₦airaland Forum

The characters,

the plot

the prose

the narrative

The twists

Everything about this book was pure
genius.

This is the best book to come out of
Africa.

It has always upset me that this book did
not receive the Nobel Prize for literature.

czarina:
As a writer, you're in a better position to speak, ba? What about the millions of readers who simply enjoy their works with zero knowledge of the plenty literature "jargons" you dropped. They should all shove their opinions into their asses?



Calm down. It all boils down to who you enjoy most, not because "you know better as a writer".

Justsaying



P.S

Mr Writer, learn to space out your words/use paragraphs adequately. They're not in short supply.

You dey find trouble for 'Mr writer' side oo.

czarina:
As a writer, you're in a better position to speak, ba? What about the millions of readers who simply enjoy their works with zero knowledge of the plenty literature "jargons" you dropped. They should all shove their opinions into their asses?



Calm down. It all boils down to who you enjoy most, not because "you know better as a writer".

Justsaying



P.S

Mr Writer, learn to space out your words/use paragraphs adequately. They're not in short supply.

You dey find trouble for 'Mr writer' side oo.

it has fallen out of remedy in dis country

Both WS and Achebe are literary giants....
Comparison will often boil down to individuals preferred genre..
Soyinka is a master playwright while Achebe is a novelist.
Like someone earlier said, Things Fall Apart is out of this world and there will be no equal to it...
It however seem to be the only exceptional book written by Achebe.
Soyinka however has several.

PharoahIII:
As a writer, I think I am in a better position to comment on this topic. Firstly you must appreciate that Achebe's mastery of the English language was second to none, although he did not have a flair for words as Soyinka does. In terms of scene depiction, Achebe was a genius. Achebe could describe a scene like none other. Achebe had total control of his audience, he knew how to keep them on their toes, wanting and practically begging for more. This is a feat Soyinka simply could not achieve. But in terms of consistency, I'll give it to Soyinka.
Soyinka's best work till date remains Death and the King's Horseman (The first time I opened this book I knew I was in literary heaven). If one were to take this work away from Soyinka, Soyinka will still be Soyinka. But if you take Things Fall Apart away from Achebe, Achebe will be a nobody. He'll be like a disrobed emperor. His other works were quite quotidian. Achebe was a master storyteller and writer, and Soyinka, more of a writer than a story teller.
If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose Soyinka, and that's only because storytelling in itself is a more difficult craft to master than writing.
Things fall apart is not a book, it is a bible.

Arrow of god nkoa

Jayslicky:
CLICK like if u think chinua achebe was a better writer than wole soyinka.

wole soyinka won d noble laureate prize(world best) what did achebe win

Igbo Amaka

NwaforIgbo:
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart has been named in BBC’s 100 stories that shaped the world, making it into the top 5. BBC Culture asked writers around the globe to pick stories that have endured across generations and continents – and changed society. Other great African literary works on the list include Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, and Children of Gebelawi written by Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz.

On Steve Biko: “A young man with a sharp intellect and flair for organisation and leadership”. Photo: Bookslive

One of Africa’s literary giants Albert Chinualumogu Achebe passed away in 2013 aged 82 but his works continue to make headlines, inspiring and influencing generations. Achebe’s first novel Things Fall Apart (1958), which is widely considered his magnum opus, and is the most widely read book in modern African literature has been named in BBC’s 100 stories that shaped the world, making it into the top 5.

In April, just months after the 60th anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart, the novel was named one of 12 novels considered “the Greatest Book Ever Written” in a list which was compiled by Encyclopaedia Brittanica. In the same month, Things Fall Apart was also named in the list of 100 Books to feature in ‘The Great American Read’ TV Series. The American series “celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels (as chosen in a national survey)”.

Read: Things Fall Apart named one of 12 novels considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Things Fall Apart is regarded as an important novel and one of the greatest classics of our time. The story chronicles the pre-colonial life in Nigeria and the arrival of the Europeans during the late nineteenth century. The novel interrogates the clash of cultures, traditional values and belief systems.

Other great African literary works on the BBC’s 100 list include Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions, and Children of Gebelawi written by Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz. Nervous Conditions, which comes in at number 66 on the BBC list won the African category of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1989 and is considered one of the 12 best African novels ever written. The novel illustrates and interrogates the dynamic themes of race, colonialism, and gender during the post-colonial conditions of present-day Zimbabwe.


Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006) the first Arabic-language writer to win a Nobel Prize for literature. Photo: ANP
Children of Gebelawi written by Mahfouz is ranked 76 on the BBC list. Mahfouz won the 1988 Nobel Prize for literature for his works “rich in nuance”, which “formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind”. Mahfouz was the second African writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, after Nigerian author and poet, Wole Soyinka who received the Prize in 1986.

In April, BBC Culture says it asked writers around the globe to pick stories that have endured across generations and continents – and changed society. Experts around the world nominated up to five fictional stories they felt had shaped mindsets or influenced history. “We received answers from 108 authors, academics, journalists, critics and translators in 35 countries – their choices took in novels, poems, folk tales and dramas in 33 different languages,” BBC Culture said.

BBC Culture says the list is not definitive but its aim is “to spark a conversation about why some stories endure; how they continue to resonate centuries and millennia after they were created. And why sharing those stories is a fundamental human impulse: one that can overcome division, inspire change, and even spark revolutions”.

https://thisisafrica.me/things-fall-apart-bbcs-100-stories-shaped-world/?fbclid=IwAR3Pm5yHKUzKszvG6sqY-iykbHWM2XwInZG13U5VaY_GW-LoaIgPXj43K-k

Nitwits that have never read one of Soyinka and China Achebe's books will come and start typing nonsense now. They will be here in 15 minutes

OkunrinOloro:
Chinua Achebe was a writer of popular folk fiction. Wole Soyinka is a cerebral, philosopher whose writings can only be appreciated by men and women of deep intellect and proven academic credentials.

Comparing Achebe with Soyinka is like comparing the intellectual loftiness of Shakespearean literature with simple African folk tales. It's not a fair comparison because Achebe will always come out looking second best.

There's a reason why one of them won a Nobel Prize and the other was never even nominated.

Just pick up one of Soyinka's books like The Interpreter and compare it with Things Fall Apart. Read both of them and then come back to this forum and tell us which one showed a much deeper insight into the frailties of human nature and eternal struggle between individual freedom and societal norms.

I even rate someone like Cyprian Ekwensi as a better writer than Chinua Achebe.

hope you read this thread well? where is Soyinka rated internationally? Achebe has just been regarded by international group as one of the biggest writer to emanate from African and the world at large. where is Soyinka rated? or do you know more than them?

OkunrinOloro:
Chinua Achebe was a writer of popular folk fiction. Wole Soyinka is a cerebral, philosopher whose writings can only be appreciated by men and women of deep intellect and proven academic credentials.

Comparing Achebe with Soyinka is like comparing the intellectual loftiness of Shakespearean literature with simple African folk tales. It's not a fair comparison because Achebe will always come out looking second best.

There's a reason why one of them won a Nobel Prize and the other was never even nominated.

Just pick up one of Soyinka's books like The Interpreter and compare it with Things Fall Apart. Read both of them and then come back to this forum and tell us which one showed a much deeper insight into the frailties of human nature and eternal struggle between individual freedom and societal norms.

I even rate someone like Cyprian Ekwensi as a better writer than Chinua Achebe.

You spoke well, i read the translation of igbo olodumare into English by Soyinka. The nigga is good. Achebe too is good all the same

How this man did not win a Nobel prize is beyond me

Jokerman:
Nigeria has great writers in the persons of Chinua Achebe and Prof. Wole Soyinka... God bless them for putting smiles on peoples faces

add Cyprian Ekwensi... dat man is good too

[s]

PharoahIII:
As a writer, I think I am in a better position to comment on this topic. Firstly you must appreciate that Achebe's mastery of the English language was second to none, although he did not have a flair for words as Soyinka does. In terms of scene depiction, Achebe was a genius. Achebe could describe a scene like none other. Achebe had total control of his audience, he knew how to keep them on their toes, wanting and practically begging for more. This is a feat Soyinka simply could not achieve. But in terms of consistency, I'll give it to Soyinka.
Soyinka's best work till date remains Death and the King's Horseman (The first time I opened this book I knew I was in literary heaven). If one were to take this work away from Soyinka, Soyinka will still be Soyinka. But if you take Things Fall Apart away from Achebe, Achebe will be a nobody. He'll be like a disrobed emperor. His other works were quite quotidian. Achebe was a master storyteller and writer, and Soyinka, more of a writer than a story teller.
If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose Soyinka, and that's only because storytelling in itself is a more difficult craft to master than writing.
Things fall apart is not a book, it is a bible.

[/s]

Please shut up

I don't like either of them

searchlight:
hope you read this thread well? where is Soyinka rated internationally? Achebe has just been regarded by international group as one of the biggest writer to emanate from African and the world at large. where is Soyinka rated? or do you know more than them?

How would you say Soyinka - a Noble prize winner in Literature isn't rated internationally?
That's the highest award in the world in literature.
Things fall apart is bigger than that Soyinka's works but that doesn't make Achebe a better writer than Soyinka

PharoahIII:
As a writer, I think I am in a better position to comment on this topic. Firstly you must appreciate that Achebe's mastery of the English language was second to none, although he did not have a flair for words as Soyinka does. In terms of scene depiction, Achebe was a genius. Achebe could describe a scene like none other. Achebe had total control of his audience, he knew how to keep them on their toes, wanting and practically begging for more. This is a feat Soyinka simply could not achieve. But in terms of consistency, I'll give it to Soyinka.
Soyinka's best work till date remains Death and the King's Horseman (The first time I opened this book I knew I was in literary heaven). If one were to take this work away from Soyinka, Soyinka will still be Soyinka. But if you take Things Fall Apart away from Achebe, Achebe will be a nobody. He'll be like a disrobed emperor. His other works were quite quotidian. Achebe was a master storyteller and writer, and Soyinka, more of a writer than a story teller.
If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose Soyinka, and that's only because storytelling in itself is a more difficult craft to master than writing.
Things fall apart is not a book, it is a bible.

haters go and hug transformer

Things fall apart is a book you must read at least once in your school years, translated into more than fifty languages, it's African greatest novel.

Guy calm down and stop misinforming people.I am sure that you do not have such qualifications that could have granted you access to the event where this decision was made so your opinion is parochial.

[quaote author=OkunrinOloro post=77811476]Chinua Achebe was a writer of popular folk fiction. Wole Soyinka is a cerebral, philosopher whose writings can only be appreciated by men and women of deep intellect and proven academic credentials.

Comparing Achebe with Soyinka is like comparing the intellectual loftiness of Shakespearean literature with simple African folk tales. It's not a fair comparison because Achebe will always come out looking second best.

There's a reason why one of them won a Nobel Prize and the other was never even nominated.

Just pick up one of Soyinka's books like The Interpreter and compare it with Things Fall Apart. Read both of them and then come back to this forum and tell us which one showed a much deeper insight into the frailties of human nature and eternal struggle between individual freedom and societal norms.

I even rate someone like Cyprian Ekwensi as a better writer than Chinua Achebe.[/quote]

Jayslicky:
CLICK like if u think chinua achebe was a better writer than wole soyinka.

This one na ethnic bigot

African GOAT

The other waste man invented cultism

Quote me oh you coven dwellers

OkunrinOloro:
Chinua Achebe was a writer of popular folk fiction. Wole Soyinka is a cerebral, philosopher whose writings can only be appreciated by men and women of deep intellect and proven academic credentials.

Comparing Achebe with Soyinka is like comparing the intellectual loftiness of Shakespearean literature with simple African folk tales. It's not a fair comparison because Achebe will always come out looking second best.

There's a reason why one of them won a Nobel Prize and the other was never even nominated.

Just pick up one of Soyinka's books like The Interpreter and compare it with Things Fall Apart. Read both of them and then come back to this forum and tell us which one showed a much deeper insight into the frailties of human nature and eternal struggle between individual freedom and societal norms.

I even rate someone like Cyprian Ekwensi as a better writer than Chinua Achebe.

i don't think that is the reason bro,chenua achebe was more critical about the activities of the white in the event of the colonial rule .who are the awardees?the whitemen, achebe works potrals more of our cultures and heritage than any other story .using noble price to rate achebe might not be fair on him.

PharoahIII:
As a writer, I think I am in a better position to comment on this topic. Firstly you must appreciate that Achebe's mastery of the English language was second to none, although he did not have a flair for words as Soyinka does. In terms of scene depiction, Achebe was a genius. Achebe could describe a scene like none other. Achebe had total control of his audience, he knew how to keep them on their toes, wanting and practically begging for more. This is a feat Soyinka simply could not achieve. But in terms of consistency, I'll give it to Soyinka.
Soyinka's best work till date remains Death and the King's Horseman (The first time I opened this book I knew I was in literary heaven). If one were to take this work away from Soyinka, Soyinka will still be Soyinka. But if you take Things Fall Apart away from Achebe, Achebe will be a nobody. He'll be like a disrobed emperor. His other works were quite quotidian. Achebe was a master storyteller and writer, and Soyinka, more of a writer than a story teller.
If I had to choose between the two, I'd choose Soyinka, and that's only because storytelling in itself is a more difficult craft to master than writing.
Things fall apart is not a book, it is a bible.

You just exposed the fact that you have not read Chinua Achebe 's "Arrow of God" and the other books by him. Even, I don't think you read "Things Fall Apart".

Anambra is a superior black race.

Jayslicky:
CLICK like if u think chinua achebe was a better writer than wole soyinka.

The 2 are different.

Wole Soyinka is a wordsmith while Chinua Achebe is a master storyteller.

Most importantly, stop fuelling unnecessary ethnic tension online

Both writers are great!
It just like how 'some' define a beautiful woman to be extremely slim which of course I disagree.
The decision makers have given their verdict.
So, whatever you say right now is absolutely irrelevant.
Do you challenge the outcome of the statistics if you are enlightened or educated at all?

Asshurbanipali:
Anambra is a superior black race.

Will you keep quiet Mr. man. Don't you have something better to do?

Jayslicky:
CLICK like if u think chinua achebe was a better writer than wole soyinka.

Come on, stop this puerile attitude of yours. Soyinka is a Playwright, who writes plays: Achebe was a novelist who narrates stories/events.

Jayslicky:
CLICK like if u think chinua achebe was a better writer than wole soyinka.

Truly Achebe is Africa's best

Gratefulheart01:
You spoke well, i read the translation of igbo olodumare into English by Soyinka. The nigga is good. Achebe too is good all the same

where did you get the book from please?