| Title | : | Anthills of the Savannah |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1987 |
| Awards | : | Booker Prize (1987) |
Anthills of the Savannah Reviews
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Anthills is a perfectly fine satirical look at political corruption in an Unnamed African Country, set several years after independence. Perhaps it's a result of Achebe's influence on other writers, but this just felt flat to me, like I've read a version of this story many times before. It has the feel of a book that's assigned in school so that everyone knows what the template is and can appreciate when new writers come along and transcend the template by tackling its themes in fresh and more interesting ways.
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Anthills of the Savannah see Achebe returning to similar territory as his last novel, A Man of the People – politics of post-colonial Africa. Whereas A Man of the People saw events leading up to a coup, Anthills of the Savannah is post-coup. A charismatic young Sandhurst trainer army officer, known only in the novel as Sam or His Excellency, has been swept into power in the troubled state of Kangan. After he is defeated in a vital referendum, his role as dictator becomes unsteady, and there can be no other response but more violence.
The novel follows three characters through this maelstrom. Chris Oriko, the Minister of Information and Ikem Osodi, a poet and editor of a newspaper, and Beatrice Okoh, a Minister of Finance and Chris’s girlfriend. These characters, drawn together under
His Excellency’s web, have to fight for their very survival as the state of Kangan is plunged into chaos.
Whereas A Man of the People allowed us to witness the build-up to a coup through the eyes of just one figure, the naive Odili, Anthills of the Savannah’s greatest strength is its disparate view points and experimental style. As I noted in a previous review, A Man of the People was Achebe’s first attempt at a first person narration. Anthills of the Savannah takes this one step further – three first person narrations that fill the first half of the novel and then a switch to third person. This experimental form proves a great advantage for Achebe, as it allows him the power to oscillate between contrasting viewpoints, and proves a great tool for heightening this already tense novel. At one point we are inside Chris’s head, desperate to know what it is Beatrice is really thinking. It is this mastery of the form that earned Anthills of the Savannah a Booker Prize nomination in 1987 (beaten by Penelope Lively for Moon Tiger).
Achebe concerns himself with the questions of how such situations are allowed to arise in Africa. Chris Oriko poses at the opening of the novel:
“…looking back on the last two years it should be possible to point to a decisive event and say: it was at such and such a point that everything went wrong and the rules were suspended. But I have not found such a moment or such a cause…” (P.2)
If Chris Oriko has not found it, the rest of the novel is an exposition that would seem to indicate that it is not there to be found. Events are caused by a confluence of other events, many times simply trivial, sometimes even apparently unconnected. And yet the characters in this novel strive to find a meaning. Ikem Osodi, the poet, seeks his meaning in words.
“Chris keeps lecturing me on the futility of my crusading editorials. They achieve nothing. They antagonise everybody. They are essays in overkill. They’re counter-productive. Poor Chris. By now he probably believes the crap too… The line I have taken with him is perhaps too subtle: But supposing my crusading editorials were indeed futile would I not be obliged to keep on writing them? To think that Chris no longer seems to understand such logic! …Perhaps I should learn to deal with him along his own lines and jog his short memory with the many successes my militant editorials have had.” (P.38)
But Ikem is silenced; the newspaper is taken away from him. Words do not explain or justify the actions committed in and against Kangan and its people. Beatrice opens his eyes by telling Ikem that his politics and his knowledge:
“I tell him he has no clear role for women in his political thinking; and he doesn’t seem able to understand it.” (P.91)
This accusation shakes Ikem’s world view to its very foundations, though he does admit:
“I can’t tell you what the new role for Woman will be. I don’t know. I should never have presumed to know. You have to tell us.” (P.98)
This is important. When the words and actions of Ikem and Chris have failed, it is the words and actions of Beatrice that will alter civilisation in Kangan. Ikem’s girlfriend gives birth to their child, and Beatrice organises the naming ceremony. Ordinary the naming of a child would be a man’s task, but with their men dead or still fighting the women name the child. A male guest responds:
“Do you know why I am laughing like this? I am laughing because in you young people our world has met its match. Yes! You have put the world where it should sit…” (P.227)
The men of Kangan have fought and died, but it is the women that shall inherit this earth and have to rise upon it. Here we see the role of woman in the world, something Ikem could not see or express with words, and what Chris, the man of action, would never have fought for.
In the middle of Achebe’s novel there is an extract from David Diop’s poem Africa:
“Africa tell me Africa
Is this you this back that is bent
This back that breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun” (P.134)
We are bought full circle, back to the arguments Achebe has been making since Things Fall Apart. That Africans accepted the subjugation from the west too readily, that they did not put up a fight. And now, with a back still trembling with red stars, they allow this to continue, under dictators and tin-pot rulers. They are complicit in their own shame. Achebe at the end of this novel seems to be saying that African society needs to be integrated, with women as important as men, as the poor as level as the rich. It is an idealist view that brings about “The bitter taste of liberty” David Diop’s poem concludes with.
Anthills of the Savannah still remains Achebe’s last novel, twenty-one years after its first publication. It took him twenty-one years to write (though he wrote poetry, essays and children’s stories in that time), and so by this reckoning we should be about due his next novel. Last year in the Guardian newspaper he admitted to writing one, but following a car crash that left him paralysed in 1990 he stated that it was difficult to write for very long each day. The five novels Chinua Achebe has published so far have been deep, intelligent novels, engaged with Africa’s history and political life, and one wishes to hear his view on the way that country, and particularly Nigeria, has lived in the past twenty years. It is a safe bet to say that it will be damning, political, and relevant. Chinua Achebe is a writer of immense standing, and reading his five novels I have been struck again and again at the depth and poetry of his language, and the insight he provides into, for me, an otherwise unknown culture. He is fully deserving of the title of “The Father of Modern African Writing” which was bestowed upon him when he was awarded the 2007 Man Booker International Prize. -
“Cosa deve fare un popolo per placare una storia incancrenita nell’amarezza?”
Pubblicato nel 1987, "Viandanti della storia" è un romanzo politico del nigeriano Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, che si rinominò con
Chinua Achebe -nome indigeno-come a spezzare quell'imposizione voluta dal padre che andava ad onorare il principe consorte della regina Vittoria.
"
Anthills of the Savannah"- ossia, "Formicai della savana"- è il titolo originale che va a riferirsi a "ciò che resiste all'arsura terribile del clima equatoriale".
La traduzione italiana del titolo ("Viandanti della storia"), invece, sottolinea il nervo principale di quest'opera facendo riferimento agli eventi che la Storia ed i suoi protagonisti mettono in atto; consci o meno dell'essere portatori di cambiamento.
In un'immaginaria nazione chiamata Kangania si dipana la storia di Chris, Beatrice, Ikem ed Elewa. All'indomani di un colpo di stato l'insediamento del nuovo potere non ci mette molto a palesare le falle proprie di ogni autorità che si eleva su parole d'ordine populiste per poi rivelarsi sul medesimo piano dei precedenti oppressori.
E poi c'è Sam, amico d'infanzia e dittatore per caso.
Vite appese ad un filo perchè niente è per sempre.
"Noi? Chi siamo noi? La trinità che credeva di avere in mano l’intera Kangania, come aveva osservato una volta Bb, in tono sarcastico? Tre bottiglie verdi. Una è caduta accidentalmente; un’altra è pericolante. Eccola che cade anche quella, bang! E poi il noi diventa Io, diventa l’imperiale Noi."
Una riflessione sulla questione del potere ma anche la celebrazione di "cerimonie di amore, amicizia, tradimento e morte"
La Kangania, dunque, come la Nigeria post-coloniale degli anni '80.
La fotografia del momento in cui le speranze rivoluzionarie si sono già affievolite e che offre l'occasione ad Achebe di manifestare l'importanza che politicamente deve assumersi l'intellettuale ed in particolare lo scrittore.
Se scrivere non è mai facile, meno ancora lo è per lo scrittore africano che deve utilizzare strumenti non suoi: il romanzo, genere nato in Europa; la lingua, retaggio coloniale...
Lo scrittore africano è , pertanto, come un esule che vaga (il viandante non è equiparabile al viaggiatore proprio perchè vaga senza mappe) nei meandri delle storie (stories) e della Storia (History) e che deve colmare i vuoti dell'identità formulando nuove forme di appartenenza (che riavvicinino alla memoria ancestrale che si va perdendo) e nuovi linguaggi.
Chinua è stato riconosciuto il più grande scrittore africano della riscrittura post-coloniale.
Un'importante esercizio di decentramento per il lettore occidentale che può- e deve- cogliere questa occasione di crescita.
Conoscere per conoscersi è un'occasione preziosa.
"Non posso dare il via alla vostra rivoluzione addomesticata, programmata sui libri. Voglio invece stimolare la gente perchè diventi più illuminata, costringendola ad analizzare le condizioni della propria vita poichè, come insegna un antico detto popolare, una vita che non sia stata analizzata non vale la pena di essere vissuta… Come scrittore io aspiro solo ad allargare la portata di questa autoanalisi " -
It is really hard to write a review of Such a Brilliant book mostly bcoz the writing is so perfect that I don't know what to say... 😅😅
This is one of the most unique pieces of literature I've ever come across.
The book talks about a Dictator who came into power after a coup d'état in an imaginary African country of Kangan. The story revolves around the political elite in the capital Bassa and is told from multiple perspectives.
The country was a British colony and was late to gain Independence. Most of the powerful and rich people are British-educated, some of them even went abroad for higher education.
The highly educated Dictator acts like a king and has given the highest positions of power to his close circle of friends, even to a foreigner.
Four of them are extremely close to one another. 3 guys and a woman. Three guys are referred to as three Green bottles as seen on the cover of the book.
Shit hits the fan when one of them realizes that the Political elite doesn't think about the ordinary folks and that there is a vast wealth gap that is hurting the economy, especially during a drought situation ongoing in the dry North.
He starts to act against the Dictator and in the process influences a huge portion of the population... Rich and poor alike.
The unique aspect of the book comes from the writing alone.
The educated people talk and think in 'Pure' English but when the less privileged people enter the story the writing/conversations turn into Pidgin / Pegion English / Dialect format to distinguish between them and the book becomes super thrilling to read.
This story reminded me of 'The Feast of the Goat' by Mario Vargas Llosa but, that one has a pretty straightforward narration.
The writing of Achebe is one in a million. It is engrossing and unforgettable.
One the best books I've ever read and can't wait to read more of his works. 😍😍😍😍😍 -
Lord Acton's Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely plus life as intrinsically optimistic, closing with childbirth and the naming of a child suggests a brighter future in which tradition doesn't have to loose out to modernity and that community can survive despite the main action of the novel in which we learn that three friends have since decolonialisation grown apart and power requires them to become enemies. A short little west African novel.
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تشنوا آشيبي - كثبان النمل في السافانا
رواية لابد أن تُصيب القارئ بالتخمة.. دسمة، صعبة، شائكة مكتوبة بقلم أديب يجيد رسم أفكاره وأحداث روايته بصورة متناسقة، لا تخلو من صعوبة بالتأكيد ليست من الروايات التقليدية ، تختزل الواقع الأفريقي في رواية واحدة .. أفريقيا بعد الإحتلال حيث ينكمش الوضع السياسي ليتحول حكم الدولة والأرض إلى فئة محدودة، وضعت الحجر الأساس لـ دكتاتوريات وجدت بيئة خصبة لها بعد مغادرة الرجل الأبيض..
رواية تحكي عن الصراع السياسي والتقلبات المفاجئة في هرم السلطة والعلاقة بين الشعب والزعماء ، مع مزيج من الأساطير الافريقية والعلاقات الفردية والعاطفية في المجتمع ذاك..
رواية جيدة و نقطة هامة للأنتقال إلى مستوى جديد من الروايات الغنية ذات الطابع الأدبي الخلاب.. -
Anthills of the Savannah is set in the fictitious West African country of Kangan, which is marked by social unrest and political intrigue. While it is Achebe's fifth novel, it is the fourth novel of his that I've read—after the African Trilogy, the first of which (Things Fall Apart) was one of my favorite books in high school. Anthills is definitely the weakest of the bunch. The beginning is rough—you are thrown into an unclear situation which, at least for me, rather than generating interest more frequently annoys—and, while the story does become better and more interesting as the novel progresses, it still feels rather flat overall. Not just flat in terms of failing to evoke an emotional response, but some parts also come across as artificial—the bits of social and political criticism which, though fascinating at times, appear to be thrown into the story rather than organically emerging from it.
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Three childhood friends ascend to leadership within their country and the book centers around greed and power lust, showcasing socio-economic issues and governmental corruption in some part of Africa (though the country is fictionalized), as well as what exiles must go through (or rather how hard it is to speak out against a not-so-democratic government and then attempt an escape from your homeland).
Somehow I feel as if I've committed a crime by rating an Achebe book like this--big Chinua Achebe fan. While I liked the romance shared by Chris and Beatrice ("Sometimes when I thought of her what came most readily to my mind was not roses or music but a good and tastefully produced book, easy on the eye. No pretentious distractions. Absolutely sound."), and how both seriousness and satire were captured masterfully within the dialogue, the book started a little late for me and most of the story took place within the dialogue, losing me at times. -
Achebe writing at the peak of his powers. Powerfully evocative.
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صاحب أشياء تتداعي الروائي النيجيري الكبير تشينوا أتشيبي أعود إليه في تلك الرواية الدسمة عن سيرة مكررة لحكم الجنرالات فى أفريقيا ، وكيف يتحول الحاكم بمجرد أن ينزع بذته العسكرية من مجرد ظابط طموح ومنفتح الي ديكتاتور يضيق بالجميع حتي الذين ناصروة ووواوصلوه الي الحكم ، يكتب تشينوا اتشيبي عن بذرة التماهي التي تنمو فى عقل الحاكم حتي يصبح هو الوطن ذاته وهو الشعب ذاته وهو القانون والدستور ذاته .
رواية عظيمة بلا شك من روائي قدير -
I gave this book a low rating because 1) it was a bit of a let down after Things Fall Apart, and 2)it was way over my head. This book was surprisingly hard to read. I'm ashamed to say that I need someone to walk me through this book, our high school English teachers used to do. There was a message there, I know, but whatever it was I didn't fully grasp it. I felt that I might have been missing some vital clues in the pidgin dialogue that was oftentimes too hard to follow. The lack of chronology left me spinning in circles and his philosophical arguments were beyond my reach.
It's a book that needs to be re-read and read slowly, methodically. The reader needs some background information on the cultural and political history of Nigeria during this time (of which I am woefully ignorant). -
Achebe at his best, at the peak of his career as an imaginative, creative writer. The language is more dense than his earlier novels, and at last women given more prominence!
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Painfully boring story of politics in Africa. If it had not been written like a newspaper article, if there had been some effort toward characterization or coherent plot, or explanation of the history of the circumstances described, I still would probably have disliked this book. Much time passed before I could make myself knock off the final 20 pages, not a good sign.
Story of friends who become entrenched in politics, end up double-crossing each other and fleeing from the one of them who gained power. Sounds like an interesting premise, but don't be fooled. -
The landscape of Abazon is dry -- a parched, sun-bleached Kangan desert pockmarked by anthills. After two years without rain or aid from Bassa, the seat of power, six elders have come to the city to petition the President for help.
In his fictional African nation, Chinua Achebe presents a notion of faltering government from within and without. From the perspectives of a government Commissioner (Chris), the Editor in Chief of the national newspaper (Ikem) and the woman important to them both (Beatrice), we are shown a crumbling regime from both a humorous and a tragic point of view.
The anthills of the title, an image re-used throughout the novel, are manyfold. They represent the indecision and hesitation of government officials to question their leader, burying themselves like ants in the dry soil of the savannah. They represent cracks in the landscape brought to light by the death of vegetation because of the oppressive sun -- a metaphorical parallel to the fractures in a government exposed by incompetence from above. As in other African literature, however, as physical features of the land they also stand on their own merits -- blisters on the earth itself, a punishment from above.
Achebe's novel is difficult in that there is no moral absolute. No character is flawless and though there is a clear desire on the part of the reader for the government to fall, it is unclear what it would achieve and what would replace it. What is clear is the distinction made between the educated characters and the 'peasants' as they are known in an integral speech given by the Editor, Ikem. Not only in terms of the comparisons between how they live, but also in their speech itself.
The central group of characters around which the novel revolves speak in a formal, perfect English. The divide between class manifests itself in a dense pidgin dialect that almost makes those characters too difficult to understand. Ironically, some of the most profound statements are made by these characters, and the novel is concluded on a question phrased to an English-educated Beatrice from Ikem's girlfriend in this dialect.
In a way, it causes the reader to question the truly important characters in the novel. Chris often talks about how he, the President, and Ikem are the three most important people in Kangan, but in a way he is incorrect. Ikem's fundamentally communist ideals would argue that it is the 'peasants' and workers that are the important citizens, and indeed it is these proletariat that end up moving the plot and the fall of the government forward.
Achebe's writing often has a very distinct agenda -- a quality that his characters defend in Anthills of the Savannah as an admirable trait in itself, because everyone has an agenda; it is up to them whether or not it is advertised. In this case, forcing the reader to decipher the dialect that is in many ways completely divorced from English is paramount: at first, the dialog is so incomprehensible it feels almost natural to dismiss it, ignore it, and focus instead on what we readily understand. But, throughout reading the novel, we learn how important those characters and their words are, and sympathize with them more effectively. Though manipulative, it is a manipulation that teaches us to question our very instincts, and stays with us beyond just the reading of the novel. -
Anthills of Savannah is a story of a nation facing the political conundrum of a new found independence. After years of ruling, it is expected that a country finds itself unable to take charge of a freedom, which it severely struggled to obtain. It is almost like you wait for exams to get over and when they are finally over you do not know how to manage the free time since you have been so focused on seeing them through that your head is heavily blocked up with that.
Achebe describes this confusion through the lives of three political leaders and through alternation of narration tries to give a wholesome picture. However at times, the different narrators do not seem too different but appear as one. In that he has failed to give multitude to his thought.
The book is dark, almost inadvertently it appears, because it starts off with satire and winds up being a serious story.very serious indeed. There appears to be a lot of confusion in the book -not just in the story, but in the writing style also.
In the end, it is a political work, and describes the aftermath of colonialism. Many countries witnessed such destabilization after they freed themselves. Some more than others. Even India sometimes appears to be in similar clutches at time when the Government looks unsteady like a house of cards, ready to tumble down with the merest flicker. But hopefully that is the turbulence of a mature nation rather than a stumbling one. -
while reading The Anthills of the Savannah, i so often see myself in tears. Chinua Achebe is really good at portraying the coups and counter coups that have been and continuing to occur in Africa.
it is too treble to see that Sam, the head of state is a good listener to liars and he use their information to butcher the best minister he has in his government.
i cannot stand to hear the brutal killing of Ikem, a renown editor of the national gazette. the killers do not believe that elimination of the role of an editor in any nation is a perfect step to cause a total darkness. -
One thing I like about this novel is Achebe's use of creole forms. It's probably the first novel I read with extensive use of "non-standard" English, and I remember finding it a little difficult at first. I also found it intriguing, though, and that interest persists. Standards in language are overrated.
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Achebe proves yet again that traditional tribal beliefs have a place in African modernity. A tragic, yet beautiful story of the effects of power in postcolonial Africa.
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The only other Achebe I’ve read being Things Fall Apart, I wasn’t expecting this to be funny! Achebe really lets his sense of humour run free in this novel - both in the narration, and in the characters’ own sense of the absurd, and ability to laugh at themselves. It’s a semi-satirical book, but it’s also heartbreakingly beautiful and tragic.
Centering on a handful of characters very close to the “president for life” in a military government in West Africa (fictional, but clearly Nigeria) in the months leading to a coup, Anthills of the Savannah is an astute exploration of power, idealism and instability in post-colonial Africa. It’s told in a strange, non-linear way, and has some very memorable characters who I loved and wished I could be friends with. Profound and gorgeous. Absolutely loved it. -
أجمل ما في هذه الرواية هو الكم الهائل من التراث والحكم والأمثال التي يصفها أشيبي بأنها الزيت الذي تغمس به الكلمات ليسهل هضمها وأكلها.
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3,5
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I managed to finish it in reasonable time. That speaks to it's ability to keep meengaged. I was, at first, annoyed by the pidgin, but then I started to follow it and ended up enjoying it a little.
The 'fictitious' land of Kangan andit's capital city Bassa. The province of Abazon and the anthills found there.
Book 1 done and dusted. Kangan, aka Nigeria - for it bears an unmistakable resemblance to that country - I have been to visit you. What country shall follow next? Stay tuned... hahaha
#AbookfromeverycountryinAfrica is the challenge. Happy travels fellow travellers! -
I was first exposed to Chinua Achebe through "Things Fall Apart", as I am sure most were. But after reading this I feel that 'Things Fall Apart" may not necessarily be his masterpiece, rather the portrayal of Africa that is most digestible for a western audience. Therefore it garners the most exposure to a Western Literary audience.
I found this story to be a much more gripping and highly realistic rendition of African politics, society, and diaspora culture. Despite being written in 1987, many things are unfortunately the same. And despite being set in Kangan (a fictional stand-in for Nigeria) I noticed a startling amount of similarities with Ethiopia, where I grew up. It was concerning to realize that the destructive patterns in Ethiopian politics today, are the same as those Achebe noticed more than 30 years ago.
I highly highly recommend this book to all those with an interest in modern-day Africa.
This is a very different book from "Things Fall Apart," there are no tribal villages or witch doctors. It is modern and relevant. However if you have not read "Things Fall Apart," I believe it would be rewarding to read subsequently after or before "Anthills of the Savannah", as it might explain the roots for some of the toxic patterns in which the society travels. -
Another fantastic book by Chinua Achebe. The novel details the events leading up to a military coup from the perspective of the president's (dictator's) inner circle of college friends. The strong main female character is almost like an apology from Achebe for leaving women out of Things Fall Apart. This is a fantastic read that picks up after the first 40 pages or so.
As people who live in the U.S. we have a unique sense of political stability that we often take for granted, and this novel is a portrait of the many times of violence that regularly mark political change in so many countries across the world.
Stick with this one - it's definitely worth the read. -
I wanted to like this book more than I did. 'Things Fall Apart' is one of my absolute favourite books so I was looking forward to this read.
The story is a slow burn. It took until about 3/4 of the way through the book before any level of tension began to build, although when it did, the story became quite engaging, particularly with regards to Ikem's rabble-rousing.
I didn't dislike this book; it had a lot to reveal about the problems facing post-colonial African societies. Yet I didn't particularly enjoy most of it either, as I struggled to develop any real interest in the narrative as it unfolded. -
I feel like this was a really great book for someone who is not me. I had a difficult time following a lot of the action--he switches POVs frequently--and the dialogue, much of which is in a pigeon dialect that has a fantastic effect but I found almost impossible to understand. The story itself is gripping, but distant. The book is more concerned with making a philosophical point than in telling a yarn.
This was a barb thrown at the heart of post-colonial Africa. Unfortunately, I was not familiar enough with the subject of his examination to be able to get much traction. -
I loved the start of this book, and thought it would be amazing. I lost interest then and struggled through the middle, though it picked up (for me) in the end. I found the dialogue hard to follow. I think I didn't read it at the right time and in the right frame of mind. if I'd read it right, it would get four stars.
