Why am I passionate about this?
Fiction has a way of capturing people, places, and phenomena that often elude source-bound historians. As I say in my book, you feel the weight of all the terrible things Colonel Kurtz has done in central Africa far more by his whispering āthe horror, the horrorā than I, as a historian, could possibly convey by listing them out and analyzing them. That feelāespecially what contingency feels likeāis something historians should seek out and try to pull into their craft of writing. Getting used to and using fiction to help historians see and feel the past is a worthwhile endeavor.
Robert's book list on the intersection of fiction and history
Why did Robert love this book?
The idea to adapt Conradās Heart of Darkness came from my teaching of modern world history every semester. Later in that course, I would have students read Achebeās novel as a foil or answer to Heart of Darkness. The Congolese in Heart are barely people: they have no names, and they are only really described by parts of their bodies.
This book presents the West African worldāthe communities, the customs, the emotions, the familiesāthat colonialism destroys. While it is easy to be swept away by the storyās momentum in the last two dozen pages, take some time early in the novel to enjoy the world that Achebe lovingly paints. I think it is among the most human expressions of fiction you can read.
8 authors picked Things Fall Apart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Winner of International Man Booker Prize 2007.