Anthills Of The Savannah Sparknotes

1987 novel by Chinua Achebe

Anthills of the Savannah
Beginning edition cover
Author	Chinua Achebe
Country	Kangan
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Heinemann
Publication date	1987
Media type	Impress
ISBN	978-0-385-26045-nine
OCLC	19932181
Preceded past	A Man of the People
Followed by	There was a State: A Personal History of Biafra

Anthills of the Savannah is a 1987 novel past Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. It was his fifth novel, showtime published in the Britain 21 years afterward Achebe'due south previous i (A Human being of the People in 1966), and was credited with having "revived his reputation in United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland".^[1] A finalist for the 1987 Booker Prize for Fiction, Anthills of the Savannah has been described as the "most important novel to come up out of Africa in the [1980s]".^[2] Critics praised the novel upon its release.

Plot [edit]

Anthills of the Savannah takes identify in the imaginary Westward African land of Kangan, where a Sandhurst-trained officer, identified only as Sam and known as "His Excellency", has taken power post-obit a armed forces coup. Achebe describes the political state of affairs through the experiences of iii friends: Chris Oriko, the government'south Commissioner for Information; Beatrice Okoh, an official in the Ministry building of Finance and girlfriend of Chris; and Ikem Osodi, a paper editor disquisitional of the authorities. Other characters include Elewa, Ikem's girlfriend and Major "Samsonite" Ossai, a military official known for stapling hands with a Samsonite stapler. Tensions escalate through the novel, culminating in the bump-off of Ikem by the government, the toppling and death of Sam and finally the murder of Chris. The book ends with a non-traditional naming ceremony for Elewa and Ikem'due south month-sometime daughter, organized by Beatrice.

Reception [edit]

The novel was well received by critics. Charles Johnson, writing for The Washington Postal service, praised the volume, but faulted Achebe for declining to fully flesh out his characters.^[3] Nadine Gordimer praised the book'due south humor, specially when contrasted against its depictions of horrors.^[4]

References [edit]

^ Jaggi, Maya (18 November 2000), "Storyteller of the savannah", The Guardian.
^ Ehling, Holger G. (1991). Disquisitional Approaches to Anthills of the Savannah. The Netherlands: Rodopi. 1.
^ Johnson, Charles (vii February 1988). "'Anthills of the Savannah' by Chinua Achebe". The Washington Mail service . Retrieved 18 October 2016.
^ Gordimer, Nadine (21 Feb 1988). "A TYRANNY OF CLOWNS". The New York Times . Retrieved 18 October 2016.

External links [edit]

D. A. Due north. Jones, "Powerful People" (review), London Review of Books, Vol. 9, No. 18, 15 October 1987, pp. 24–25.
Charles Johnson, "'Anthills of the Savannah' by Chinua Achebe" (review), The Washington Mail, 22 March 2013; reprinted from 7 Feb 1988.