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A review by mattbeatty
The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier
4.0
This was a fascinating read. I knew essentially nothing of the Haitian revolution before reading this, and it has really sparked my interest. The voodoo, Henri Christophe, the Cap, Sans Souci, the Citadelle, all of this is amazing and makes for great historical fiction.
Told through the eyes of Ti Noël, a slave who can't seem to escape his bondage until his elder years spent in senility, witnesses Saint-Domingue on the island of Haiti though many phases: during the French occupation, the Haitian revolution, throughout the reign of King Henri Christophe, and after the mutiny which led to his fall. His narrative weaves through voodoo and promiscuity, incorporates aspects of French life and slavery both from whites and blacks. There is hopelessness and hope, cyclical revolutions and uprisings, prosperity and ruined cultures. The line between what is real as seen by the voodoo religion and what occurred from the historical perspective (Henri Christophe's stroke, poisionings, shapeshifting, group power through chants and drumming, etc.) is well-crafted and left to the reader to discern.
Two complaints: the narrative drifts too easily (Ti Noël, to Pauline Bonaporte and Soliman, back to Ti Noël, to Sans Souci, etc.), although it does steadily returns to Ti Noël; and the passage of time is not clear or well-defined, though I admit this may be a purposeful device employed by Carpentier.
A good read, a fairly quick read, and one steeped and storied in history.
Told through the eyes of Ti Noël, a slave who can't seem to escape his bondage until his elder years spent in senility, witnesses Saint-Domingue on the island of Haiti though many phases: during the French occupation, the Haitian revolution, throughout the reign of King Henri Christophe, and after the mutiny which led to his fall. His narrative weaves through voodoo and promiscuity, incorporates aspects of French life and slavery both from whites and blacks. There is hopelessness and hope, cyclical revolutions and uprisings, prosperity and ruined cultures. The line between what is real as seen by the voodoo religion and what occurred from the historical perspective (Henri Christophe's stroke, poisionings, shapeshifting, group power through chants and drumming, etc.) is well-crafted and left to the reader to discern.
Two complaints: the narrative drifts too easily (Ti Noël, to Pauline Bonaporte and Soliman, back to Ti Noël, to Sans Souci, etc.), although it does steadily returns to Ti Noël; and the passage of time is not clear or well-defined, though I admit this may be a purposeful device employed by Carpentier.
A good read, a fairly quick read, and one steeped and storied in history.