The African Trilogy: Things Fall Apart; Arrow of God; No Longer at Ease (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

I bought this book even though the other reviews showed poorly cut pages and sloppy binding. I am glad I did because those issues seem to be a thing of the past. Clean cut, soft strong pages, high quality paper book shield around the hard cover, and a binding secured in gold stitching with a gold ribbon bookmark built in. A real pleasure to read compared to my kindle.

I bought this book after reading "Things Fall Apart", which I loved. Really enjoyed the whole trilogy. It touches on West African culture over time, especially after the arrival/colonization by the white man through the eyes of key fictional character. The books are well written, with all aspects of a good story. Would highly recommend.

Things Fall Apart: 4 stars (read 2/23/21-4/10/21)I'm thrown back to high school and college, where this was THE book we needed to read during English class. For me, I was eager to avoid this book after so many times studying it. Not because it's bad, no, definitely not that. In fact, it's really, really, really well-written. I don't like stories where the protagonist rises, and the plot focus is on the fall. I prefer the fall to happen first and then focus on the rise. Anyway, this is my first time reading this in at least 5 years, though most likely way longer.I had a better experience reading this than I did when I was in school. Maybe it was just that time has passed, or that I've grown a bit. It's still not my favorite book, but the writing is exceptional. I find myself absolutely loving Achebe's writing style. It feels so straightforward as if I'm sitting and listening to the narrator tell the story.Arrow of God: 3 stars (read 4/10/21-6/26/21)Unlike Things Fall Apart, I never read either Arrow of God or No Longer At Ease before.While the quality of the writing is still good, I didn't really enjoy this book. I could never quite get invested in Ezeulu's story. Maybe it was because I took too many long breaks while reading this rather than reading it in one or two sittings. It could also be that this is how I felt when I read TFA for the first time, but it's been so many years that I've forgotten what my initial reaction was like. Either way, if I ever do reread this, it'll be a long time from now.No Longer At Ease: 3 stars (read 6/26/21-7/4/21)I really liked how this book started at the end of the plot, with Obi Okonkwo getting arrested. That's actually one of my favorite ways to start a story. Starting at the end and then going back to find out how the main character got there. I find it eases the stress because you already know what will happen while still keeping a bit of the tension up. That being said, I wasn't a fan of this book. The writing quality was still; I just didn't care about Obi or his struggles. Or, I guess, I cared but there reached a point where I wanted the arrest to happen sooner. I wanted the story to be over.

A great book, written by an old Soul who used the lessons from the past to educate the future.

Things Fall Apart was the most amazing book I have read in sometime. When I turned the last page I was shaking my head in amazement at the ending and thinking at the same time that I must read it again. The insight into African culture lthat has been hid from most of the world was eye opening. It offers a glimps of how colonization appeared from the African point of view. Mr. Achebe was a master story teller who will be greatly missed by the world.

Love the book, quality of paper, printing, binding, etc. But cover badly torn because book was shipped with other purchases, no protection of any kind for the book. A simple wrapping would have been sufficient to prevent this. Not worth the effort to return, but disappointing to see unnecessary damage to a good book. Three star rating because of the damage, otherwise would have given five stars.

This is a marvelous trilogy. A great insight into the intricacies of African culture that will, I think, enlighten many westerners."Things Fall Apart" is particularly compelling, and the story's last line leaves us both sad and wanting to move on to the other two. The forward to the first story provides good insights into the reasons why the author"s prose is so compelling.

This is a beautiful book with three beautiful short novels. I couldn't put it down. The author writes beautifully about a very important subject: man. The books are exceptionally preceptive. Though they take place in Africa, I know these people -- they live next door. I came away with a greater understanding of Africans and their problems. In the end, we are all the same -- just people.