Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Achebe, Chinua (Vol. 26) - The New Yorker

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THE NEW YORKER

[The stories in "Girls at War and Other Stories"] show, among other things, how British colonialism, the disintegration of tribal ways, modern education, and the Biafran war have affected Nigerian life. The excellent title story is about a proud young Ibo girl who becomes completely demoralized by the war. In another story, "The Voter," old rituals and new money are used to fix a local election. Mr. Achebe's writing has a kind of serene, grandfatherly quality—especially his humor, which comes at unexpected moments. These are worldly, intelligent, absorbing stories, whose only flaw is a superfluity of untranslated Ibo words and phrases….

A review of "Girls at War and Other Stories," in The New Yorker (© 1973 by The New Yorker Magazine, Inc.), Vol. XLIX, No. 8, April 14, 1973, p. 155.

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1. Introduction
2. The Times Literary Supplement
3. Phoebe-Lou Adams
4. John Coleman
5. Robert C. Healey
6. Time
7. Phoebe-Lou Adams
8. Ronald Christ
9. Charles Miller
10. ROBERT McDOWELL
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17. The New York Times Book Review
18. Joseph Bruchac
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20. G. D. Killam
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22. Bruce King
23. Copyright

1. Chinua Achebe