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esquiredtoread's review against another edition
1.0
Republic of the Congo
I did not like this one. Writing style wasn't for me at all.
I did not like this one. Writing style wasn't for me at all.
_nat_con_'s review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
danni_faith's review against another edition
5.0
For the first half of the book, I kept thinking that I had enjoyed Tram 83 more than what I was enjoying this book, but upon finishing this novel I believe both are equally strong and important works.
The literary references in the last 50 pages just keep coming, and Mabanckou uses them to critique French, South American, and American literary imagination while at the same time criticizing his own motivations as a writer and somewhat cultural recorder.
This novel is stunningly brillant! The humor is laugh-out-loud funny of the intellectual variety. I cannot believe how short this was. I certainly will read more from him.
The literary references in the last 50 pages just keep coming, and Mabanckou uses them to critique French, South American, and American literary imagination while at the same time criticizing his own motivations as a writer and somewhat cultural recorder.
This novel is stunningly brillant! The humor is laugh-out-loud funny of the intellectual variety. I cannot believe how short this was. I certainly will read more from him.
axmed's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
labben's review against another edition
4.0
"in Africa, when an old person dies, a library burns"
Ever heard that old cliché? Me neither, but I like it. It's everything we should try to avoid. So much knowledge is lost because of poor or no record keeping. Not just the important stuff - with legal or economic consequences - but also the fun moments that only live on in someone's memory, the heartaches or the victories that no one shares and that dies with you. Of course, we can't document our entire lives, that might at some point start to become pretty creepy. But Broken Glass tries to record the stories people wish to tell, and the stories he has to tell himself.
And the stories are equally tragic and hilarious. Credit Gone West, a bar in the Congo, has quite the clientele. First time I've ever read about an actual pissing contest, which by the way ended, surprisingly, with a sweet moment. There's the guy that did Paris, the guy that wears Pampers and has a torn up asshole, and the guy who wants to know where the ducks in cold countries goes in winter. There are his own experiences with an old prostitute. Broken Glass doesn't mind being graphic or direct. He doesn't gloss over anything. But in writing these people's stories he does interpret them. As the reader does with every novel. The story means something different to everyone, and the author's intentions can be utterly irrelevant. Some of the storytellers aren't pleased with that, though. They want their version of their story in the records, with a clear intent and no room for differing interpretations. Good luck with that, it's an impossible task for any author. And not one worth gunning for.
Since this is a book of stories and storytelling, it's not surprising that it is littered with references to works of literature. 170 references, to be precise. I'm guessing I've missed more than half, at least. The duck guy calls himself Holden and is referencing The Catcher in the Rye, there are numerous titles inserted in the stories, amongst others many from Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa. He refers to the guy that was in exile in Guernsey, which is Victor Hugo. Anyone could make a sport - or at least a drinking game - out of reading this book.
I read this for The Reading Rush and have now completed one badge. Yay me! This was a fun one to start with.
Ever heard that old cliché? Me neither, but I like it. It's everything we should try to avoid. So much knowledge is lost because of poor or no record keeping. Not just the important stuff - with legal or economic consequences - but also the fun moments that only live on in someone's memory, the heartaches or the victories that no one shares and that dies with you. Of course, we can't document our entire lives, that might at some point start to become pretty creepy. But Broken Glass tries to record the stories people wish to tell, and the stories he has to tell himself.
And the stories are equally tragic and hilarious. Credit Gone West, a bar in the Congo, has quite the clientele. First time I've ever read about an actual pissing contest, which by the way ended, surprisingly, with a sweet moment. There's the guy that did Paris, the guy that wears Pampers and has a torn up asshole, and the guy who wants to know where the ducks in cold countries goes in winter. There are his own experiences with an old prostitute. Broken Glass doesn't mind being graphic or direct. He doesn't gloss over anything. But in writing these people's stories he does interpret them. As the reader does with every novel. The story means something different to everyone, and the author's intentions can be utterly irrelevant. Some of the storytellers aren't pleased with that, though. They want their version of their story in the records, with a clear intent and no room for differing interpretations. Good luck with that, it's an impossible task for any author. And not one worth gunning for.
Since this is a book of stories and storytelling, it's not surprising that it is littered with references to works of literature. 170 references, to be precise. I'm guessing I've missed more than half, at least. The duck guy calls himself Holden and is referencing The Catcher in the Rye, there are numerous titles inserted in the stories, amongst others many from Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa. He refers to the guy that was in exile in Guernsey, which is Victor Hugo. Anyone could make a sport - or at least a drinking game - out of reading this book.
I read this for The Reading Rush and have now completed one badge. Yay me! This was a fun one to start with.
ninachachu's review against another edition
3.0
Not the easiest of books to read, as there don't seem to be any full stops/periods! Some parts are amusing, and there are plenty of literary references, though I know I missed most of them!
tonathonfurey's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
harryr's review against another edition
3.0
Broken Glass is a novel from the Congo (aka the Republic of the Congo aka Congo-Brazzaville; i.e. the smaller of the two Congos, not the one which used to be Zaire). It was translated from French by Helen Stevenson.
It takes the form of the notebook jottings of the customer at a bar called Credit Gone West. Perhaps rather than try to explain:
let’s say the boss of the bar Credit Gone West gave me this notebook to fill, he’s convinced that I – Broken Glass – can turn out a book, because one day, for a laugh, I told him about this famous writer who drank like a fish, and had to be picked up off the the street when he got drunk, which shows you should never joke with the boss, he takes everything literally, when he gave me this notebook he said from the start it was only for him, no one else would read it, and when I asked why he was so set on this notebook, he said he didn’t want Credit Gone West just to vanish one day, and added that people in this country have no sense of the importance of memory, that the days when grandmothers reminisced from their deathbeds was gone now, this is the age of the written word, that’s all that’s left, the spoken word’s just black smoke, wild cat’s piss, the boss of Credit Gone West doesn’t like ready-made phrases like ‘in Africa, when an old person dies, a library burns‘, every time he hears that worn-out cliché he gets mad, he’ll say ‘depends which old person, don’t talk crap, I only trust what’s written down‘, so I thought I’d jot a few things down here from time to time, just to make him happy, though I’m not sure what I’m saying, I admit I’ve begun to quite enjoy it, I won’t tell him that, though, he’ll get ideas and start to push me to do more and more, and I want to be free to write when I want, when I can, there’s nothing worse than forced labour, I’m not his ghost, I’m writing this for myself as well, that’s why I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when he reads these pages, I don’t intend to spare him or anyone else, by the time he reads this, though, I’ll no longer be one of his customers, I’ll be dragging my bag of bones about some other place, just slip him the document quietly before I go saying ‘mission accomplished’
That’s the whole of the first chapter; the entire book is written without full stops in this way as long, run-on sentences. Generally it’s a pretty effective device, though at times it can be a bit tiring to read.
The first few chapters tell the stories of other customers at the bar, and then the second half of the book concentrates on Broken Glass’s own life, and how he went from being a school teacher to a drunkard. As the material becomes more personal the tone shifts from comic to melancholy, and the book ended up being more moving than I would have expected after the first couple of chapters.
It takes the form of the notebook jottings of the customer at a bar called Credit Gone West. Perhaps rather than try to explain:
let’s say the boss of the bar Credit Gone West gave me this notebook to fill, he’s convinced that I – Broken Glass – can turn out a book, because one day, for a laugh, I told him about this famous writer who drank like a fish, and had to be picked up off the the street when he got drunk, which shows you should never joke with the boss, he takes everything literally, when he gave me this notebook he said from the start it was only for him, no one else would read it, and when I asked why he was so set on this notebook, he said he didn’t want Credit Gone West just to vanish one day, and added that people in this country have no sense of the importance of memory, that the days when grandmothers reminisced from their deathbeds was gone now, this is the age of the written word, that’s all that’s left, the spoken word’s just black smoke, wild cat’s piss, the boss of Credit Gone West doesn’t like ready-made phrases like ‘in Africa, when an old person dies, a library burns‘, every time he hears that worn-out cliché he gets mad, he’ll say ‘depends which old person, don’t talk crap, I only trust what’s written down‘, so I thought I’d jot a few things down here from time to time, just to make him happy, though I’m not sure what I’m saying, I admit I’ve begun to quite enjoy it, I won’t tell him that, though, he’ll get ideas and start to push me to do more and more, and I want to be free to write when I want, when I can, there’s nothing worse than forced labour, I’m not his ghost, I’m writing this for myself as well, that’s why I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when he reads these pages, I don’t intend to spare him or anyone else, by the time he reads this, though, I’ll no longer be one of his customers, I’ll be dragging my bag of bones about some other place, just slip him the document quietly before I go saying ‘mission accomplished’
That’s the whole of the first chapter; the entire book is written without full stops in this way as long, run-on sentences. Generally it’s a pretty effective device, though at times it can be a bit tiring to read.
The first few chapters tell the stories of other customers at the bar, and then the second half of the book concentrates on Broken Glass’s own life, and how he went from being a school teacher to a drunkard. As the material becomes more personal the tone shifts from comic to melancholy, and the book ended up being more moving than I would have expected after the first couple of chapters.