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In the Palm of Darkness
From a hot new Caribbean writer comes "a resplendent piece of writing that brings throbbingly to life ... a world in which the magical and the occult flourish, and the gritty reality of ordinary life can also achieve a glorious sensuality"(New York Times Book Review)
The Quest for an Elusive Amphibian in the Mountains of violence-torn Haiti brings together an unlikely pair...more
The Quest for an Elusive Amphibian in the Mountains of violence-torn Haiti brings together an unlikely pair...more
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published
May 1st 1997
by HarperCollins Publishers
(first published January 1st 1997)
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Not one I'd really recommend. It could have been good if the author had decided what she wanted it to be about before starting to write it. Mostly it's about the alarming number of frog species that have gone extinct, with some interesting Afro-Caribbean folklore/superstitions thrown in, and some convoluted incestuous relationships in a Haitian family.
I had hoped there'd be a little more about Haitian zombie hunters.
There is kind of an interesting surprise at the very end, but otherwise a pret...more
I had hoped there'd be a little more about Haitian zombie hunters.
There is kind of an interesting surprise at the very end, but otherwise a pret...more
A darkly, creepingly beautiful book, which strangely combines herpetology with voodoo and Haitian paramilitary gangs. The details on the study of frogs are improbably fascinating, and though vulgar, it has a near-poetic quality. A constant theme of mutilation and burning alive haunts the two main characters, who alternately narrate the chapters. A tale of the ultimate desperation of doomed men.
Il mio giudizio è viziato dal fatto che la cultura sudamericana proprio non è nelle mie corde. A volte ci riprovo, attratta, come in questo caso, dalla marginalità dei luoghi (Haiti) e dalla particolarità del soggetto (un biologo a caccia di rane in estinzione scopre un mondo incredibile e terrificante). E in effetti questo è un buon romanzo, che si legge con piacere ed è ben scritto. Però la passione dei sudamericani per le saghe famigliari (qui limitate per fortuna a un solo nucleo), la loro s...more
A strange little novel about chasing probably-extinct frogs through Haiti. I remember it as surreal and occasionally poetic.
Not a fan. Mainly makes Haiti look like a context-less Sodom and Gomorrah. Also involves a discussion of amphibians.
There´s something about Haiti that mystifies and attracts, fascinates Cubans more than it does anyone else, even Haitians. This work is no exception. A short, book, easy style, but still projecting that image of Haiti as the root of all things magical. An ordinary man with a somewhat ordinary life (it´s not as glamorous as it seems, y´all) encounters some very strange circumstances. I´ve read it more than once, and could again (probably will, since I´ve done a paper on the topic and am planning...more
hunting for frogs in the rainforest with all kinds of weird vodou happening... I can dig it...
Dark, brooding, and uniquely Carribean fiction. Read it.
Zombies do exist! CRazy....
May 06, 2013
Sophie
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Well-known Cuban-Puerto Rican author and columnist.
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