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mvvelde's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A bit bizarre and a bit quirky, Memoirs of a Porcupine is a social commentary on the life in an African village. The short novel is told from the perspective of a porcupine in a stream of conscious style. Picked up this book without any expectations. While the beginning was a bit difficult for me to get into (writing style, etc.), I did end up enjoying it & have been left with some questions.
charlsbookcorner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
meganmagicmusings's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
lilis_land's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I learned my sense of digression from men, they never go straight to the point, open brackets they forget to close -p101
A quick and morbid read told through the perspective of a sentient magical porcupine who enjoys a bit of quippy social commentary.
Told in an easy to read stream of consciousness where a sentence can sometimes last pages. Somehow you don’t even notice the lack of punctuation and just keep gliding through, eager to get to the bottom of this porcupine’s tale.
rheagoveas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
reallifereading's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published on my blog (https://reallifereading.com/2016/03/09/a-very-weirdathon-read-memoirs-of-a-porcupine/)
Memoirs of a Porcupine is as its title suggests, narrated by a porcupine. But not any ordinary porcupine, this porcupine is the animal double of Kibandi. At the age of 11, Kibandi’s father takes him out into the night and makes him drink something vile that somehow triggers this bond with his animal double, a “harmful double”, the “liveliest, scariest kind of double”.
“the humans of whom we become the animal incarnation will cease to feel emotions like pity, understanding, empathy, remorse, compassion, night will enter their souls, once transmission has occurred, the harmful double must leave the animal world and come to live close to the initiate, performing his assignments without protest”
The porcupine soon becomes his master’s murder weapon, of sorts. He orders it to kill fellow villagers, those who wrongly cross his path, for the slightest of reasons.
The porcupine is telling this story to a baobab tree, some days after its master’s death, certain that it is due to die soon too. This porcupine is a rather amusing narrator, and it is a more readable book than I expected it to be. It does have some rather rambly bits, especially since the sentences are broken up by commas instead of full stops, and capitalizations at the start of sentences are nonexistent. But I got used to that (and I did read this as an ebook, which I’m not sure if that makes it worse) and quickly finished this quirky little book.
Is it a fable? I’m not entirely sure. Does it have a moral? Perhaps it is “don’t have an animal double”. But what I do know is that it was quite entertaining, pretty dark, somewhat comic and yet an uncomfortable read. A book that isn’t for everyone, but that drew me in with its strangeness, its different nature.
Memoirs of a Porcupine is as its title suggests, narrated by a porcupine. But not any ordinary porcupine, this porcupine is the animal double of Kibandi. At the age of 11, Kibandi’s father takes him out into the night and makes him drink something vile that somehow triggers this bond with his animal double, a “harmful double”, the “liveliest, scariest kind of double”.
“the humans of whom we become the animal incarnation will cease to feel emotions like pity, understanding, empathy, remorse, compassion, night will enter their souls, once transmission has occurred, the harmful double must leave the animal world and come to live close to the initiate, performing his assignments without protest”
The porcupine soon becomes his master’s murder weapon, of sorts. He orders it to kill fellow villagers, those who wrongly cross his path, for the slightest of reasons.
The porcupine is telling this story to a baobab tree, some days after its master’s death, certain that it is due to die soon too. This porcupine is a rather amusing narrator, and it is a more readable book than I expected it to be. It does have some rather rambly bits, especially since the sentences are broken up by commas instead of full stops, and capitalizations at the start of sentences are nonexistent. But I got used to that (and I did read this as an ebook, which I’m not sure if that makes it worse) and quickly finished this quirky little book.
Is it a fable? I’m not entirely sure. Does it have a moral? Perhaps it is “don’t have an animal double”. But what I do know is that it was quite entertaining, pretty dark, somewhat comic and yet an uncomfortable read. A book that isn’t for everyone, but that drew me in with its strangeness, its different nature.
abbie_'s review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Set in a Congolese village, Memoirs of a Porcupine is exactly as the title suggests. A porcupine sits down to pen his memoirs. The porcupine is the animal double of Kibandi, a harmful double at that, and he assists Kibandi in an ever-growing number of malicious deeds. This carries on for years, until one day even the porcupine balks at what his master asks him to do, which is when he turns to his confession.
.
This is actually the second book I've read for my reading the world challenge which is told from the POV of an animal (the other was The Book of Chameleons for Angola). It's always an interesting shift and allows the reader to see humans from a more direct, straightforward perspective. All their foibles and quirks are laid bare with no frills.
.
This was my first book by Mabanckou and I really enjoyed his style, very nicely translated by Helen Stevenson! But it will probably split audiences, as the only punctuation the porcupine uses is commas. Everything is told in one flowing sentence, although there are chapters and paragraph breaks. Once you get into it, it makes for smooth reading and I was drawn into this dark little tale steeped in Congolese folklore.
.
Despite all the murder though, Memoirs of a Porcupine is slyly funny at times. The porcupine often pokes fun at humans and their incomprehensible ways, as well as western literature. There's even a slightly meta part where Mabanckou pokes fun at himself. I wouldn't say it's a life-changing book, but it's definitely unique with some insightful social commentary told through the eyes of an original narrator.
.
I'll definitely try out some of Mabanckou's other work in the future!
literaryinfatuation's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic book. Like literally, it’s imaginative, surreal and dream-like. It’s the amazing story of a young boy who gets initiated in this ritual that makes him an evil double and links him to a wild animal. According to local Congolese folklore, we all have a double; but those initiated in this old ritual, get an evil double with some incredible powers.
lizzie24601's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0