Dedicated to classics and hits.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Anthill of the Savannah (1987) by Chinua Achebe


Book Review
Anthill of the Savannah (1987)
by Chinua Achebe

   It's funny because Things Fall Apart, Achebe's classic- is so widely read- I think it was assigned to me my freshman year in high school, then in college the teacher who taught creative writing was a scholar of African literature who helped "break" Achebe in the West (back when Professors of African Literature were white dudes.)   Anthill was published two decades after his previous one- A Man of the People in 1966 and helped to revive interest in his earlier work.  That said, I'd never actually seen copies of ANY of Achebe's books in a book store until I saw a remaindered copy of a repress of this book in the Harvard Book Store a couple years back.  I bought it as part of my program to privilege diversity in my reading- and canon level writers who are not white guys are universally benefiting from that decision.  

   Anthill of the Savannah is a bleak take on the gradual moral corruption that accompanied many mid 20th century military style African dictatorships.  Sam, the Dictator, employs Chris, a former newspaper editor, as his minister of information.  The events unfurl in a way that should surprise no one familiar with the currents of 20th century African history but I can't think of another book where the perspective is so "inside baseball," usually books with this kind of theme take place at ground level, or at least removed from the corridor of power, as the various elite machinations impact innocent bystanders.  In Anthill of the Savannah, no one is innocent .

Blog Archive