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2.58 AVERAGE
2.58 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Return to the Enchanted Island might have worked better for me if I had more familiarity with the culture and mythology of Madgascar. As it was, though, I bounced fairly hard off this. While Johary Ravaloson occasionally conjures up some striking imagery, he's a bit too prone to obscure allegory. The protagonist Ietsy is also one of my least favourite kinds of anti-hero: an immature, unlikeable man who has incredibly beautiful women throw themselves at him for no apparent reason.
Angano angano, arira arira, a legend is a legend, the truth is another, it is not I who lie but those who transmitted it to me.
The book starts off jumping between three different points in time: Ietsy as a teen, Ietsy as an adult and a few Madagascar creation myths. As the book goes on, teen Ietsy grows older and more context is given to make it a single timeline. I think this was a good thing since we readers would’ve lacked information to properly understand some scenes if they were told in a linear order.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Ietsy is definitely an engaging character to follow along, the characters in general are all well-written, and I actively laughed out loud at the humorous way the author writes some things. It’s not a humor book, it’s just written in a quite straightforward way which can be surprisingly dry in mentioning certain events or even come off as ironic.
As an introduction to a country I knew little about, some of the myths were a little difficult to understand, mostly because I accidentally confused some terminology and I was a bit slow in understanding what was what. For reference, vazimba are the first inhabitants of Madagascar and vazaha are the white minority (mostly French). I failed to realize they were two separate words until I was nearing the end of the story! Upon completing the book I think I have an understanding of the legends explained, and the wikipedia page on vazimbas helped round it out (actually, you might want to do a quick read of that wiki page before reading the book).
Recommended for those looking to read something fresh!
I think that if I was more interested in this guys life, I might have liked it but I’m just not connecting to anything in it. It’s definitely just following this guys life but I don’t think anything else.
If the entire story were about the mythology and history of Madagascar, I would have liked it. As it is, the story focuses on a man as he goes through life. Some call this book a coming-of-age story, but that signifies some kind of growth, which doesn't happen with the character here. He thinks he's blessed by the gods, so he goes through life that way. The story jumps around in time, and it's confusing. The writing/translation fell flat for me.
A very interesting read - not because of the protagonist's story, but much rather due to the mythological threads that are woven into the novel. It gives you a glimpse into Madagascar's myths and a bit of history. The strong attachment of the island's people to nature is also reflected by the language, which is beautiful at some places (and pretty hard to follow at others).
"His mother, as she threw him into the river of life, left via the East, the shore of origins and death." This sounds much better than "his mother died in childbirth", doesn't it?
A literary gem, which definitely needs a second read.
"His mother, as she threw him into the river of life, left via the East, the shore of origins and death." This sounds much better than "his mother died in childbirth", doesn't it?
A literary gem, which definitely needs a second read.
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes