La lézarde

by Édouard Glissant, Claudio Magris (Contributor), Cristina Brambilla (Contributor)

English, French (translation)

Genres: Fiction, France

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Édouard Glissant was a French writer, poet, philosopher, and literary critic from Martinique. He is widely recognised as one of the most influential figures in Caribbean thought and cultural commentary.

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read it in college for my Caribbean Lit Class my senior year. It was a nice counterpart to the dead white dudes and dudettes canon. I am also grateful that I wrote a good paper on it. I wrote about the Orpheus and Eurydice myth in the novel. I have the paper somewhere. I moved it twice and figured I should re-read it. In re-reading, I am pretty sure that I didn’t track a 1/3 of a what was going on.

It’s about a political situation in Martinique in 1948. It’s based on real events and real tensions within the country. Glissant was involved in a political group and there is truth to what he is writing. The premise is that a group of activists want to assassainate a leader who is blocking the election of the person that they want in power. They get Thael, a mountain shepherd who is not connected to them to do it. Thael and Garin go down the river. Stuff happens. various deaths. In the midst of this is a lot of characterization and metaphors. We have tensions between Matthieu and Thael who represent the plains and the mountains, and also between Thael and Valerie who are a couple. And a lot of other people. It is a lot metaphoric and he does a lot with nature and discussing the Lezarde river in contrast to the static lands. He also talks a lot about trees. It does not end well. Thael realizes that the martinique that he believed is a place of lies. His eyes are opened to the realism of the situations. There’s also a tension between fact and faith/myth and legend. It’s a complex book and I’m still not entirely sure of all the implications of the plot. My reading of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth kinda works but leaves a lot of the book out. To be fair, I was 23? I did love some of his descriptions. And this is one of those where reading the introduction helped provided context. Is it a book you need to read? Unknown. How do you feel about heavily metaphoric, books that meander around? I think I’ve gotten enough of it. 4 stars.

[Gillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

On m'a offert ce bouquin, il y a quelques années, j'avoue que je ne l'aurais pas choisi moi-même.

Je l'ai mis de côté quelques temps avant de me lancer.

La lyrique peut prendre un peu au dépourvu et rendre la lecture difficile au début mais on s'habitue rapidement. Il est facile de se laisser porter par la poésie de la prose.

Au final, j'ai beaucoup aimé l'histoire et la façon dont elle est amenée par l'auteur.

[Jean-François · Rating 4 out of 5]

« Parfois je rêve, je vois des îles, toutes ces îles autour de nous, je me dis : on ne peut pas, toutes ces îles pareilles, dans les mêmes deux mers. Il faudrait les réunir » (p. 207).

« Ce fut la dernière fête du groupe. Nous étions un torrent. Nous étions une montagne avec des forêts. Nous étions un soleil de rhum » (p. 242).