Things Fall Apart (1959)

This book is considered to be Achebe's magnum opus. Lots say it's a modern Greek tragedy because it has the same elements like the use of a tragic hero, pride, karma, etc.

The story is really simple. There's this man named Okonkwo who had a bitter childhood so he did his best to rise up from the ashes. When he was older, he became so successful that the people in his community looked up to him as a leader. Little did they know that inside his powerful and brave facade lay his need to be in control and the fear that others would find a weakness in him, thus driving him to make decisions which he would regret later on. It's based on African lifestyle, so you'd naturally expect lots of polytheism and polygamy involved. It also has a hint of politics, masculinity and the myriad of struggles within a society.

From Choc:

I enjoyed this book for the marvel of being transplanted right in the midst of this African tribe and indeed witnessing how things fell apart right before my mind's eyes..

Religious overtones apart, this to me represents the all-encompassing power of an idea. How ideas can bring down security beliefs, how it can bring structures to its knees, how it can create so much dissonance that blind-allegiance to ideologies become obsolete.. This story is one that echoes throughout history... ideas are in constant opposition, it is the hope of humanity that this chaos will inevitably bring forth: synthesis.