Things Fall Apart is one of the most successful books on the surface of earth and it was China Achebe’s most successful work.In this extract from his latest book, ‘THERE WAS A COUNTRY, the late writer stated that when he was writing the book he did not know whether it would be published or not.
A major objective of becoming a writer was to challenge stereotypes, myths, and the image of ourselves and our continent, and to recast them through stories – prose, poetry, essays, and books for our children. That was my overall goal.
When a number of us decided to pick up the pen and make writing a career there was no African literature as we know it today. There were of course our great oral tradition – the epics of the Malinke, the Bamana, and the Fulani – the narratives of Olaudah Equaino, works by D.A. Fagunwa and Muhammadu Bello, and novels by Pita Nwana, Amos Tutuola, and Cyprian Ekwensi.
Across the African continent, literary Aficionados could savor the works of Egyptian, Nubian, and Carthaginian antiquity, Amharic and Tigrigna writings from Ethiopia and Eritrea; and the magnificent poetry and creation myths of Somalia. There was more – the breathtakingly beautiful Swahili poetry of East and Central Africa, and the chronicles, legends, and fables of the Ashanti, Dogon, Hutu, Kalanga, Mandingo, Ndebele, Ovambo, Shona, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Tutsi, Venda, Wolof, Nhosa, and Zulu.
Olive Schreiner’s nineteenth-century classic story of an African Farm and works by Samuel Mqhayi and Thomas Mofolo, Alan Paton, Camara Laye, Mongo Beti, Peter Abrahams, and Ferdinand Oyono, all preceded our time. Still, the numbers were not sufficient.
And so I had no idea when I was writing Things Fall Apart whether it would even be accepted or published. All of this was new -there was nothing by which I could gauge how it was going to be received.
Showtime
Celebrity cornered Peter Okoye who provides insight into what could
make him break up with his twin brother. He also talks about the making
of their latest album, Alingo and their new plans to conquer the
southeast African countries with their kind of music.
Mr.
Suntai was flown to Germany in an air ambulance on October 25 after the
crash which occurred in Adamawa leaving him and five other passengers
on the private jet injured.
Four
of their accomplices were arrested by security operatives and they
confessed to have been masterminds of the aborted attack, said Kano
state Commissioner of Police, Musa Daura. Daura told P.M.NEWS that the
four suspects were citizens of Niger Republic. Nigeria shares porous
borders with Niger Republic.
