The Death of Comrade President

by Alain Mabanckou, Helen Stevenson (Translator)

Winner of the 2015 French Voices Grand Prize, this poignant and riotous tale starts as a tender, wry portrait of an ordinary Congolese family, but quickly expands into a powerful examination of colonialism, decolonization, and dead ends in the African continent.

Pointe-Noire, a bustling port town on Congo’s southwestern coast, is host to Alain Mabanckou’s astonishing cycle of novels that are already being hailed as one of the grandest, funniest fictional projects of our time. His novels have been twice shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize and have been described as “beautiful” (Salman Rushdie), “brutally satiric” (Uzodinma Iweala), containing “fireworks on every page” (Los Angeles Review of Books), and “vividly colloquial, mischievous and outrageous” (Marina Warner).

Mabanckou’s riotous new novel, The Death of Comrade President, returns to the 1970s milieu of his awarding-winning novel Black Moses, telling the story of Michel, a daydreamer whose life is completely overthrown when, in March 1977, just before the arrival of the rainy season, Congo’s Comrade President Marien Ngouabi is brutally murdered. Thanks to his mother’s kinship with the president, not even naive Michel can remain untouched. And if he is to protect his family, Michel must learn to lie.

Moving seamlessly between the small-scale worries of everyday life and the grand tragedy of postcolonial politics, Mabanckou explores the nuances of the human soul through the naive perspective of a boy who learns the realities of life—and how much must change for everything to stay the same.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Historical Fiction, African Literature, France, Novels, Republic Of The Congo

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 16, 2018

About the author

Alain Mabanckou was born in 1966 in Congo-Brazzaville (French Congo). He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he teaches literature at UCLA, having previously spent four years at the University of Michigan. Mabanckou will be a Fellow in the Humanities Council at Princeton University in 2007-2008. One of Francophone Africa's most prolific contemporary writers, he is the author of six volumes of poetry and six novels. He received the Sub-Saharan Africa Literary Prize in 1999 for his first novel, Blue-White-Red, the Prize of the Five Francophone Continents for Broken Glass, and the Prix Renaudot in 2006 for Memoirs of a Porcupine. He was selected by the French publishing trade journal Lire as one of the fifty writers to watch out for in the coming century. His most recent book is African Psycho.

Reviews

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب مرگ رفیق رییس جمهور نوشته آلن ماباکو نویسنده آفریقایی ایست .او دراین کتاب به بخشی از تاریخ آفریقا میانه و یا مرکزی پرداخته . منطقه ای شامل کشورهایی مانند جمهوری آفریقای مرکزی ، گابن ، کامرون ، جمهوری دموکراتیک کنگو و کنگو برازویل و داستان ماباکو در کنگو برازویل می گذرد .
گرچه ماباکو با نگاهی طنز به فقر و فلاکت ، جهل و خرافات مردم و البته حکومت ناکارآمد و فاسد در کنگو پرداخته اما او از هر فرصتی استفاده کرده تا به نقش استعمارو به ویژه استعمار فرانسه در این منطقه و به ویژه در کشور خود بپردازد . او در پس هر فلاکتی که در این منطقه وسیع و فقیر می گذرد دستان کثیف استعمار را می بیند .
ماباکو خواننده را با یکی از فقیرترین کشورهای جهان آشنا می کند . کشور کنگو که به جهت تمایز با جمهوری دموکراتیک کنگو به نام کنگو برازویل خوانده می شده . او به همین ترتیب به استعمارگران اروپایی ، فرانسه ، بلژیک وپرتغال پرداخته و البته تنها محدود به سابقه سیاه استعمارگران در دوران استعمار نبوده . از نگاه او فرانسویها در تمامی کودتاها و بی ثباتی در این منطقه نقشی اساسی دارند ، همانند بلژیکی ها . گرچه دیگر مستقیم وارد جنگ نمی شوند اما با دادن پول و اسلحه به جناح یا قبیله خاصی آنان را تشویق به جنگ داخلی می کنند .
نویسنده از نگاه پدر یعنی پاپا روژه تاریخ جریان های انقلابی و یا آزادی بخش در آنگولا ، کامرون ، کنگو و کنگو برازویل را بیان کرده و از رهبرانی مانند روبن ام نیوبه در کامرون یا آمیلکار کبرال درگینه بیسائو و آنگولا و البته پاتریس لومومبا در جمهوری دموکراتیک کنگو سخن گفته که هر کدام به گونه ای مستقیم به دست استعمارگران یا غیر مستقیم و توسط عوامل داخلی آنها به گونه ای فجیع کشته شدند . ( البته پاتریس لومومبا شاید به سبب داشتن خیابانی به نام خود در تهران برای خواننده فارسی زبان شناخته شده تر باشد ).
داستان کتاب آلن ماباکو هم یکی دیگر از کودتاها و قتل رئیس جمهور است که در آفریقا مرکزی بسیار مرسوم بوده و هست . نویسنده برای شرح رخدادها از زبانی طنز استفاده کرده و هم چگونگی زندگی در جامعه ای بسیار فقیر و هم حوادث پس از کشته شدن مارین نگو آبی رییس جمهور مارکسیست – لنینیست و موج بی ثباتی پس از آن را بیان کرده .
در پایان باید کتاب مرگ رفیق رییس جمهور را کتابی جذاب و خواندنی دانست که قطعا برای علاقه مندان به تاریخ پر درد آفریقا جذابتر و خواندنی تر خواهد بود .

[sAmAnE · Rating 2 out of 5]

موضوع داستان که سیاسی_ اجتماعی بود و به بررسی قتل رئیس جمهور کنگو، میپردازه. نویسنده سعی داشته از فرصت فامیل بودن پسرک راوی، با رییس جمهور استفاده کنه و داستان را به سمت طنزگونه‌ای ادامه بده که من چندان دوست نداشتم. هر چند که ایده خوب بود ولی بعضی جاها با هم جور در نمیومد و خوب از آب در نیومده بود.

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alain Mabanckou, probably the best-known Congolese author working today, delivers a captivating portrait of the atmosphere following the assassination of President Marien Ngouabi in 1977. Rendered from the perspective of Michel, a teenager trying to find his dog who, miraculously, ran off after hearing of the murder on the radio, we experience the overall political situation in a nutshell as the young protagonist deals with his family who is directly affected by the political turmoil: Michel’s uncle, Captain Kimbouala-Nkaya, has also been killed and is now blamed for the coup.

The text incorporates extensive ruminations about historical developments concerning colonialism, regional tensions and tribalism, which is highly beneficial for international readers (like me) who are largely unaware of what happened in Congo in the 70s (before I was even born). By his surroundings, Michel is often perceived as daydreaming, but it seems like he is constantly trying to wrap his head around the condition of his home country, his family and his own role in this confusing world. Michel supports the Socialist revolution, but he is also deeply influenced by his stepfather's view of the world, a man who works in an international hotel. At the same time, Mabanckou illustrates the fact that people are torn between the domestic journalistic voices and foreign descriptions of their nation that they hear on the radio.

A great piece of postcolonial African literature that features a wonderfully strange narrator.

[Calzean · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and original way of covering post-colonial Republic of the Congo. The narrator is Michel, a young teenage boy an only child of Pauline, the second wife of a hotel receptionist. Pauline is a resourceful and lady with a reasonably profitable business selling bananas from her home village.
It's March 1977 and the socialist world of the Congo has successfully brain washed the populace on the glory of the nation when the President is assassinated. Michel loved the President but for Michel and especially his mother life is about to get dangerous as anyone loyal to the old President and their relatives are apt to disappear, be killed or sent to jail.
The book is full of black humour, while containing a litany of African coups and assassinations, French interference into their old colonies and the new presence of allies from other Socialist or Communist nations. Enjoyed it immensely.

[Huy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Một cuốn sách có cái tựa đề sặc mùi chính trị thì ắt hẳn nội dung bên trong cũng chứa đựng nhiều sự hỗn loạn không kém, nhưng tác giả đã khéo léo giảm thiểu chúng bằng góc nhìn của một cậu vứ 13 tuổi khi thế giới của cậu bị đảo loạn hoàn toàn vào thứ Sáu, ngày 18 tháng 03 năm 1977 lúc 14h30ph, tổng thống Congo đương thời bị ám sát. Được viết với sự am hiểu lịch sử, đồng cảm sâu sắc với vận mệnh đất nước, tràn ngập những suy tư trăn trở về dân tộc mình nhưng cũng đầy vui tươi hóm hỉnh, Alain Mabanckou không chỉ giúp ta du hành xuyên thời gian, không gian mà còn đưa ra những suy nghĩ đầy bức thiết về những điều gắn kết và chia rẽ chúng ta cũng như cái ranh giới đầy mong manh của sự thật và những điều bất khả với cái kết xuất sắc khiến ta choáng váng nhưng cũng đầy hợp lý và phản phất nỗi buồn sâu sắc của sự trưởng thành. "The Death of Comrade President" thật sự là một trong những cuốn sách đáng đọc nhất năm nay.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستان این کتاب بعد از ترور مارین انگوابی، رئیس جمهور کنگو از سال ۱۹۶۹ تا زمان مرگش در ۱۸ مارس ۱۹۷۷ اتفاق می‌افته.
شرایط اجتماعی، قفر و فلاکت، و رقابت‌ها و دعواهای قبیله‌ای این کشور، کنگو در اون زمان یه کشور کمونیستی زیر سایه استعمار فرانسه و کشورهای دیگه بود، رو قبل و بعد از به قتل رسیدن رئیس جمهور وقتش از زبان و دید پسری نوجوان به نام میشل روایت می‌کنه.
میشل و پدر خوانده‌ش، پاپا راجر، اولین‌بار از رادیو درباره این ترور خبر دار میشن. و بعد دایی خانواده بهشون اطلاع میده که اونا هم درگیر اتفاق‌های بعد این ترور میشن‌‌ و ...
قبلا جایی خوندنم که این کتاب ممکنه کتابی طنز باشه ولی من طنزی ندیدم. و میشل هم شخصیتی نبود که خنده دار یا شوخ طبع باشه.
می‌تونست کتاب بهتری باشه و جزئیات بیشتر اتفاق‌های تاریخی و سیاسی رو از نگاه یک پسربچه با نگرانی‌های کوچکی که داشت روایت کنه چون میشل همیشه با پدرش به رادیو گوش می‌داد و پدرش براش توضیحاتی بیشتر از اتفاقات می‌داد‌.

[Montaser Abusin · Rating 5 out of 5]

انهيتها في جلسة ؛جميلة جدا .
الأدب الأفريقي عظيم وغني بثورات التحرر .

[Tenaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the narrator’s voice and will def read more by this author. The pacing was a bit off though - a bit slow and then the end felt rushed

[Taghreed Jamal El Deen · Rating 2 out of 5]

رواية عن فترة من تاريخ الكونغو، مروية على لسان طفل.
كانت جيدة، لكن غلبت عليها تفاصيل الأحداث السياسية، فبدت أقرب إلى فيلم وثائقي منها إلى رواية، ما أشعرني بالملل إلى حد ما.

[يوسف احمد · Rating 5 out of 5]

ألان مابانكو مبدع

رواية ستحصد الكثير من الجوائز .

[Pascale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather formulaic. For his narrator, Mabanckou has chosen a young dreamy boy whose faux naif assessment of what's going on about him reveals a shrewd understanding of the rampant hypocrisy and violence around him. Young Michel is a direct descendant of Momo in Emile Ajar's "La Vie devant soi" but alas not as funny or memorable a character. The story takes place in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Marien Ngouabi, president of the Republic of the Congo from 1969 to his death on March 18, 1977. Michel and his adoptive father Papa Roger first hear of the assassination on the radio. The family then receive the visit of Tonton René and 2 other "uncles", who tell Michel's mother that her brother, Luc Kimbouala-Nkaya, has already been summarily executed as a potential accomplice of the man responsible for the president's assassination, Ange Diawara. Civil war and ethnic cleansing threaten, and everybody would be well advised to lie low. However, Maman Pauline, who is devastated by her brother's killing, defies René and Roger's advice and decides, not only to make her bereavement public, but to seek revenge on Antoinette Ebaka, a woman from a northern tribe who owes her money. It never became clear to me why Pauline deemed Antoinette responsible for her brother's death. It seems completely mad for Pauline to confront and assault Antoinette publicly at the market, and in presence of her son too. Michel is left with the unenviable task of phoning Roger and René to try and get his mother released from prison. In the last, quite powerful scene of the book, he faces the choice of lying to the police about his relationship with Kimbouala-Kkaya, thereby disowning his uncle, or telling the truth and probably condemning his mother. One problem with this book is that Mabackou, guessing quite correctly that a majority of Westerners are poorly acquainted with the details of Congolese history, crams a lot of facts into Michel's account of the aftermath of Ngouabi's murder, making his narrative both implausible and turgid. Instead of capturing the volatile atmosphere of a country where a political assassination unleashes tribal rivalries afresh, for page after page Mabanckou gives us a potted history of post-colonial Africa. I can see why he does that, and to some extent I found the book informative, but a more nimble novelist would have succeeded in slipping his history lesson better inside the narrative.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that I have read this in English I need to get my hands on a copy of the original French version! It wasn’t until I read the first few pages that I realized that it must have originally been written in French, and I started hearing Michel’s voice in French… I wish it weren’t so difficult to get French novels here in the US.

Anyway! This book is just gorgeous, and if it doesn’t make your heart ache then I think you may need to get it checked. The Death of Comrade President takes place over several days in 1977 in the city of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo. The narrator, Michel, is a young boy of the age of 12, and everything that happens during those few days comes directly from what he sees, what he knows, and how he interprets everything. On the surface the book reads like a play by play of several days in Michel’s life, the sentences following his train of thought, and his tendency to daydream. But the plot is a lot more than that: through Michel the author provides a detailed overview of the independence of the Republic of Congo, of the different coups and political events that have happened before 1977, and then of the assassination of Comrade President Marien Ngouabi, amongst other worldwide events.

This assassination affects Michel’s family in ways that he would never have thought, and as he navigates through different revelations he realizes that he has to change the way he has been taught to act and to think about things in order for his life to go back to normal.

The Death of Comrade President is hilarious in parts, terrifying in others, and Alain Mabanckou writes in such a way that you can’t help laughing out loud in places, and admiring how brilliant his prose is. There is the surface, and there is Michel’s interpretation, and there is what the author is trying to tell you, and altogether it is just brilliant. I burst into tears at the end and wished there was more, because I had become so fond of Michel and his daydreaming that I wasn’t ready for him to have to grow up so fast.

I thoroughly enjoyed how the author weaves internal country politics with those from other countries, as well as events in other places happening around the same time. It made for a super interesting and educational read. I’m going to look for more of Alain Mabanckou’s work now because The Death of Comrade President is just wonderful!

Thanks to The New Press and Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Leila Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐

Un llibre totalment diferent a lo habitual però perfecte per a començar el any, amb un estil divertit i fresc Michel narra a través dels ulls d'un adolescent el context històric i social del Congo i dels països que el rodegen. Amb la visió anticolonial de l'autor es narren un dels fets més importants del Congo, que passaren el 18 de març de 1977 i que canviaran la vida de Michel.

El que m'agrada del llibre esque és bàsicament la història del que va passar però ficcionat. És una forma d'aprendre xulíssima i entretinguda. Podría haver sigut millor, si, però cumplix en la seua finalitat i convida al lector a descobrir més sobre el continent africà, les colònies, els imperialistes i assasins.

[Enrica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly boring and repetitive.

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing this book taught me: that the People’s Republic of the Congo was Marxist. This is admittedly me being politically unaware (I hadn’t known any African countries were communist), but anyway.

The Death of Comrade President is set in early 1977, when Marien Ngouabi, President of the Republic of the Congo, was killed. Told from the point of view of a teenager named Michel, this is a slightly manic but often very funny novel about growing up in a communist country, with the shadow of the Soviet Union (the ‘white cranes’) constantly hovering. There are the fallouts of the assassination, there is the political uncertainty—and still Michel has his own problems to worry about: his missing dog, the growing pains of a teenager, a constant shortage of money, and his mother Maman Pauline’s somewhat overwrought reactions to pretty much everything.

Good satire, and it gave me a glimpse into the Congo in a way very different from what I was expecting.

[Areeb Ahmad (Bankrupt_Bookworm) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"On the wall to my left, there's a portrait of Comrade President Marien Ngouabi level with me. The same one's in Ma Moubobi's shop, only ten times bigger, if you look at it too hard you'll start to think Comrade President Marien Ngouabi isn't dead, just pretended to disappear, to make everyone love him more, now and forever."

My first book by Mabanckou, as well as first by a Congolese writer in general, was a great read and I am quite happy to have requested it. Helen Stevenson has done a superb job of translating it from French. Taking place over three days after the sudden assassination of the then President of the Republic of the Congo, it is narrated by Michel, a young boy. He is childishly naïve yet precocious, always daydreaming. He has his fixations, living in a world of his own in his head.

Comrade President's death is a catalyst for change, casting rocks into the idyllic pool of his life. Mabanckou deftly uses repetitions, catchphrases, and casual circularity, giving life to all of his characters through Michel. He uses this quirky portrait of an ordinary Congolese family to comment on the bigger picture of coloniality and the project of empire. Plus, by bringing into contrast the national and international radio stations, through deliberate transcription of their content, he highlights the brazen interference of the erstwhile colonists even after their departure from Africa, especially the role of France in political assassinations. Decolonization obviously comes with its attendant baggages, as visible. Overall, it is an easy, engaging novel with a surprising sense of humour.




(I received a finished copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having a child narrator is always a difficult trick to pull off and I wasn’t convinced the author managed it here. Michel, a 13 year old boy, has the task of describing the turbulent events of his native Congo in 1977 when Marien Ngouabi, the 3rd President of what he has renamed the People’s Republic of the Congo is assassinated in Brazzaville. The implications for our narrator Michel and his family are serious as his mother is the sister of the man who has been blamed for the assassination and the coup – and who has also been killed. Michel doesn’t always understand the world around him or the complex politics of his country, not surprising for a young boy, but he relates the conversations between his step-father and uncles as they discuss the situation, and he also hears, and relates verbatim various radio broadcasts. This is unrealistic – there are pages of these conversations and no one could remember all that is said and retell them so clearly, let alone an ingenuous boy. So I just couldn’t believe in Michel, and although there is something almost charming in the details of his daily life and the problems he faces in his own small world, overall I couldn’t really relate to him or his family.

[Omar Peñaranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
La voz del narrador representa en buena medida las vicisitudes de los años pueriles: la ternura, el amor y el despertar por una conciencia global.
Ambientado en Point-Noire, esta novela hace una representación brillante de la cotidianidad barrial en un país saqueado y abusado por la colonización francesa sin dejar de lado la tragedia común del rebusque, la enemistad y el oportunismo. Las lecciones de geografía devienen en la oportunidad perfecta para hacer denuncias decoloniales y sentimentales en los contextos golpistas. La trama está bien tejida, aunque de una manera rizomática —que no siempre es positivo—, de modo que ciertas secuencias narrativas no se desarrollan en su totalidad o simplemente son un apéndice del argumento, un ornamento.
Personalmente me fascina la voz de Michel, me parece fresca, risueña, VEROSÍMIL, y hasta próxima; siento esta voz como un bellísimo homenaje al niño curioso y soñador del Aké de Soyinka, y del niño atrevido y auténtico que uno pretende ser cuando apenas se abre ante uno la obsolescencia del mundo real.
Bajo puntos por el papel, demasiado blanco.
Sería un 4 si la traducción no fuera tan españolizada.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE DEATH OF COMRADE PRESIDENT by Alain Mabanckou was quite funny! This novel is translated from the French and takes place in Congo 1977 and follows Michel, a teenage boy, and his family dealing with the aftermath of the death of Comrade President Marien Ngouabi. I really enjoyed the writing style that reinforced jokes through repetition. It was really interesting to read about the Congolese culture. There were quite a few parts in this book that really made me laugh out loud!
.
Thank you to The New Press via NetGalley for this advance review copy!

[Laura Molina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfecto para adentrarse en la África colonial y postcolonial, en concreto el Congo. El autor muestra a través de los ojos de un niño la situación geopolítica de su país y del continente. De forma inocente y sencilla se relatan sucesos que, probablemente a través de los ojos de un adulto u otra voz narradora, habrían resultado más densos y "contaminados".

[كـ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"اللقالق لا تموت" هو مقطع من أغنية سوفيتية وتعني أن الجنود الذين يقتلون في الحروب لا يموتون بل يتحولون إلى لقالق تطير في السماء ومن هنا جاء اسم الرواية والتي تنتهي بها في خاتمتها بشيء من الدهشة والبراعة والجمال ...

الرواية تدور أحداثها في ثلاثة أيام على لسان صبي في الثالثة عشر من عمره يُدعى " ميشيل "، وهو الطفل الوحيد لأسرته حيث يعيش في حي "فونغو " الأفريقي البسيط مع والدته "بولين" ووالده "روجر"، حيث يشتهر "ميشيل "بكونه شاردا وحالمًا طوال الوقت، نغوص في رحلة معه في تفاصيل حياته اليومية البسطية والجميلة والتي نتعرف منها على بلده الكونغو وسياساتها وتاريخها وأسماء من دعموها من دول وشخصيات ورؤساء ومن ثم تتوالى الأحداث حتى يُقتل الرئيس مارين نغوابي في الكونغو في مارس 1977م وذلك في برازافيل"، لتصبح الحياة بعدها تحت وطأة اشتعال فتيل الحرب الأهلية...

تنطلق الرواية من منزل الأسرة لتتوسع شيئًا فشيئًا فتشمل قضية الاستعمار ومأساة أفريقيا وما عاثت دول الغرب والرجل الأبيض في هذه الدولة وما جاورها فكانت سببًا في حروب ودماء ونهب وسرقة ، كل ذلك على لسان الصبي الذي يتعلّم أهمية وقيمة الحياة بمنظوره الطفولي بعيدًا عن نظرة البالغين، وذلك بأسلوب سردي هزلي ساخر، تناول فيها العديد من القضايا التي تلامس المجتمع الأفريقي والحياة الاجتماعية اليومية التي تتقاطع مع الأحداث السياسية في ذلك الوقت...

الرواية قد تكون مدخلًا لمعرفة سياسة الكونغو وتاريخها لما شملت عليه واحتوت فيها من اسماء كثير من الشخصيات الأفريقية والأحياء الغريبة وأسماء شخصيات عالمية وجارة كانت مساهمة في بناء هذه الدولة وما ساهمت فيه من بناءها او تدميرها ..

[- قارئة . · Rating 3 out of 5]

رواية تحكي عن جانب من تاريخ الكونغو السياسي
من وجهة نظر الطفل ميشيل

جيدة وان داخلني بعض الملل خلال قراءتها


ثلاث نجوم كحل وسط كما كانت هي

[Pam Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning about the culture and history through a child's eyes. Although I have no parallel experience I somehow related to the experience. Well written and inspired me to explore further which is my favorite gift from a book. A good read

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

CN: death of a sibling, political unrest, attempted murder, imprisonment

A very entertaining history lesson.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 etoilles. Mabanckou nous offre ici un beau roman qui relate les évènements du coup d’état de 1977 contre Marin Ngouabi en République du Congo au travers des yeux d’un enfant rêveur, Michel, qui vit avec sa famille à Pointe-Noire. Le roman expose la turpitude de la classe politique congolaise et l’impact que les évènements en question ont sur la population. Mais au contraire de nombres ‘romans politiques’, Mabanckou maintient une plume légère et l’histoire ne devient jamais d’une atmosphère pesante. Je trouvais la voix de Michel pas toujours convaincante dans la mesure où il a parfois des réflexions dont on a difficile à s’imaginer qu’elles proviennent d’un enfant. Mais ce que Mabanckou réussit bien est de montrer comment la réalité sombre de la politique s’infiltre progressivement dans l’esprit rêveur de Michel et le force à sortir de l’innocence de l’enfance.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good and humorous read. I read this in French, you really get the feel for his humour and wit in the original. Gave great insight into colonialism, the role of France, and the first throes of independence in Congo Brazzaville. I enjoyed reading the story from the perspective of the young protagonist, a coup and other events with serious ramifications upend his life and that of his family.

Traduit du texte ci-dessus
Une lecture très bonne et humoristique. Je l'ai lu en français, on sent vraiment son humour et son esprit dans l'original. Il nous a donné un bon aperçu du colonialisme, du rôle de la France et des premiers soubresauts de l'indépendance du Congo Brazzaville. J'ai aimé lire l'histoire du point de vue du jeune protagoniste, un coup d'État et d'autres événements aux ramifications graves bouleversent sa vie et celle de sa famille.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good and humorous read. I read this in French, you really get the feel for his humour and wit in the original. Gave great insight into colonialism, the role of France, and the first throes of independence in Congo Brazzaville. I enjoyed reading the story from the perspective of the young protagonist, a coup and other events with serious ramifications upend his life and that of his family.

Traduit du texte ci-dessus
Une lecture très bonne et humoristique. Je l'ai lu en français, on sent vraiment son humour et son esprit dans l'original. Il nous a donné un bon aperçu du colonialisme, du rôle de la France et des premiers soubresauts de l'indépendance du Congo Brazzaville. J'ai aimé lire l'histoire du point de vue du jeune protagoniste, un coup d'État et d'autres événements aux ramifications graves bouleversent sa vie et celle de sa famille.

[Paloma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un de ses romans les plus touchants et chaleureux. C'est se sentir chez un ami, à la maison.

[Eilish Calnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting look into the Congo, enjoyed the storytelling from a childs point of view. Recommend for anybody looking to learn about the Congo or the fallout from colonialism in Africa.

[Anoudhs · Rating 2 out of 5]

الحياة الأفريقية رائعه والأدب الأفريقي رائع جدا تمنيت ان يعبر الكاتب عن الحياة الاجتماعية و الآلام ، لكن الرواية سياسية لذلك شعرت بالملل و الضياع في بعض الاسماء