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kiramke's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Something somewhere compared this novel directly to jazz, which works for me because occasionally I lost the thread and didn't know what was happening, but overall found it immersive and compelling and surprising. I'm walking away understanding the feeling of a place, and how rare is that.
emujxox's review against another edition
The writing style is just too difficult for me to get into, I don’t vibe with this at all.
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Tram 83 does an excellent job of capturing the seedy underbelly of Congolese society, where colonialsim is ongoing albeit in a different form, and where everybody is out for themselves, either trying to survive or get ahead , regardless of who or what they need to exploit along the way. It's not big on character development or plot, but the atmosphere is perfectly captured. I really liked the writing style, particularly all the repetition with or without variation, but it won't be for every reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Adult/minor relationship
malin_m's review against another edition
Loved this book. It was a slog at first, but soon I got into the writing style and understood the setting and characters. After that, each page was poetry and had hidden messages that were eye opening.
The sentence phrasing was very uncommon, and I think it was like that in French too so kudos to the translator. Example: “City highwaymen who’ll slit your throat once night has barely fallen”
The sentence phrasing was very uncommon, and I think it was like that in French too so kudos to the translator. Example: “City highwaymen who’ll slit your throat once night has barely fallen”
ferociablejbear's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This book was a first for me. The prose is masterful. Mujila is able to effortlessly use language to alternately create monotony, freneticism, and musicality.
He deftly crafts characters and situations that show the arrested development of the people and the society within the City-State (and by extension the DRC).
The characters are adroitly rendered metaphors, e.g, the failure of intellectual idealism to adapt to the realities of post-revolutionary societies (Lucien) and the persistence of violence and nihilism in the ideology of the soldiers in the aftermath of war (Requiem).
I think Mujila accomplished everything he intended to do when he set out to write this novel, and he did it well.
Despite all of that, I really disliked this novel. I would not have finished it if it weren’t part of a reading challenge. I don’t know how to reconcile those two realities. I think many people will find a lot to like here, and I wish I were one of them.
I don’t know that there’s much of a conclusion here, but I wanted to document the first time I thought a novel was both almost perfectly executed and almost completely unreadable (for me).
I don’t know that there’s much of a conclusion here, but I wanted to document the first time I thought a novel was both almost perfectly executed and almost completely unreadable (for me).
blairmahoney's review against another edition
4.0
The prose is something else, built on repetitions and variations. It's been likened to jazz and I'd buy that. I think Glasser has probably done a great job. And yet... It feels all surface in its portrayal of the underbelly of a Congolese city. You don't remotely get into the characters. There are parts that are funny and there's satire that I didn't quite pick up on. There are some metafictional moments as one of the main characters is a writer. It's interesting and worth reading but I didn't entirely enjoy the experience.
eva_dx's review against another edition
2.0
This book lacked a plot. It did not retain my attention because of this. Things happened, but there was not much to string it all together. The writing style, though it has literary merit, was not my cup of tea. I finished it because it was short, but I did not find this an enjoyable read.
fishface's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
It's not even ironic. Atmosphere was alright, excessively repetitive with stilted dialogue. Potentially an issue of translation. Disappointing.
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
4.0
In terms of quality of prose, this is perhaps best African book I have read. The atmosphere just explodes on paper from page 1 and sticks through out in form of noises made by prostitutes - whose presence dominate the background of the scenes of this book even more than it does for Game of Thrones. They are just one of many exploited sections of the society - forced-to-mature-early children, students, miners etc ; who, themselves, have learned to cheat others to survive. The exploiters - outlaws, for-profit travelers and like frequent this same night club too for it is the only one in city which is a mint that attract anyone looking for quick bucks.