Arrow of God - Chinua Achebe

Well, Thanksgiving is over, which means Christmas is here.  It also means that it is the annual time when my mom starts hounding me for a list of Christmas presents for her to get for me, my wife, and my kids.  Which would be no big deal, except that both of my kids, strangely, seem to have a hard time every year coming up with a list.  My daughter will offer nothing more than vague generalities plus one specific present that I am already planning to get her, and my son will offer up only 2 Nintendo Wii games and absolutely nothing else.  It's weird to me - when I was their age I had absolutely no problem with coming up with lists of at least 20 presents for every birthday and Christmas.  I suppose it could mean that my kids aren't as materialistic as I was...  I hope that's the reason, it surely sounds good.

My kids helped my wife decorate our Christmas tree over the weekend after Thanksgiving and also did a gingerbread house, and then we enjoyed a nice meal of Thanksgiving leftovers (my wife makes an awesome Turkey Casserole).  Then the kids went back to their mom's house to do their Christmas tree there, but they never put one up.  I hope they get one up soon.  I worry a lot about how their life is over there.  The house is always a disaster area every time I see the inside of it, and it always either smells of incense or... something not so nice.  The kids always say everything is fine over there, but sometimes I wonder if they are not telling me everything out of a desire to be loyal to their mom.  Loyalty to both parents is fine, of course... but it makes me worry that they may take after her.  I hope not.

                                                             

Book #4 of 1001 is Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe.  This is the second book on the list by Achebe, and I have to say that it's not really as enjoyable as Things Fall Apart was.  Both novels deal with very similar themes - the changes and alterations to native Igbo(southeastern Nigerian) society due to the influx of British Colonialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  However, Things fall Apart dealt with this change in its embryonic stage when the British were first moving into the area, whereas Arrow of God takes place somewhat later when the British are more entrenched and the Igbo are more used to them.  But both novels deal with the failings of an Igbo leader-type to come to terms with the changes to his society and his subsequent self-made downfall.  Maybe that is one reason why I didn't care as much for Arrow of God as I did for Things Fall Apart - AoG is simply a weaker story with a weaker and less-interesting main character.  I am certain that I would have liked AoG more if I had read it before TFA, though.