This book follows the life of a Haitian slave who lives to see the Haitian slave revolt and lives to see many imprisoned once more. As a small handful of you may know, I loathe retells. So, I highly suggest that you click this link: http://www.travelinghaiti.com/history_of_haiti/slave_rebellion.asp. Only, this sight does not tell the story of The Kingdom of this World; the story of voodoo and slaves being ripped apart by crazed dogs. Nor does it mention the make-shift shelter of Ti Noel, our fictional companion throughout the book. Nor does 'travelinghaiti' depict the image of Haiti's first black king sinking into a pool of mortar by the hand of a priest and under the eye of a wife.
I don't usually like books that involve slavery for two main reasons: firstly, I don't like historical fiction... unless it's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Secondly, books about slavery tend to have a strong 'black pride' streak. And, I'm not a black pride admirer. Actually, I don't like it when anybody takes too much pride in their race. It creates a vial mixture social Darwinism, arrogance, and an over-abundance of pride. Well, maybe I'll go into that more in a later post. There are though, of course, exceptions. I enjoyed the The Classic Slave Narratives for instance. But, either way, this book was a pleasing.
The way in which it's written is extremely unique and I've never seen a style quite like it before. The sentences nearly always contain at least 2 commas. And, while the end of the sentence may be seemingly odd in comparison to the start of the sentence. Carpenteir created multiple mental pictures and moods by wielding a single sentence. The book had a vague feeling to it, but I felt as though I could look back at earlier events and recall them as I would memory of my own. There a extremely vivid moments amid a rush of commotion or thought. Which, really, as an amazing feeling for an author to be able to craft for a reader.
My dad has a very smart, well-read friend who has a witty and well-read wife. The two of them suggest and lend books to me so I have to pay tribute to them for helping me find an enjoyable piece of literature.
Either way, I miss the cosmos so be prepared for a non-fiction post next week.
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