IELTS Cue Card Question 812 With Model Answer

Describe a book you have recently read

: You should say

what the book is
who recommended it to you
what you think about the book
And explain whether you enjoyed it or not

: Model Answer

With the hefty duties in my office and at home, I hardly can manage time to read books but have completed reading ‘Things Fall Apart’ after lots of struggle – for managing time

Things Fall Apart is a wonderful creation of Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian writer and the entire story is set on the post-colonial background. The book was composed in 1958 and is also considered as one of the pioneer novels for modern African literature in the English language. The book is one of the mandatory books across Africa and in some other countries too for its historical perspective and story background. The plot of the book is about the life and living of Okonkwo, the male protagonist of the novel and his protest to leave his own cultures, customs of his own Igbo society. He prefers killing himself instead of adopting a different religious belief and customs

I heard it from my younger brother who is a graduate student and has to study English literature as one of his compulsory courses. Sometimes, he comes to me with his academic troubles and I solve those if I could manage time. I noticed a book of red cover and I inquired him about that specific book. He brought the book to me and I found it was the ‘Things Fall Apart’. Hence, I was introduced to the book and its author. The interest to read the book grew more when he told the story in brief to me. It appeared that if I miss reading the book, it will be a great intellectual loss for me. So, I started carrying the book with me and read for three of four pages a day

In the beginning, it appeared that the book might be some sort of novel related with romance as the name suggested but my concept was changed when I heard the story in brief from my brother and also read the book. All the events described in the book taught me to discover things in different ways and there are numerous things to learn about the ancient culture and society of the Africans. Usually the modern people term Africans as slow-witted people, but in reality, they are advanced in many special ways than the modern people. They have their own cultures and societal norms to follow which is absent among the modern people of the current days

After reading the book, I realised that this is an extraordinary story of a man struggling with the post-colonial force to survive with his own customs. He tried his best to make the customs useful and also wanted that the people should continue exercising the rules of their ancestors. He could not adjust to the events of transferring religion or religious beliefs and converting to Christianity. He was in troubles for opposing the missionaries and thus he had to commit suicide. It was his silent protest against the post-colonial power. His sacrifice for the sake of his belief is the most important thing that shocked me throughout the book