespares. How old is Things Fall Apart? How old is Twelfth Night? Let's start from that angle. I'm a writer too, and my book has won many awards too, but I will never say I can write more than any of them, not even up to their standard.

It's Kongi all the way.

Lets leave sentiments apart,  if that is ever possible,the Two writers are great minds no doubt and each has contributed handsomely to the genres of literature he specializes in, for me personally it is like asking me to pick the best between my parents, but if l must pick l will choice the more cerebral Wole Soyinka, he is a model for second language users like me.

First of all, Wole's books are sort of complicated, like the 'Lion and the Jewel'. I tried to read it but I didn't quite understand it. Chinua's books are not in poem forms and are easily understood like, 'Things fall apart', a most comon book now. :DEven though Soyinka won the Nobel prize for literature, that dosen't make him the best African writer, I'll go for Chinua.

This post is useless anyway. Chinuea Achebe is a brilliant Novelist, Essayist, Lecturer and Story Teller. Wole Soyinka is primarily a dramatist/poet and essayist. Why compare them? And where do you put Ben Okri, Niyi Osundare, Chimamanda, Sefi Atta etc.

Anyway, for those who thinks Soyinka might be too difficult, too bad. Perhaps he wasn't writing for you.

Below is a link to a recent comment by Gerd Meuer on the relationship between the two writers, a comment on their creativity or something like it. And Gerd should necessarily know. He has known them both since about 1962.

http://igwatala.instablogs.com/entry/on-achebe-soyinka-and-gerd-meuer/

Regards all.

I think achebe is the best. he aims at people understanding his work unlike soyinka

They're two different kinds of writers and shouldn't be compared at all. Unlike Soyinka though, Achebe knows his area of strength and sticks to that, in the main. He's by far the superior novelist. Soyinka's novels are mediocre, for a Nobel prize winner. The big words are unnecessary in a novel, and you won't find many great writers who use them. A novel's not about how many ten-syllable words you know, but how powerfully you use simple words.

But plays and non-fiction, OMG. The Man Died is an incredible book, and the reason he won the Nobel. It can stand side by side with any book by any author in any country. That's the only writing that revealed the depth of his genius. He should stick to plays and non-fiction. Achebe is a born novelist, and he excels at it.

@Mad-max
I agree with you 150%.
Soyinka is a playwright. His works of nonfiction are ok too even if they tend to drag (my opinion). Achebe on the other hand is a novelist of unequalled talent. Things fall apart remains one of the best novels ever written.

Mad_Max:

They're two different kinds of writers and shouldn't be compared at all. Unlike Soyinka though, Achebe knows his area of strength and sticks to that, in the main. He's by far the superior novelist. Soyinka's novels are mediocre, for a Nobel prize winner. The big words are unnecessary in a novel, and you won't find many great writers who use them. A novel's not about how many ten-syllable words you know, but how powerfully you use simple words.

But plays and non-fiction, OMG. The Man Died is an incredible book, and the reason he won the Nobel. It can stand side by side with any book by any author in any country. That's the only writing that revealed the depth of his genius. He should stick to plays and non-fiction. Achebe is a born novelist, and he excels at it.

I respectfully beg to differ madam. . . .

I can understand why Achebe would be regarded as the better novelist, his books are
a lot more accessible for one.

Soyinka has not written too many novels, but I still think The Interpreters is the best
piece of fiction I have ever read by a Nigerian, and I have read all of Achebe's books.

You think The Interpreter is better than, say, A Man of the People?

I've thoroughly enjoyed your contributions, Personally I think they are both great authors, But, My heart goes out to Chinua Achebe. (No offence)

@simmy
His works of non-fiction tend to drag? I take it you didn't enjoy The Man Died then.
I agree, Achebe is uber-talented.

Hmmmm, thatz a hard one.

For sophisticated simplicity-Achebe

For catostrophic complexity-Soyinka

toluwalomo:

Hmmmm, thatz a hard one.

For sophisticated simplicity-Achebe

For catostrophic complexity-Soyinka

That sums it up for me as well.

Chinua Achebe is a better writer anyday.

@mad max
the man died was aiight. i just got bored with his ramblings attimes.

a good( i.e. popular) writer excels at bringing the reader into his world- of fiction or otherwise- in such a way that afterwards you are left with a poignant, nostalgic feeling. Ergo Achebe. I think much of Soyinka's popularity stems from the noble-prize-winning and not from any appeal his writing might have for the average reader.

chinua achebe

jidobaba:

a good( i.e. popular) writer excels at bringing the reader into his world- of fiction or otherwise- in such a way that afterwards you are left with a poignant, nostalgic feeling. Ergo Achebe. I think much of Soyinka's popularity stems from the noble-prize-winning and not from any appeal his writing might have for the average reader.

I so get that. I read some of Soyinka's plays in school and wondered what the hell all the noise about him was. I finally understood the noise when I read The Man Died, but Achebe is by far the better novelist.

Mad_Max:

You think The Interpreter is better than, say, A Man of the People?

Yep. . .I do.

I think The Interpreters is the most underrated piece of Nigerian Fiction ever written, well maybe I should say
that I have read anyway.

A Man of the People is in that group of post colonial literature focused on the malaise that was African wide politics
and the dubious characters that animated that scene. Say Ayi Kwei Armah's ''Beautiful ones are not yet born'' for example.
Although as a piece of prescient writing, you would be hardpressed to find one as accurate.

I infact think ''Anthills of the Savannah'' though flawed in many respects was a better bit of political writing. The characters varied and
complex. If ''Man of the People'' was a child of the 60's, Anthills is an age unrestricted book with themes that resonate beyond a particular
time period, and dealt with a maturity that shows the development in Achebe.

Ironically, Interpreters is indeed a book of the '60's, but the fact that it describes that period so well, and the present day South West
so vividly, I think makes it so superb. One is drawn oh so subtly into the lives of those returnees, the ones who hold the hope of the new nation in
their hands, those interpreters of the nation's destiny.

It is a political book but it is not overtly political. You are of course made aware of the impact corruption was already making, but there is so much
other stuff going on, the characters so rich, varied, and the humor so fantastically wicked, you almost forget the disaster which the new nation was
rapidly turning into. It is hopelessly cynical in several respects, complex in the way only Soyinka knows how, but all this only serve to make one warm to
the characters more, they who are chained by their idealism, surely bound to fail, in the face of daunting odds.

The writing I will admit can be difficult to navigate, but I don't know if there is a better literary experience, than say reading a book again and going, ''Oh, that's what he meant''. That is what Soyinka's complexity means to me. I have read this book countless times, and it always brings something new, little nuggets of wonderment hidden within the thin skinned pages. The best books are those that live with you for days, their commentary so incisive yet elusive, you are left dissecting years even after you have read the book.

The Interpreters is that kind of book.

Achebe's novels are more accessible and readily understood by his readers, unlike Soyinka, whose novels come equipped with big words. I prefer Achebe. But come-o, does anybody here agree with me that his novel, "The Arrow of God" is more literary than Things Fall Apart? Even the author confessed that The Arrow of God was a novel that he was most likely to read of all his novels.

Ndipe:

Achebe's novels are more accessible and readily understood by his readers, unlike Soyinka, whose novels come equipped with big words. I prefer Achebe. But come-o, does anybody here agree with me that his novel, "The Arrow of God" is more literary than Things Fall Apart? Even the author confessed that The Arrow of God was a novel that he was most likely to read of all his novels.

Most memorable thing about Arrow of God for me was the end. . . .

He ended it so abruptly, it seemed he couldn't get it finished quick enough.