Anthills of the Savannah

The story in this book is set in the fictional modern-day African country of Kanga. The action revolves around three central characters. Chris holds the position of "Commissar of Information" in the president's cabinet; he basically has the final say in what gets printed in the country's newspapers and broadcast on the airways. Ikem is the editor of the country's leading newspaper. He and Chris are friends have been friends since school. Finally, Beatrice is a mutual relation of both of these men. She and Chris are romantically involved, while she and Ikem have a close but strictly platonic relationship. The story revolves around how these three and their relationships are affected by the creeping authoritarianism that has been taking place in Kanga. We learn that both Chris and Ikem are boyhood friends of the president, whom his obsequious ministers address as "His Excellency." His Excellency took power in a military coup that was intended to quash instability and then restore democracy, but as in most real-life African military governments, it stayed on after this original mandate had expired and turned into a full-fledged dictatorship. His Excellency is the archetypical African ruler. Trained in a European military school, he quickly rose up through the ranks because of his loyalty to his superiors, and when he seemingly accidentally gets installed as the new ruler, expects similar obedience from his aides. Like all authoritarian rulers His Excellency feeds off playing his subjects against each other. Eager to curry his favor, His Excellency's ministers spread rumors about each other and attempt to sow discord. In such a cynical, amoral, power-driven world, Chris and Ikem are clearly sympathetic characters. Achebe does a good job of describing what it is like to be a reform-minded, idealistic politician in contemporary Africa. Both Chris and Ikem received their college education in the U.K. and returned to Kanga hoping to build a vibrant democratic nation, only to get sucked into the web of corruption and authoritarianism that has been so typical of post-colonial Africa. Both try to deal with the situation in their own ways. Chris is more pragmatic; rather than open insubordination to His Excellency, he thinks that he can try to reform the situation from the inside. Ikem, on the other hand, openly criticizes the government's policies in his editorials. For me, Ikem was the most convincing and sympathetic character. While he openly criticizes the regime, he is no naïve revolutionary. There is a great scene in which he gives a lecture to a group of university students. While he urges them to vigilantly pursue their convictions, he also takes a few jabs at Marxist theories of imperialism. I think Ikem's character is probably closest to Achebe's own views; while he faults the West for its general neglect of Africa and frequent embrace of its authoritarian leaders, he also places much of the blame for its predicament at the feet of its own cor

Our library book club read this book last month,and I'm grateful, for it's not a book I'd likely have picked up on my own. It's a story about a group of friends from a fictional African country who attended an elite school in England and then later found themselves all with roles in the country's postcolonial government, with one friend becoming a reporter. The tale seems to have many layers: exploring the effects of their education abroad on the way they view their country; the corrupting properties of power; losing and regaining connections to their homeland; shifting dynamics of friendships in the face of power; and much more. I was able to appreciate the poetic writing style, the shifting point of view, the nonlinear narrative (without telling us we're flashing back or forward), the references to folk stories, the proverbs that were unfamiliar to me, and the use of pidgin English in some of the dialog. I enjoyed being exposed to a writing style different from what I'm accustomed to. However, this made the book very difficult for this book devourer to get through. Still, if you'd like to expand your horizons, read this book. Just be prepared to maybe feel a little disoriented, but keep reading; you'll be rewarded in the end!

Achebe wrote three classic books in the 1950's and then after a long hiatus returned to the novel with the publication of Anthills in 89. The earlier books dealt with the effect of modern civilization on traditional African life. This book uses one nation as an example of what is happening with many nations as they struggle to find their own version of modern life without altogether letting go of tradition. The characters are all educated, many in the west, but strictly western modes of rule do not work in third world conditions quite as smoothly as they do in industrial conditons. Big changes are needed and a big leader is needed to effect those changes quickly and successfully but that age old maxim applies here as elsewhere: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. A great book showing how good intentions can quickly go wrong. Achebe tells the story through the personalities playing a part in it and so you never feel he is making abstract points. He shows the human side of these dramas we so often see played out on the 6'o clock news. A touching and tragic book. Achebe is a fascinating person to see interviewed as well, perhaps the most articulate and insightful spokesman on modern Africa as it searches to find its shape.

Chinua Achebe has produced a masterpiece in "Anthills of the Savannah". Set in fictional Kangan, Achebe spins a highly intriguing tale of three men who grew up in school together but find themselves increasingly alienated from one another professionally when one of them (not the smartest but the smoothest) declares himself President in the aftermath of the overthrow of the civilian Kangan government. Conflict of conscience issues generated by moves by the would-be dictator to consolidate his power over his people threaten to destroy their friendship and loyalty. It is no longer the white man who is responsible for the grinding poverty of the masses but the revolutionary fighters whose corruption and lust for power undermines their cause. Achebe is also brilliant in his characterisation. Ikem and Chris are vividly drawn and full bodied personalities, as are Beatrice and Elewe. Even minor characters like Professor Okong who appears only in the novel remain sharply etched in one's mind long after they have disappeared from the scene. "Anthills of the Savannah" remind me a little of V S Naipaul's "Guerillas" but it is by far a superior work. A thrilling and highly engaging piece of work by a literary giant.

This is indeed a masterpiece by the grandmaster of the African novel.As usual Achebe brings his characters to life in an amazing way.The setting is a fictional African country and the main characters are three men who met in high school the seemingly seperate lives they lived until a point when fate joined them together again is indeed the tragedy of modern African states.You have the military men,the sychophants,Pseudo radical intellectuals and of course the endlessly suffering masses whom all groups profess to know their problem.It is indeed recommended reading for anybody remotely interested in not only African but Latin American politics.