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alienor's review against another edition
3.0
- 3.5 stars -
I'm really curious to know the reason behind the choice of the title for the English version (that will be released on June 6th). Indeed I'm pretty sure there's a wink somewhere for us to see : from the French Petit Piment (literally, 'little hot pepper', which is the main character nickname after some... hmm... hot pepper affair, lol) to the English Black Moses (which is the name given by a priest to the MC), we seem to embrace all the different parts of our dear boy, contradictions and all.
Petit Piment relates the life of Moïse, a young Congolese, from his childhood in an orphanage to his adventures in Pointe Noire, Congo's capital. We follow him during the time when religion becomes forbidden due to the rise of Socialism, and see how his life is impacted by these changes.
I very much enjoyed how refreshing Petit Piment was. Indeed whilst some readers were disappointed that Alain Mabanckou seemed to give the treatment of several serious issues a glossy shine, on the contrary I found his writing incredibly appealing. I savored every tiny piece of the discrete humor used to make fun of - and condemn - the corrupt politics and the violent head of school - which does not mean I merely forgot how unfair and difficult life was for our main character and for some of the other characters.
Moreover, I don't think for one second that the issues dealt with - slavery, abuse, prostitution, poverty, propaganda, to name a few - have been erased by the irony and the distance with which Moïse portrayed them. At the end of the day, Moïse stays a child trying to understand how to interpret the complicated world around him, he makes mistakes, he often analyzes situations with a certain naivety, but his disapproval is stated pretty clearly. Some parts made me want to throw up - it involves necrophilia and eating cats, so, yeah, brace your heart ; other made me FURIOUS - oh, the hypocrisy! - and I sometimes smiled so big it hurt - I do like my dark humor, thank you.
Why only 3.5 stars, then?
Bottom Line : If Petit Piment reads like a farce at times, beware the moment when reality catches up with you, because it hurts. Despite a plot that became a bit nonsensical along the way, Alain Mabanckou convinced me to read his other novels with his compelling writing and the splendid way he wrapped up his story in the end.
Credit for the head pict here
(read the original version in French)
For more of my reviews, please visit:
I'm really curious to know the reason behind the choice of the title for the English version (that will be released on June 6th). Indeed I'm pretty sure there's a wink somewhere for us to see : from the French Petit Piment (literally, 'little hot pepper', which is the main character nickname after some... hmm... hot pepper affair, lol) to the English Black Moses (which is the name given by a priest to the MC), we seem to embrace all the different parts of our dear boy, contradictions and all.
Petit Piment relates the life of Moïse, a young Congolese, from his childhood in an orphanage to his adventures in Pointe Noire, Congo's capital. We follow him during the time when religion becomes forbidden due to the rise of Socialism, and see how his life is impacted by these changes.
I very much enjoyed how refreshing Petit Piment was. Indeed whilst some readers were disappointed that Alain Mabanckou seemed to give the treatment of several serious issues a glossy shine, on the contrary I found his writing incredibly appealing. I savored every tiny piece of the discrete humor used to make fun of - and condemn - the corrupt politics and the violent head of school - which does not mean I merely forgot how unfair and difficult life was for our main character and for some of the other characters.
Moreover, I don't think for one second that the issues dealt with - slavery, abuse, prostitution, poverty, propaganda, to name a few - have been erased by the irony and the distance with which Moïse portrayed them. At the end of the day, Moïse stays a child trying to understand how to interpret the complicated world around him, he makes mistakes, he often analyzes situations with a certain naivety, but his disapproval is stated pretty clearly. Some parts made me want to throw up - it involves necrophilia and eating cats, so, yeah, brace your heart ; other made me FURIOUS - oh, the hypocrisy! - and I sometimes smiled so big it hurt - I do like my dark humor, thank you.
Why only 3.5 stars, then?
- Well first of all because I rarely felt emotionally invested, not really. I liked Moïse and Bonaventure, but their portrayal often lacked that little something more to make them unforgettable.
- The last 30% made it HARD for me to suspend my disbelief. I can't go into details, but in my opinion the whole narration crumbled at that time (because hellooo, it doesn't make any sense given that it's a 1st POV and narrated from the FUTURE). I did like the ending, though.
Bottom Line : If Petit Piment reads like a farce at times, beware the moment when reality catches up with you, because it hurts. Despite a plot that became a bit nonsensical along the way, Alain Mabanckou convinced me to read his other novels with his compelling writing and the splendid way he wrapped up his story in the end.
Credit for the head pict here
(read the original version in French)
For more of my reviews, please visit:
booksbecreads's review against another edition
3.0
"Our friendship was like the one between the lame and the blind man. He was my legs. I was his eyes, and sometimes the other way round"
veelaughtland's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars.
Black Moses was yet another of my Man Booker International Prize 2017 Longlist reads, and I can quite understand why this didn't make the shortlist. Although it is an enjoyable and easy read for the most part, there were issues I had with it and overall it didn't really leave much of a mark on me.
It follows young Moses (whose full name is far too long to type), as he tries to get by in the orphanage he's grown up in as it's taken over by an overtly political director, before making his escape to join a gang of young boys on the streets of the Congolese port town Pointe-Noire.
I don't really have much to say about this book to be fair. If I attempted to go into detail about this book, I would be at risk of spoiling it, and I don't like to do that as you all probably know. What I will say is that I found the pacing of this book very odd, and actually detrimental to my enjoyment of it overall. The book is only 199 pages, and the first 100 pages are solely focused on Moses's time at the orphanage. After that, the rest of his story (and life essentially up until the age of 40) are crammed into the remaining pages. I found I couldn't keep up with the passage of time, and felt like this made the story feel very rushed and confusing at points. I also found that a lot of Moses's character was lost in the second half of the book, and that he became less clear in his motivations and less likeable.
Overall I wouldn't say this was a bad read, it was entertaining and quick to get through, but I wouldn't pick it up again and I wouldn't rave about it by any means.
Black Moses was yet another of my Man Booker International Prize 2017 Longlist reads, and I can quite understand why this didn't make the shortlist. Although it is an enjoyable and easy read for the most part, there were issues I had with it and overall it didn't really leave much of a mark on me.
It follows young Moses (whose full name is far too long to type), as he tries to get by in the orphanage he's grown up in as it's taken over by an overtly political director, before making his escape to join a gang of young boys on the streets of the Congolese port town Pointe-Noire.
I don't really have much to say about this book to be fair. If I attempted to go into detail about this book, I would be at risk of spoiling it, and I don't like to do that as you all probably know. What I will say is that I found the pacing of this book very odd, and actually detrimental to my enjoyment of it overall. The book is only 199 pages, and the first 100 pages are solely focused on Moses's time at the orphanage. After that, the rest of his story (and life essentially up until the age of 40) are crammed into the remaining pages. I found I couldn't keep up with the passage of time, and felt like this made the story feel very rushed and confusing at points. I also found that a lot of Moses's character was lost in the second half of the book, and that he became less clear in his motivations and less likeable.
Overall I wouldn't say this was a bad read, it was entertaining and quick to get through, but I wouldn't pick it up again and I wouldn't rave about it by any means.
michellelouise's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
celiatois's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
eva_dx's review against another edition
2.5
This book was just fine. I was interested in the first half, especially since I don't know that much about the Republic of Congo's history, so the setting was really interesting to me. I didn't feel connected to the main character though. The longer the book went on, the more it lost me. The ending was also very anticlimactic.
shaniquekee's review against another edition
4.0
If it weren't so hilariously written it would be so sad. Black Moses tells of the exploits and escapades of Moses, a young orphan in Congo who spends his early childhood in an orphanage and then later lives on the streets of the city. We hear of the ridiculously power hungry manager of the orphanage, the struggles and triumphs of street life, and the challenges of an unstable existence. Moses is simultaneously entirely believable and completely inconceivable as a character, and his life often has a laugh to keep from crying feel to it.
tomkipp's review
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
fast-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? Yes
3.75
njw13's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
jenni8fer's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful prose and very witty. A coming-of-age story, set at the start of the 1970s, about a Congolese boy, named 'Moses' in the beginning which became 'Little Pepper' after a retribution stunt against a set of twins, growing up in an orphanage in Loango, Congo; his escape from the corrupt orphanage director's hold; and his life on the streets of Pointe-Noire's Cote Sauvage. He doesn't come to a very happy end, but his peace of mind returns. I really enjoyed the authenticity of the author's story. The author, who is Congolese, dedicated the book to the wanderers he encountered on the Cote Sauvage in Pointe-Noire who told him pieces of their life stories, and there was a real 'Little Pepper', though the book is not his story, but a creation of the amalgam of stories.