What do you think?
Rate this book
L’Empereur
Ayant commis l’irréparable, un homme attend dans sa chambre qu’on vienne le chercher. Son passé résonne en lui comme un tambour. Cette jeunesse de zombie, sous l’effroyable emprise d’un maître vaudou. Ces aubes aliénantes employées à livrer des journaux jusque dans les coupe-gorges de Port-au-Prince. C’est pour elle, la femme du bus, qu’il a du sang sur les mains, pour celle qu’il a aimée. Un espoir comme un rêve trop vite dissipé. Mêlant savamment la magie du conte au réalisme le plus cru, Makenzy Orcel nous fait partager les tourments d’un esprit blessé en lutte contre toutes les formes d’oppression.
187 pages, Paperback
Published March 3, 2021
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 18, 2024
A reread kicked up my star rating from a four to a five, most deservedly because this book is a stunner.
full post here at my reading journal
https://www.readingavidly.com/2024/08...
The main character of this story goes unnamed until closer to the end, and even then not actually afforded a name, only the initial P. (as I will refer to him here). The beginning of the book finds him sitting in his small room in Port-Au-Prince waiting for the police, with the evidence of his crime next to him. He knows two things: one, he "asked for none of this" -- that he was just waiting for a bus -- and two, that the knock on the door that just happened isn't the police, because "they don't open doors here," they just kick it down. More importantly though (and somewhat cryptically for the reader, at least in this early section) he feels that
"... even after the police arrive to beat me down, walk all over me, crush me and all the other things we alow only criminals to endure, before putting me in handcuffs and tossing me in their wagon on a one-way trip to hell,"
his arrest will finally afford him some measure of freedom. Just why that is is the story in this book, delivered by the author with huge impact, building the story of not just one life, but that of a nation which has been plagued by corrupt leaders, failed institutions and violence, a world that "brings death to freedom." I can't really do the novel the justice it deserves here, but it is both haunting and immediate, a story with writing that worms its way into your psyche and under your skin and makes you feel. I can think of no higher praise.
Definitely and hugely recommended.
full post here at my reading journal
https://www.readingavidly.com/2024/08...
The main character of this story goes unnamed until closer to the end, and even then not actually afforded a name, only the initial P. (as I will refer to him here). The beginning of the book finds him sitting in his small room in Port-Au-Prince waiting for the police, with the evidence of his crime next to him. He knows two things: one, he "asked for none of this" -- that he was just waiting for a bus -- and two, that the knock on the door that just happened isn't the police, because "they don't open doors here," they just kick it down. More importantly though (and somewhat cryptically for the reader, at least in this early section) he feels that
"... even after the police arrive to beat me down, walk all over me, crush me and all the other things we alow only criminals to endure, before putting me in handcuffs and tossing me in their wagon on a one-way trip to hell,"
his arrest will finally afford him some measure of freedom. Just why that is is the story in this book, delivered by the author with huge impact, building the story of not just one life, but that of a nation which has been plagued by corrupt leaders, failed institutions and violence, a world that "brings death to freedom." I can't really do the novel the justice it deserves here, but it is both haunting and immediate, a story with writing that worms its way into your psyche and under your skin and makes you feel. I can think of no higher praise.
Definitely and hugely recommended.
August 8, 2025
3.5 stars, may upgrade
A contemporary fable with gritty, violent undertones, this is the account of a young man waiting in his Port-au-Prince apartment for the police to find and arrest him. He knows he is fully responsible for the crime he has committed and has no regrets. But as he reflects on the experiences that led up to the crime (which is not revealed until the final pages), the facts of his difficult life become clear. Abandoned as a child he was taken into a rural community led by a false vodou prophet—the Emperor to whom much of his monologue is addressed. Abused, treated like slaves, the members of the lakou have no freedom or autonomy. But our narrator will not conform and is ultimately expelled. He makes his way to the city where life is harsh, but he is free. To a point.
Longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2025/08/08/i-...
A contemporary fable with gritty, violent undertones, this is the account of a young man waiting in his Port-au-Prince apartment for the police to find and arrest him. He knows he is fully responsible for the crime he has committed and has no regrets. But as he reflects on the experiences that led up to the crime (which is not revealed until the final pages), the facts of his difficult life become clear. Abandoned as a child he was taken into a rural community led by a false vodou prophet—the Emperor to whom much of his monologue is addressed. Abused, treated like slaves, the members of the lakou have no freedom or autonomy. But our narrator will not conform and is ultimately expelled. He makes his way to the city where life is harsh, but he is free. To a point.
Longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2025/08/08/i-...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews