₦airaland Forum

Virginia Woolf

For those disputing the inclusion of Things Fall Apart, this list is actually from a reputable British website: britannica.com

https://www.britannica.com/list/12-novels-considered-the-greatest-book-ever-written

I wonder why the OP didn't state the source.

Things Fall Apart is more than just a novel written by a Nigerian. You need to understand the literary significance and impact on African literature.

One of the first African novels to receive global critical acclaim. It is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in 1962 by William Heinemann Limited, and became the first work published in Heinemann's African Writers Series (most of which I binge-read).

It is regarded as a milestone in Anglophone African literature, and for the perception of African literature in the West. It has come to be seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and is read in Nigeria and throughout Africa.

It is studied widely in Europe, India, and North America, where it has spawned numerous secondary and tertiary analytical works. It has achieved similar status and repute in Australia and Oceania.

It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Time magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. It has been translated into more than 50 languages, and is often used in literature, world history, and African studies courses across the world.

The publication of Achebe's Things Fall Apart helped pave the way for numerous other African writers. Novelists who published after Achebe were able to find an eloquent and effective mode for the expression of the particular social, historical, and cultural situation of modern Africa.

Before Things Fall Apart was published, most of the novels about Africa had been written by European authors, portraying Africans as savages who were in need of western enlightenment.

This book helped convince the world that African Writers have something to offer and publishers paid attention.


The comment below is needless.
Wole Soyinka is one of the greatest literary icons in the world and last time I checked, he is still the only Nigerian with the Nobel prize in Literature. Rare feat!

adolfHitler1934:
He wrote "Pirates of The Sea Dogs" How to become a Cultist.

Foolish overrated Professor.

Achebe & Soyinka were founding members of Ulli Beier's Mbari Club, together with J.P Clark, Chris Okigbo, Demas, Mabel and Pa Bruce Onobrakpeya and they all maintained maximum respect for one another.

It's sad to see this generation of youngsters, most of who do not know literary s**t from chocolate denigrate their legacy.


It's high time we switched off our tribal antennae