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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.
lsbroadwater's review against another edition
3.0
More like 3.5. I didn't understand the story until the very end when everything gained a deeper, biblical meaning. I'll be reading Mabanckou's other works for sure.
paulap's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.5
it is written in sort of vignettes, which makes it feel fragmented and at times somewhat convenient. But I did like the parts when it talks about the politics of the place, and the situation of the local children.
saorosco's review against another edition
3.0
Solid 3.4 star. The ending really bumped this up for me. The first 80 pages I couldn't connect with but the latter half was a good story.
m_anabel's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
The episodic structure made it difficult for me to connect with any of the characters. Each supporting character got a long background story, but I immediately forgot who they were a few pages later because they felt unimportant. To be fair, I read this book very quickly, but I didn't learn anything from it. I don't know what the takeaways are or what the purpose of reading this was. Also, I have no idea why Mari said that the second half would be funny. I barely felt any emotions while reading, but the strongest one would probably be disgust because of the guy who worked at the morgue and the whole cat story. The best part of this book is the cover.
cecicastro's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.75
mfconvery's review
3.0
3.5 - a clever satire and fun little read. It was really interesting to learn more about the Congo in the 1970s. It took me forever but that was mostly due to outside circumstances as the book had a pretty quick pace. I never felt terribly invested in any of the characters/events though.
sophiavass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
agarje1's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 Stars
This book started off interesting. I felt more connected to Moses in the first half of the book, and I really liked the descriptions of Congolese history that we got. However, the second half of the book lost me. The story seemed to fall apart and I felt that Moses's health issues could have been much better represented. At times they felt like a gimmick, for humor's sake, lacking the seriousness they should have carried.
Additionally, the story itself felt rushed and the ending was extremely abrupt. I didn't understand what the point of the story ended up being. Although I did enjoy the humor at times and the historical aspects, the story itself was not nearly as cohesive as I had hoped it would be.
This book started off interesting. I felt more connected to Moses in the first half of the book, and I really liked the descriptions of Congolese history that we got. However, the second half of the book lost me. The story seemed to fall apart and I felt that Moses's health issues could have been much better represented. At times they felt like a gimmick, for humor's sake, lacking the seriousness they should have carried.
Additionally, the story itself felt rushed and the ending was extremely abrupt. I didn't understand what the point of the story ended up being. Although I did enjoy the humor at times and the historical aspects, the story itself was not nearly as cohesive as I had hoped it would be.