The second novel in Chinua Achebe’s masterful African trilogy, following Things Fall Apart and preceding *No Longer at Ease
When Things Fall Apart ends, colonial rule has been introduced to Umuofia, and the character of the nation, its values, freedoms, religious and socio-political foundations have substantially and irrevocably been altered. Arrow of God, the second novel in Chinua Achebe’s The African Trilogy, moves the historical narrative forward. This time, the action revolves around Ezeulu, the headstrong chief priest of the god Ulu, which is worshipped by the six villages of Umuaro. The novel is a meditation on the nature, uses, and responsibility of power and leadership. Ezeulu finds that his authority is increasingly under threat from rivals within his nation and functionaries of the newly established British colonial government. Yet he sees himself as untouchable. He is forced, with tragic consequences, to reconcile conflicting impulses in his own nature—a need to serve the protecting deity of his Umuaro people; a desire to retain control over their religious observances; and a need to gain increased personal power by pushing his authority to the limits. He ultimately fails as he leads his people to their own destruction, and consequently, his personal tragedy arises. Arrow of God* is an unforgettable portrayal of the loss of faith, and the downfall of a man in a society forever altered by colonialism.
**Review
*Praise for Arrow of God
***"My favorite novel." —Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Praise for Chinua Achebe
“A magical writer—one of the greatest of the twentieth century.” —Margaret Atwood
“African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison
“Chinua Achebe is gloriously gifted with the magic of an ebullient, generous, great talent.” —Nadine Gordimer
“Achebe’s influence should go on and on . . . teaching and reminding that all humankind is one.” —The Nation
“The father of African literature in the English language and undoubtedly one of the most important writers of the second half of the twentieth century.” —Caryl Phillips, The Observer
“We are indebted to Achebe for reminding us that art has social and moral dimension—a truth often obscured.” —Chicago Tribune
“He is one of the few writers of our time who has touched us with a code of values that will never be ironic.” —Michael Ondaatje
“For so many readers around the world, it is Chinua Achebe who opened up the magic casements of African fiction.” —Kwame Anthony Appiah
“[Achebe] is one of world literature’s great humane voices.” —Times Literary Supplement
“Achebe is one of the most distinguished artists to emerge from the West African cultural renaissance of the post-war world.” —The Sunday Times (London)
“[Achebe is] a powerful voice for cultural decolonization.” —The Village Voice
“Chinua Achebe has shown that a mind that observes clearly but feels deeply enough to afford laughter may be more wise than all the politicians and journalists.” —Time
“The power and majesty of Chinua Achebe’s work has, literally, opened the world to generations of readers. He is an ambassador of art, and a profound recorder of the human condition.” —Michael Dorris
From the Publisher
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From: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re... Views: 1 173
Ray Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. *Dandelion Wine* stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928.
Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond the city limits. It is a pair of brand-new tennis shoes, the first harvest of dandelions for Grandfather's renowned intoxicant, the distant clang of the trolley's bell on a hazy afternoon. It is yesteryear and tomorrow blended into an unforgettable *always*. But as young Douglas is about to discover, summer can be more than the repetition of established rituals whose mystical power holds time at bay. It can be a best friend moving away, a human time machine who can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future.
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Translated by Rhys Roberts and Ingram Bywater, Introduction by Edward P.J. Corbett Views: 1 172
Portrait of a Magnetic and Wicked Woman in Pre-Civil War American. Janie Cauder , the young wife who hounded her husband to his grave.. the rapacious mistress whose lover fled from her into a sterile marriage..the vehement mother who drove her children to madness, down paths of bitter, twisted lives. Still , her victims loved her. And only Janies, the fiery redhead, knew why. Views: 1 172
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Finding so young and pretty a girl as Amanda wandering unattended, Sir Gareth Ludlow knows it is his duty as a man of honour to restore her to her family. But it is to prove no easy task for the Corinthian. His captive in spring muslin has more than her rapturous good looks and bandboxes to aid her - she is also possessed of a runaway imagination...
A typically enthralling historical novel, Sprig Muslin shows the skill which has kept Georgette Heyer a huge and devoted readership to this day. Views: 1 170
Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded. Views: 1 170
Freddie Widgeon is in the chips— or expects to be very shortly. After months of slaving in a solicitor's office, he can now count the days to when he will be able to strike off the shackles of Messrs. Shoesmith, Shoes mith, Shoesmith and Shoe-smith for ever. The author of Freddie's gratifying swing of fortune is the American, Thomas G. Molloy. With philanthropic beneficence he recently let Freddie have some Silver River oil stock for £1,000. The deal took every penny Freddie could raise, but the certainty of being able to sell his holding within a month for a cool £10,000 made an instant appeal to his quick intelligence. Indeed, it was a point Mr. Moiloy was most careful to stress when, with fatherly concern, he explained the mysteries of high finance to this young man to whose face he had taken so firm a fancy. Thus it is a gay and confident Widgeon that we meet in the opening pages of this uproarious novel. And though poor Freddie has less and less occasion to feel gay and confident as the story advances, the reader's delight never falters. Ice In The Bedroom just romps along from one sparkling situation to the next. Views: 1 170
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Locked away in separate rooms as punishment by their ruthless grandmother, Nan, Robert, Timothy and Betsy decide to make their escape—out of the house, out of the garden and into the village. Commandeering a pony and trap, the children and their dog are led away as the pony makes his way nonchalantly home. The pony’s destination happens to be a house that belongs to the children’s uncle Ambrose. Gruff but loveable Uncle Ambrose agrees to take them under his wing, letting the children have free rein in his sprawling manor house and surrounding countryside.
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