A review by black_girl_reading
Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila

4.0

A read like no other, Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila is a modern little jam about two frenemies meeting mostly in a bar that represents the Wild West of a small offshoot Central African city state run by a dictator and warlord, featuring a cast of characters both local and expat, as one tries to live by his principles and the other tries to undermine them. There was a lot to like about this book. I think it really captured a place and time and how it shapes the people that live there, and also, really shows who is drawn there from other places in the world and why. It names the realities of living in a trying time without without preaching or aggressively lamenting, the issues speak for themselves and so does the resilience, the humour, and the adaptability of folks. And the way that the cacophony of a chaotic world runs through the text as you come to know two men, but not all of the way, more in the present than the past, allows you to see two people in context, but also accept that this context is fleeting, and whole other lives live below the surface. I wish that I could read in French for this one, and that I knew some of the music a bit more, but still, frenetic jazz ran through the pages and I liked the melody.