Reviews

Originally published in French in 1956, this is a classic of 20th century African lit. The diary-style novel puts the immorality of colonists on display. A super quick read that still holds weight today.

Content Warnings

pageglue's review

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I’m grateful to this book for a few reasons:
First, I’ve never read any Cameroonian literature before.
Second, a drunk man on the tram told me that the author was his uncle and Tupac was his dad.
And thirdly, it’s made me realise that I don’t really enjoy this type of story.

Houseboy follows Toundi, a boy who runs away from home because of his father’s punishments into the arms of the white priests who give the African children candy (hmm 🤨) and asks them to take him in. Once he’s gotten older and gained literacy, he starts to keep a diary: “While my master and benefactor was hearing confessions, I had a look into his diary. Ah, it is a grain-store for memories. The white men can preserve everything.” Over time, we see him realise the falseness of the narratives of white superiority and the hypocrisy of the white man’s religion, resulting in the unfortunate conclusion that your “good” (read “subservient”) behaviour is not enough to put you in their good graces, because you can’t reason with someone who’s worldview is so fundamentally unreasonable and narcissistic.

I’ve realised now that I don’t like stories about the trivialities of domestic, wealthy life. Although I was very interested in Toundi and found him a compelling character, I so don’t care about what these rich people get up to in their daily lives, or about the drama going on between the other servants. Oyono did a good job of depicting life under French imperial rule and the many cruelties the local peoples faced, but after the book opened with a really exciting and intriguing scene, the rest of the plot felt very pedestrian. Having said that, it’s only 140 pages long, and the characters and strong writing were enough to get me through.

I’d recommend this for if you’re looking for a domestic drama with some wry humour and anti-colonialist themes.

axepig's review

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dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.75

barbarabarbara's review

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adventurous informative lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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