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Title: The Kingdom of This World by Alejo Carpentier, Harriet De Onis ISBN: 0-374-52197-2 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Kingdom of this World
Comment: Not long after Haiti's liberation from French colonial rule, King Henri-Christophe reigned through an era of chaos, violence, superstition and socio-political upheaval.
Carpentier details the story of this era, and the eventual overthrowing of Henri-Christophe's black regime, through the narrative of slave Ti-Noel.
For me, the interesting thing about this book was the way in which Carpentier shows how the black regime failed on the same sort of grounds that caused the French regime to become corrupt, outwardly oppulent and inwardly self-destructive. I find it very reminiscent of the sort of dialogue popularized by Freire's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" where he explains how, in an effort to overthrow an oppressive system of education (but this has to work, to some extent, for politics, culture, etc) the rebels end up instituting essentially the same sort of system---only with themselves at the top instead of bottom.
The novel also deals convincingly with issues of cultural patrimony, the occult, and obviously with historical and political scenario. As with many of his books, Carpentier combines a strong dedication to the factual or realistic history with allegory, metaphor and allusion.
The writing style is fairly dense and I did find it difficult to read the novel straight through. However, I found the read very rewarding and also enlightening.
Rating: 5
Summary: EXCELLENT SURREALIST TAKE ON THE HORRORS OF ENSLAVEMENT
Comment: THIS NOVEL IS A FRESH AND UNIQUE APPROACH TO ILLUMINATING THE TERROR OF CULTURAL AND PHYSICAL DESTRUCTION OF A PEOPLE BY COLONIALIST ENSLAVEMENT. THE SURREALSIT EDGE PROVIDES THIS ANGLE IN A VIBRANT AND SUBTLY MOVING MANNER; ONE IS SO ENTRANCED BY THE NOVEL'S NARRATIVE VOICE THAT AN UNCANNY AWARENESS-- AND EMPATHY-- FOR THE PLIGHT OF A PEOPLE, IS INEVITABLE.
Rating: 5
Summary: The best Latin-American novel of them all
Comment: The Kingdom of the World is truly extraordinary, exquisitely crafted and overwhelming in its human implications. In it historical fiction and magical realism come together to produce a masterful work of art and an unforgettable story about the triumph of human dignity in the midst of destruction and senseless horror. Using as a setting one of the most bizarre episodes in history (the Haitian independence and its aftermath), Carpentier tells a mesmerizing story that reveals human beings in all their complexity, contradictions and pervesity, but also in their extraordinary power of survival and redemption. A literary masterpiece of the highest order.
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Title: Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo, Margaret Sayers Peden, Margaret S. Paden ISBN: 0802133908 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: May, 1994 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier, Harriet De Onis ISBN: 0816638071 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Aura : Bilingual Edition by Carlos Fuentes, Lysander Kemp ISBN: 0374511713 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1986 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Hopscotch by JULIO CORTAZAR ISBN: 0394752848 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 12 February, 1987 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Explosion in a Cathedral by Alejo Carpentier, John Sturrock, Timothy Brennan ISBN: 081663808X Publisher: University of Minnesota Press Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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