More 2.5... Book doesn't get going really until about 60 pages in, has a good 100 pages that could have been a unique take on the traditional Bildungsroman, but then makes a hard and abrupt turn into an exploration of mental illness. Maybe with the translation from French to English something was lost with the structure.

Eu achei muito interessante a forma como o livro mostra que, os problemas políticos do país afetam até mesmo as crianças de um orfanato. Como a briga pelo poder afetas as crianças, privando-as de desfrutarem da sua inocência infantil, como elas se veem obrigadas a se comportarem dentro de um padrão para sobreviver de forma mais confortável, convivem com violência e abusos desde muito novas e como isso afeta toda sua vida dali para frente.

A história passa longe de ser feliz. O protagonista ao decorrer da história vai só perdendo coisas preciosas, primeiro sua figura paterna, depois as suas duas figuras maternas e por último sua sanidade e liberdade.

A escrita fluiu bem para mim, foi fácil de ler mesmo não sendo uma história leve e que trata de uma cultura que eu não tenho familiaridade. No fim, foi uma leitura enriquecedora pelo contato com uma nova cultura.

Uma curiosidade foi que o livro me trouxe várias memorias de quando eu li “O Ateneu”.

This book was valuable as a glimpse into (some of) Congo Brazzaville. As a story though, it did nothing for me.

4.5

Lukumaratonin innoittamana luin tämän pienoisromaanin alle vuorokaudessa, ja se olikin varsin mainio lukukokemus. Ei nyt ehkä mikään päätähuimaavan hieno, mutten siitä varsinaisesti mitään moitittavaakaan löytänyt.

Sujuva ja veijarimainen satiiriseikkailu Kongon sosialistisen vallankumouksen keskellä, josta olisi ehkä saanut vieläkin enemmän irti, jos aihepiiri olisi ollut tutumpi.

- 3.5 stars -





I'm really curious to know the reason behind the choice of the title for the English version (that will be released on June 6th). Indeed I'm pretty sure there's a wink somewhere for us to see : from the French Petit Piment (literally, 'little hot pepper', which is the main character nickname after some... hmm... hot pepper affair, lol) to the English Black Moses (which is the name given by a priest to the MC), we seem to embrace all the different parts of our dear boy, contradictions and all.



Petit Piment relates the life of Moïse, a young Congolese, from his childhood in an orphanage to his adventures in Pointe Noire, Congo's capital. We follow him during the time when religion becomes forbidden due to the rise of Socialism, and see how his life is impacted by these changes.



I very much enjoyed how refreshing Petit Piment was. Indeed whilst some readers were disappointed that Alain Mabanckou seemed to give the treatment of several serious issues a glossy shine, on the contrary I found his writing incredibly appealing. I savored every tiny piece of the discrete humor used to make fun of - and condemn - the corrupt politics and the violent head of school - which does not mean I merely forgot how unfair and difficult life was for our main character and for some of the other characters.

Moreover, I don't think for one second that the issues dealt with - slavery, abuse, prostitution, poverty, propaganda, to name a few - have been erased by the irony and the distance with which Moïse portrayed them. At the end of the day, Moïse stays a child trying to understand how to interpret the complicated world around him, he makes mistakes, he often analyzes situations with a certain naivety, but his disapproval is stated pretty clearly. Some parts made me want to throw up - it involves necrophilia and eating cats, so, yeah, brace your heart ; other made me FURIOUS - oh, the hypocrisy! - and I sometimes smiled so big it hurt - I do like my dark humor, thank you.

Why only 3.5 stars, then?

• Well first of all because I rarely felt emotionally invested, not really. I liked Moïse and Bonaventure, but their portrayal often lacked that little something more to make them unforgettable.


• The last 30% made it HARD for me to suspend my disbelief. I can't go into details, but in my opinion the whole narration crumbled at that time (because hellooo, it doesn't make any sense given that it's a 1st POV and narrated from the FUTURE). I did like the ending, though.

Bottom Line : If Petit Piment reads like a farce at times, beware the moment when reality catches up with you, because it hurts. Despite a plot that became a bit nonsensical along the way, Alain Mabanckou convinced me to read his other novels with his compelling writing and the splendid way he wrapped up his story in the end.

Credit for the head pict here

(read the original version in French)

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People in the reviews are right that the second part is weird and kind of boring, frankly, but the first part is so phenomenally done that I can't give this anything less than 4 stars. I would like to read more from Mabanckou now, and am happy to have read this after a long time of wanting to and actually starting and not finishing it a while ago. The beginning is just fantastic. The parts with Bonaventure/Kokolo are just the best, and I think the beloved childhood friendship adds to how funny it is sometimes. "This particular warden, who we secretly referrrred to as the 'Australopithecus', looked like an ancient chameleon, with his crooked back and eyes that pointed out left and right, without him moving his head." That's awesome.

Around the World Reading Challenge: CONGO
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I was super curious about this one, but I'm not sure I really 'got' it, or understood the point. It's a fairly short book that covers ~30 years of the main character's life, and I found the pacing to be really off. Perhaps this was intentional, but the passage of time is really muddy and I was often super unclear when certain events where happening, especially because the narrative jumps around a lot. I never really felt like I got to know Moses at all, such that I never really connected with him or what he was going through. There was also a super graphic and fucked-up description of murdering and eating a cat, which was almost enough to make me light this book on fire, it was so horrifying. Some interesting bits, but this didn't really feel complete to me.

Merged review:

Around the World Reading Challenge: CONGO
===
I was super curious about this one, but I'm not sure I really 'got' it, or understood the point. It's a fairly short book that covers ~30 years of the main character's life, and I found the pacing to be really off. Perhaps this was intentional, but the passage of time is really muddy and I was often super unclear when certain events where happening, especially because the narrative jumps around a lot. I never really felt like I got to know Moses at all, such that I never really connected with him or what he was going through. There was also a super graphic and fucked-up description of murdering and eating a cat, which was almost enough to make me light this book on fire, it was so horrifying. Some interesting bits, but this didn't really feel complete to me.