OnlineBookClub.org

Hello everyone!

This is my first post on the message board forum. A brief introduction: I'm an English lit teacher teaching overseas in Taiwan. Since Taiwan's national language is Mandarin and Taiwanese (similar to the Hokkien Dialect), this makes it difficult to find people who can engage in literary discussions on English books. I tried searching for a book club in my city, but came up with nothing So out of desperation I turned to the internet and stumbled upon this site.

I just finished The Metamorphosis by Kafka, and am currently reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I'm having a lot of feelings about the both of them at the moment, so I was hoping that I can engage in some lively literary discussion here. Has anyone else read or is currently reading either of these stories?

i have read "things fall apart" and it os a good book fo learning lit., When Chinua said, God's case, no Judgement. it shows the reality of a situation where one succeeds in his mission...

I have read The Metamorphosis and Things Fall Apart! Out of the two, I preferred Things Fall Apart. I think this is mostly because the ending of The Metamorphosis hurt my heart. My first thought was about how family shouldn't turn their back on family no matter the form they take, because that's what family is. A friend of mine gave me his perspective after reading it, however, and it changed the way I saw the book. His father was suffering from a form of dementia before he died, and so the way he read the book was as seeing a change in your family member where suddenly they are something they weren't before, they don't recognize you and sometimes you don't recognize them. I read it again with this new knowledge and got from the story that family dynamics shift and that the book displayed human mortality in a different way than what we're used to. I'm interested to know why the two classics you thought of both had something to do with family dynamics in them and if you were going to draw a comparison or contrast them!

I read Things Fall Apart after reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad in AP Lit in high school and the pairing highlights nicely how low a person can descend morally.

I have read both the books. I personally love Things Fall Apart a lot. Though it appears like a simple tale, Achebe style is unique and refreshing.

I have read Things Fall Apart and am going to start The Metamorphisis and I must say that Things Fall Apart has been a great read.

I have not yet read 'Things Fall Apart' though I certainly intend to. However I most certainly have read 'The Metamorphosis' and think it is one of those books that lodges itself in your mind. To me the most poignant line is 'how could he be a creature, when music moved him so deeply'? I wonder if it interests anyone that in the original German the title is 'Die Verwandlung' which is arguably better translated as 'Transformation' - thought-provoking as that can also imply something positive. If you want a really (but compellingly!) nasty Kafka story, try 'In the Penal Settlement' (or 'Colony' depending on translation).

Things fall apart is one of the great work of chinua Achebe, I have read it and it's a good read, but for the metamorphosis I'll give it a try.

Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe is one of my favorite books ever. The author is one of the greatest African has ever had. I haven't read the metamorphosis yet but it's definitely on my list of must reads

I cant forget the Book "Things fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, I read it in Secondary School back in 2004. But i have never lost interest in the book. I still remember when Okwonkwo got to the point of saying "the thread that held us together has fallen apart" marking the down fall of Umuofia people and their way of living. The book is one of the best literature by by an african Author.

I have read Things Fall Apart. More than once actually. Since I'm Igbo, though the setting is rural and my only experience with that is brief visits to my grandparents while growing up, I can certainly relate to both the setting and the characters in the book. Aside from admiring Achebe's style, I am in awe of how he was able to bring to life the flavour of the igbo culture in a foreign language - English.

Things Fall Apart was required reading for me back in high school and out of all those books they make you read, that one stands out in my memory. It was moving, and also introduced me to Yeats who became one of my favorite poets. It gave me a much clearer perspective on what in life gives true meaning and value, and how different that perspective can be person to person.

GabbiV wrote: ↑08 Mar 2018, 23:11 I read Things Fall Apart after reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad in AP Lit in high school and the pairing highlights nicely how low a person can descend morally.

Did you notice how Things Fall Apart was sort of an answer to Conrad's ignorance in Heart of Darkness?

Adaumeh wrote: ↑26 Apr 2018, 04:45 I have read Things Fall Apart. More than once actually. Since I'm Igbo, though the setting is rural and my only experience with that is brief visits to my grandparents while growing up, I can certainly relate to both the setting and the characters in the book. Aside from admiring Achebe's style, I am in awe of how he was able to bring to life the flavour of the igbo culture in a foreign language - English.

This. He paved the way for other African writers.

competently, I have read Things Fall Apart written by an intellectual giant Chinua Achebe . After my hypothesis, I arrived at a point that when good things fall apart, better things will surely fall together