Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Things Fall Apart has been translated into 50 languages, making Achebe the most translated African writer of all time.
Chinua Achebe wrote an infamous critique entitled “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness,” that accused the novel of being racist. Other literary critics have found Achebe’s essay very provocative and controversial.
Although the village and characters depicted in Things Fall Apart are entirely fictional, the traditions and practices are not. Achebe, who grew up in Nigeria, was familiar with many of the rituals he described in Things Fall Apart.