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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Finding himself abruptly deceased at 24, Liwa Ekimakingaï begins his new life as a ghostly resident of Frère Lachaise cemetery. His new reality, dreams, jumbled memories, and the stories of his fellow cemetery residents swirl together to create a portrait of Pointe-Noire, Congo. Ignoring advice to leave the living to their business, Liwa returns to the city one final time to see his beloved grandmother, and to reconstruct the events of the final day of his life.
The novel is narrated in the second-person ‘you’ voice, effectively declaring the reader dead and forcing us to inhabit Liwa’s bewildered mind. However, I found Mabanckou’s prose clear even where Liwa wasn’t, meaning that even as the story begins to teem with voices and temporal shifts it felt purposeful.
The various characters who tell Liwa their stories begin to weave a tapestry of Pointe-Noire and its people that is full of corruption and misadventure, but also tenderness and life. Events move at a swift pace, a whirl of sound and light and scent, where sometimes I’d have preferred a moment’s rest, but Helen Stevenson’s translation remains smooth throughout and coped with the shifts in narrative voice well.
Alain Mabanckou writes from exile, as Stevenson’s translator’s note explains, and this comes through in the compassion and indignation with which he depicts his homeland. He is harsh in his critique of French colonialism and its legacies, but no kinder, I think, to the current regime — corrupt officials, conmen priests, and shady rituals abound.
Mabanckou’s exuberant and often entertaining tone belies the dark subject matter, as he depicts a city where loss and suffering are inevitable. With this story he asks us to consider how far we’ll go to outrun the consequences of our actions, to forget our duties to those around us and the land we’re tied to, and how we'll act when we face them.
Thank you to Serpents Tail for sending me a finished copy to review.
The novel is narrated in the second-person ‘you’ voice, effectively declaring the reader dead and forcing us to inhabit Liwa’s bewildered mind. However, I found Mabanckou’s prose clear even where Liwa wasn’t, meaning that even as the story begins to teem with voices and temporal shifts it felt purposeful.
The various characters who tell Liwa their stories begin to weave a tapestry of Pointe-Noire and its people that is full of corruption and misadventure, but also tenderness and life. Events move at a swift pace, a whirl of sound and light and scent, where sometimes I’d have preferred a moment’s rest, but Helen Stevenson’s translation remains smooth throughout and coped with the shifts in narrative voice well.
Alain Mabanckou writes from exile, as Stevenson’s translator’s note explains, and this comes through in the compassion and indignation with which he depicts his homeland. He is harsh in his critique of French colonialism and its legacies, but no kinder, I think, to the current regime — corrupt officials, conmen priests, and shady rituals abound.
Mabanckou’s exuberant and often entertaining tone belies the dark subject matter, as he depicts a city where loss and suffering are inevitable. With this story he asks us to consider how far we’ll go to outrun the consequences of our actions, to forget our duties to those around us and the land we’re tied to, and how we'll act when we face them.
Thank you to Serpents Tail for sending me a finished copy to review.
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
A young man wakes up to discover he is now in the cemetery where he's been buried. He wanders home disoriented to see his funeral in full swing. As he gets to know the souls who share the cemetery with him, he is increasingly drawn back to the land of the living to seek revenge for his untimely demise. Folklore, ghost stories and colonial history continuously collide as the young man observes the lead-up to his end. Corrupt politicians and religious leaders compete with the stories of the people they've hurt to gain power. A biting look at modern-day Congo. Did I get every reference? No. Did I relish the storytelling? YES.
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No