A review by owenpeak
El reino de este mundo by Alejo Carpentier

3.0

The way this illustrated such a vivid portrait of life in Haiti in the transition out of slavery was fascinating; the incorporation of voodoo practices, magic and Yoruba religion into the story made it so engaging and emblematic of a type of slave narrative I’ve never read before. I found the language quite difficult since many of the words were alien to me and Carpentier’s choice to not include any dialogue meant that the plot was quite difficult to follow at times. Even so, I still enjoyed this and found Ti Noel (the narratives only fictional character) such an intriguing and engaging protagonist, especially at the denouement when he reflects upon race and the toxic cycles that are brought about by slavery.