We live in a sea of general ideas, so that's not a novel, since there are so many general ideas. But the moment a particular idea is linked to a character, it's like an engine moves it. Then you have a novel underway.
Chinua AchebeA pen on paper is the ideal way for me. I am not really very comfortable with machines; I never learned to type very well.
Chinua AchebeArt is man's constant effort to create for himself a different order of reality from that which is given to him.
Chinua AchebePeople go to Africa and confirm what they already have in their heads and so they fail to see what is there in front of them.
Chinua AchebeIf I say look unless you change your leaders I will not give you any aid, you are likely to have people who say: "To the hell with you, we will struggle on the way but we will do it". Therefore what I am saying is - and I do not whether it is coming through clearly - there has to be a lot of care exercised by the people who are in the position to give or withhold assistance: if they start throwing their weight around, using extreme language, seeming to order other nations to do their bidding, then there will not be a good result, it will not be done.
Chinua Achebe