La case du commandeur: Roman

by Édouard Glissant

French

253 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1981

About the author

Édouard Glissant was a French writer, poet, philosopher, and literary critic from Martinique. He is widely recognised as one of the most influential figures in Caribbean thought and cultural commentary.

Reviews

[Michael Grafals · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entering this novel without having read anything by Glissant must feel something like entering Chartes cathedral for the first time: its architecture and symbolism will appear enigmatic, beautiful yet bewildering. Édouard Glissant was a theorist, poet and novelist who created one of the most beautiful theories of the Caribbean that in the end transcended the Caribbean to become a theory about living globally. His entire oeuvre was an attempt to make readers experience this theory through the imagination. This novel presents four generations of people living in Martinique who struggle with their origins and sense of place in the Caribbean.

If this is your first novel by Glissant, I would work my way to this one since it's one of the most complex. Start with "The Ripening" (La Lézarde) or "The Fourth Century" (Le quatrième sièle) and maybe work through his works of theory like "Caribbean Discourse" or "Poetics of Relation". After all that hard work, the novel will appear as a brilliant synthesis of his ideas and themes. Let's just hope someone translates his massive novel "Tout-monde" into English soon. Till then, we have this testament to one of the great novelist of all time.

[Ziegel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get it!!!! Postcolonial texts work directly in opposition to genres, formally and narratively, to better articulate alternative histories which are often left out of literature and thus how we talk about specific places, families, spaces, and traditions!!!!!! Caribbean novels are (very importantly!!) embedded with tidalectic ideals of breaking down normalized interpretations of time and relationships to mimic island-based experiences with chronology and inheritance!!!!!

And also, I found this to be unbelievably difficult to read and, by the end, rather anticlimactic and boring. I think there are far better examples of the above sentiments which still lend readers some grace. Which is not to say that Glissant is not so so superbrilliant: he absolutely is. But, this was not for me at all.

[Linda Scott]

couldn't read this.

[Malou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moeilijk boek, maar wel heel rijk. Nog niet helemaal uit, want kwam er nu niet door heen. Wel een boek wat ik nog eens wil proberen helemaal te lezen.