A review by thelaurasaurus
Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou
5.0
Told through the eyes of a 13 year old orphan, this book has a refresshingly light touch on some serious issues, such as mental illness, corruption, poverty, and child abuse. There are plenty of books to read which go in-depth on these issues, and sometimes I don’t want that. Despite the levity, it was still moving.
There are arguably four different phases to the story, and each is shorter than the last - I wouldn’t tie the way I see these phases exactly to the sections in the book. Some readers found this to be unbalanced, but for me it brought to mind the way that life seems to speed up the older you get.
I don’t always enjoy translations from French to English, but this one worked for me. I’m never sure if this says more about the author, the translator, or both.
Reading challenge: I’ve sorted my Goodreads list by date added, and I’m going back to the start. I’ll be reading one book added in each year, starting in 2015, working forward, and then repeating until I get bored (which won’t be long). This is book 7 of the catchupathon, 2023.
Reason for putting off reading: About once a year I go to the library, remember that I like doing that, get some books out, then come home, look at my bookshelf about to explode under the weight of all my unread books, feel guilty, and ignore my library books. I’ve only had to renew this once, which is a win.
There are arguably four different phases to the story, and each is shorter than the last - I wouldn’t tie the way I see these phases exactly to the sections in the book. Some readers found this to be unbalanced, but for me it brought to mind the way that life seems to speed up the older you get.
I don’t always enjoy translations from French to English, but this one worked for me. I’m never sure if this says more about the author, the translator, or both.
Reading challenge: I’ve sorted my Goodreads list by date added, and I’m going back to the start. I’ll be reading one book added in each year, starting in 2015, working forward, and then repeating until I get bored (which won’t be long). This is book 7 of the catchupathon, 2023.
Reason for putting off reading: About once a year I go to the library, remember that I like doing that, get some books out, then come home, look at my bookshelf about to explode under the weight of all my unread books, feel guilty, and ignore my library books. I’ve only had to renew this once, which is a win.