Reis zonder terugkeer

by David Diop, Martine Woudt (Translator)

De jonge botanicus Michel Adanson reist in 1750 af naar Senegal om de lokale flora te bestuderen. De Fransman bereidt zich voor op een tocht door het oerwoud, langs stammen die een taal spreken die hij niet beheerst, en waar tropische ziektes op de loer liggen. Maar als hij het eiland Gorée bezoekt, doet hij een ontdekking: deze plek van aankomst is voor miljoenen Afrikaanse tot slaaf gemaakten een plek van vertrek, zonder terugkeer.

Als hij hoort over Maram, een jonge vrouw die vanuit Gorée wist te ontsnappen naar het vasteland van Senegal, verandert zijn plan. De reis wordt een zoektocht naar de talloze sporen en legendes die deze vrouw heeft achtergelaten. In plaats van aan zijn onderzoek te werken, schrijft hij in zijn notitieboekjes over de vriendschap met zijn gids Ndiak, over zijn twijfels aan de superioriteit van het Verlichte Europa, en over de prachtige Maram, die haar toekomst in eigen hand nam.

Net als in het bekroonde Meer dan een broer belicht David Diop een episode uit de koloniale geschiedenis. Een geschiedenis die tot op de dag van vandaag voortduurt.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Africa, Senegal, France, Historical, Literary Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2021

About the author

David Diop a grandi au Sénégal. Il est actuellement maître de conférences à l’université de Pau.
--------------
David Diop grew up in Senegal. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Pau.

Reviews

[Adina ( back from Vacay…slowly recovering)]

DNF at around 35%

One reason I am very peaky with requesting ARCs is that I feel extremely guilty when I do not enjoy the book I receive. I usually request only books that I am confident I would like or written by authors I enjoyed in the past. This novel was in the latter category. I appreciated the winner of Booker International 2022, At Night All Blood is Back, and was looking forward to reading the latest release from David Diop. The blurb looked interesting so I was sure I would enjoy it. Alas, it was not to be.

Hmm, how to describe the novel in a sentence. I suppose I could say that it can be used as a cure for insomnia. I am not a sufferer, so I only needed a few pages per evening to fall asleep. Too bad, because the premise seemed exciting. After his death, a famous botanist leaves to her daughter the journal of his trip to Senegal. The novel includes his search for a mysterious woman who escaped from slavery and hid in a village in the forest. The man becomes obsessed with the woman and probably he will have to face some hardship but I did not get there. I got lost at a wedding of a tribe kind. I was interested to learn more about the culture and colonial history of the place but the writing could not keep my interest alive for more than a few pages. Such a pity.

The writing in David Diop’s first novel was raw, feverish, dark but also poetic. It was special. Here, it is too standard, flat as the lake in a windless morning, it has nothing in common with the prose which mesmerised me in At Night All Blood is Back.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Sam Taylor's translation of David Diop's La Porte du voyage sans retour, first published in 2021. On the surface, this seems like a straightforward work of historical fiction, a tale set in the 18th-century and centered around a fictional version of the real-life botanist Michel Adanson and his daughter Aglaé. The story takes us to Senegal and in search of a woman believed to have escaped from her slave-trafficking captors. The narrative has a jaunty feel to it, almost like a European-centered adventure story from a century ago. That framing is a deliberate choice by Diop, as is his centering the story on European characters and the exoticism of characters who are Senegalese. It can make for uncomfortable reading in places, which I take to be the point. I've seen this compared unfavorably to Diop's Frère d'âme and went into this one with lowered expectations. But the two books are quite different and I appreciate what Diop is doing here, even if the earlier book remains my favorite of the two. Thanks to the US publisher, FSG, for making a review copy available in advance of publication.

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now Nominated for the National Book Award for Translated Literature 2023
Historian and International Booker winner David Diop writes about the mid-18th century slave trade in Senegal from the perspective of French botanist Michel Adanson. The novel opens with Adanson's death, when his daughter Aglaé, while creating the Arboretum de Balaine, discovers some of her late father's papers addressed to her. These notebooks amount to a confession about Michel Adanson's travels to Senegal - and the real Adanson did indeed take a journey to the colony to do research on plant life. Now, our fictional Adanson presents a story about how he fell in love with a Black Senegalese woman, Maram.

Maram means "desire" in Arabic, and the text we (and Aglaé) read does indeed have the flair of an adventure tale that higly depends on coincidence, thus venturing into fairy tale territory (but not the Disney variety, more like a grim German or Danish fairy tale) - which can be interpreted as a commentary on the European perception of Africa (see: Orientalism) and on othering mixed with regret due to white guilt and complicity, but the exoticism is still pretty jarring to read. On his botanical mission (which is supported by those who exploit the colony), Adanson is guided by the son of a king, a mere child full of wit, wisdom and bravery. They coincidentally hear about a woman who has allegedly disappeared: Maram. The core of this mystery lies in the entanglements between Black and white human traffickers who sell others into slavery for a mere saddle, a rifle, or to cover up crimes.

The French title translates to something like "The door to the one-way passage", with "la porte" meaning "door", but "le port" meaning "harbor", thus referring to the Door of No Return on Gorée Island, Senegal, from where slaves were trafficked (Diop employed a similar pun in the French title of his Booker winner At Night All Blood is Black, with Frère d'âme phonetically referring to both "brother in arms" and "brother of the soul"). The scenes playing out on Gorée Island in the novel are shaped after Gluck's opera "Orpheus and Eurydice", the motif comes up again and again.

Diop grew up in Senegal, he has a French mother and a Senegalese father; in the text, he writes from the perspectives of
- first, a white women, Aglaé, who only after his death learns who her father really was;
- her white father Michel;
- and in the very last chapter, a Black slave from Guadeloupe, Madeleine, the women portrayed in Marie-Guillemine Benoist's "Portrait of Madeleine".
And this last chapter is by far the strongest: Aglaé visits Madeleine who resembles his father's beloved Maram, but Madeleine has no interest in her professions of intergenerational white guilt. In a way, Diop is taking literary revenge against those who were responsible for the historical Madeleine's plight (she was likely born a slave in the colony and trafficked to France): He refuses forgiveness, he gives Madeleine more strength and dignity than any white character in the book.

All in all, the tone of the novel as the many unlikely coincidences reminded me a little too much of a sinister version of Washington Black, but I appreciated the The Promise-like no-nonsense ending. This doesn't pack a punch like At Night All Blood is Black though, and I can see David Diop producing much stronger texts.

(Note: In the novel, Black people are constantly and casually referred to with the n-word; this is a decision the author, a Black historian, made, and I, a white person, will not police this decision nor Diop's intent to use the language that was deemed normal at the time in order to illustrate the historical context -the n-word is even used when the narrator praises Black people, and the reader's irritation and unease that comes with that is probably exactly what the author wanted to evoke.)

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel a great deal. I'm not sure how it works and what it captivated me so much because it's mostly written in narrative summary and there are nesting narrators and honestly who would think it would be so captivating but it is. It has to do with the mood of it, the absolute immersion in a time and a historical moment. I love the theme of a scientist spending his entire life on a project that he knows in the end is doomed to ever being complete, that is obsolete before he has come to the end of it. I love the strange moody archaic language and the specificity of the sensual details. It's not anything like Diop's previous novel and for a while in the beginning I was missing the drive and terror and relentless brutal action of At Night All Blood is Black. This is not that book. Once I put my false expectation on a shelf, and accepted that I was not about to read another novel like that one (or indeed one that was even remotely like that one) then I was able to dive in and love the tapestry and opulence of this novel, so completely different from my expectation.

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this historical novel, David Diop introduces the 18th-century French botanist, Michel Adanson (1727-1806). Just as in real life, protagonist and narrator Adanson failed in his life's work, his own botanical encyclopedia, a work to which he had sacrificed everything, including his family life. After his death, his daughter (whom he had neglected his entire life) finds a bundle of papers containing his story of the devastating, almost-romance Adanson had 60 years earlier in Senegal with a mysterious, yet beautiful black woman, Maram Seck. And that story, and especially his obsession with Maram, takes up the majority of this book.

The story itself is well-told, using a rich language and incorporating numerous exotic and even magical elements, set in and around the French colony of Senegal in the mid-18th century. Diop himself is of Senegalese descent, and so it's not surprising that he primarily emphasizes the subtlety and high-mindedness of local Senegalese culture, contrasting with the brutality and lust for power of the French colonizers and especially the slave traders they allowed to operate there. It's not entirely a black-and-white story, as the local chiefs also appear to have their share of misdeeds, but the undertone is rather Rousseau-esque, with Maram Seck, in particular, being portrayed as a "noble savage".

On top of that the love-story is a one-way-street, and a very cheap one, as we see the (white) Frenchman Adanson falling head over heels for Maram, after he has seen her bathing naked. Yes, the male gaze is all around. The story then takes a few improbable twists, as Adanson wallows in self-pity over his unrequited love for Maram, and the adventure even ends tragically. Then follows a rather lackluster episode, back in France, in which Adanson becomes an outspoken racist, ending his last days in bitterness and remorse, with vague ramblings about the power of painting and music. In other words, towards the end, Diop seemed completely to have lost it.

While I enjoyed Diop's style, obviously the story itself I did not. Moreover, the woke element is a bit too obvious. But don't get me wrong: I'm not at all a follower of the culture wars currently raging in many Western countries, where extremely conservative, not to mention reactionary, movements are crusading against the ‘demonic’ woke discourse. But in the case of this novel, the story line rambles, and the message is just a bit too manifest. (rating 2.5 stars)

[Cule.Jule · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aglaia, die Tochter von dem Botaniker Michel Adanson, findet eines Tages die Reisehefte ihres verstorbenen Vaters und erfährt von seiner Reise in den Senegal im Jahr 1952, seiner Liebe zur Botanik und vor allem zu der Liebe seines Lebens Maram, die sich als Heilerin in einem Dschungeldorf vor den Sklaventreibern verstecken musste. Der weiße Naturforscher hatte sich auf seiner damaligen Reise unsterblich in die mysteriöse Frau verliebt und die Wahrheit der Abgründe des Kolonialismus erleben müssen. 237 Seiten, die auf eine wahre Begebenheit beruhen.

Für mich persönlich plätscherte anfänglich die Erzählung etwas vor sich hin und nahm dann von Seite zu Seite an Spannung zu, sodass sich der Roman zu einer wunderbaren Geschichte entwickelte. Mir gefielen die sinnlichen und sehr detaillierten Beschreibungen der einzelnen Szenen.

Ein lesenswerter Roman, der die Leidenschaft für die afrikanische Flora und Fauna zeigt und der Gewinner des International Booker Prize 2021 ist.

[Jin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine Geschichte über die Beziehung und Anziehungskraft zwischen Menschen und Rassen. Von der Kurzbeschreibung hatte ich eine etwas andere Geschichte erwartet, aber so gefällt mir das Buch noch mehr. Es geht um einen französischen Botaniker, der über seine Liebe zur Botanik, Senegal und Maram, die Liebe seines Lebens. Allerdings hat die Erzählung wenig von einer süßen Romantik, die Sprache ist pur, manchmal sogar befremdend, aber trotzdem eindringlich. Durch die Augen des Botanikers und seiner Tochter erfahren wir was es heißt anders zu sein und auch wie es ist jemand anderen zu lieben. Der Aufbau und das Ende haben mir sehr gefallen, aber im Gegensatz zu "At Night All Blood is Black" hat mir eine gewisse Wirkkraft, ein kräftiger, literarischer Schlag in die Magengrube gefehlt. Trotz allem ist das Buch lesenswert, allein schon wegen der unglaublich bildlichen und sinnlichen Erzählsprache.

** Dieses Buch wurde mir über NetGalley als E-Book zur Verfügung gestellt **

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is David Diop's first novel after winning the International Booker in 2021.

It is relatively straightforward historical fiction and I found the writing less convincing than in 'At Night All Blood Is Black'.

It is a real page-turner though with an intriguing plot: the French Michel Adanson, an 18th-century botanist, leaves his daughter a set of notebooks in which he describes the voyage to Senegal he made as a young researcher. Senegal was a French colony at the time and slave trade was at its peak, but Michel Adanson is more interested in the flora and fauna until he gets completely sidetracked and dives head first into the mystery of a kidnapped girl who is rumoured to have made her way back to Africa after having been sold into slavery and shipped off to America.

A satisfying reading experience, the African setting is highly evocative and I am grateful to Diop for highlighting yet another little-known chapter of colonialism. That being said, for me not a candidate for another IB-win.

Many thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ARC.

3,5

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diop writes a 'white man's' narrative with traces of enlightenment and white man saviour complex all entangled with traces of the romantic hero on a hero quest. At the end, he contrasts this with a black woman's upturned nose sniff at such a narrative and her turning of the head away from such a story.

I must admit that I, too, turned my head away at the story. The great immediate love as imagined by Adanson is not believable. Maram's actions have crater big holes in them, and I could not understand what she did towards the end. What was interesting for me was the deeper look at Senegal's history and the slave trade flourishing there.

"Sugar cane grew easily in Senegal, and it would have been less costly for France to import the sugar it needed so badly from West Africa than from the Antilles. But Estoupan de la Brue was the last person likely to be receptive to this handsome speech, which I barely suggested in the account of my voyage that I published four years after my return to Paris. The truth is, my idea was incompatible with the wealth of a world that had revolved around the buying and selling of millions of Black people for more than a century. We would have to carry on eating sugar impregnated with their blood. "


Marie-Guillemine Benoist, Portrait d’une femme noire, 1800 - renamed 'Portrait of Madeleine'

An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.

[Fekete Macska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une lecture plaisante mais pas marquante. Plaisante car le style est beau, le roman se lit facilement, le lieu principal de l'intrigue (le Sénégal) change un peu des livres que je lis d'habitude.
Pas marquante pour moi car le rythme est très étrange, avec une première partie un peu longue, sur la vie d'Aglaé et le réaménagement du château de Balaine, qui ne reviendront plus dans le récit et qui ne sont que l'excuse pour la trouvaille des carnet de Michel Adanson, qui constituent le cœur du livre. Ces carnets d'ailleurs : écrits dans le style du 18e siècle, les liens amicaux et amoureux y sont exagérés, et cette histoire d'amour unilatéral au premier regard et en côtoyant la personne seulement 2 jours en tout et pour tout, ca ne m'a jamais attiré. Ces carnets sont aussi un peu longs, et semblent raconter des faits un peu superflus sur la fin.
La construction prend ceci dit un peu de sens à la toute fin du roman, quand apparaît la voix de madeleine, cette esclave affranchie guadeloupéenne qui servi de modèle au très célèbre tableau. À travers son court monologue on comprend que le livre entier fait état de cette culpabilité blanche qui pousse le Blanc à vouloir sauver le Noir au détriment des volontés de ce dernier, et parfois de sa vie. Et quand le Blanc devra vivre avec une culpabilité qui lui pèsera au niveau mental uniquement, le Noir en paiera la conséquences dans sa chair.

[Mai H.]

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux

[Jax · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When you pass through the door to the next world, you cannot take your modesty with you.”

Michel Adanson has devoted himself to botany, a passion but also a means by which he will gain the admiration, respect and, yes, jealousy of scientists throughout Europe. By the time he is standing before the door through which we all will pass, the nineteenth century having barely bloomed, he has managed to describe one hundred thousand plants, animals, and shellfish. He knows, reflecting as he must on his death bed, that despite his spectacular achievement and the sacrifice he made of his family, his work will be lost to the march of progress and advancements in science. It is then that he decides to give meaning to his life by introducing his daughter Aglaé to the man he was, not the scientist that will be swept into the bin of antiquation.

Adanson describes for Aglaé a life-altering trip from France to colonial Senegal, a place that had not yet been scraped and combed of its natural treasures. While on his hunt for specimens, he meets a village chief who tells of an abduction, a niece lost to him by the slave trade only to reappear as a revenant in another village. Adanson is struck by this story and devises a way to investigate the myth under the cover of research. What he finds will be the last words his mouth utters as he passes through the door of no return.

Diop’s craftsmanship is magnificent with characterization being a favorite aspect of this work. Aglaé’s relationship with her father and his with his Senegalese guide Ndiak are highlights. They are mostly abandoned as Adanson’s pursues a ghost, but that story holds interest as well. As with his award-winning At Night All Blood is Black, Diop crafts a deeply layered story that addresses relationships, loss, and the ravages of colonialism.

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

[Phyllis | Mocha Drop · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his latest novel, acclaimed author Diop, is inspired by the Greek romance tragedy Orpheus and Eurydice to examine the early years of French colonization in Senegal. It is through the lips of the protagonist – a dying, reclusive, and eccentric botanist, Michel Adanson, that we discover Maram. A name issued in his last breath to his attending daughter, Aglae’, who is clueless as to what she heard.

Michel leaves clues for his daughter in his personal belongings which leads to a diary that details his time spent in Senegal in his youth as a sponsored botanist. Upon discovering the journals, Aglae’ and the reader are transported back to the 1700’s in the early days of the slave trade and European World expansion. Michael harbors European arrogance and racist views until he is inundated into the community. He begins to see the errors of his upbring and begins to appreciate the people, their language, culture and way of life.

A chief’s story about his niece's capture, sale into slavery, deportation to the Americas, survival and return to Africa sounds completely unbelievable to both African and European ears. It is widely known that leaving Goree Island enslaved in chains for trade is a one-way voyage (hence reference to the novel’s title). Michel sets off with his entourage to (secretly) find her to learn her survival/homecoming story.

Michel “discovery” and Maram’s story are both odysseys of legend. There are more than one harrowing near-death experiences, political intrigue between rival kingdoms, shady business practices of the Senegal Concession, and Michel’s infatuation with Maram that leads to a surprising twist of fate.

I enjoyed this rather short offering which glimpses a view of the world at a very different time. It is definitely worth picking up for history buffs and those interested in the French involvement in the African Diaspora.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.

[Karen·]

There is no love as perfect as the one that is never fulfilled.

[Eva Radukic · Rating 3 out of 5]

michel adanson is even more delulu than me if he thinks he falls in love that quickly

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was first introduced to David Diop's work in the spare, but powerful ALL BLOOD IS BLACK. The quality of the writing was what struck me, fully conveying harrowing concepts in compact sentences. The author fully demonstrated the senselessness and dehumanizing effects of war, culminating in a shocking scene.

This new novel, set in mid 18th century Senegal, and the turn of 19th century France, has that same evocative, precise, prose. It takes very few pages before patterns take shape. The main character, a botanist named Michel Adanson, is seen at the end of his life, withered and twisted like a stubborn, damaged tree.This is a man who refused to allow anyone to interrupt his life's work, or even to assist him. He even neglected his only child.

The terrible irony is that Michel Adanson spent his life searching for the universal thread, the connection among all living things, yet he himself refused all connections. 

His quest had been to catalog his discovery of each living thing in what he called The Universal Encyclopedia of Naural History. The physicist seeks the elusive unified field theory: the theory of everything. The botanist seeks the thread which binds all living things.

Adanson's daughter, Aglaê specifically states that when she "discovered that one of her father's books was entitled FAMILIES OF PLANTS, she had remarked to herself that those plants were in truth his only family."

Unable to find happiness in a person (after two loveless marriages) Aglaé decides to pour herself into a place: the Château de Balaine.

You'd think the resentment built up in the neglected child of a botanist would cause her to hate plants and possibly even reject nature, but if anything, she loved the natural world more than her father did. She learned that unlike cruel people, plants and trees harbor no ill will towards us. If we tend to them, they will provide enduring joy. She is able to open herself up, in opposition to her closed-off father.

As for her father, like all narcissists, Adanson cannot abide criticism. He holds on to grudges and simple grievances forever. Oddly enough, though, for a man so seduced by vanity, one of the characteristics Adanson likes best about pure reference material like encyclopedias and dictionaries, is that they leave no room for the author to add themselves in the text. The reader is either impressed with the work, or they're not. That's why his attempt to write the Universal Encyclopedia of Natural History was so important to him. He wanted his work to stand for itself (and of course, engender praise).

It is only at the end of his life that Adanson admits to himself that his obsession, his impossible quest, was a smokescreen to distract him from a dark and terrible secret shame. Most of the book is the unfolding of the story behind his terrible burden of guilt, a story with its origins in his time spent in botanical research in Senegal.

Adanson's extraordinary story is a cautionary tale, a seeking to be known, an accounting of a haunted man's selfish, spent, life, spun in the best light he could find. As much as he grieved for himself, his actions always cost others much more. Did he ever have a reckoning of self, or did he cover his nightmarish and guilty memories with busyness and by running away from closeness and other tender emotions?

There can be no redemption without reconciliation of the self. A man like this will choose to live in permanent anguish and torment, rather than to face up to himself. He will even betray his principles, inextricably tied to his deepest pain, in search of comfort. Perversely, shame can make one addicted to feeling sorry for oneself. 

The microcosm of Adanson's emotional justifications are an excellent indictment of the justifications for imperialism and colonization. It's an effective and engaging story. The writing throughout is picturesque and poetic. This is a worthwhile and relatively quick read, and a good introduction to Diop's writing, which always has an underlying message and purpose.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

French academic and International Booker Prize winning author David Diop has written an absolutely gorgeous new book of historical fiction set in 18th century Senegal and France.

This is a novel of nested stories.

It opens as the legendary French botanist Michel Adanson lies dying in his house in Paris. All but forgotten today, Adanson came up with a "natural system" of taxonomy, which was distinct from the binomial system forwarded by Linnaeus. He also was the first person to come up with the concept of mutation in evolution. He performed most of his major research in Senegal and is a perfect subject for the Paris-born Senegalese-raised author. Diop has a French mother and a Senegalese father and spent his formative years in Dakar before returning to France for university.

In the novel, the fictional Adanson hides a long letter to his daughter in the secret compartment of a piece of furniture. It is his hope that she will go looking for clues about his life, which she does whilst busy at work building her Arboretum— which is still in the family today. He wants his daughter to understand what happened to him during the fateful trip to Senegal when he fell madly in love with a Senegalese woman.

Halfway through the letter, this woman named Maram tells her story—and that is when things really take off. It is riveting.

As the title of the novel hints, the book ends at Goree Island, that hellish place where slaves in captivity were held before being loaded onto ships to cross the Atlantic like cattle. This is when the myth of Orpheus, in particular the opera Orphée et Eurydice by Gluck is superimposed onto the story of the captive Maram.

The language is lush and my imagination lit up, I spent a lot of time looking at travel videos and documentaries about Senegal. I hope he winds the International Booker Prize again— my favorite book of the year.

I realized then that painting and music have the power to reveal to ourselves our secret humanity. Through art, we can sometimes push open a hidden door leading to the darkest part of our being, as black as the depths of a prison cell. And, once that door is wide open, the corners of our soul are so brightly illuminated that our lies to ourselves no longer have an inch of shade in which they can take refuge, as if exposed to the African sun at its zenith.
links on substack

[Maya Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounding up

Diop captures the exoticization of WOC in a really interesting way here, haven’t ever read anything similar

[Tasos · Rating 4 out of 5]

To «Τη Νύχτα, Όλα Τα Αίματα Είναι Μαύρα» είναι ένα από τα καλύτερα βιβλία που έχω διαβάσει τα τελευταία χρόνια και γι’ αυτό το λόγο περίμενα το επόμενο βιβλίο του Νταβίντ Ντιόπ με ανυπομονησία και με αυξημένες προσδοκίες.

Ευτυχώς, με το «Η Πύλη του Ταξιδιού Χωρίς Επιστροφή» δεν διαψεύστηκα.

Αν και εδώ δεν υπάρχει η ιλιγγιώδης και παραληρηματική γραφή του προηγούμενου βιβλίου, ούτε εκείνο το άρπαγμα από το λαιμό και η κατάδυση στη συνειδησιακή ροή ενός επιθανάτιου σπασμού στο χείλος του επέκεινα, ο Ντιόπ ακολουθεί έναν διαφορετικό αφηγηματικό δρόμο και εμπνέεται από μια άλλη εποχή για να μιλήσει και πάλι για τα δεινά της αποικιοκρατίας στη χώρα καταγωγής του, τη Σενεγάλη.

Πιο κοντά στο ακαδημαϊκό του αντικείμενο, δηλαδή τη γαλλική και τη γαλλόφωνη λογοτεχνία του 18ου αιώνα, ο Ντιόπ τοποθετεί την αφήγησή του στην εποχή του Διαφωτισμού, εκείνη την ενθουσιώδη και φιλόδοξη περίοδο του ορθολογισμού και της απομάγευσης μέσα από την επιστημονική εξήγηση και την καταγραφή σε Εγκυκλοπαίδειες κάθε μορφής του επιστητού.

Ένας από τους εκπροσώπους της είναι και ο επιφανής Γάλλος φυσιοδίφης και βοτανολόγος Μισέλ Αντανσόν, κεντρικός ήρωας του βιβλίου, ο οποίος αφήνει κληρονομιά στην κόρη του εκτός από ένα σωρό αντικείμενα και τα απομνημονεύματά του, καλά κρυμμένα σε ένα σεκρετέρ για να τα ανακαλύψει εκείνη και να μάθει την αλήθεια πίσω από το ταξίδι του στη Σενεγάλη, δεκαετίες πριν.

Εκεί ο νεαρός επιστήμονας βίωσε το τίμημα που είχε η πρόοδος για τους λαούς της Αφρικής, την υπεροψία της Ευρώπης απέναντι σε έναν πολιτισμικό πλούτο που δεν εκτιμήθηκε ποτέ, την εκμετάλλευση των πόρων, φυσικών και κυρίως ανθρώπινων, μέσω του δουλεμπορίου.

Ο έρωτάς του για μια νεαρή Αφρικανή, που κατά τις δοξασίες πουλήθηκε ως σκλάβα και επέστρεψε, θα ανοίξει την πύλη ενός ταξιδιού χωρίς επιστροφή, όχι μόνο για τον ίδιο και όλα όσα νόμιζε πως ήξερε, αλλά και για τη Σενεγάλη, απ’ όπου πουλήθηκαν χιλιάδες άνθρωποι για να μην επιστρέψουν ποτέ.

Ο Ντιόπ αποτίνει φόρο τιμής τόσο στην προφορική κουλτούρα και στη μουσικότητα της γλώσσας της Σενεγάλης, όσο και στην κλασική παράδοση του 18ου αιώνα, συνθέτοντας ένα υβρίδιο μεταμοντέρνου εγκιβωτισμού αλλεπάλληλων αφηγήσεων και ταξιδιωτικής λογοτεχνίας.

Κυρίως, όμως, προσφέρει πάλι μια νέα προσέγγιση σε μια ολόκληρη εποχή, δίνοντας φωνή και ζητώντας δικαίωση για χιλιάδες ανθρώπους που έχουν ξεχαστεί από την Ιστορία.

[TrishTalksBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book I read in 2021 was At Night All Blood is Black by Diop, and it left a lasting impression (as well as winning the International Booker Prize), so I relished the opportunity to read his newest, translated from the French by Sam Taylor.

It’s very different from his first, and started slow, lacking the same punch I’d experienced before. The language was somehow more formal. As I read, it transformed into a colonial narrative of French botanist Michel Adanson’s trip to Senegal to discover new plant species in the 1750s.

Then, the narrative took a dark turn. It was skillfully done, because on the surface, the action proceeded apace and it was simply the story of one White scientist caught up in adventure in Africa, a young man transported by love of a beautiful woman and the tragic events that followed, even if it was bathed in a toxic male gaze.

But as soon as I saw Adanson as a symbol of the white saviour I couldn’t unsee it, and I suspect this is Diop’s intention. At first I thought to forgive Adanson the egocentric vagaries of youth–albeit a privileged one–but by the end, although I could understand him, I couldn’t forgive him. It was quite monstrous. The coloniser could take whatever he wanted, burn a forest to the ground in his pique, and leave Senegal when his dreams were thwarted. Though railing against slavery when it suited him, he was blind to its injustice on any fundamental level.

Adanson as a symbol is a societal indictment. Even when he thinks that he’s understood all, (“...the corners of our soul are so brightly illuminated that our lies to ourselves no longer have an inch of shade in which they can take refuge, as if exposed to the African sun at its zenith.”), Adanson is still lacking true insight even as he is moved by viewing the painting Portrait of Madeline at the end of the book. To this end, I loved the last chapter, which gave agency to the enslaved, colonised Black female voice. It was a powerful ending, and I recommend the book.

[Georgina Koutrouditsou · Rating 4 out of 5]

•David Diop "Η πύλη του ταξιδιού χωρίς επιστροφή ή τα μυστικά τετράδια του Μισέλ Αντανσόν"
μτφ.Αλεξάνδρα Κωσταράκου
Εκδόσεις Πόλις

"Ίσως τοποθετείς τον παράδεισο στον ορατό κόσμο επειδή θεωρείς αδύνατο να είναι κάποιος ευτυχισμένος μακριά από το σπίτι του.Όσο για εμένα,εγώ νομίζω πως ο παράδεισος και η κόλαση βρίσκονται μέσα μας."

"Συγκρίνουμε πάντα το άγνωστο με το γνωστό."

"Σκέφτηκα τότε, ατενίζοντας τον ουρανό της Αφρικής,ότι δεν είμαστε τίποτα,ή σχεδόν τίποτα,μέσα στο Σύμπαν.Μόνο η απελπισία μας μπροστά στο απύθμενο βάθος του μπορεί να μας κάνει να φανταζόμαστε ότι οποιαδήποτε από τις ασήμαντες πράξεις μας,καλή ή κακή,σταθμίζεται από έναν Θεό τιμωρό."

"Κάποιες φορές,όταν ανατρέχουμε στο παρελθόν μας και σε παλιές μας αντιλήψεις,βρισκόμαστε μπροστά σ'έναν άγνωστο.Δεν είναι πραγματικά άγνωστος,γιατί πρόκειται για τον εαυτό μας.Παρόλο που είναι πάντα εκεί,μέσα στο μυαλό μας,συχνά μας ξεφεύγει.Και όταν τον ξαναβρίσκουμε,ακολουθώντας μια ανάμνηση,τον κρίνουμε αυτό τον άλλο εαυτό μας άλλοτε με επιείκεια,άλλοτε με θυμό,άλλες φορές με τρυφερότητα, άλλες με τρόμο,πριν εξαφανιστεί και πάλι."

"Γιατί τώρα πια μου φαίνεται σωστή η σκέψη πως μόνο η μυθοπλασία,το μυθιστόρημα μιας ζωής,μπορεί να δώσει μια πραγματική εικόνα της βαθύτερης αλήθειας,της πολυπλοκότητας αυτής της ζωής, φωτίζοντας τις σκιές της,που σε μεγάλο βαθμό είναι δυσδιάκριτες για το πρόσωπο που την έζησε."

Πραγματικότητα ή μυθοπλασία;Το σίγουρο είναι ότι ο Diop είναι ένας σπουδαίος παραμυθάς και έχει τη δύναμη να μαγεύει τον αναγνώστη του παρουσιάζοντας του άγνωστες πτυχές μιας ηπείρου,αλλά και της ανθρώπινης πολύπλοκης προσωπικότητας!

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[Yajna Gvd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alors que j'étais impressionnée par "Frère d'âme" de David Diop, celui-ci m'a laissé un peu indifférente voire même des fois déçu du rendu fétichiste de la femme noire. J'ai eu du mal à accrocher à ce livre et à comprendre le but de cette narration. Ça parle du lien entre un père, botaniste, pas très présent dans la vie de sa fille et le lien entre eux. À la mort du père, la fille découvre des lettres de son père qui lui sont destinées, et qui lui raconte un épisode marquant de sa vie au Sénégal quand il fût éperdument amoureux d'une femme noire. J'ai trouvé le récit un peu futile tout au plus. Le rythme du livre est assez étrange, avec un début très lent (qui ne sert qu'à introduire les lettres du père. Cette partie raconte la vie de la fille, non indispensable dans le reste de l'histoire), suivi du récit du père (avec un niveau de détails trop importants pour être réaliste, sachant qu'il écrit ces lettres 50 ans après les faits) et une fin tellement rapide (en 2 pages).
Les thèmes abordés tels que la colonisation, la traité d'esclavage et le rapport entre les blancs et les colonisés au Sénégal reste intéressant même si le point de vue de l'homme blanc reste assez dérangeant.

[Ale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo scrittore senegalese Diop si ispira alla figura del botanico francese Michel Adamson, e narra dal suo punto vista la spedizione scientifica effettuata in Senegal nel 1750. In un quadro da romanzo settecentesco (la narrazione avviene attraverso le memorie di Adamson, che la figlia ritrova nascoste in un vecchio mobile) l'autore parla della colonizzazione, del commercio di schiavi, della natura e delle popolazioni del Senegal del tempo. Il romanzo mi è sembrato scritto molto bene e mi è piaciuto, l'unico dubbio che ho è che il finto tono settecentesco ha un po' frenato l'empatia, ma sicuramente questa storia oscura di violenza, amore e magia mi ha catturata.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where did David Diop go? This certainly isn't the follow up to his Int Booker winning novel, At Night All Blood is Black.

This never really got going and by the second half I was just willing for it to be over as it clearly wasn't going anywhere.

Diop can write. But it lacked in all areas but specifically in developed characters and a developed plot that holds its readers' attention.

This was a big flop and one that I hope to forget soon. Should Diop have waited a few more years to really perfect his next release after the masterpiece that was At Night All Blood is Black? Probably.

Concept 0/3
Writing 3/3
Enjoyment 1/3
Feeling/Moved 0/1
= 4/10 (2/5*)

[Elena L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

[3.5/5 stars]

Nominated for the National Book Award for Translated Literature 2023

Paris, 1806 - the renowned botanist Michel Adanson dies and the last word to escape his lips is 'Maram'. As his daughter (Aglaé) goes through her deceased father's belongings, she finds notebooks that contain information about what happened to her father when he went to Senegal and the mysterious woman Maram.

The story starts focusing on the complexity of family - one is allowed a glimpse of the estranged relationship between Michel and Aglaé, which academic ambitions and an unspoken reason lie amidst them. Appreciator of botany might enjoy the passages heavy with botanic details, which otherwise can feel lackluster for others. Aglaé's perspective is slightly exposed, infused with meticulous descriptions of Paris as she grapples with grief - I found this part less compelling and I was eager to follow the Senegal's storyline.

One of the riveting aspects of this book is to satisfy one's simple curiosity about Maram/Senegal - the plot is initially muddled, with branches of the story that converge in a more appealing narrative, as Diop transports one into the Senegal people and culture. The author covers meaning of life, love, loss, revenge, colonialism, race and friendship, with a touch of magical realism and political intrigue. The flamboyant prose reads beautifully, yet it might be distracting for those looking for a straightforward style. While I found some of the events predictable, this didn't mean the strength of novel is weakened. Lastly, the story ends on an emotional note.

BEYOND THE DOOR OF NO RETURN (tr. Sam Taylor) is a cross between historical fiction and love story. Somber and poetic, read this book if you are looking for more Senegalese stories/African setting (like me).

[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Farrar, Straus, and Giroux . All opinions are my own ]

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3, 5 Sterne

Dieser historische Reisebericht war sprachlich beeindruckend. Der Autor versteht sich auf atmosphärische Beschreibungen, die mich nach einem etwas zähen Einstieg in die Geschichte hineingezogen haben. Leider blieb trotz der tollen Stimmung die Entwicklung der Figuren und meine emotionale Bindung an selbige auf der Strecke. An einigen Momenten kam schon etwas durch, dies waren aber vor allem sehr tragische Momente. Ich hätte mir etwas mehr Gefühl auch in den ruhigeren Momenten gewünscht.

Insgesamt hat mir das Buch gut gefallen und ich würde gerne mehr von dem Autor lesen.

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about slavery in the 18th century from an unexpected angle: Diop introduces us to a French botanist through his relationship with his daughter. He has been distant for much of her life, but when he dies, he leaves her a folder in which he has recorded a story from his past, from a trip to Senegal.

Beyond the Door of No Return explores one white man’s curiosity and destructive passion for a Black woman—the weight of his colonial heritage against her position as an object, as colonial property. It’s barely a love story—perhaps only in his overwhelming desire to possess her, which is an interesting juxtaposition against the French colonial belief in its own right to possession. In fact, Maram’s sin is her beauty, as her life is ruined by the lust of the men around her. Because of Diop’s chosen and curious perspective, Maram’s voice in this story is conspicously silent—itself an important commentary.

A book that gives the reader much to think about, written in elevated and formal literary language, Beyond the Door of No Return is heady and vivid, and would be an unalloyed pleasure were it not for the bleak story at the centre. Still, an excellent read.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and to NetGalley for this ARC.

[Melanie Caldicott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a compelling story, told in skilled, evocative prose with interesting characters, and a rich, interesting plot. The discussions surrounding Europe's relationship with Africa, the slave trade and the exploitation of native African commercial commodities was throught provoking and nuanced.

Where this book was let down for me was by the narrative style. I just don't like books where the narrative becomes the retelling of past events for an audience within the novel. And especially then when that narrative begins to retell a story of yet another character. The past tense nature of this creates barriers for me between what the characters are feeling and my reaction as a reader.

Also I couldn't understand why we never returned to Aglaé and her reactions to this hidden part of her deceased father's life. Why explain why he was like he was in terms of her relationship to her without then drawing back to her understanding of these revelations.

So ultimately this was a well told story but from the wrong angle which resulted in me struggling to understand what I should feel from my experience of reading.

This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A finalist from the 2023 National Book Award’s Best Translated Literature category, this novel by the French/Senegalese writer David Diop builds a fictional story around a real-life, 18th-century, white French botanist. This novel is a change of pace from Diop’s International Booker Prize-winning At Night All Blood is Black, but shares with it fine writing and a focus on French colonialism in Senegal.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The horrors of slavery and colonialism. The misunderstandings between cultures. The gulf between youth and old age. The nobility of honour and self-sacrifice. And the difficulty of conveying meaning through stories.

Another wonderful novel by David Diop. Stories with stories, with multiple layers of narrative, which reminded me of Conrad. And then a magnificent final chapter showing how much is lost, and what it means not to let others co-opt you into their story.