Ambiguous Adventure

by Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Katherine Woods (Translator)

The celebrated classic by a groundbreaking figure in African literature addresses a critical contemporary issue—the collision of Islamic African values and Western culture.

Hailed by Chinua Achebe as one of the greatest African novels ever written, this long-unavailable classic tells the tale of young Samba Diallo, a devout pupil in a Koranic school in Senegal whose parents send him to Paris to study philosophy.

But unknown to Samba, it is a desperate attempt by his parents to better understand the French colonial forces transforming their traditional way of life. Instead, for Samba, it seems an exciting adventure, and once in France he excels at his new studies and is delighted by his new "marvelous comprehension and total communion" with the Western world.

Soon, though, he finds himself torn between the materialistic secularism and isolation of French civilization and the deeper spiritual influences of his homeland. As Samba puts it: "I have become the two."

Written in an elegant, lyrical prose, Ambiguous Adventure is a masterful expression of the immigrant experience and the repercussions of colonialism, and a great work of literature about the uneasy relationship between Islamic Africa and the West—a relationship more important today than ever before.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Senegal, France, Classics, African Literature, School

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Cheikh Hamidou Kane (born 3 April 1928 in Matam) is a Senegalese writer best known for his prize-winning novel L'Aventure ambiguë (Ambiguous Adventure), about the interactions of western and African cultures. Its hero is a Fulani boy who goes to study in France. There, he loses touch with his Islamic faith and his Senegalese roots.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

DIO NON È UN GENITORE



Il Cavaliere affida suo figlio Samba Diallo a Thierno, maestro della scuola coranica.
Siamo in Senegal, negli anni Cinquanta (il romanzo è del 1952), nel pieno del periodo colonialista, e soprattutto nel pieno dell’insofferenza al colonialismo che porterà ai movimenti indipendentisti del decennio successivo.
E siamo in presenza di uno dei grandi classici della letteratura africana, come, e forse anche più di Chinua Achebe.

Il maestro Thierno capisce che Samba Diallo è speciale, ha qualità eccezionali.
Quando è il momento di iscriversi alla scuola dei bianchi, Thierno esita, vorrebbe che Samba Diallo non andasse. È la Grande Royale, la Grande Principessa, sorella del capo tribù che decide per tutti, e il giovane Samba Diallo studierà dagli europei. Per imparare l’arte di vincere senza avere ragione, per imparare dai francesi come si può sconfiggerli.


Il film è del 1979, s’intitola “Bako, l’autre rive”, la regia è di Jacques Champreux.

A Parigi, Samba Diallo faticherà a essere l’africano nero musulmano che può esprimersi in francese, sarà diviso tra le due culture, che gli sembrano inconciliabili. Per semplificare, è l’incontro-scontro tra tradizione e modernità: e quello che di nuovo s’impara compensa la perdita di quanto d’antico si dimentica e lascia?
Ma è anche il confronto con la sopraffazione.

Il padre lo richiama a casa e Samba Diallo torna in Africa. A questo punto rincontra un uomo che dopo essere stato in Europa ha perduto la ragione, infatti è da tutti chiamato il Pazzo.
Il Pazzo propone a Samba Diallo di prendere il posto del maestro Thierno, nel frattempo morto. Ma Samba Diallo non sente più la religione nello stesso modo vivo e palpitante di un tempo, perciò preferisce rifiutare.
L’uomo, allora, ha un gesto violento e mette fine all’ambiguità dell’avventura di Samba Diallo.


Del film in rete si trovano poche immagini rubate da messe in onda televisive oppure le affiche.

Romanzo di formazione molto particolare, con forti innesti di filosofia e spritualità.
Romanzo che boccia ogni abbraccio all’occidente, alla cui influenza bisogna ‘resistere’, e non credere alla malia bianca del progresso sopra ogni cosa.

Io credo nella legge degli uomini, e in quella di dio solamente se è identica, o subordinata, a quella degli uomini.

Il dio di Kane è maledettamente forte, potente, presente. È asfissiante.
Cito a caso:
Fra Dio e l'uomo non esiste la minima affinità, o non so quale altra relazione storica ... Dio non è simile a noi ... credo anche che l'onnipotenza di Dio creatore sia tale da non ammettere che alcunché la contraddica, nemmeno l'affermazione del nostro libero arbitrio.



Il dio di Kane è probabilmente lontano dal dio cristiano - ma personalmente sono poco interessato anche a quest'ultimo.

M’interessa molto invece lo scontro-incontro tra nord e sud, tra bianchi e neri, tra indigeni e colonizzatori: e su questi aspetti il libro non delude, va in profondità (meglio la seconda parte della prima).

E, in un mondo che sembra abitato soprattutto da uomini che strapensano, strapregano e straparlano, triplo hurrà per la Grande Principessa, donna meravigliosa, personaggio stupendo, il mio preferito senza ombra di incertezza.

PS
Dio non è un genitore (Dieu n’est pas un parent) è il primo titolo che Cheik Hamidou Kane aveva scelto.

[Lisajean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about so much more than "a Senegalese man's experience in France." It is a philosophical exploration of the differences between Europe and Africa, White and Black, atheist and Muslim, materialism and mysticism. The narrator grows up feeling connected with the world, sensing the underlying unity of the spiritual and physical realms. His experience with the West exposes him to a new way of thought, one that is secure in its own superiority and values things only for their practical utility. The narrator brings his spiritual strength and philosophical understanding to bear on the challenge of integrating these two worldviews, to little success.

[رشيد فضيل · Rating 4 out of 5]

أول رواية إفريقية أقرؤها، رواية لصوت كبير من أصوات إفريقيا المستعمرة اكتشفتها صدفة أثناء قراءة محاضرة قديمة للعلامة عبد الله العروي. عندما تبلغ الصفحة 190 منها وهي الصفحة الأخيرة تعيد تقليب الرواية لتتأكد هل انتهت فعلا! تعطي هذه الرواية الانطباع أن حاديمو كان أسرع في كتابتها للتخلص منها ومن أسئلتها الحارقة للتفرغ للبحث والدراسة. ورغم أن النص بالفرنسية ووأحداثه تدور في بادية السينغال وفي جزء منها في فرنسا فإن القارئ المغربي هو الأقرب إلى الفضاء الوجداني والثقافي للرواية: المسيد، الفقيه، أصوات الطلبة تتعالى بالمنافسة في القراءة، صوت سوط الفقيه يجول فوق رؤوسهم، شيخ القبيلة، جدلية الحداثة (المدرسة الفرنسية) والتقليد (الكتاب القرآني)، الاغتراب أو العودة، الأرض أو البحر، أسئلة حارقة ومؤلمة كتبتها كان بنفس صوفي روض به اللغة الفرنسية وأظنه بذلك أعجز الفرنسيين ورفع سقف التعبير عاليا أمامهم وبلغتهم

رواية ليست للقراءة، رواية للقراءة وإعادة القراءة

[Sidinho Diaby · Rating 2 out of 5]

L'aventure ambigue is an interesting book that tells the story of Samba Diallo. A young Diallobe boy who is among the first children of his village to attend a European school during the colonization a of Senegal. The culture of the Diallobes being very strict and religious, Samba Diallo found himself struggling to find a balance between his values as a Diallobe and the European values he learned at school. This book follow his journey as he tries to form his own values. The truth is that I didn't really like this book because I had the feeling that author prioritized the aesthetic rather than the content. Moreover, some of the monologues were too long and sometimes hard to follow. Finally, the ending felt incomplete. It seems like the author didn't answer any of the questions he raised in the book, and the only interpretation of it is too simplistic in my opinion.

[Yulonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Samba Diallo's French education made him began to doubt the religion, Islam, that he had studied and loved as a child in Africa. Yet, at the same time, he felt out of place in France; the society seemed soulless. After returning to his own country, he could not bring himself to pray. Thus, he is also out of sorts with his own people. Kane writes, "I am not a distinct country of the Diallobé facing a distinct Occident, and appreciating with a cool head what I must take from it and what I must leave with it by way of counterbalance. I have become the two. There is not a clear mind deciding between the two factors of a choice. There is a strange nature, in distress over not being two (150-51). To me, this is profound, and I was reminded of Du Bois as I read that passage--"one ever feels his twoness..." It certainly seems that Samba Diallo's conflict is the novel is about "two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body." This is a familiar theme among colonized people, and I liked reading a non-American perspective.

I did not like the ending, but i wont divulge it. Some things in the book were probably lost in translation (or my lack of knowledge of the culture), and it may have been better to read the novel in the original French. Alas, I do not read French, so I will continue to read Senegalese writers' works in English.

[حمد المطر · Rating 2 out of 5]

رواية أعتقد وأتمنى أن الترجمة هي سبب تقييمي لها.
فيها معاني كثيرة وفلسفة عطاء وأخذ الرب عز وجل، وعلاقة المستعمر بالمستعمر.
كانت الحوارات أشبه إلى متون الكتب العلمية منها إلى كلام بشر،فقط بأواخر الرواية وجدت انفعالات بالحوار.
الاحداث غير مشوقة بالقدر الكافي، أشبه إلى الحياة العادية
ثم القفزات في الحدث كانت حادة
أضيف الكثير من الحوارات فيها نقاش جميل عن الرب ونظرات عن الحياة وكان منها أجزاء قيمة كثيرة.

[وليد الشايجي · Rating 2 out of 5]

كانت صراع نفسي وجدال حول الهوية -بفلسفة عميقة جدا- أكثر منها رواية... استمتعت باستشرافات الرؤى لكن ليس بالقصة

[مشاري العبيد · Rating 1 out of 5]

حوارات، نقاشات فلسفية مطولة، أقصت الحدوتة من الرواية، حتى بدت لا تُذكر، والفصول المعنونة أضحت كالمقالات التي لا ضير من قراءتها منفصلة .
بداية الرواية، استعرض المؤلف الشخصية الأساسية (سمبا-جالو) وسط بيئتها (مدارس الكُتاب) من خلال مشاهد ثرية، ولكنه مع تدفق الفصول بدت الصورة تبهت شيئًا فشيئًا، فما بقي سوى حوارٌ يليه حوار. وتهت في مواضع عدة، التبست علي هوية المتحدث.
القيمة المرجوه من العمل سامية دون شك، ولكن شخصيًا، لم ترُق لي طريقة العرض.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Methodical, ruminative coming-of-age tract played out against the backdrop of the developing world and its colonial counterparts. Kane looks at the way that colonized Africa has managed to wager its soul in the ongoing conflicts with the West, told here by a young Islamic scholar.

Standard culture-clash, but really heartfelt and ready to delve into the most vulnerable areas of the dilemma. A couple of different frames are being placed around the simple narrative ---promising village boy deemed equal to an education in the West, goes abroad, risks everything in the encounter-- as Kane attempts to fit the young man into a broader context.

The African side of the story, framed by Islam, is presented as visceral, immediate, and profoundly spiritual. In this frame each character is a semi-mythic persona, comprising a commedia dell'arte group of types, who dispense one sort of wisdom or another: we have the Knight, the Royal Lady, the Teacher, the Fool, etc.

One of the most predominant ongoing frames is that of Philosophy, and indeed it is that which the protagonist will study when sent to France. Complicating the evolving observations, the deep cultural divide, and the general uproar of Youth is the presence, in study form, at least, of voices like Pascal, Descartes, Nietzsche and others from the Western canon. (And who go a long way toward creating havoc in the Faith-versus-Reason column, as if our hero hadn't got enough to absorb...)

In the end, an incredibly wide-ranging set of themes to pull together, and in this translation, at least, no such thing ever happens. This should have been some troubling mash-up of Kafka's Metamorphosis, Camus' The Stranger and The Catcher In The Rye but --it wasn't to be.

(For me, I loved the title, first and foremost. And the truth is, I imagined some kind of French-Senegalese co-production, crisply photographed in black & white, and dating from the nouvelle vague years. Instead, back to fucking René Descartes, the man who, in the course of a paragraph, a sentence, even, launched a million undergraduate naps ...)

All isn't lost, though. The prose has a calm, righteous density that slows down the conclusion-jumping modern reader, and a quality and tempo that invites reflection ... These aren't trivial matters. This is a boy who is nearly a man, a believer who is nearly an apostate, and an exile who goes abroad only to find conflict with himself :

" .. I am not a distinct country of the Diallobe facing a distinct Occident, and appreciating with a cool head what I must take from it, and what I must leave with it, by way of counter-balance. I have become the two. There is not a clear mind deciding between the two factors of a choice. There is a strange nature, in distress over not being two.”

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

African (victim) perspective on colonialism. A depressing book. The protagonist struggles to preserve his dying native African heritage, in the face of an allegedly soulless French culturo-economic milieu, which he finds disenchanting, but can't escape. I can buy into that premise.

The book states contrary to what "people have wanted us to believe", Germans are not more racist by nature than any other European settlers.

In the epiloque a post-life experience is depicted, resembling, actually, the episode in Wilder's our "Our Town" play, which imagined dead people as continuing to experience life, but on a different plane. I can take it both ways: either as a literal expression of faith, or as a symbolic statement saying "Look! The dead have something to say to us."

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read! Simple, in the way Coehlo's "Alchemist" is simple, yet deeply philosophical. It was assigned reading for my undergrad Theology class and promoted some of the best discussions (in and outside of class.)

[عبدالعزيز مال الله · Rating 2 out of 5]

بالرغم من لغة المترجم الرائعة والحاضرة في العمل، إلا أن الاطار العام والجانب الفلسفي الطاغي عليه لم يرق لي كثيرا وشعرت بالملل والضياع بكثير من الفصول. أعجبتني النهاية التي كسرت جزءاً من رتابة العمل

[Dorothée Moisan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Janvier 2023: 3.5
Novembre 2023: 3

[Andrew]

Yet another postcolonial ideas novel. It’s fairly well-told, if a bit on-the-nose and didactic, told with a chorus of clamoring voices, and the solitary narrator’s attempt to reconcile materialism and traditional Islamic values. I think this might have more value to someone who places greater stock in – well, traditional values of any kind. That being said, it’s not hard to empathize with the individual who comes from the world of magic and spirits and absolute truth and indelible community (if I’m being judgy, the feudal world) and is pretty put off by the frigid world of modern France, a place that exists after the sundering of God and man – in other words, a character perfectly at home in the world of postwar French existentialist writing. And so I have to come to the conclusion that while Hamidou Kane’s writing it isn’t for me, it absolute is for someone else, and all respect to the author.

[Suzanne Ondrus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might pair well with showing the movie Poverty, Inc., or at least contribute a bit to its discussion. First the protagonist is at a Koranic school. He is a stellar student. I was touched by how the village elders wanted to send him to the Western school more out of despair, I guess with the aim of learning the tools of the oppressor, to learn how they got oppressed. Sadly one of the teachers says that "God has assured their [the white man] victory over us...because we...have offended Him"(10). "I have learned that in the country of the white man, the revolt against poverty and misery is not distinguished from the revolt against God. They say that the movement is spreading, and that soon, in the world, that same great cry against poverty will drown out the voice of the muezzins. What must have been the misbehavior of those who believe in God if, at the end of their reign over the world the name of God should arouse the resentment of the starving?"(10).
-The Royal Lady convokes a meeting and invites the women, contrary to tradition. She says she "detests" the foreign school but thinks it is where they should send their children(41). "The school in which I would place our children will kill in them what today we love and rightly conserve with care. Perhaps the very memory of us will die in them. ...What I am proposing is that we should agree to die in our children's hearts and that the foreigners who have defeated us should fill the place, wholly, which we shall have left free"(41-42). She draws on the analogy of ploughing up fields and burning them which they do every year as the rainy season approaches, and she calls on the citizens to do this with the children, their future.
-The whites "knew how to kill with effectiveness, they also knew how to cure, with the same art Where they had brought disorder, they established a new order. they destroyed and they constructed. On the black continent it began to be understood that their true power lay not in the cannons of the first morning, but rather in what followed the cannons"(44).
-The protagonist while studying Philosophy in France reflects on his trip as an adventure. He believes if he becomes a "hybrid" then there will be shame. This hybrid could be an uncomplete metamorphosis and then shame results and one hides one's self out of shame. The pastor he is conversing with does not believe he will go this route (100).
-Samba Diallo while at dinner with Gabonese discusses the difference he feels while living in the West. He feels he has lost his being and connection with the world: I have lost a privileged mode of acquaintance. In former times the world was like my father's dwelling: everything took em into the very essence of itself, as if nothing could exist except through me. The world was not silent and neuter. It was alive. it was aggressive. it spread out. No scholar ever had such knowledge of anything as I had, then, [while at Koranic school & living in Senegal] of being....Here now, the world is silent, and there is no longer any resonance from myself. I am like a broken balafong, ...I have the impression that nothing touches me any more (134).
-More analysis of problem with the West: Samba Diallo says that it is "artificial, accidental. Only the artifice has grown stronger with time, covering up what is of nature." He says that what they Africans miss in the West is "that original nature where our identity bursts forth with theirs" He says that the whites conquering was an "accident" and the Africans' "most urgent task...is that of clearing the ground around nature. This task is ennobling"(137).
SOLUTION: "...the West,...masters the object and colonizes us at the same time. If we do not awake the West to the difference which separates us from the object, we shall be worth no more than it [an object] is, and we shall never master it And our defeat will be the end of the last human being on this earth"(138).

[L O G A N · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was required for my French literature class which revolves around discussing the complex representation of France in the international context. I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did, but I can say it was nothing short of delectable. Being able to follow protagonist Samba Diallo's story through the lyrical and existentialist prose was an incredible and thought-provoking experience.

From themes relating to identity, death (of people, of one's new and old version of themself, so many different themes within this!), nature, life, colonialism, and the intersection between multiple identities is exquisite. Samba Diallo continues to battle this "arrested metamorphosis" (one of the most brilliant analogies and phrases I've ever read) of navigating his childhood devoted to religion, and transfer into education and environment of French colonial culture; a place where he can finally talk with others rather than be talked to, but navigating an entire new challenge of racism and caste.

This book is extremely philosophical and will take time to read it, but I promise it is worth it. I also firmly believe this made my writing much better. The way Kane is able to create ambiguity while also giving you every answer at the same time is overwhelmingly stimulating. Highly recommend.

I have so many notes on this book, genuinely.

[Amica Swanepoel · Rating 5 out of 5]

L’Aventure ambiguë est L’Alchimiste, Siddhartha, ou bien Steppenwolf de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, et c’est peut-être pourquoi je l’ai adoré. Imprégné de spiritualité musulmane, réflexions philosophiques voire théologiques sur la différence, la domination de l’Occident, et ce que signifie d’être noir, cette histoire se déroule au moment où le Pays des Diallobé doit décider s’il enverra ses enfants à l’école des blancs. On suit donc le jeune Samba Diallo à travers son éducation religieuse jusqu’à son « exil » à Paris, et son retour au pays natal. Avec ce texte, je pense que Kane a réussi à capturer la beauté de la spiritualité musulmane du peuple Diallobé, et de l’« âme nègre », dans les mots de Senghor. Le thème de la perte à plusieurs échelles est très présent, ce qui le rend d’autant plus beau à mon avis. La nostalgie coule dans les veines de ce texte, le rendant vivant comme classique africain pour toujours.

[Emran Ayoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

لا استطيع تحديد " المغامرة الغامضة " بشكل دقيق, فهي ليست مجرد عمل أدبي تم نسجه بأتقان أو تحفة فنية فقط,هي وثيقة حضارية اقرب لمشروع متكامل لبناء خط دفاع لحماية ثقافتنا وتحصين كياننا من الاعاصير الهوجاء التي تقتلع خيامنا!

"سيدي المدير ,أي نبأ طيب تعلمون الأولاد ,حتى يهجرو كتابنا , ليلتحقو بمدرستكم" ! يمثل هاذ بتلك الرغبة الدافعة للاطلاع على ما لدى الغير ,انه الشعور بالخطر الذي اطل قرنه "ظاهرة هجر الكتاب" ,

يصور لنا الكاتب الحال من عادات وتقاليد وقيم في "السنغال" , وكيف تم اقتحامها وغزوها واستبدالها بالثقافة الغربية المتمثلة بــ الغزو الفرنسي لهم وللكاميرون والغابوون والقارة السمراء بشكل عام وما تبعه من حملات تنصيرية ... واضطرارا الاهالي لارسال ابناهم للدراسة في الغرب ... الخ

استطيع ان اقول ودون أي تردد , ان من بين عشرات الروايات التي قرأتها , نعم ! اقول لربما تعتبر هي الافضل .

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me a lot of "Fils du Pauvre" as both books tell the tale of a village boy in colonized Africa (this book took place in Senegal, the other in Algeria) and how the children were torn between European and their local cultures. The go on to find themselves outcasts in both societies, as they do not fit into either, rather they are a mix of the two.

I enjoyed this book in university for a French-African literature course and it helped to have a professor unpack what was going on in the book. I recommend it to anyone wanting to explore French-African literature and learn more about life in a French colony and questioning one's identity and belonging.

[Nino Meladze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philosophical fiction that, I think, only those who have experienced coexistence of two or more cultures can understand. I loves the fact that due to some familiarity with Senegalese culture, I could identify subtle emotions and thoughts.
Samba Diallo is clearly the face of that progressive merge that is in constant balance mode.

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had some qualms with the translation, but the story is beautiful and sad. The book gives you an insight to the spirituality of Islam in Senegal, and the effects of colonialism on one community and boy.

[Thomas Schrepfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover was confusing, as I kept thinking I was already opening the book when I wasn't. When I figured it out (finally!) I was real edified by the contents. It's very current, you know. I hate myself.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of the colonized versus the colonizers--West vs. East--Culture shock as seen through the eyes of Samba Diallo, an African who studies in Paris and loses parts of his identity in a mechanized and individualistic society. Good stuff.

[Vildan Y. · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was the first time I have truly read my own culture within a western genre:)

[Chadia Dßặřặ · Rating 2 out of 5]

تتناول الرواية الصراعات التي يعيشها المسلم الإفريقي عند احتكاكه بالثقافة الغربية، مواجهة بين تعاليم الإسلام وبين الغرب المنفتح...

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ambiguous Adventure quotes:
“The last messenger has transmitted to us that ultimate Word in which everything has been said. Only the insensate expect anything further” (Kane 36).
“They had not disappeared into an obscure nothingness, they neither felt hatred nor were they forgetful. They simply were in Paradise” (Kane 42).
“The school in which I would place our children will kill in them what today we love and rightly conserve with care. Perhaps the very memory of us will die in them” (Kane 46).
(on colonization):
“Those who had no history were encountering those who carried the world on their shoulders… From shock, the one side made no resistance, They were a people without a past, therefore without memory… The deed was accomplished before the people were even conscious of what happened” (Kane 48).
“Those who had shown fight and those who had surrendered, those who had come to terms and those who had been obstinate–they all found themselves, when the day came, checked by census, divided up, classified, labeled, conscripted, administered” “On the black continent it began to be understood that their true power lay not in the cannons of the first morning, but rather in what followed the cannons” (Kane 49).
(Progress):
“In truth, it is not acceleration which the world needs… What we must have is a bed, a bed upon which, stretched out the soul will determine a respite, in the name of its salvation” (Kane 68).
(on science):
“It has liberated us from fears–childish and absurd fears” “We conquer a little more truth each day, thanks to science. We do not wait…” / “But the Truth? To have this, must one renounce that? (Kane 76).
“The external is aggressive. If man does not conquer it, then it destroys man, and makes him a victim of tragedy. A child who is not educated goes backward. A society which is not goberned destroys itself. THe West sets up science against the invading chaos, sets it up like a barricade” “The era of separate destinies has run its course”
(on purpose):
“everything that justifies life and gives it its meaning, in the same way and a posteriori, gives work its meaning, too” “When a life justifies itself before Gof, everything thay tends to preserve it–hence, work–is also justified in His eyes” (Kane 99).
(the west’s demise):
“They began, timidly, by relegating God to a place ‘between inverted commas. “Then two centuries later, having acquired more assurance, they decreed, ‘God is dead’” (Kane 100). “God was no longer there to measure and justify man’s activity. Was it not industry that did that?... the West is on the point of being able to do without man in the production of work… at that same time it ceases to make human life its final aim; it ceases to value man. Man has never been so unhappy as at this moment when he is accumulating too much… For man’s welfare and happiness we must have the presence and guarantee of God” (Kane 101).
(connection to a higher purpose):
“that is to recognize one’s own will as a small fragment of the divine will. It follows from this that activity, the creation of will, is the creation of God” (Kane 103).

[Valérie Montour · Rating 2 out of 5]

Les idées philosophiques étaient très intéressantes et j'aime toujours les oeuvres qui m'aident à comprendre la raison de l'existence de la religion.
Or, tout le reste, à mon avis, est mal exécuté. Les personnages sont de simples porte parole, presque pancartes, d'idées. La narration est froide et détachée. L'auteur pose beaucoup de questions, mais ne répond pas à grand chose. Je commence aussi à être fatigué du roman qui présente une personne déracinée de son pays d'origine pour aller étudier en Europe et qui revient en Afrique et qui ne comprend plus son identité. Je trouve ça super pertinent comme thème, mais on dirait que les auteurs prennent un modèle et réécrivent toujours la même chose. Je me suis beaucoup ennuyée.
À mon avis, cet auteur serait bien plus pertinent en non-fiction, car encore une fois, le problème de ce livre n'est pas le propos, mais la forme.
5/10

[rinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honnêtement, la seule raison pourquoi j’ai enjoy la fin est à cause de l’hyperfixation… (vive le TDA)
j’avais l’impression d’être high en faisant mes annotations, j’ai hâte de lire ça dans quelques semaines et rire à en avoir mal au ventre :D

[Sarah M · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Read for university. I can’t help but feel like the translation is a little clunky which took away from my understanding but overall is was good and I look forward to the lectures/seminars that we’ll have on it

[Suha]

definitely ambiguous