Hugo le terrible

by Maryse Condé

French

Genres: School

126 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

About the author

Maryse Condé was a Guadeloupean, French language author of historical fiction, best known for her novel Segu. Maryse Condé was born as Maryse Boucolon at Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, the youngest of eight children. In 1953, her parents sent her to study at Lycée Fénelon and Sorbonne in Paris, where she majored in English. In 1959, she married Mamadou Condé, an Guinean actor. After graduating, she taught in Guinea, Ghana, and Senegal. In 1981, she divorced, but the following year married Richard Philcox, English language translator of most of her novels.

Condé's novels explore racial, gender, and cultural issues in a variety of historical eras and locales, including the Salem witch trials in I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem and the 19th century Bambara Empire of Mali in Segu.

In addition to her writings, Condé had a distinguished academic career. In 2004 she retired from Columbia University as Professor Emeritus of French. She had previously taught at the University of California, Berkeley, UCLA, the Sorbonne, The University of Virginia, and the University of Nanterre.

In March 2007, Condé was the keynote speaker at Franklin College Switzerland's Caribbean Unbound III conference, in Lugano, Switzerland.

Reviews

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

for french, probably understood like seventy-five percent tbh

[Saphir08 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce livre est d'une narration prenante, faisant voyager ceux qui n'étaient pas là, dans l'énorme catastrophe que fut le Cyclone Hugo.
Avec cette leçon de morale que tout peut basculer su jour au lendemain sans avoir le pouvoir de changer les choses, je comprends mieux les mémoires gravées par ce traumatisme.

[Emma Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was gifted this book by my French teacher after finishing my A-Levels and I thought it was really fantastic. The characters were interesting and the plot was exciting. I liked the fact that the book was set in Guadeloupe; you really get to know their culture in the context of a late 1980’s setting. There were some great uses of similes and repetition to tie the story together. The author’s exploration of stereotypes and reactions to Hugo was also thought provoking. The French language itself was not too complex, and I would recommend this book to A-Level students as a good way to expand vocabulary.

[Maëlla K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As she often does, Maryse Condé captures the culture and history of Guadeloupe. Through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy, she describes the humanity, dignity, fragility, solidarity and contradictions of a French Caribbean society.

[Sivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might write a review later.

[Naomi S-B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for French class, not super hard, pretty good

[cosmonaut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most riveting but fairly comprehensible

[Tab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certes c’est un livre « simple » mais en même temps le pdv de l’enfant fait grandement réfléchir. Je pense que je relirais du Maryse Condé !!

[allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

JE PEUX LIRE EN FRANÇAIS !! COMME POUR VRAI !!! (pour FRN 220)

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a French class Freshman year. Nothing especially remarkable about it.