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A review by bahareads
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
The First and Last King of Haiti is an academic masterpiece. Daut shows off her prolific knowledge of Haitian history with this monograph. Concerned with how earlier historical/literary/news works have covered Henry Christophe in a villainous light, Daut attempts to see Christophe through a fuller picture.
Not a moment in Henry Christophe's life is missed by Daut. Where there is no information, she picks the known information from persons around Christophe at that time in his life to piece together what it may have been like. This is one of the reasons TFALKOH is so big. Doubt says she understand "the king of Haiti's early life as a series of stories told about him, ones whose chains of recitation must be corroborated, verified, counterbalanced against and alongside the new documentation unearthed here, oral and written, including enemy reports as well as those that paint are more complicated but not necessarily more flattering portrait."
TFALKOH is published with a trad publisher, but it read more like an academic text from an academic press. The narrative can get bogged down with all citations from the many, many different commentaries on Christophe. It might be frustrating for some readers; I did get overwhelmed at times. However I personally enjoyed it - or maybe I'm just used to it. The narrative is not a straight line. Readers get the background information of everyone who was close to Christophe. I liked this aspect because provided a fuller picture of Christophe, especially when there is very limited tangible information about his early formative years. Daut says her responsibility is to her historical subjects, Christophe and his family, than any particular community.
TFALKOH sucks you in with the stories that Marlene Daut is able to weave throughout the narrative. I gasped, empathised and was agast in many different places. In places where the text may get bogged down the shocking stories always brings you back. Honestly I hope to be able to know as much to produce this type of work that Daut has put out there for the world. TFALKOH should go down as a classic in Haitian studies.
Thank you to www.CoriolisCompany.com for a review copy.
Not a moment in Henry Christophe's life is missed by Daut. Where there is no information, she picks the known information from persons around Christophe at that time in his life to piece together what it may have been like. This is one of the reasons TFALKOH is so big. Doubt says she understand "the king of Haiti's early life as a series of stories told about him, ones whose chains of recitation must be corroborated, verified, counterbalanced against and alongside the new documentation unearthed here, oral and written, including enemy reports as well as those that paint are more complicated but not necessarily more flattering portrait."
TFALKOH is published with a trad publisher, but it read more like an academic text from an academic press. The narrative can get bogged down with all citations from the many, many different commentaries on Christophe. It might be frustrating for some readers; I did get overwhelmed at times. However I personally enjoyed it - or maybe I'm just used to it. The narrative is not a straight line. Readers get the background information of everyone who was close to Christophe. I liked this aspect because provided a fuller picture of Christophe, especially when there is very limited tangible information about his early formative years. Daut says her responsibility is to her historical subjects, Christophe and his family, than any particular community.
TFALKOH sucks you in with the stories that Marlene Daut is able to weave throughout the narrative. I gasped, empathised and was agast in many different places. In places where the text may get bogged down the shocking stories always brings you back. Honestly I hope to be able to know as much to produce this type of work that Daut has put out there for the world. TFALKOH should go down as a classic in Haitian studies.
Thank you to www.CoriolisCompany.com for a review copy.