Book Blog #346: Small Country by Gaël Faye

 

Title: Small Country

Author: Gaël Faye

# of Pages: 183 (paperback)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Africa

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his comfortable expat neighbourhood of Bujumbura with his French father, Rwandan mother and little sister, Ana, is something close to paradise. These are happy, carefree days spent with his friends sneaking cigarettes and stealing mangoes, swimming in the river and riding bikes in the streets they have turned into their kingdom. But dark clouds are gathering over this small country, and soon their peaceful idyll will shatter when Burundi and neighbouring Rwanda are brutally hit by war and genocide.

Review: This book could have been categorized as horror by the heart-aching descriptions of genocide victims. 

I read the English translation of Small Country (originally published in French) with little to no context on what this book would be about. This is a mistake - as someone with little to no knowledge on the wars in Burundi and Rwanda, ramping up on the conflict that sets the premise of this book is much more difficult. 

Faye contrasts the relatively peaceful childhood of Gaby (a half French half Rwandan boy living in Bujumbura) in the first half of the book with the horrifying tragedy of genocide in the latter half. The former I would give 3 stars - the slice-of-life story of Gaby's peaceful childhood was just not that interesting. I put aside this book many times just because it was difficult for me to be engaged with learning about Gaby's home situation. 

The second part was much better and goes the farthest in enlightening readers on a tragedy that is likely overlooked or unknown to many people. Faye could have actually made this section longer and gone deeper on the conflict to land more of a punch and pull more at the heartstrings by developing more attachment to the characters. At the same time, it is impressive what Faye was able to accomplish in such a small amount of pages. 

Borderline 3/4 stars - I wouldn't recommend seeking out this book but would if there's interest in the topic and an opportunity to read it (especially since it's so short). 

Book Blog #213: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Title: Heart of Darkness
Author: Joseph Conrad
# of Pages: 72 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Classics, Africa
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Dark allegory describes the narrator's journey up the Congo River and his meeting with, and fascination by, Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious personage who dominates the unruly inhabitants of the region. Masterly blend of adventure, character development, psychological penetration. Considered by many Conrad's finest, most enigmatic story.
Review: This is one of the few classics I've read purely recreationally.

I might have enjoyed this book more if I read it in a classroom setting where I could learn to appreciate all the fine details of this book. However, since I did not delve into deep analysis of the book, I read it as it appears: a sloppy narration by a man's experience voyaging up the Congo. Whether Marlow, the protagonist, was a bad storyteller for some deeper reason does not change the fact that he is a BAD storyteller.

Although this story may also serve as a demonstration of how life was in Africa during the boom of ivory trade, it is so finely focused on one man's experience, one that is taken up by the obsession of finding Mr. Kurtz, I didn't find it very enlightening.

To paraphrase someone of Goodreads, the book is not long, yet far too long. The read can be finished in one sitting but is not worth your time.