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A review by misspalah
Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
3.0
When Monsieur Alcibiade examined what he called the fundamental problem of the "relations between newly founded societies in the colonies and the distant Mother Fatherland," I began to float in sweet vertigo. His French, his sharp accent, his flowery sentences, worked like a little tune to which I succumbed without even trying to understand or reflect. He said, I think, that the same laws could not possibly apply to all colonies, because their development, differ. ent races, geographic situation, degree of civilization were not uni-form. If Reunion, the Antilles, and Guyana are now mature societies, the work of colonization being nearly complete, New Cale-donia, Senegal, Tonkin are barely emerging from the barbarian straitjacket. Others like Sudan, Madagascar, or the Congo carry barely a hint of light inside their profound night. One therefore should take the evolution of each one into account and legislate ac-cordingly. The colonies' progress toward the social organization of European countries demands time, gentlemen, measure, prudence, in a word, a colonial policy . ..! Everyone approved, and, anxious not to show my inability to understand these beautiful words, I approved more fervently than anyone.
- Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
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.
Too disjointed for my liking – If I remember correctly, it possessed 4 voices which is the main narrator, the excerpt that came from the main narrator’s father, the reflection that may or may not belonged to narrator and her father and some outsiders (the author is one of them) that were implicated in the story. Thus, imagined my confusion of trying to catch up with all the details. I usually love translated literature but this time, I believe it was not for me. Despite consisted of 200 years of multigenerational saga (which again, I usually adored) But this time, I was not in for the ride. Those 200 years were comprised in two parts of a book, 1 is The Anunciation and the second one is Around Fort-De-France. The book also has made many references that reflect a particular time: The Age of Straw (1823 – 1902); The Age of Crate Wood (1903 – 1945); The Age of Asbestos (1946 – 1960); and The Age of Concrete (1961 – 1980). The prose is grandiose, and I can see that the translator has done their best to accommodate readers in understanding this masterpiece (including all the relevant footnotes and despite heavily used of Creole French in the original text). Unfortunately, it was challenging for me to follow. I do not know whether my reading mood was just not there or the way it was written was intentionally hard to follow. However, this book has been dubbed as one of the best post-colonial literatures among the others and Patrick Chaomoiseau might got his Nobel prize in literature one day. In the beginning, we were introduced to the main narrator named ‘Marie Sophie-Laborieux’. Her role in the novel was mainly to highlight the family history and focused specifically on the creole people that ended up in Fort-de-France, Martinique and has been living there for many decades. There are too many stories to tell considering that It has many voices in the novel but what stood out the most is the plight of colored people living there trying to maintain their culture and their land heritage. Changes is inevitable as they are considered French territory hence whatever happened in France will have affected them as well. The trace of generation somehow due to the enslavement of their African ancestors is hinted heavily in the writing and after years of liberation, integration and mixing among whites and mixed race, the identity and language of Creole is solidified. Overall, what I believe Patrick Chamoiseau tried to impart in the novel is the impact of colonialism and how the past haunted the current generation, how oppression was done based on race and skin color, colorism among the community that lived in the Fort-de-France and even the stark differences of the class that somewhat demonstrated the reality and history of Martinique to certain extent. To truly enjoy this book, I reckoned familiarity with the history of the French Caribbean is important as well, as is some understanding of Creole language and culture.
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P/s : If you are not a fan of Salman Rushdie’s writing , then this is definitely not for you.
- Texaco by Patrick Chamoiseau
.
.
Too disjointed for my liking – If I remember correctly, it possessed 4 voices which is the main narrator, the excerpt that came from the main narrator’s father, the reflection that may or may not belonged to narrator and her father and some outsiders (the author is one of them) that were implicated in the story. Thus, imagined my confusion of trying to catch up with all the details. I usually love translated literature but this time, I believe it was not for me. Despite consisted of 200 years of multigenerational saga (which again, I usually adored) But this time, I was not in for the ride. Those 200 years were comprised in two parts of a book, 1 is The Anunciation and the second one is Around Fort-De-France. The book also has made many references that reflect a particular time: The Age of Straw (1823 – 1902); The Age of Crate Wood (1903 – 1945); The Age of Asbestos (1946 – 1960); and The Age of Concrete (1961 – 1980). The prose is grandiose, and I can see that the translator has done their best to accommodate readers in understanding this masterpiece (including all the relevant footnotes and despite heavily used of Creole French in the original text). Unfortunately, it was challenging for me to follow. I do not know whether my reading mood was just not there or the way it was written was intentionally hard to follow. However, this book has been dubbed as one of the best post-colonial literatures among the others and Patrick Chaomoiseau might got his Nobel prize in literature one day. In the beginning, we were introduced to the main narrator named ‘Marie Sophie-Laborieux’. Her role in the novel was mainly to highlight the family history and focused specifically on the creole people that ended up in Fort-de-France, Martinique and has been living there for many decades. There are too many stories to tell considering that It has many voices in the novel but what stood out the most is the plight of colored people living there trying to maintain their culture and their land heritage. Changes is inevitable as they are considered French territory hence whatever happened in France will have affected them as well. The trace of generation somehow due to the enslavement of their African ancestors is hinted heavily in the writing and after years of liberation, integration and mixing among whites and mixed race, the identity and language of Creole is solidified. Overall, what I believe Patrick Chamoiseau tried to impart in the novel is the impact of colonialism and how the past haunted the current generation, how oppression was done based on race and skin color, colorism among the community that lived in the Fort-de-France and even the stark differences of the class that somewhat demonstrated the reality and history of Martinique to certain extent. To truly enjoy this book, I reckoned familiarity with the history of the French Caribbean is important as well, as is some understanding of Creole language and culture.
.
P/s : If you are not a fan of Salman Rushdie’s writing , then this is definitely not for you.