Scan barcode
casparb's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very thorough exploration of neo-colonialism, and it's interesting to dip into pan-Africanist literature after Fanon. But it turns out Césaire taught Fanon so it's possible I'm not always completely making things up.
There's also something prophetic about the plot - perhaps not surprising given the uncompromising Fanonian perspective; I think there are lots of parallels to be drawn between the life of Lumumbu and the wonderful Thomas Sankara.
A pleasant departure from certain other texts.
There's also something prophetic about the plot - perhaps not surprising given the uncompromising Fanonian perspective; I think there are lots of parallels to be drawn between the life of Lumumbu and the wonderful Thomas Sankara.
A pleasant departure from certain other texts.
mphoebeg's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
alexisnwong's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
2.5
kaitlouise's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Not amazing translation but AMAZING play
bookslaw's review
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
daybreak's review against another edition
4.0
Une saison au Congo is a fairly nice play retelling the events surrounding the Congo's independence from Belgium after years of being spoiled of their riches.
This was an interesting play which bases itself on the actual events and the people involved at the time. Being based on reality, there is no perfect character here. All of them are deeply flawed or just abhorrent. The characters coming from the higher spheres of politics, we are here confronted to power-hungriness, greed, betrayal and the like.
Lumumba himself, the MC, is full of flaws. He has a lot of biterness against all "whites" (some would say understandably but eh), he is hot-headed, overconfident, naive... I personally don't think he would have been a great PM. But he definitely would have been better than the dictature the country fell into.
It is interesting to note how politics is the same worldwide : power hungry sharks everywhere and among them some genuine patriots who really want to help the country. I do wonder though why Africa seems to have more of these government ovethrown by military cases.
This was an interesting play which bases itself on the actual events and the people involved at the time. Being based on reality, there is no perfect character here. All of them are deeply flawed or just abhorrent. The characters coming from the higher spheres of politics, we are here confronted to power-hungriness, greed, betrayal and the like.
Lumumba himself, the MC, is full of flaws. He has a lot of biterness against all "whites" (some would say understandably but eh), he is hot-headed, overconfident, naive... I personally don't think he would have been a great PM. But he definitely would have been better than the dictature the country fell into.
It is interesting to note how politics is the same worldwide : power hungry sharks everywhere and among them some genuine patriots who really want to help the country. I do wonder though why Africa seems to have more of these government ovethrown by military cases.
lauren_endnotes's review against another edition
5.0
"I want to be neither messiah nor mahdi. My only arms are my words, I speak and I awaken, I am not a redresser of wrongs, not a miracle worker, I am a redresser of life, I speak and I give back Africa to herself!"
From A SEASON IN THE CONGO by Aimé Césaire, tr. from the French (Martinique) by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, 1966 (fr), 2010 (this eng edition) from @seagullbooks
Aimé Césaire - poet, playwright, philosopher, and politician/activist.
His words have the power to completely *stop you in your tracks* with their weight and tenor. I witnessed that reading his Notebook of a Return to the Native Land last June for Read Caribbean, and was looking forward to more of his work this June - going for one of his stage plays this time.
A drama in three acts, set in the late 1950s-1961 as Congo struggles/gains independence from Belgium, and the rise of the Patrice Lumumba. All based on true events, beginning in a Congolese tavern, where people are crying for liberty and independence after decades of horrific oppression. After independence, Lumumba has popular support as a vibrant leader, elected to the position of Prime Minister in his early 30s.
Césaire uses familiar staging of dream sequences, a storyteller/bard character who closes each scene, and characterizations of "Revenge" and "War". The play ends with the assassination of Lumumba by a different Congolese faction (which in turn was backed by Belgian and USian colonial powers...), and the violent uprisings in the streets of Kinshasa.
A 2013 run of this play in London's Young Vic Theatre starred Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lumumba, and I found it helpful to look through some of the available photos to see how the play was set out on stage.
A Caribbean writer who writes this STUNNING political drama set in the Congo (now the DRC). A truly global force.
A few more notable passages:
"Giving birth is painful, it is the law; but when the child is born one smiles at it. I would like today a Congo full of smiles."
.
Little bird flying back and forth
Of glue and of the slingshot
What a bird brain, says the trap
The bird has forgotten the trap
The trap remembers the bird.
.
And where was [the UN], when the Belgian's massacred our men and violated our women? And now, it's we the savages!
.
It is true that you are a prophet, Patrice. He who walks ahead and speaks out. That is your strength and your weakness.
.
I see Africa assaulted in every part with rapacious birds, and as soon as she moves away from one, another is on her with its beak dripping.
From A SEASON IN THE CONGO by Aimé Césaire, tr. from the French (Martinique) by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, 1966 (fr), 2010 (this eng edition) from @seagullbooks
Aimé Césaire - poet, playwright, philosopher, and politician/activist.
His words have the power to completely *stop you in your tracks* with their weight and tenor. I witnessed that reading his Notebook of a Return to the Native Land last June for Read Caribbean, and was looking forward to more of his work this June - going for one of his stage plays this time.
A drama in three acts, set in the late 1950s-1961 as Congo struggles/gains independence from Belgium, and the rise of the Patrice Lumumba. All based on true events, beginning in a Congolese tavern, where people are crying for liberty and independence after decades of horrific oppression. After independence, Lumumba has popular support as a vibrant leader, elected to the position of Prime Minister in his early 30s.
Césaire uses familiar staging of dream sequences, a storyteller/bard character who closes each scene, and characterizations of "Revenge" and "War". The play ends with the assassination of Lumumba by a different Congolese faction (which in turn was backed by Belgian and USian colonial powers...), and the violent uprisings in the streets of Kinshasa.
A 2013 run of this play in London's Young Vic Theatre starred Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lumumba, and I found it helpful to look through some of the available photos to see how the play was set out on stage.
A Caribbean writer who writes this STUNNING political drama set in the Congo (now the DRC). A truly global force.
A few more notable passages:
"Giving birth is painful, it is the law; but when the child is born one smiles at it. I would like today a Congo full of smiles."
.
Little bird flying back and forth
Of glue and of the slingshot
What a bird brain, says the trap
The bird has forgotten the trap
The trap remembers the bird.
.
And where was [the UN], when the Belgian's massacred our men and violated our women? And now, it's we the savages!
.
It is true that you are a prophet, Patrice. He who walks ahead and speaks out. That is your strength and your weakness.
.
I see Africa assaulted in every part with rapacious birds, and as soon as she moves away from one, another is on her with its beak dripping.
mrsdallogay's review against another edition
2.0
For a supposedly sympathetic portrayal of Patrice Lumumba this doesn't make him seem particularly sympathetic, the blurb for example states that he is portrayed as a 'Christ-like' figure. The conflicting representation is most likely down to Spivak's extremely questionable translation - it's probably a great text when read in French.