Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian novelist, is internationally recognized as the man who moved mountains in bringing Africa to the world. He is renowned today not just as a great novelist, but also as a pioneer of African literature and the regeneration of the denigrated African spirit. Although Achebe is best known for his anti-colonialist novel, Things Fall Apart, in his latest book, The Education of a British-Protected Child, Achebe rejects the persona of "Achebe the Famous Novelist" and embraces "Achebe the Human." British-Protected Child, a collection of autobiographical essays, is a summary of Achebe's life, focusing on his family, his opinions about colonialism and African literature, and the complex sociopolitical development of his home.
As his first book in 20 years, British-Protected Child was met with high critical and popular expectations upon its release. When faced with this kind of pressure, it is easy to become overly ambitious, and Achebe offers solutions for seemingly every problem Africa has ever encountered. For example, in "The University and the Leadership Factor in Nigerian Politics," Achebe proposes a Platonic model as the only way to resolve Nigeria's problems. Despite sometimes overreaching himself, Achebe's humble tone creates a subtle political correctness that does not offend. Achebe is someone who genuinely cares. Having lived through the Biafran Civil War, been forced out of his home country and lost countless family members and friends to political unrest, Achebe's blunt approach seems practical and empathetic.
Still, the ambitiousness of British-Protected Child sometimes detracts from the organization of the book, making it difficult to digest certain concepts. Achebe jumps from nostalgic memories about the establishment of Nigeria's first university in Ibadan to Henry Kissinger's stance on the United States' role in Africa. This is peppered with references to events that only people who have read other African novels like Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Decolonizing the Mind would recognize. Yet although the book is tough to follow at times, it embodies a distinctly African oral writing style, as if the reader and Achebe are sitting beside a fire while he bestows his thoughts about the world to anyone willing to listen.
That image of Achebe as the kindly grandfather is the lasting impression left by the book. In fact, he talks about his children in the same warm tone that he uses when he discusses Africa generally. Behind this humble image, however, is a man who is truly impressive. Persecuted for his role in speaking out against Nigerian dictators and military coups, punished and ultimately exiled, Achebe has retained his integrity as a writer and his humility as a person despite his many literary awards. He still has the same intention as he did before any of it - to fulfill his obligation as a writer and tell his story.
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