Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
16th out of 49 books
—
15 voters
The King of Kahel
Tierno Mon?nembo 's The King of Kahel was originally published in France in 2008 and was the winner of the French literary prize, the prix Renaudot, which is awarded to the author of an outstanding original novel during the previous year. Loosely based on the life of Olivier de Sanderval, a man who journeyed to Guinea to build an empire by conquering the hostile region of...more
Paperback, 289 pages
Published
by Amazon Crossings
(first published April 30th 2008)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
131)
I'm always on the lookout for new fiction from Africa, so when I saw this translation of a Guinean book was available I snapped it up. Aside from my interest in world literature, my grandparents lived in Conakry from 1960-62, so the country holds a particular interest for me. The novel as a form does not have a long history in Africa, and as a result, much of the African fiction available in the West focuses on the struggle for independence and the legacy of colonialism. This book goes further b...more
The King of Kahel is my book from Guinea for the Read The World challenge. It is the first book printed by AmazonCrossing, Amazon’s own publishing imprint specialising in translated literature. They say ‘AmazonCrossing uses customer feedback and other data from Amazon sites to identify exceptional works that deserve a wider, global audience.’ So this book was presumably picked up because it was a big hit in French.
It’s rather unusual among all the post-colonial literature I’ve read for the Read...more
It’s rather unusual among all the post-colonial literature I’ve read for the Read...more
Une biographie romancée d’un aventurier qui rêvait de se tailler un royaume en Afrique ! Il y a des qualités, surtout dans la description du peuple Peul, un peuple assez étrange ne rechignant pas à couper des têtes et en même temps amateur de paperasserie. Mais le gros problème est que la moitié des points sont des points d’exclamations ! Si ! Pourquoi ? Je sais pas ! Mais c’est fatigant ! Non ?
I received Le Mot Juste: A Dictionary of Classical and Foreign Words and Phrases for my tenth birthday, and though I am unable to locate it in the stacks at the moment, (though I suspect that it is somewhere in the second or third row of books on the shelf in the foyer) i distinctly remember an entry for a word in Javanese (or Zulu?) that translates roughly into English as "the act of stealing everything a man owns by borrowing each of his possessions one by one and not returning them". This wo...more
Sweeping story about the life of a Frenchman whose dream from childhood was to become the king of Fouta Djallon. He develops a great affinity for Africa while never shedding the imperialist culture he comes from. Vivid depiction of the intersection of cultures leading to war. The narrative style is original and entertaining.
I'm a third of the way through this book and I choose to walk away; wish it had engaged me, I'd like to read more African fiction: selections, of which, seem few and far between.
A fictionalised account of the real-life Oliver de Sanderval’s brief soujourn as king of his own African kingdom.
The story is an interesting one, but the style constantly gets in the way of its telling. I found it overblown and over written, the humour laboured, the jokes telegraphed and there are more exclamation marks than a teenage girl’s diary.
A good story badly told.
The story is an interesting one, but the style constantly gets in the way of its telling. I found it overblown and over written, the humour laboured, the jokes telegraphed and there are more exclamation marks than a teenage girl’s diary.
A good story badly told.
Cum ar fi putut arata colonizarea Africii daca europenii trimisi acolo ar fi avut un pic de bun simt.
Would have liked this book much more if the narrator didn't sloppily make himself so apparent every few 100 pages or so. Despite the occasionally poor writing, enjoyed the story.
Nov 14, 2011
Jean
added it
Very tongue-in-cheek view of franco-colonialsim. The perspective is unique in that our hero, is well, not really a hero, but kind of a self-centered, colonialist with visions of grandeur.
Guinea
May 13, 2013
Cindy
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2013
Heather
marked it as to-read
May 01, 2013
Kama
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
Anthony Orso
is currently reading it
Apr 29, 2013
Nicholas
marked it as to-read
Apr 15, 2013
Melissa
marked it as to-read
Mar 09, 2013
Mary Okeke
marked it as to-read
Feb 12, 2013
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Jan 24, 2013
Mama Love
added it
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Thierno Saïdou Diallo, usually known as Tierno Monénembo (born 1947), is a Francophone Guinean novelist. Born in Guinea, he later lived in Senegal, Algeria, Morocco, and finally France since 1973. He has written eight books in all and was awarded the 2008 prix Renaudot for The King of Kahel (le Roi de Kahel).
His most noted book is said to be Pelourinho, which was set in Brazil. For the English-spe...more
More about Tierno Monénembo...
His most noted book is said to be Pelourinho, which was set in Brazil. For the English-spe...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
