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From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…

Small Country

Gaël Faye

Start date: November 15, 2019

Finish date: December 15, 2019

Discussion: Group Reads Discussions

Why we're reading this: November 2019 selection for Burundi.
[close] November 2019 selection for Burundi.

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Group Reads Discussions

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By Diane , Armchair Tour Guide · 3 posts · 1371 views

last updated Jan 18, 2013 07:12PM

I've Been Waiting
By Carole · 1 post · 16 views

last updated Sep 16, 2025 07:57PM

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What Members Thought

Dec 07, 2018 Beverly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: africa, cross-cultural, newtome2018, refugees, burundi, coming-of-age

thoughts coming shortly

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 26, 2019 Lisa of Hopewell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2019

The Story

“I’ve been very busy recently, trying to stay a child.”

Gaby is a young boy of mixed race and parentage–Rwandan mother (who has lived many years in Burundi) and French father. His life is part wealthy ex-pat (i.e. International School, expatriate gated neighborhood, servants, etc.) and part local boy. He and his sister are living with their father after their mother has left. She is in and out of their lives. Like any boy anywhere, Gaby has neighborhood friends and they run free and cal ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2019 Tony rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: setting-africa, project-fit, translated-fiction, comingofage

I'm not really sure what it is, but I feel like whenever I read a translation of a book that was "big" in France, I turn the final page and am underwhelmed. This slim debut from a French-Burundian poet/rapper is no exception. The story takes place in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, during 1992-93 and is narrated by 10-year-old Gaby. He's the son of a French factory owner and a Rwandan refugee mother, who become estranged in the first third of the book. Gaby lives with his sister and father in an u I'm not really sure what it is, but I feel like whenever I read a translation of a book that was "big" in France, I turn the final page and am underwhelmed. This slim debut from a French-Burundian poet/rapper is no exception. The story takes place in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, during 1992-93 and is narrated by 10-year-old Gaby. He's the son of a French factory owner and a Rwandan refugee mother, who become estranged in the first third of the book. Gaby lives with his sister and father in an upscale cul-de-sac with similarly mixed-race neighbors, as well as elderly colonial-era remnants including German lady and a Greek woman with the predictable large library that she grants Gaby access to.

The first two-thirds of the book are typical coming of age vignettes, that, while being well written and evocative, lack a strong sense of voice or originality. For example, there's a chapter about Gaby's bike being stolen and his being taken by the family's houseboy and the driver to recover it, and there's a neat moral lesson at the end to tie it all up. There's another set-piece involving mango theft, and another revolving around a birthday party, and so on. There are even a series of cheesy pen pal letters to blonde girl in France that are just a terribly ill-advised device.

To be sure, along the way, the author is seeding the story with the plot points and context that will come into play in the final third of the book, when the Burundian civil war breaks out in tandem with the Rwandan genocide. Gaby's naive innocence is finally exposed as the evil side of human nature forces itself into the world of him and his friends, but it's all rather predictable. That's not to downplay the horror of what happens, but since the reader has been waiting for it to come, the impact is diminished.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book by any means. There's just an inherent limitation in having a highly autobiographical child as the narrator. Everything happens very much on the surface and there's a certain lack of complexity that keeps the book from being as rich or impactful as it seems to be aiming for. ...more

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Jan 05, 2018 Stacy marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2018

Jan 16, 2018 Beverly marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2018

Mar 06, 2018 Tok marked it as wishlist

Mar 29, 2018 Rajivi marked it as to-read

Apr 17, 2018 Tanya marked it as to-read

May 28, 2018 Kristin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: burundi

May 03, 2018 Juliana Philippa marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: book-of-the-month-options

May 15, 2018 Nancy H marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 18, 2018 Anna marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 23, 2018 marianne marked it as to-read · review of another edition

May 27, 2018 Carol marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jun 22, 2018 Melissa marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jul 03, 2018 Ragan marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jul 05, 2018 Patrick marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Oct 21, 2018 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: francophone-literature

Dec 09, 2018 Stacey Matson marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Dec 22, 2018 Karyl marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Nov 08, 2019 Andrea marked it as to-read

Nov 08, 2019 Lauren marked it as to-read

Mar 05, 2022 Tania rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 197-countries, 2022-audiobooks

Nov 08, 2019 Susan marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Nov 08, 2019 Elizabeth Weltin marked it as to-read

Aug 23, 2020 Anna Ruth FL rated it really liked it

Shelves: burundi-grc

Sep 05, 2020 Anu marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Oct 20, 2021 Kirsten Barber rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-fiction, level-adult, format-hard-copy, own, genre-historical-fiction, mood-tear-jerker, genre-coming-of-age, setting-africa, book-of-the-month, challenge-read-around-the-world

Aug 09, 2022 Sarita rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: a-5-stars, read-2022, read-around-the-world

Jul 08, 2022 Angela Schmangela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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