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tadiwa_e's review
I can see why people enjoy this book. However for me personally I couldn’t stomach the themes of the book, I understand it’s meant to be satirical or even social commentary. But I just personally felt sick reading it and I’m not someone who does not finish a book regularly.. I’m just sad I didn’t like it at all and found myself putting off reading it and would often check how far I have left to go…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Cursing, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
writtenontheflyleaves's review
dark
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
2.0
African Psycho by Alain Mabanckou, trans. Christine Schwartz Hartley 🔪
🔪 The plot: Grégoire is a petty criminal who longs to be like his idol, the serial killer Angoualima. The problem is that Grégoire is not very good at killing people, and though he confers with Angoualima's ghost on the regular, his record isn't improving...
To be honest, I'm not really sure I "got" this book. I think this is firstly because it relies heavily on literary references I'm not familiar with (like American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis but I think there were some Russian classic influences in there too). [EDIT: My boyfriend, who read and really liked this, says he'd read Crime and Punishment six months before this and felt like the parallels to that were what he most enjoyed about it.] I also wish I had a better understanding of Congolese history and politics because I found Grégoire as a narrator the most interesting when he was observing his fellow countrymen and the neighbourhood he lived in.
Unfortunately without the context to frame what I was reading, it was just a lot of Gregoire fanboying over a serial killer and planning horrific rapes and murders, and even attempting one at one point. While I think depicting these acts and impulses in literature isn't necessarily bad - it depends how they're done and what their point is - my lack of knowledge made it quite an exhausting read. If it was making a point about misogynistic violence, it went over my head!
For that reason I've not shared my star rating for this one because I just don't think my opinion is very informed. Oh well! Onwards!
🔪 Read it if you do have the references I spoke about above (or even if you don't - my boyfriend hasn't read American Psycho but he really enjoyed this) and if you love reading a twisted narrator.
🚫 Avoid it if you aren't in a place to read about violence, particularly against women, and rape.
🔪 The plot: Grégoire is a petty criminal who longs to be like his idol, the serial killer Angoualima. The problem is that Grégoire is not very good at killing people, and though he confers with Angoualima's ghost on the regular, his record isn't improving...
To be honest, I'm not really sure I "got" this book. I think this is firstly because it relies heavily on literary references I'm not familiar with (like American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis but I think there were some Russian classic influences in there too). [EDIT: My boyfriend, who read and really liked this, says he'd read Crime and Punishment six months before this and felt like the parallels to that were what he most enjoyed about it.] I also wish I had a better understanding of Congolese history and politics because I found Grégoire as a narrator the most interesting when he was observing his fellow countrymen and the neighbourhood he lived in.
Unfortunately without the context to frame what I was reading, it was just a lot of Gregoire fanboying over a serial killer and planning horrific rapes and murders, and even attempting one at one point. While I think depicting these acts and impulses in literature isn't necessarily bad - it depends how they're done and what their point is - my lack of knowledge made it quite an exhausting read. If it was making a point about misogynistic violence, it went over my head!
For that reason I've not shared my star rating for this one because I just don't think my opinion is very informed. Oh well! Onwards!
🔪 Read it if you do have the references I spoke about above (or even if you don't - my boyfriend hasn't read American Psycho but he really enjoyed this) and if you love reading a twisted narrator.
🚫 Avoid it if you aren't in a place to read about violence, particularly against women, and rape.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
priyas's review against another edition
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Sexism and Blood
Minor: Cannibalism
hannia222's review against another edition
honestly just not in the mood for the violence and disturbing narration of this book. objectively, i think it's good, just not something I can handle at the moment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, and Gore
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