No Longer at Ease

 No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe, 196 pages.

This book follows Okonkwo's grandson Obi as he tries to find his place in a new Nigeria decades later. Obi was once the smartest boy in his village, which is why he was given the privilege to go to England to get his degree and uplift his people. But bit-by-bit the corruption of the colonial civil service in Nigeria sinks his hooks into him, as all of his cultural touchstones slowly disintegrate. 

This book, second in publication order but last chronologically, wrapped up our Big Book Challenge for the year! It was fascinating to see how quickly the world changed around this one family, as many things were both similar and completely unrecognizable when compared to Things Fall Apart. I personally found this novel more engaging than the first. I found Obi's character struggles very compelling. I do think that this book had some of the same pacing issues I complained about in Things Fall Apart, but I did find them less extreme. I would certainly recommend this book if you liked the first one, and perhaps even if you didn't.