Ce roman baroque aux allures rabelaisiennes a pour décor un bar congolais où la crasse et la misère font bon ménage avec le rire et l’ivresse. Le n...
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reviews
May 20, 2010
Cynthia
rated it: 
This is a quirky book with lots of clever pivots to literature, arts, politics, popular culture, religion, etc. In fact the best parts of the book are when Mabanckou goes off on a jazz like riff where he ties in unrelated things in clever ways. Here's a description of a fist fight between Broken and another damaged patron, other customers gather to witness, “….because I was Mohammed Ali and he was George Foreman, and I was floating like a butterfly, I was stinging like a bee, and he was a flat
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May 21, 2009
Harry
rated it:
Broken Glass is a novel from the Congo (aka the Republic of the Congo aka Congo-Brazzaville; i.e. the smaller of the two Congos, not the one which used to be Zaire). It was translated from French by Helen Stevenson.
It takes the form of the notebook jottings of the customer at a bar called Credit Gone West. Perhaps rather than try to explain:
let’s say the boss of the bar Credit Gone West gave me this notebook to fill, he’s convinced that I – Broken Glass – can turn out a b More...
It takes the form of the notebook jottings of the customer at a bar called Credit Gone West. Perhaps rather than try to explain:
let’s say the boss of the bar Credit Gone West gave me this notebook to fill, he’s convinced that I – Broken Glass – can turn out a b More...
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(1 person liked it)
May 19, 2009
Delphine
rated it: 
Je viens de lire Verre Cassé d'Alain Mabanckou, un beau roman, sans ponctuation, qui décrit par le menu les personnages qui gravitent autour d'un bar congolais, Le Crédit a voyagé. Un jour, le patron du bar, L'Escargot entêté, confie à l'un de ses clients (Verre cassé) un cahier dans lequel il lui demande de raconter l'histoire de son bar.
Le résultat sera sûrement quelque peu surprenant pour le commanditaire du texte, mais unique dans sa conception. Verre cassé se fait le porte-parol More...
Le résultat sera sûrement quelque peu surprenant pour le commanditaire du texte, mais unique dans sa conception. Verre cassé se fait le porte-parol More...
Jul 27, 2010
Lisa
rated it: 
A tragicomic novel narrated by a wine-drinking bar patron named Broken Glass who hangs out at a place called Credit Gone West, whose proprietor, Stubborn Snail gives Broken Glass a notebook in which to record stories about the people around them. I'm tempted to keep that sentence going because that's how Mabanckou writes the book: there are no periods, and some paragraphs go for pages. Somehow, it worked for me, probably because of Broken Glass's elements of carnival and the grotesque. I particu
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Jan 20, 2012
Lisa
rated it:
The author's voice is authentic and his character is likewise rings true. The story is tiresome, because nothing changes. It is the rant of a peter-pan man and the recollection of other similar men, who blame the women partners in their lives for their current decrepit condition and their personal demons--be it alcohol or sexual predation or irrational temperment. Some of these men had a rather charmed life, education abroad et cetera, prior to their fall.
Although this story takes p More...
Although this story takes p More...
Feb 16, 2011
Pamela
rated it:
Right now Mabanckou is my favorite author. His books are so full of life, and his love of literature and poetry spills of the page. He doesn't write perfect books -- he's too ambitious for that.
Like Black Bazar, much of Broken Glass takes place in a bar, but this time in the Congo. Sometimes he goes a bit overboard with the literary references, but that's forgivable.
This book is a very funny, and very tragic story that mostly takes place in a bar. Somehow he manages to e More...
Like Black Bazar, much of Broken Glass takes place in a bar, but this time in the Congo. Sometimes he goes a bit overboard with the literary references, but that's forgivable.
This book is a very funny, and very tragic story that mostly takes place in a bar. Somehow he manages to e More...
Jul 24, 2010
Chris
rated it:
I suspect this was better in French, and mine would be inadequate. The essential alienation and pointlessness of the life of the narrator is disturbing and powerful. The humour is dark but ultimately somewhat sad.
Feb 16, 2011
Damien
rated it:
This is written as a journal kept by Broken Glass, a washed up drunk in a notorious bar called Credit Gone West. Without the use of a single period, Broken Glass records the stories of the other sad sacks in the place, each one more pathetic than the last. We’re very much in Broken Glass’ head, though, which is full of half-baked literary references and bitter memories. We follow him through his drunken rants as he ultimately succumbs to death by literature. I thought this was a magnificentl
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Aug 10, 2011
John
rated it: 
This one was really unfortunate. I might have given it only one star, except that the first half of the book had me laughing out loud. I had that feeling that "this is going to be a good one." And then it just wasn't. The second half devolves in a sad spiral filled with too many silly references. It's a shame, because the beginning was definitely great. I might give this author another try, but wouldn't recommend this book.
Mar 08, 2010
Anna
rated it:
It's not only in France that we speak French.
It's only in Africa that we speak like that.
It's only in Africa that we speak like that.
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