I have to admit that my first impression of the book was not positive. I was confused by the amount of jargon I didn't understand, the various indistinguishable "O" names, and the customs present to me through the book. But as I continued reading on I realized that perhaps my confusion was intended; and my desire to understand it, rather than write it off as unrelatable, was in itself the reward. 
 There are a lot of aspects of the Okonkwo's character that I disagreed with, especially his misogyny, but I read on realizing that this is something that was integrated culturally in his world. There was a code of morality to his behavior that is not reflective of the world I live in now. Things he valued are not things I value, and I realized while reading this book that I had to keep an open mind. I had to respect that we had deep cultural differences and that they had a very different system of justice and life. 
 When the Christian missionaries came into Okonkwo's world to "save the savages" I understood them because I know people like them now and found their actions repulsive; yet I realized I was initially no better than them. They're unwillingness to validate any aspect of Okonkwo's world as something worth understanding was my initial reaction to this book. It is something we are exposed to every day when we encounter people who don't look like us, don't live like us, don't believe in what we believe, and who don't see eye to eye with us. It made me self evaluate and any book that triggers that is a good book in my world. 
 I enjoyed the book the further I read. I liked that I was being exposed to a world I did not understand and there is certainly value in at the very least making an attempt to see things from a different perspective. I know I would not have appreciated the value of this book in high school, but it certainly is a book to be valued and if you haven't read it I recommend it.