Details
Synopsis
Chamoiseau's early novel, like his Prix Goncourt-winning later book "Texaco", is an exploration of the effects of the French language and culture on Martinique's Creole inhabitants. Solibo Magnificent is a local storyteller who is found dead, possibly by poisoning; the police investigation, including an interrogation of 14 witnesses (one of whom is the author), gradually provides a vivid picture of an entire society. A "New York Times" Notable Book for 1998.
| Size | | Length: | 208 pages | | Height: | 8.3 in | | Width: | 5.5 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 8.0 oz |
Industry Reviews
"[A] warm-up exercise for 'Texaco'. With its slapstick humor and straightforward social criticism, it is somewhat cruder than that book. Still, it has the boisterous spirit and buoyant wordplay that mark all of Chamoiseau's work."
Washington Post Book World - Michael Upchurch (03/01/1998)
"[W]onderfully illustrates the moment when oral literature reluctantly leaves the stage clear for the written word."
New York Times Book Review - Caryl Phillips (03/29/1998)
"A captivatingly exotic earlier novel (written in 1988) by the Martiniquean author....A wonderful novel well served by a helpful Glossary and Afterword, as well as my a superlative translation that brings its exotic world exhilaratingly close to our own."
Murray
"[F]luid, ribald and freewheeling....Chamoiseau is a cunning and original writer, but not always a likable one. One problem with this early novel is that Solibo, who's known for enigmas and elusiveness, is mysterious to the point of tedium. Ditto for most of the witnesses. Chamoiseau serves up endless nicknames and word play, but very little that counts as motivation or character development....The energy of Chamoiseau's sentences and the freshness of his wildly inventive language are infectious. By the final pages, the novel has developed a beauty and power independent of plot or character; it captures the headiness of speech itself."
Judd
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