No Longer at Ease

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  I hadn't read <i>No Longer at Ease</i> before and a review describing it as a book about the personal challenges faced by a bureaucrat in Africa piqued my interest. I had liked the novel <i>Anthills of the Savannah</i> assigned to me in college and figured <i>Ease</I> could double as pleasure reading and "work" reading.

  There's been enough written about the story by others... so I'll focus on what spoke to me. Achebe wrote this decades ago, but ... (show more)

  I hadn't read <i>No Longer at Ease</i> before and a review describing it as a book about the personal challenges faced by a bureaucrat in Africa piqued my interest. I had liked the novel <i>Anthills of the Savannah</i> assigned to me in college and figured <i>Ease</I> could double as pleasure reading and "work" reading.

  There's been enough written about the story by others... so I'll focus on what spoke to me. Achebe wrote this decades ago, but I think the issues faced by his protagonist Obi Okonkowo still ring true today. Having to "find" money when a problem surfaces, not being able to live comfortably on what most other people around you think is a lot. The latter point is especially important: when you make enough money, more people will depend on you, and people will expect you to spend more on yourself to show how far you've come.

  Would definitely assign it to an undergraduate course on African politics, not to analyze, but to enjoy and try to see a perspective they wouldn't get from academic or textbook pieces. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook-användare on Apr 18, 2009 at 09:49AM

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  While <i>No Longer At Ease</i> by Chinua Achebe is not quite as compelling as <i>Things Fall Apart</i>, the story of Obi Okonkwo, the English-educated grandson of the Okonkwo from TFA, is a beautiful and tragic story. As one of the privileged few Nigerians with a civil service position and an education from England, Obi is forced to navigate between the traditions and aspirations of his parents' generation and the rigid (and expensive) expectations of a modernizing ye... (show more)

  While <i>No Longer At Ease</i> by Chinua Achebe is not quite as compelling as <i>Things Fall Apart</i>, the story of Obi Okonkwo, the English-educated grandson of the Okonkwo from TFA, is a beautiful and tragic story. As one of the privileged few Nigerians with a civil service position and an education from England, Obi is forced to navigate between the traditions and aspirations of his parents' generation and the rigid (and expensive) expectations of a modernizing yet still-colonial Nigeria. Torn between worlds, Obi has little room to follow his own vision for the future.

  One of the aspects of the book that I liked the best was Achebe's use of language. He interspersed Ibo words and phrases with a "Western" style of writing. The structure of the book also follows the path of a traditional tragedy, yet the character and his experiences are particular to Nigeria in the late 1950s.

  Very good - but again, very tragic - book. (show less)

   

   

  by Christina Kopp on Feb 11, 2009 at 10:25AM

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