There's no lack of writers writing novels in America, about America. Therefore, it seems to me it would be wasteful for me to add to that huge number of people writing here when there are so few people writing about somewhere else.
Interpretation
Achebe highlights the abundance of American literature and the need for diverse perspectives in storytelling.
In this quote, Chinua Achebe reflects on the saturation of American literature, pointing out that while many writers focus on narratives within the United States, there is a scarcity of voices exploring stories from different cultures and locales. He suggests that, rather than contributing to the existing wealth of American novels, he sees greater value in sharing experiences and stories from his own unique background, emphasizing the importance of diversity in literature and representation.
In practice
During a literary event discussing the importance of multicultural literature, this quote could emphasize the need for diverse narratives.
In fact, I thought that Christianity was very a good and a very valuable thing for us. But after a while, I began to feel that the story that I was told about this religion wasn't perhaps completely whole, that something was left out.
Writers don't give prescriptions. They give headaches!
Mr. Brown had thought of nothing but numbers. He should have known that the kingdom of God did not depend on large crowds. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of fewness. Narrow is the way and few the number. To fill the Lord's holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamoring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence. Our Lord used the whip only once in His life - to drive the crowd away from His church.
It is the storyteller who makes us what we are, who creates history. The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have - otherwise their surviving would have no meaning.
Writing has always been a serious business for me. I felt it was a moral obligation. A major concern of the time was the absence of the African voice. Being part of that dialogue meant not only sitting at the table but effectively telling the African story from an African perspective - in full earshot of the world.
An angry man is always a stupid man.
She doesn't do the things heroines are supposed to. Which is rather Jane Austen's point - Fanny is her subversive heroine. She is gentle and self-doubting and utterly feminine; and given the right circumstances, she would defy an army.
Her reputation for reading a great deal hung about her like the cloudy envelope of a goddess in an epic.
For me, life without literature is inconceivable. I think that Don Quixote in a physical sense never existed, but Don Quixote exists more than anybody who existed in 1605. Much more. There's nobody who can compete with Don Quixote or with Hamlet. So in the end we have the reality of the book as the reality of the world and the reality of history.
Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of a human need for it, and it has not changed except to become more needed
A boy's story is the best that is ever told.
The quietness of his tone italicized the malice of his reply.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.