A review by purplehulk713
The Poor Christ of Bomba by Gerald Moore, Mongo Beti

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was very interesting to see the different manifestations of African colonialism through Catholicism, especially the hypocrisy that is always present in Catholic communities. Denis is an excellent and insightful narrator, but his deification of Father Drumont can become tiresome because he sees absolutely no fault in him. The novel also had a very interesting perspective on sexual abuse and consent: the woman at the sixa are compelled by nature of their obedience to the Church in preparation for marriage to do whatever the catechists order, which hardly leads to anything good (like incredibly abhorrent living conditions, and that's only the least of their problems). Being raised Catholic and seeing the utter betrayal of so many of these characters who call themselves Christians but then conduct themselves in a manner entirely contrary to Christ's Gospel of love and empathy is infuriating (not to say that I don't make mistakes of course). It was also interesting to see a Catholic priest's perspective that God is still worshiped even where Christ is not Himself known. Read this to understand your own hypocrisy and denial and that confession and repentance are worth nothing without complete honesty and humility.
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