The best book I've read this year
5 stars
Picked it up from a display at the Library on a whim, and was blown away reading it. Sarr has built his book as a literary mystery and in the tradition of such books it is very intellectual and complex. The first book I was thinking of when reading it was Possession by A. S. Byatt - same intricate composition underneath what seems to be a simple genre piece of romance and mystery respectively.
The book main theme is how European colonialism changed all the many cultures in Africa on a devastating and fundamental level, but also (by its own example) that all these African cultures in term has changed Europe, and will continue to do so even more in the future. It is not just a book about France and Senegal, but a book about all of Africa and all of what we call the West from South America …
Picked it up from a display at the Library on a whim, and was blown away reading it. Sarr has built his book as a literary mystery and in the tradition of such books it is very intellectual and complex. The first book I was thinking of when reading it was Possession by A. S. Byatt - same intricate composition underneath what seems to be a simple genre piece of romance and mystery respectively.
The book main theme is how European colonialism changed all the many cultures in Africa on a devastating and fundamental level, but also (by its own example) that all these African cultures in term has changed Europe, and will continue to do so even more in the future. It is not just a book about France and Senegal, but a book about all of Africa and all of what we call the West from South America to Poland. It shows us that we can't go back when we are conquered, abused and lectured by other people, but that going forward we will also change them no matter how many master race complexes they have. That all human cultures mix and move forward.
The ambition of the author is colossal and still he succeeds.
(I read it in Danish and has translated my review from that version)
